First, some accused "Avatar" of being anti-American and anti-military. I've now seen the movie twice and can't recall ever hearing a particular country mentioned or that the "bad guys" were legit military. All that is mentioned is Earth and that the main character is a Marine ... who turns out to be the good guy! Conservative critics need to get the stick out of their butts and lighten up.
Some wonder (jokingly) if it's the most offensive movie of the year, claiming it is sexist, heathenous, unfair to those in wheelchairs and sprinkled with a few other "isms."
Then, others claim that there is a racist theme:
Near the end of the hit film "Avatar," the villain snarls at the hero, "How does it feel to betray your own race?" Both men are white — although the hero is inhabiting a blue-skinned, 9-foot-tall, long-tailed alien.Yesterday, I finally reached my limit when I read about people claiming to experience depression after seeing the movie, or what is being called "Avatar blues":
Strange as it may seem for a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble denizens of a faraway moon, "Avatar" is being criticized by a small but vocal group of people who allege it contains racist themes — the white hero once again saving the primitive natives.
Since the film opened to widespread critical acclaim three weeks ago, hundreds of blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have said things such as the film is "a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people" and that it reinforces "the white Messiah fable."
The film's writer and director, James Cameron, says the real theme is about respecting others' differences.
(CNN) -- James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.
On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.
As Bob Parks at Black & Right quips: "What a pussified society we have today."
The plot is, indeed, cliché and predictable, but it was still entertaining and the visual effects were stunning. I find it exciting to see how artists envision the future -- all the high-tech stuff, what other planets might be like, etc.
The only bonafide critique I heard was from a local movie reviewer (I think it was Max Foise of 97.1 FM Talk): he described Cameron's simple plot as "Dances with Smurfs."
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