Avatar, Aliens, Action, and Art

I have to stay up all night, so I may as well write a little bit. Me and my dad just went to Avatar, and I was amazed. Both art and story were incredible. I find it interesting that the number one grossing movie of all time, Titanic, has now been surpassed by this very film. And surprisingly enough, both were written by James Cameron. I’ve decided that he must be loaded and a creative genius. Both beneficial things. I imagine all of my thoughts on this fine film are exceedingly obvious, but I’m going to write them anyway, for my sake.

I thought Avatar was an excellent social commentary on the United States in Iraq, as the other world is depicted as a paradise, and is bombarded by humans solely for money. This sounded just a little bit too familiar. It seems that we are there, in a place with problems, but possibilities for happiness, interfering with what could be a solid community and country. And a bonus is there: oil. This translates to both money and power. In the case of Avatar, the other world has rock worth millions, and the humans will go to every destructive extent to obtain it. The alien world is greatly affected by the presence and assistance of one good man, Jake Sulley. Previous attempts to assimilate the “aliens” into out culture were beneficial. They learned English if nothing else. But once the other humans enter, it is absolutely no longer help, and only power-motivated violence. It seems this is the case with us as well, hopefully at a slightly lower degree. I loved the ending, when it showed the US army being escorted off the planet and onto their planes. The narrator (Jake) says, “The aliens went back to their dying home. Only a few were chosen to stay.” I thought it was beautiful to show the other side– maybe we really are the aliens. In fact, by actual definition, we are aliens in the Mid East. And maybe our country really is the dying one. Is physical destruction worse than mental, cultural, and social deterioration?

There are a few other artistic things I found intriguing. For one thing, they zoomed in on Jake’s eyes a few times during the movie. Each time, I think it depicted his increasing knowledge, as his mind (his human mind is controlling the avatar) sees and understands more and more. The final shot is of his eyes, this time the eyes of his avatar, his chosen permanent body. I loved when he said, “everything is backwards now, like out there is the true world and in here is the dream.” This was really the pivotal point in his growth. He says, “Look, at first it was just orders. And then, everything changed. Okay, I fell in love. I fell in love with the, with the forest, with the Omaticaya people, with you. With you.” Love is more powerful than anything else. It was also interesting that the way these people were able to fight and fly was by connecting their bodies to that of their “horses”, or whatever they are. There really is a physical and mental connection in everything. Faith and unity are big themes.

So pretty much, I thought Avatar was very well done. Language was bad, and there was a little bit more violence than I would have liked, but I thought it was phenomenal. On a side note, it was the most expensive movie of all time. I believe it. Anyway, this was a way long post, and I don’t blame anyone for glancing at the picture and not reading the post. This is what happens when you have to stay up all night.