I Dig Blue Chicks - an "Avatar" review
Jan. 15th, 2010 03:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eumeliaI went with my sib-in-law on Wednesday to see Avatar.
A friend of mine put it very nicely: "Avatar" is visually gorgeous, narratively redundant. It's a fairly good assessment of the entire movie.
As you can see, I didn't think it was very good - plot wise, it was one of the most derivative movies I'd ever seen. I feel like I should have TV Tropes open so that I can refer to it as I go along.
Well, in the name of fairness, I'm putting the review behind a cut.
It was a conglomeration of Pocahontas, Dune, Starship Trupers and Apocalypse Now!.
Oh and practically the entire history of the white part of humanity.
You know what would have made the movie better, if only a little bit less predictable?
If humanity had won.
Callous? You bet, because it was just one trope after trope, cliche after cliche.
Noble Savage? Check.
Inter-racialspecies romance? Check.
Humans are greedy? Check.
The Natives revolt? Check.
Good Humantm joins the Noble Savage is a Chosen One and defeats the Greedy Humanstm? Check.
Sex with the Native Daughter of the Chief and Shaman, solidifies his "connection" with the Savages? Check.
Good Humantm is disabled and through the Special Natural Powers of the Savages is accepted and becomes "whole again"? Check.
I could go on and on and on. I honestly do not feel that I need to get into the fact that the movie was a mish-mash of racist white supremacist imperialism.
Because, dear god it wasn't even apologetic is the freakin' stereotypes it was perpetuating every single Othering strategy available unto theNavajo Na'vi.
The lack of clothing, the "special connection" to the land.
There was no need to dehumanise them... they're not Human!
The fact that the hero (the disabled marine who went on this mission to make money... the whole reason they're there is to mkae money) was the Saviour, the Chosen and ultimately the Chief, because the old one died and so did his replacement, irked me.
Irked me, as in, pissed me the fuck off. What the Stupid, Infantile, Nearly-Naked Natives are too stupid to realise that in order to defeat the people who come from the sky that they need better weapons?
A white person can stand among the oppressed and aid them in the resources that they have as a white person.
To be their Saviour, is no better than to be their Conqueror.
Not to mention that his disability as a human is shown to be a practically un-liveable reality, that being closer to the Na'vi is shown to be a more "natural" state of being.
Really, it wouldn't have bothered me that he "went native", because the weird sci-fi explanation as to why the avatar project exists ('cause the atmosphere is unsuitable for humans) makes sense within the internal logic of the movie, and he became friends and helped the Na'vi.
But was it really necessary for him to be the Hero and not the Sidekick.
Was it really necessary that it be told through his eyes and not, say, Neytiri (the "blue chick) - also, for him to not be the Saviour and Chosen One and the Only One who can Save Na'vi Kind!
It was a crap story. It was a crap concept. It was crap sci-fi. It was a crap space opera.
If it wasn't 3D and didn't make us Feel Goodtm that we (white humanity) was finally punished for the Bad Things We've Done Unto The Nations, then it would have been just another crap second rate b-movie.
Far from making me feel good about the fact that Humanity lost it's chance to gain, hahaha, Unobtainium (who the hell was the copywriter for that name?!), it made me cringe at every line I could say before it was pronounced, at every sexist, racist and cliche trope that was set before me on screen.
Sigourny Weaver played the bleeding heart botanist-cum-biologist-cum-anthropologist-cum-peace crop teacher who died.
Yeah, it made me feel real good!
The movie ended and I had a headache from the 3D glasses. Unfortunately, there was no void stuff that suggested an escape from the movie theatre.
A friend of mine put it very nicely: "Avatar" is visually gorgeous, narratively redundant. It's a fairly good assessment of the entire movie.
As you can see, I didn't think it was very good - plot wise, it was one of the most derivative movies I'd ever seen. I feel like I should have TV Tropes open so that I can refer to it as I go along.
Well, in the name of fairness, I'm putting the review behind a cut.
It was a conglomeration of Pocahontas, Dune, Starship Trupers and Apocalypse Now!.
Oh and practically the entire history of the white part of humanity.
You know what would have made the movie better, if only a little bit less predictable?
If humanity had won.
Callous? You bet, because it was just one trope after trope, cliche after cliche.
Noble Savage? Check.
Inter-
Humans are greedy? Check.
The Natives revolt? Check.
Good Humantm joins the Noble Savage is a Chosen One and defeats the Greedy Humanstm? Check.
Sex with the Native Daughter of the Chief and Shaman, solidifies his "connection" with the Savages? Check.
Good Humantm is disabled and through the Special Natural Powers of the Savages is accepted and becomes "whole again"? Check.
I could go on and on and on. I honestly do not feel that I need to get into the fact that the movie was a mish-mash of racist white supremacist imperialism.
Because, dear god it wasn't even apologetic is the freakin' stereotypes it was perpetuating every single Othering strategy available unto the
The lack of clothing, the "special connection" to the land.
There was no need to dehumanise them... they're not Human!
The fact that the hero (the disabled marine who went on this mission to make money... the whole reason they're there is to mkae money) was the Saviour, the Chosen and ultimately the Chief, because the old one died and so did his replacement, irked me.
Irked me, as in, pissed me the fuck off. What the Stupid, Infantile, Nearly-Naked Natives are too stupid to realise that in order to defeat the people who come from the sky that they need better weapons?
A white person can stand among the oppressed and aid them in the resources that they have as a white person.
To be their Saviour, is no better than to be their Conqueror.
Not to mention that his disability as a human is shown to be a practically un-liveable reality, that being closer to the Na'vi is shown to be a more "natural" state of being.
Really, it wouldn't have bothered me that he "went native", because the weird sci-fi explanation as to why the avatar project exists ('cause the atmosphere is unsuitable for humans) makes sense within the internal logic of the movie, and he became friends and helped the Na'vi.
But was it really necessary for him to be the Hero and not the Sidekick.
Was it really necessary that it be told through his eyes and not, say, Neytiri (the "blue chick) - also, for him to not be the Saviour and Chosen One and the Only One who can Save Na'vi Kind!
It was a crap story. It was a crap concept. It was crap sci-fi. It was a crap space opera.
If it wasn't 3D and didn't make us Feel Goodtm that we (white humanity) was finally punished for the Bad Things We've Done Unto The Nations, then it would have been just another crap second rate b-movie.
Far from making me feel good about the fact that Humanity lost it's chance to gain, hahaha, Unobtainium (who the hell was the copywriter for that name?!), it made me cringe at every line I could say before it was pronounced, at every sexist, racist and cliche trope that was set before me on screen.
Sigourny Weaver played the bleeding heart botanist-cum-biologist-cum-anthropologist-cum-peace crop teacher who died.
Yeah, it made me feel real good!
The movie ended and I had a headache from the 3D glasses. Unfortunately, there was no void stuff that suggested an escape from the movie theatre.
