pretty kitties
Jan. 18th, 2010 04:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spoofmasterI went home for the weekend for a belated Christmas with my immediate family as well as my aunt and (much) younger cousin. We did the whole thing with a vegetable tray and the spicy shrimp and all, and ended up watching the copy I got of WALL-E in order to keep our cousin entertained. The whole family ended up watching, even Dad, who never likes sitting through movies without having two or three to switch between, because WALL-E is just that good. I planned to come back to my apartment on Sunday, but it's now Monday afternoon and I just got in, so there you go. That's mostly because I ended up spending Saturday night at my brother's apartment, where it was cold and the bed was uncomfortable and *insert more complaining.* We played some games, though, including one of the Nancy Drew PC games I got last summer (turns out that even with an emulator they don't run for crap on my Mac, so I'll have to play them at his apartment). We also went and saw Avatar, which he wasn't into and about which I was ambivalent.
On the one hand, yes it is completely gorgeous, even close to visually perfect. And yes, the action sequences were a lot of fun. And yes, I felt that the story flowed smoothly, though there was a point at around the two hour mark when I began thinking that we'd been watching it for an awfully long time. I didn't have a problem with the blue kitty people's FireWire connection to nature like I thought I would (I mean come on, they plug themselves into animals--literally plug themselves into animals wtf how does that benefit the animals no ecosystem would ever be like that raaar), because it became clear pretty early on to me that this was not at all an exercise in building a realistic world; but rather a way of making a fairly simple morality play (very) interesting visually.
But that's part of my problem with the film, in the end--the symbolism gets taken so far and built up so much that whatever message the film has ceases to be applicable to the real world. Oprah said (yeah yeah, Mom watches it and I happened to be in the room, okay?) that it was about how we're all connected to nature--but it's not. The humans in the world aren't connected at all to anything. Only the blue kitty people get that privilege, and in their case it is absolutely literal. So what, then, the message is don't be human? That doesn't work for me. And of course my other problem with it is that the morality of the story is far, far too simple and black and white. Industrialists and military types bad, blue, tree-hugging natives good. Never mind that the Na'vi are racist to the point where they won't even converse with a human unless that human is speaking through an avatar body that looks like a nice, familiar blue kitty--nope, they're the good guys, and there's absolutely nothing about them that should be taken negatively. And, of course, there wasn't much effort made to steer clear of certain tired action cliches, and there was more than one plot hole to niggle at me (like how did Trudy not get jailed for dereliction of duty, thereby preventing her from aiding the heroes later on?). In the end...yeah, I think the writing was pretty lazy.
I hope I'm not giving the impression that I hated the film, because I really didn't. I might even see about going again while it's still in theaters, since I'm pretty sure my TV won't do it justice when it comes out on DVD. I just wish that it had been a more complicated movie, especially when it was so long--they had three hours of movie to play around with, and still didn't manage to flesh out the so-called villains even to the point where they consistently behaved in a realistic fashion, much less to show their point of view or where this conflict was really coming from beyond providing us with a caricature of extreme capitalism. I've seen the issues surrounding the meeting of two alien species and the subsequent attempt to 'Westernize' (or Terranize?) the other race handled more intelligently in a series of parodies starring teddy bear people. Seriously, James Cameron--if you really do make that sequel, you'd better step up your game story-wise.
On the one hand, yes it is completely gorgeous, even close to visually perfect. And yes, the action sequences were a lot of fun. And yes, I felt that the story flowed smoothly, though there was a point at around the two hour mark when I began thinking that we'd been watching it for an awfully long time. I didn't have a problem with the blue kitty people's FireWire connection to nature like I thought I would (I mean come on, they plug themselves into animals--literally plug themselves into animals wtf how does that benefit the animals no ecosystem would ever be like that raaar), because it became clear pretty early on to me that this was not at all an exercise in building a realistic world; but rather a way of making a fairly simple morality play (very) interesting visually.
But that's part of my problem with the film, in the end--the symbolism gets taken so far and built up so much that whatever message the film has ceases to be applicable to the real world. Oprah said (yeah yeah, Mom watches it and I happened to be in the room, okay?) that it was about how we're all connected to nature--but it's not. The humans in the world aren't connected at all to anything. Only the blue kitty people get that privilege, and in their case it is absolutely literal. So what, then, the message is don't be human? That doesn't work for me. And of course my other problem with it is that the morality of the story is far, far too simple and black and white. Industrialists and military types bad, blue, tree-hugging natives good. Never mind that the Na'vi are racist to the point where they won't even converse with a human unless that human is speaking through an avatar body that looks like a nice, familiar blue kitty--nope, they're the good guys, and there's absolutely nothing about them that should be taken negatively. And, of course, there wasn't much effort made to steer clear of certain tired action cliches, and there was more than one plot hole to niggle at me (like how did Trudy not get jailed for dereliction of duty, thereby preventing her from aiding the heroes later on?). In the end...yeah, I think the writing was pretty lazy.
I hope I'm not giving the impression that I hated the film, because I really didn't. I might even see about going again while it's still in theaters, since I'm pretty sure my TV won't do it justice when it comes out on DVD. I just wish that it had been a more complicated movie, especially when it was so long--they had three hours of movie to play around with, and still didn't manage to flesh out the so-called villains even to the point where they consistently behaved in a realistic fashion, much less to show their point of view or where this conflict was really coming from beyond providing us with a caricature of extreme capitalism. I've seen the issues surrounding the meeting of two alien species and the subsequent attempt to 'Westernize' (or Terranize?) the other race handled more intelligently in a series of parodies starring teddy bear people. Seriously, James Cameron--if you really do make that sequel, you'd better step up your game story-wise.
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Date: 2010-01-18 11:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-18 11:52 pm (UTC)Are you online?
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Date: 2010-01-19 11:56 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-19 04:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-24 08:55 am (UTC)1) Concerning the whole plugging in business and how it affects the ecosystem… this just reminds me of my Japanese teacher and how she always would go “You have to let go of English!”. I think you need to let go of Earth. Because… it’s another planet. Why couldn’t things work that way there, and why wouldn’t it work? I mean, how is it beneficial for the ecosystem that we domesticated animals? Without humans, no ecosystem works that way. I don’t see how the plug in business is different… although it sounds healthier for the animal, as it just depends on making that connection and physically/genetically altering them.
2) I am a little confused on your comment about the symbolism getting taken too far AND the plot being simple. I don’t see how it can be both things at once. O__o? I mean, I can see things being overly complicated and symbolism getting out of hand, but… the symbolism seemed straight forward to me. XD Also, it WAS a really simple plot, and for that reason I think it’s important to just look at what it’s obviously trying to say and not what it could possibly maybe perhaps say if you wanted to think about it that way. Like… there is clearly a theme of people being connected with nature. And I don’t think it’s “don’t be human”. It’s more like “don’t be a human who wants to dominate everything rather than coexisting with it”. There are humans who are allowed to stay at the end, and ones who get to do really heroic things while being human. Again, that’s the same for the industrialists and military types – there are scenes that show that not everybody is on board with what happens. So it didn’t seem black and white regarding what groups people belonged to, but it was definitely black and white about how people approach issues. Like… it is obviously bad to use military superiority to further industrial interests at the expense of a group of people. I mean, that whole thing shocked me in how exactly it replicated the whole issue between settlers and the Native Americans. Pretty much everything about the general set up was the same. Sneriously.
3) The racism thing. I see where that argument comes up, but I don’t understand it at the same time. So, the Na’vi are racist for not wanting to converse with a species that has screwed them over? Cause I’m pretty sure that'd be a pretty natural reaction when trust is broken. It is obvious that they had communication, since there are Na’vi who speak English and attended that school. They did make an effort to understand humans. We aren’t given that story in depth, but it’s still something that is brought up. Also, we don’t ever hear if the Na’vi won’t talk to humans. It sounded more like the humans thought they would be more successful if they approached the Na’vi while looking like them. Obviously, that wasn’t fooling anybody or getting any favors.
4) It would have been nice if it was more complicated, I do agree. I mean, it had such pretty packaging, that a bit more substance would have not have been remiss. But at the same time… I kind of appreciated that. I get so frustrated with many of these movies that have shit happening that makes no sense and all sorts of convoluted crap that they later try to string together. People seem to try to make things complicated just for the sake of making it complicated, and then they assume that complicated = deep/meaningful. I hate that. I mean, a story can just tell a story. It doesn’t need shocking turns or revelations or tragedy. Like, I really liked the 1st and 2nd seasons of Lost, but then I just felt like it was a constant mindfuck and uh yeah. Avatar came across as like… “Disney for Adults” XD. I know I left the theatre after seeing it the first time feeling a bit let down, but once I thought about it I couldn’t figure out why. I mean… why is a Disney plot in a Disney movie good, but if that sort of plot is in a more mature movie, it's not? That’s a bit hypocritical, and after that I appreciated the movie more. It’s nice to just be able to understand a movie without my head hurting sometimes.
Okay, I’m done. Feel free to interweb smack me. XD
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Date: 2010-01-24 09:31 am (UTC)The thing about the symbolism being taken too far wasn't so much a matter of it being complicated as it being over the top and not really applying to humanity--namely, the FireWire connection to nature. Talking about interconnectedness...the Na'vi enjoy a literal connection to nature that a human not in an avatar body could never hope to replicate. It's like...oh, well, if we could just plug ourselves into trees and horses and shit, maybe we'd feel a little closer to nature, too. But we can't, so we don't.
I dunno. I think part of it is probably that I did see it with Ben, and that he was very negative about it both before and after. So I'm coming at it from a cynical viewpoint, since he won't even listen to me if I don't approach it from his angle to begin with, as pretty much all of this is from the conversation we had about it afterward. :/ I do want to see it again, but I still think that there should have been more character development on the Na'vi end of things. And maybe it's just that we missed the part where they got first contact and first picked up their attitude against humans, I dunno.
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Date: 2010-02-10 07:49 am (UTC)Anyway, bahahaha, well... you've known me long enough that my behavior shouldn't come as a surprise. I mean, really. XD
But speaking of poking holes in arguments... why is it a bad symbolic thing that they can literally connect with nature? I mean, it's a fantasy/sci-fi thing, so they are totally within their limits to go that direction. Besides, there are plenty of story lines that are waaaay more out there. Do they necessarily say something about the human condition in a literal sense? No. But we can still look at them and go "oh hey, I see the underlying message." How about friggin "Animal Farm"? That's like symbolism to a ridiculous degree. Think if you read that with no knowledge of the historical events it's supposed to reflect. Now, knowing about the historical events, we can take away lessons and such, and that's actually because the symbolism/allegory stuff is taken to such an extreme. Or what about even Lord of the Rings? I think you can take some lessons from that story... it has good themes. But what about that actually applies to earth? XD Besides, while the literal connection is focused on in two scenes, there are also montages about nature in general, and how people interact with it, and those are VERY applicable to our lives and our reality. :) *has had to see the movie 4 times because her mother is friggin obsessed with it but won't see it alone. Dissecting various aspects of the film has helped keep it interesting*
But I would have to agree with you that Ben's attitude proooobably did play a bit role in the whole thing. I know I get really influenced by the mood of the people I'm with during anything. That's really frustrating, though. :( I hope you get an opportunity to see it again and not have any like... outside influence? I mean, I don't think it was the greatest movie ever (and I am getting a little bit exasperated with being dragged to the theatre every weekend for three hours, but I tend to get mochas and lunch out of it, and I'm happy that my mom is enjoying herself so much... so I guess it's okay). But still, it's beautiful to watch and obviously has the right intentions where the themes are concerned. Maybe an extended/special edition will have more scenes that will develop the Na'vi characters. Cause that'd be nice.
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Date: 2010-02-10 05:24 pm (UTC)With more distance from it, I'm hating on it less, but I still don't think it's a very smart movie. Heartfelt, sure, and it works well enough for what it is, but the fact that it was written very quickly does show. I probably should go back and see it again while it's still in theaters, if only for the pretties.
Also, I think it's hilarious that you've had to see it that many times. XD
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Date: 2010-02-16 08:59 am (UTC)No, it wasn't a very smart movie. It was pretty up front and obvious, but I guess that doesn't always have to be a bad thing. I mean, we'd tend to expect more from a film... but if it still has something to offer and can provide entertainment, I guess at the end of the day that's what it's really about. ...And I'm not going to lie -- I was totally satisfied that it had a happy ending. I don't think I grew out of those XD.
Bahahaha well, I think it's hilarious that I've seen it that many times, too. XD I know my mom is talking about seeing it again... @__@ Maybe she'll go while I'm in Iowa.
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Date: 2010-02-16 08:07 pm (UTC)I am not at all against happy endings. I don't think it hurts us to have sad endings now and then, but a lot of the time when filmmakers end a movie on a downer note, they're doing it solely for the sake of not following the happy ending tradition. And that's not a good reason at all.