Avatar is an amazing film

I thank Con for this opportunity. To any readers - make sure you have either seen Avatar or don't plan to; there will be major spoilers below. I'll begin by laying out my burden. I must either: A) Provide positive aspects of the film that outweigh the presented negatives. ~or~ B) Counter Con's claims and provide positive claims that don't have to outweigh. I will opt for a mix of both, providing positive aspects of the film and defeating Con's arguments. === Pro Case === 1) Avatar is the second highest-grossing film of all time. Second to only the Titanic, it has already pulled in over $1,351,968,203 (> one billion dollars) [2]. It is one of only 5 films so far to break one billion dollars [2]. Being the number two film of all time, Avatar obviously fulfills the commercial goals of a movie - to make money. Indeed, it far surpasses the mediocre and almost defies the classification 'amazing'. 2) Avatar has received very positive reviews. At Rotten Tomatoes, the Top Critics reached a consensus of 94%, with 9239 of the site users following closely at 90%. Imdb users gave it 8.7/10 stars after 141,388 votes [5]. Yahoo movie critics awarded it an A-, and 34,052 users granted it an A [6]. 3) Avatar promotes environmentalism. While Con derides Avatar for the unity it attributes to plant and animal life, this same unity is what contributes to one of Avatar's many underlying themes. Throughout the movie, the Na'vi educate Jake Sully on the beauty and importance of nature. In fact, towards the end, he even concedes to Eh'wa that the humans have already destroyed their planet, and to allow them to destroy Pandora would be a grave mistake. The movie, being set in 2154, sends a clear message of environmentalism. 4) Avatar promotes cultural understanding. Another underlying theme of the movie is the acceptance of diversity. The human mining colony on Pandora begins the movie with little understanding of the Na'vi. As the movie progresses, Jake Sully must weigh the importance of the Na'vi culture against the mining operations, and stand up to the culturally insensitive Colonel Quaritch (the antagonist). Apart from the two sides symbolizing environmentalism vs. industrialization, they also symbolize the need for respecting diversity. The conflicts between the mining colony and the natives stem from the indifferent attitude of the humans, and their perception that the Na'vi have neither wisdom nor technology to offer. === Con Case === I'll preface all of these rebuttals with the statement that Avatar is purely fictional. If Con believes that any form of unrealistic media is not amazing, then he is negating every work of fiction thus far created by man. The voter must keep in mind that Avatar is not meant to be a documentary, but rather is a work of science fiction. 1) "Floating mountains..." The movie clearly states that there is a 'flux' and/or strong magnetic field surrounding the mountains. It is easy to extrapolate that whatever this flux field may be is holding up the mountains. Further, it is simply possible that they are held up by the force of Eh'wa. Finally, the composition of these floating mountains and that of the planet Pandora could easily be non-earth elements/compounds. It is already clear that Unobtainium, which does not exist on earth, exists on this planet. Other materials with strange properties could account for flotation. 2) "Runoff" The runoff is easily explained by the water cycle. Water condenses in the sky on the mountains, then flows back down. It is possible that a dry season occurs where the water stops flowing as reservoirs refill. Also, Eh'wa could restock the mountains. 3) "[Final battle]" A lot of the final battle was symbolic. It represented the clash between humans and the Na'vi, and thus had to be fought out. Colonel Quaritch is a military man with certain conceptions of justice. He makes it abundantly clear in the movie that he wants to defeat and disgrace the Na'vi. A discreet bomb run would not break their spirit, but a lost war would. Further, the mining colony did not seem to have bombers, and the planet is 5 years away from earth in space travel. Thus, spaceships are an impossibility. The humans had to protect their payload, which meant flying at the large ship's speed. 4) "Kevlar [vs.] arrows" Just as Kevlar doesn't protect from being stabbed by a knife, it may not protect one from an arrow. The Na'vi possess superhuman strength, and have bones reinforced by carbon fiber. Their bows are much stronger than ours, and arrows carry significantly more mass. Their arrows compensate for lost speed with sheer weight. The Na'vi can fire with enough force to dent fiberglass (or whatever material is used in glass on the mechas and planes). 5) Radar Machine Guns/Snipers While the soldiers did have radar, the large amount of trees and other foliage makes blind-firing a waste of ammunition. Most bullets would be stopped before reaching their targets. Snipers would likewise have trouble - finding a target amidst all the forest is more work than it's worth. Further, if the soldiers started blind-firing, the Na'vi could easily take cover and wait until they ran out of ammunition. 6) "machine guns [vs.] larger animals" Again, the animals on Pandora are much larger and stronger than ours. Their bones are reinforced with carbon fiber. Elephant rounds on earth can go as high as a caliber of .600[1]. Pandoran animals have ridiculously thick hides, are extremely strong, and it is therefore plausible to believe that they would be unharmed when shot. 7) Na'vi mega-tree Con provides no evidence here. The tree is large and reinforced on the inside. 8) Neural Network The neural signal could easily be reinforced at certain destinations. Further, while all trees may be connected to a degree, they don't really have to communicate like your brain does to your body. They could simply exist as a linked colony of wildlife. 9 A) Neural Network Evolution Neural networking is a huge evolutionary advantage. The ability for me not to just die a horse but become one with it allows both the horse and me to better evade predators and catch prey. The same applies to all animals that exist on the planet - their neuron interface allows for mores secure hunting and mating. 9 B) Unobtainium The element was named by scientists, who are notorious for bad jokes. Acronyms in particle physics, for example, are either highly unoriginal, or painfully punny. In summary, Avatar has received stellar reviews and great success. It promotes valuable messages, and is a great way to spend the weekend. Con's only problems with the movie stem from a misunderstanding of the science fiction genre. Sources: [1] http://en.wikipedia.org... [2] http://www.imdb.com... [3] http://www.rottentomatoes.com... [4] http://www.rottentomatoes.com... [5] http://www.imdb.com... [6] http://movies.yahoo.com...