Well, I went last night to see the highly anticipated movie by James Cameron –  “Avatar”. At first, when I found out about this movie, I really didn’t wish to go see it. But my Significant Other asked me to go see it with him. How could I say no? He was so excited about this flick.

It  is as sad, thought provoking & heart wrenching as it is beautiful, artistic & awe inspiring.    

It manages to put the plight of the planet, the ill fate of races such as the Jews, Native Americans and so many others in the setting of a beautiful dream. It also touches upon things of a spiritual nature, which is as old as time itself, but still very controversial in today’s age. In one respect it is almost too much to take in and possibly ahead of it’s time, but on the other hand it is long over due.     

This film is by far the most disturbing & brilliant film I have ever seen. 

There are many things I like about this movie: it portrays women’s roles in a very positive and powerful way. The dialog is amazing and the score is spot-on. The graphics are the best I have ever seen. In fact, when Jake Sully speaks into his video log and says “I feel like there is real and here is not” I whisper under my breath “…no kidding!” I feel exactly the same way he does as I watch his incredible journey into a planet and culture and race of people that will forever change his life (and possibly mine by the time the lights come up and I venture back out into the real world). I am in awe of this beautiful world I see before me and highly upset that humans would even think about running rip shod all over them and their beautiful home.

But then I stop and think “…this is exactly the thing that HAS happened on the planet Earth over and over and over again. And then I get sadder…

A couple of things bothered me, though, about the mechanics of this film.  For one, the name of the mineral/substance that the Earthlings were trying to mine and strip from the planet Pandora was called “unobtainium”…  What is up with that? Here you have a film that is reported to have cost $300 – $500 million to make. Why skimp on the name of this very important element of the story? Another thing that bugs me: the violence. It seems to me these days that movie makers think that they have to inject *X* amount of violence into their story lines to make sure their ratings and box office numbers go up up UP. I find this insulting. I don’t need gratuitous bloodshed and violence to entertain me. In fact, it is just the opposite. I find that the older I get, the more I detest the sight of this made-up and thrill seeking type of thing in movies. Really good movies and stories just don’t need the violence to make it a good tale if it has any merit or is well written and executed. Quite to the contrary.     

I “get” that this movie has a message about all the social issues that we as a species have to work hard on fixing. BUT…why make up this elaborate multi-million dollar eye candy fantasy tale when there is so much documentation regarding such very real things that have come to pass since before the birth of Christ? The Inquisition, the Holocaust, the Native American massacres, Apartheid, the Civil War, and modern issues too numerous to mention…the list goes on and on and on. If kids need a message, show them the truth, not some candy-coated fairy tale.     

I know. It’s “just a movie”. But, parents be warned: this is not a film made for little kids, like the age rating and the trailers would lead you to assume.  PG13 I think should be taken rather literally with this one.     

Food for thought:  Is this movie the work of genius? Just a highly entertaining fantasy trip? Or is this just another attempt at raking in a pile of dough for the movie industry?     

Let me know what you think!