Avatar: The ultimate Druid movie

[lkhedley]

To DJ DROOD

I concurr on the fact that "PC" has become a hot point indicator of a certain amount of time spent listening to talk radio lol . Yes it is commonly used as a sort of well you know "those eggheads and commies" type of shorthand.

One of my most enduring traits is a push back against peer pressure so I tend to use the term inspite of its contamination. I treasure the english language, even if I butcher it at times, and will not let extremism or lazy thinking deprive me of its use.

By the way - that anti peer pressure thing has also prevented me from going to see Avatar. What do you think, I saw earlier where you said go see it as the movie it is. Is that still your stance? should I breakout of my typical responce and go see it. To illustrate this point - I never ever have seen ET because of all the swooning. God, I am predictable if nothing else.

Best wishes
From Shadows End (thats the name of my lil ole cottage btw - speaking of habits)

Lyle

[DJ Droood]

By the way - that anti peer pressure thing has also prevented me from going to see Avatar. What do you think, I saw earlier where you said go see it as the movie it is. Is that still your stance? should I breakout of my typical responce and go see it. To illustrate this point - I never ever have seen ET because of all the swooning. God, I am predictable if nothing else.

Well...it is an entertaining, visually spectacular film that makes you think....not a bad value for $10, imo. I just don't "see" the message that others seem to, but that is OK...it is what it is...a big budget action/science fiction movie, so if that is your cup of tea, I would see it.

Actually, Spielberg and Cameron are both masters of Hollywood big budget movie making, and they simply don't make "bad" movies. They are like the McDonald's and Burger King of cinema...your meal will be predictable, done right and tasty..actually, they are higher end than that..maybe the "Swiss Chalet" of movie making (or insert restaurant chain of your choice, that you would bring your mother to, but she doesn't like haute cuisine, so you have to keep it "in the box.")

[Twig]

,,,and they do, DJ. Then you end up with polite phoniness and no real visceral change.

[Corwen]

These links to two more critiques of Avatar were recently posted by Viola on the Ecopsychology Ning, and I thought I'd share them with you all.

Its not often a film can generate so much thought, here is a little more grist to for the mill...

Firstly an article from George Monbiot (hero of the UK resistance). Warning, this article contains graphic descriptions of the treatment of First Nations people during the colonisation of the Americas: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/11/mawkish-maybe-avatar-profound-important

Secondly an article from a Socialist perspective: http://socialistresistance.org/?p=806

[Aelfarh]

This is kind of funny the Russian communist want to sue Cameron for plagiarism.

http://www.periscopepost.com/2010/01/co ... lagiarism/

[Teileag]

Now I finally managed to watch "the" film, too... and I must say it is very impressive . I loved the way the symbiosis of people and planet are described and absolutely want an Ikran now myself to ride the wind ! The storyline is a little thin and quite easy to predict from the beginning but it is rare to have capitalism and exploitation of indiginous people criticised. I also thought that the film was created around the special effects which is a bit the wrong way round but nevertheless, it was worth watching it and I would probably watch it again . Is it specifically druidic? Not so sure although of course it emphasizes values a druid would share...

[Binky]

I am surprised that I didn't come across this thread earlier, I did try to look for it but guess I missed it. I have been to see Avatar twice in Imax 3D. It seemingly draws from many sources.

To me the film isn't that far fetched at all, it's not a pure sci-fi film in my opinion either. It is set a measly 150 years into the future, we have used up all the resources available to us on earth, we have developed cryo-stasis as it is needed for the near 6 year journey to Pandora and the mind-transfer stuff, but the space-ship is very basic, just lots of modules strapped together much like our space stations today. The trip Jake Sully makes out there is not the first rotation, there is already a sizable settlement there, and before that scouts of some kind must have been out exploring to find the 'unobtanium' (which is an actual term used by scientists for about the last 50 years if I recall correctly).
The venture is not government backed; it is purely corporate, something we are seeing even now where corporations are influencing governments and even pursuing space travel on their own. The marines are not an army; they are there as paid mercenaries.
And yes the Na'vi drove the corporation away; there are two more films to come so who knows which direction it may go.

I really thought it was a thought-provoking, stunning film with so much story and meaning; whether it was all intended or not, who knows. An excellent film. Also, if you take inflation etc into account, it is not the highest grossing film of all time. It's not even in the top 20 for US domestic gross, that goes to Gone with the Wind.

[Kain781]

I absolutely loved this movie! In fact, it's what got me into druidry in the first place...I wanted to find a religion that would adhere to the virtues in the movie (ones that I already had, but were reinforced by the storyline of Avatar).

[Willow_Whisper]

I adore this film.

The message it gives across about balance in nature and how humans war for greed is so hard hitting. I dont know if anyone else noticed this but Aywa and Awen, the connection of all things... I could not help wonder if James Cameron was reading Druid literature 10 years ago

i have only seen it twice in 3D and admit I felt so low when I came out of the cinema to see the busy street of humans. So the next day I spent the day in the forest to re-energie and gound myself.

Anyone not seen it yet, do it. You wont regret it.

[Aylyn]

I could not help wonder if James Cameron was reading Druid literature 10 years ago

You don't have to, there arte enough science fiction stories based on this theme. One of the earliest I have read is Ursula K LeGuin's "The word for world is forest"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Word_for_World_Is_Forest), which came out in 1972.

As for the film itself: I loved the visuals, they wre absolutely amazing. As far as the storyline went, it was too much of a rip-off for me. As the fail blog goes:

epic-fail-avatar-plot-fail.jpg

(64 KiB) Downloaded 644 times

[DJ Droood]

whatever the actual qualities the movie posseses, I find it pretty hard to get past the grotesque 1/2 billion dollar pricetag...pretty poor value for the money, imo....my druidry does not include 500 miliion dollar hollywood films.

Go Hurt Locker!

[Binky]

The film cost less than $300 million to produce, that involved developing new tech aswell. The rest is attributed to marketing etc. I don't think it's a grotesque price-tag personally considering what money is worth these days (not much); look at how much it has grossed. (In contrast what is grotesque is current debts; UK public sector alone is in over $1.3 trillion of debt, that to me is just horrid, I dread to think what it has been spent on; not much that is helpful even to UK citizens I bet; anyway... that's another topic)

As for the storyline it might have been copied, but how many different plots are there for books, films etc, they just have different characters, settings and small plot differences. Maybe I enjoyed it more than many people because I have not actually seen many(all?) of the films that it was compared to, such as Pocahontas. And I'm a sucker for good visuals in films and games; Avatar was rather immersive (atleast the first time, the second time I found myself analysing it rather than just enjoying)

The Hurt Locker is a good film, I don't think it was exceptional; just another unrealistically presented over the top war film; but that's what films are... entertainment, not real life depictions even though they may be based on real situations.

[Cavollin]

Yep, yep, yep...just watched it on DVD for the first time. Agree with most of what's been said...cried for the last 20 minutes (softie that I am!). Give it 150 - 200 years and this film will be prophetic, maybe even cathartic for the indigenous beliefs of Europe

[Corwen]

I hope in 200 years time people will realise the films shortcomings and appreciate how patronising it was to Tribal peoples.

[John T. Folden]

My mother and partner both loved this movie. While I enjoyed it purely as a "popcorn flick" I found the plot rather predictable. In fact, my first thought when watching was that I liked it better when it was known as "Dances With Wolves"...

[DJ Droood]

As a side bar, here are the top 5 grossing movies of all time, adjusted for inflation:

1. "Gone With the Wind" (1939) $1.6 billion

2. "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope" (1977) $1.4 billion

3. "The Sound of Music" (1965) $1.1 billion

4. "E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial" (1982) $1.1 billion

5. "The Ten Commandments" (1956) $1.0 billion

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/yahoocanada/ ... f_all_time

[Twig]

Very interesting, DJ. That adjusted list looks about right, unfortunately. Too bad "Harold & Maude" didn't make it.

[Huathe]

I am late on this, but Avatar is absolutely awesome! I have seen it several times but I always become immersed in it every time. The environmental theme makes it really stand out. I would join the Na'vi in a heartbeat.

My favorite movie along with the Lord of the Rings triology.

James

[katie bridgewater]

I would join the Na'vi in a heartbeat.

The Na'vi don't really exist, but if you feel this way about fictional people, then you might want to find out more about what you can do for real tribal people here on planet Earth who are in similar situations.

See http://www.survivalinternational.org/ for information and details of how you can help tribes and indigenous people whose homes and right to live in their ancestral lands are under threat from mining corporations, forestry companies, farmers, the displaced poor, gas pipelines, oil fields, dictatorship governments, religious missionaries, misguided tourism and corporations...

[Karl]

A fantastic film which I will have to watch again, and write down all the associated thoughts I come up with.

The over all feeling I was left with after watching this film was that I was wearing too many clothes. Hmm...