Avatar

[Thomas Beshear]

I agree. It's a message at least some people will absorb. And it's needed. 
Among the commercials before a movie I saw today (it wasn't Avatar) was a 
spot for the National Guard, complete with martial music, "24"-style 
graphics, and plenty of scenes of camouflaged badasses "protecting freedom." 
If Avatar can make a few kids question that message, all the better.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Tracy" <brook7 at sover.net>
To: "pynchon -l" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2009 11:29 PM
Subject: Avatar


>  Avatar is the Ist full length imax 3D film I have  seen. It was  quite a 
> ride if not exactly a bold  venture into the unknown as  storytelling. 
> Lotta silly shit in here, but I think the Newitz review  is too harsh and 
> too narrow as a cultural lens. This is about  civilization's war on 
> tribal cultures , not dark skinned people.  Also it ignores the fact that 
> a film of mass appeal is taking an  openly subversive position on the role 
> of the  US corporate/military/  colonial/ mercenary nexus. Nothing was 
> disguised  and I saw military  looking fellows walking out after the movie 
> shaking their heads and  looking disturbed. For me that justifies the many 
> weak points. This  is not pure escapism, and I hope it has some disturbing 
> effects on  the culture, particularly on youth.
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> We really do live at a time when the last traces of tribal cultures  are 
> being extinguished along with vast swaths of the planet's complex 
> ecosystems. All done in pursuit of the rocket fuel of infinite 
> consumption.
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