Happy new year everyone!

There are two things I knew beforehand about Avatar. The first is the most obvious one, that it has incredible CGI. The second is that it doesn’t have an original plot. I had very low expectations for the film because I have a problem with big budget CGI films. The problem I have is that these kinds of movie concentrate heavily on the special effects and forget about developing the story. Hollywood seems to forget that a movie is as good as its script. When you have an excellent script, you have an excellent movie. Anything else added to the film are just props.

A great example where special effects are awesome but the movie is crap is Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. The movie has tons of effects that are pretty to look at. It really shows you how George Lucas wanted his Star Wars universe to be. But the script was horrible, therefore the movie was horrible. The original Star Wars movies are great because they had an excellent script. C3PO could’ve been a man wrapped in tin foil and it still would’ve been a good movie. It’s a timeless classic with no references to when it was made unlike the modern prequels.

Let’s look at the plot outline for Avatar: A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. -IMDB

From the previews I could tell that the plot is basically the conqueror type of genre where a civilization (humans) wants to get rid of the natives (Na’vi) to mine their natural resources (unobtanium). So I had my doubts about the movie. The movie is pretty predictable but it’s entertaining. The world of Pandora is fascinating to watch and that’s what makes it different from other movies with the same kind of story line. My exact words when I got out of the theatre were:

Avatar is a re-done plot with a layer of novelty. The layer of novelty is what makes the movie interesting. #

The main character, crippled ex-marine Jake Sully is your typical puppet. He does what is asked of him. After an encounter with a native in his Na’vi body, he is ordered off the record to spy on the natives, gain their trust, and try to relocate them so that the mining can begin in the natives home that happens to be the largest mineral repository of the land. The Na’vi are very connected to nature and worship/respect Eywa which is basically a Mother Goddess much like Gaia. The concept that the Earth is alive and that everything is connected is not new, but it’s represented beautifully in the film. It’s hard to fight fire with bows and arrows so a military strike is on hold while the scientists try to find a diplomatic solution.

In terms of plot, it has been called “the same movie” as Dances with Wolves. In reference to various themes in the plot, parallels have been drawn between the premise of Avatar and that of Poul Anderson’s 1957 short story “Call Me Joe”, where a paralyzed man uses his mind to remotely control an alien body. Other reviews have compared it to the films FernGully: The Last Rainforest and Pocahontas. Cameron himself acknowledged that the film is thematically similar to classic going-native films such as Dances with Wolves and At Play in the Fields of the Lord. -Wikipedia

Spoiler alert!

Being a cripple, Jake enjoys being in his Na’vi body where he can run, climb, and swim. He slowly starts to become one of the natives himself but is faced with the impending date of the destruction of the natives home that he learned to love. He ends up taking the side of the natives to fight the humans but must prove himself worthy as one of them first. The natives win after the destruction of their home and casualties from both sides. The humans are kicked out except for a few trustworthy ones and the crippled hero earns his Na’vi body at the end.

The movie is beautiful to watch and the story is not bad, it’s a decent marriage. Would I see it again? Sure. My dad and daughter loved it. So I’m guessing she’s gonna want it when it comes out on DVD and I’ll have to watch it with her.

Avatar is definitely James Cameron’s way of showing George Lucas how to take a simple story and make it into a good scifi film with awesome special effects.

“Stay with me forever.” said Jacob to Bella in the Quileute language as they were about to kiss in a scene from the New Moon movie. I read a post on Livejournal that talks about the abusive anti-feminist relationships in the Twilight series. Being a fan myself, it did make me pause and think about it.

First of all, it’s important for everyone to realize the difference between fact and fiction and also look into where the story comes from. I remember a few years ago I had a discussion with a woman from church that was complaining about the Harry Potter franchise. The woman claimed that it was a bad influence because it teaches kids all sort of diabolical things. Dealing with ignorant people is a dangerous thing so I did my best to give her a different perspective while keeping her faith in check. “Harry does what he can to battle the forces of evil with the help of his friends same as Christians do in church.” The woman liked my approach but still disapproved of the movies so I told her that the Bible is far more violent and sexual. She agreed and that was that.

Now, what does this have to do with the Twilight saga? Edward Cullen is a fictional character written by a Mormon soccer mom. Edward was human in a time of greater female oppresion and lives as a vampire over and over again posing as a teenager/young adult. Time passes by differently for a vampire but he’s still a pedophile for falling in love with Bella. Just like in Buffy the vampire slayer when Angel falls for Buffy. You might as well date a mummy, right?

The reality behind the fantasy is harsh but that’s the beauty of fantasy. Ancient psycho killers can be sexy given the situation. I remember falling for Lestat in my teenage years. Humans are animals and vampires are more animal like than human. There are times when a person feels attracted to wild and savage instincts. Look at Edward, he’s the dark and brooding hottie. He’s beautiful and dangerous. Typical bad boy. And Jacob well, you can’t get more animal than being a wolf in a human body. this is where the difference lies between domestic violence and natural animal instincts. If you ever had a furry pet, you know that loving it might not always be easy. Humans aren’t that different from other animals. But we like to pretend to be.

Edward Cullen is a vampire, a natural predator. Bella is human, she is prey. Jacob Black is a shapeshifting wolf. Humans aren’t at the top of the food chain and Bella is the clumsy and stupid type. The way I view the relationships in the Twilight saga is like that of animals. Our sense of civilized behaviour can sometimes cloud judgement. Sometimes we wish to tap into our more animalistic instincts but don’t in fear of society’s rules. It’s fun to be emotional and reckless but that doesn’t mean it’s right. I suppose that’s what’s so attractive about Twilight. But it’s not a great role model for young girls. It’s the responsability of the parents or legal guardian to teach their kids values and distinction of real world life vs fantasy.

Fiction books are just like TV. You can’t rely on them as role models. I watch tons of cartoons myself since I was little but my mom took the time to tell me that love is never like in the movies or TV. I can see that from her marriage and my own love life.

So Bella is weak and stupid and falls for dangerous guys. Guess what? So are many women, at least Bella redeems herself in Breaking Dawn where she and Alice save the day. There’s some girl power here and there in the books. It’s not all ‘damsel in distress’. Besides, fairy tales are just that, fairy tales. I pity the girl that believes that life is just like in the tales of princesses that always end in happily ever after.

If you’re reading this in Internet Explorer, do yourself a favor and download a better program, any of the rest mentioned earlier. Just do a search and pick either one. There are even reviews that recommend you which is faster and more reliable compared to Internet Explorer.

You have no idea how ridiculous it is to make things work in Internet Explorer, it’s not a user friendly experience. Start using a different program today and set the internet free. Programmers and developers will thank you for your effort. One person can make a difference. The internet can be better and prettier if you stop using Internet Explorer.