AVATAR-Now there is a movie! 3-D HIGHLY recommended

SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, DON'T READ THIS! COME BACK, READ AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS AFTER YOU SEE IT! YOU NEED TO ENTER THE MOVIE THEATER WITH AS LITTLE UPFRONT "AVATAR" KNOWLEDGE AS POSSIBLE.



Since I gave such a hard time to "Nine" I was losing hope that Hollywood could create anything that would truly entertain me. Well, "Avatar" did the trick. On the main "good movie" scale of making me forget that I should have peed during the previews, it ranks very high. I had no memory of even owning a bladder. I was lost in the forest on the planet of Pandora. Hell, I've decided that is now where I would prefer to live. Is that so wrong?


It's been quite awhile since Mr. I or I have been moved by a movie. This movie not only is visually beautiful, it has many messages that were not lost on this viewer. First I'll talk about the graphics....message thoughts to follow. The 3-D graphics were beyond incredible. They were spectacular yet subtle. And when it comes to 3-D graphics, less is more in my book. What I mean by that is that this movie was made to tell a good story, in a visually beautiful way. The 3-D experience enhances the movie just as it is supposed to. This movie wasn't made just to make objects pop out on the screen and scare the bejesus out of you. It was only used to enhance the story. The 3-D glasses were actual glasses, not the paper things with the red and blue film. Hence the higher price for this movie. At least $3.50 is going to the 3-D glasses that you recycle after the movie. Mr. I took the time to ask the attendant if we had to buy glasses if we came back to see it again. The answer is yes. They sell you new glasses every time you come. So it is probably best to recycle the glasses. Although when it comes out in DVD, I assume it will be a packaged deal with glasses. Time will tell.


The messages...oh, there were many. Cameron was not subtle in expressing his thoughts and views of the world as we now know it, and where we could be headed if we aren't careful. What amazes me is that he was able to throw in so many messages in one movie. If you please the mind's eye, you can get all kinds of people to listen. Now, they may not hear you, but they are listening. I noticed that other than a few people coming in late to the movie, I didn't witness anyone getting out of their seats to go do anything. They were glued to the screen.

Messages, some of the ones I got, but aren't limited to any of the below:

LOVE: He told a story about love; love of the earth; love of people who are different from us; love between a man and a woman of two different backgrounds and two different "races"; love, loyalty and responsibility to friends, no matter if we truly understand those friends completely.


GREED: Cameron's story of people (corporations and countries) consumed by getting what they want at all costs-no matter if it was theirs to take or not-wasn't subtle, but it was so true. Those of us in that theater who lean more to the left got it immediately. What amuses me is that there are a lot of people who lean more to the right (or FAR right) who I don't think saw the movie as anything other than what it was....a pretty and entertaining movie. If those people got the messages, I haven't seen anyone saying so anywhere. But then, many of those people are good at ignoring the signals. Foreshadowing is not their thing....unless it involves the world coming to an end.

WAR: War is sometimes necessary. I understand that. However, in my opinion, it has been a long time since war was necessary. I'll save you the whole post 9/11 mishandled ruckuses rehashing. And now I've heard that because the Military Industrial Complex was shown in a bad light, soldiers are threatening to boycott the movie. That is their right. However, this isn't a movie made to show how bad soldiers are. This is a movie that shows if we aren't careful, wars can be started over non-righteous theories. That isn't a soldier's fault, he is taking orders. Cameron shows that war is hell. War, like most everything, usually boils down to the haves and the have nots. In the future, I have no doubt if we continue down the road of mass consumption, we will be the have nots looking to another planet to get what they have. Do I need to remind anyone about our latest "finding water on the moon" NASA episode? The event of "blowing up the crater" to discover water made me wonder; just who decided that we owned the moon? Because we put a flag there, we now own the planet? Things that make you go hmmmm.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS: This goes to the whole mass consumption theory. We are quickly using up Mother Earth's resources. We already have gone to other countries to wreak havoc over oil, it isn't that far fetched an idea to think we would go to another planet to wreak havoc. It shows a people who are truly connected to their planet. They care for it, respect it, protect it and learn from it. We Earthlings could learn that lesson.

RACE RELATIONS: When watching this movie, I couldn't help but remember the plight of the American Indian or even the Aborigines in Australia. People came, they conquered, and the rest is history. Ask an American Indian how he feels after he or she watched the movie. I'd be interested to know their reaction. There was a theme that tends to follow actions of conquering; think of the people as "savages", it is much easier to kill them and take what they have. That history keeps repeating itself.

I've gone on too long about this movie. You really must go see it. You don't have to think as deeply about the movie as a whole to enjoy it. It is entertaining on just about any level.