So we did it: we watched Avatar. In 3D with all the trimmings. So nice to look at. Good little blue people. Morally conflicted earthlings and excessively muscular soldiers.
I like the way James Cameron says: I make movies. And I’m going to say something about the world in a way that is palatable, safe, and a good ride. I quote: “maybe in the enjoying of it makes you think a little bit about the way you interact with nature and your fellow man” (From a 2009 interview with Associated Press).
But remember that it cost close to $500 million to make Avatar. I don’t want to be uptight or a downer, but imagine for a minute what that money could do if it was used to support a real, live indigenous community threatened by big bad economic interests. And compile this with how much money people are spending to watch the film. Oh my. We could have bought and saved a chunk of the Amazon for all that.
Still… it was a lovely ride. Sparkly and luminescent. Being a girl, I would have done away with the plot all together and spent two hours watching the lovely jungle and its long limbed blue people. So pretty. Like if the Discovery Channel and the SciFi Channel got together and made some kind of likable but ultimately mixed up baby.