Preachy Anti Western Propaganda—But Still Inspiring and Entertaining

Rating: 6/10 (23 December 2009)

Avatar is preachy anti western propaganda. I think everyone understood that from the onset. Yet, it does contain enough new ideas, artfully presented, to keep it interesting throughout.
It is a visual landmark. From this day forward we can expect the vivid realization of worlds we have never dreamed of. There may still be a handful of technical kinks to work out, but basically filmmakers can show us anything they want us to see as if we are standing right in the midst of it.
Now to the preachy part. It is sad that the sages of Hollywood can realize a completely structural justification for what amounts to animism but can not imagine the possibility of a similar, albeit less easily understood, justification for some of the monotheistic religions. Gaia is possible, but God is not? Couldn't there be some similar all encompassing structure that ties together and embraces everything in the universe? Maybe we are seeing in the strings of superstring theory something akin to the tentacles of Avatar's great neural network.
Cameron seems to say in this film that creatures at the level of making bows and arrows and covering themselves with woven fabric can still be within the parameters of ecological balance but that creatures capable of building machines of steel that fly and walk can not. I would like to think that when humans arrive at the level of being able to travel to other planets and inject their consciousness into a biological counterpart they might also acquire some degree of subtlety. Couldn't they mine the desired elements with something small and unobtrusive so as not to disturb the local inhabitants and their ecosystem? What about the possibility of nanobots or at least very small mechanical moles? Are we to believe that a Hollywood filmmaker can grasp the significance of a planetary neural network but that the inheritors of our own technological achievements could not?
I suppose the thing that bothers me about this film is not the implied guilt of western civilization, but the arrogance of holier than thou film makers who presume they have some global awareness of universal truths unattainable to simpletons who merely advance and perfect technology. After all, isn't this film the culmination of vast amounts of human technology? Isn't it made possible by the gigantic system of theaters and persons willing to pay money to see this creation? How could anyone make a quarter of a billion dollar movie if it was not funded through the system of theaters where is it seen and by the people who pay to see it? The bad, ignorant, capitalistic grunts who stand accused in this film are the same ones who are supporting Cameron's habit.
Everyone should—rather must—see this film. It represents a transitional event in the art of visual representation. I just wish Hollywood would get off its high horse and look its fellow earthlings in the eye. Really, the universe is big enough for all of us!