Avatar

[laceblade]

I think I can explain what I didn't like about Avatar enough without spoiling anything.

I liked the protagonist (mostly) and I liked the graphics.

But I feel like this is James Cameron's "I just watched an anime and now I'm going to make a movie!"

I cringed with apprehension in the first 5 minutes, and the loosened up over the next 30. By the end I was shuddering repeatedly with James Cameron's self-righteousness.

This movie could also be titled, OMG GEORGE BUSH IS SO EVIL! I WILL SPEND $300,000,000 TO EXPLAIN WHY!!

There could be a lot of interesting discussion on bodies in this movie, and obviously race. I look forward to the response of fandom.

I recommend the write-up by nihilistic_kid, although it spoils everything if you're concerned about things like that.



Overall: It was not as squicky as I thought it would be, but I was underwhelmed/annoyed by the heavy-handedness and refusal to go a lot deeper.

Comments

[sasha-feather.livejournal.com]

The racism and appropriation were what made me the most uncomfortable, especially the speeches, as was mentioned in deadbrowalking. I don't see why the plot had to go there, or why no one along the way couldn't have seen how bad that was and put a stop to it. It turned what could have been a very interesting premise about bodies and experiences into a racist, white-guilt-ridden piece of crap, really.

I mean, there were other things I liked about it. I like the animation, the art direction, the creatures and plants. I loved Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver.

I'm still mulling over the disability portrayals, because I think it wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it was still problematic: it's assumed that no human would want to give up their body and take on the Avatar body unless the human body was already broken or damaged. Which places the human body, in a subtle way, as superior to the Na'vi body, and presents disabled or injured bodies as disposable. It also emphasizes a mind/body disconnect, the idea that brains are separate from bodies. There is some good food for thought there, that I will continue to chew on, and I wish the movie had gotten into that more, and laid off all the colonialism and war crap.