Rarely does a film fully live up to the hype that the media gives it. Since the 1970s, when George Lucas came out with "Star Wars: A New Hope," there has yet to be a film that truly has been able to capture both a captivating storyline, inspiring never-before-seen and groundbreaking CGI, and truly entrancing acting. It is debatable that James Cameron has not had this form of science fiction genius hit the screen since "Terminator," however he has restored my faith in his ability to write, cast, and direct films with his masterpiece "Avatar." I read the reviews and criticisms and was extremely weary of seeing the movie because I was not sure if I had it in me to see another visually striking film lacking at least a decent storyline. Much to my surprise, not only did "Avatar" live up to the hype it was given but in my opinion surpassed it.
The main criticism that I found on websites on RottenTomatoes and other similar to those is that "Avatar" is "visually striking yet lacks a consistent and engaging storyline." When reading these reviews, I took the information to heart, because often in the science fiction film genre when a director tries to use state of the art CGI, there is a sacrifice made on the level of the storyline. However, much to my surprise, "Avatar" did not have have a "lacking" storyline, on the contrary, I found it to be a fascinating look at ethics and what we, as humans, are willing to do for capitalistic gain. Yes, it is true that there is a love story in the fore front of the story line, which is the main criticism, that "Avatar" is just a "3 hour love story." I find this incredibly close minded because when I hear a statement like that it becomes blatantly obvious to me that that particular viewer did not pay enough attention to the story line and missed the key components that make up the film.
There is no doubt, as mentioned above more than once, that the CGI and graphics are indescribable. Never have I seen something with such grace and agility and at the same time be able to reveal the advancements in technology in the past 30 years, since the "Star Wars" trilogy. The film editors and producers used the 3D technology well and do not make a point to ensure that the audience knows they are watching a film in 3D by poking a stick out at the audience or some other cheap trick. Instead, once sees the film how James Cameron envisioned the audience experiencing the film, or at least what I can only imagine what he had envisioned. At this point, I feel that I have gotten across the fact that there is no other film, in regards to CGI and graphics, that can match up to "Avatar," it truly brought about a new age of technological advances.
As mentioned above, the main criticism (to reiterate) was that while "Avatar" did not lack in visual awe moments, it did fail at having a storyline that could match the memorable graphics. This review would not do justice to the film if I did not address the storyline and what I, personally, took from what I perceive as one of the best parallels in science fiction. Was there a love story to bring the whole film together, of course, because what is life without a love story of some kind. While some may find the story to be cheesy and lacking depth, I disagree, I found that the "love story" within the film was incredibly entrancing. Not only did it engage the audience, it made the characters extremely relatable in the sense that it creates a realistic love story not a "Hollywood" love story that the average viewer sees in almost every film. The underlying love story between Jake Sully and Neytiri contains aspects of a relationship that most people have felt at some point in their lives; betrayal, confusion, comfort, new experiences, and a sense of belonging with each other. Those are often aspects of relationships that I feel most romantic comedies fail to provide making the story hard to relate to. If this is the only criticism that critics had regarding the storyline then I feel they are searching for weaknesses that can not be found easily, if at all.
While there is a love story at the fore front of the film, if one is to truly analyze and attend to the various aspects and dimensions of the film then they would see how the love story is only a snippet of what I perceive as the message James Cameron is attempting to get across. Financial competitiveness and lack of ethics have become a result of the rising capitalism in America today. Americans, and other countries as well, have made money into a fetish so that more profit always means a better life. Cameron brings this idea to the table along with the possible complications that may arise out of this competitive society. It is obvious that the society that Cameron is referring to is the United States by using the U.S. military troops in the film. Pandora is the name that Cameron gives the alien planet in which the U.S. invades in order to obtain "unobtainium." Cheesy name for a substance/element, yes, but it gets at the point of what we, as humans, are willing to do to others so we can place a price tag on their "priceless" riches. The use of "Pandora" as the name for the planet is extremely clever, because if one knows their Greek mythology then they have heard of Pandora and her box. I found it quite interesting that Cameron used this name for the planet because once the U.S. attempts to "open" Pandora, they release all the energy that is held within the planet and the life forces that help the planet to survive.
The main point that I took from the film is that people always try to put a price on everything when the world is filled with many objects and treasures that are truly priceless. Within the film, the U.S. military is so adamant in making a profit off the "unobtanium" that they are willing to destroy an entire race of people that they do not even bother understanding. It is through the attempt to get close to them and gain their trust only to betray them that Jake Sully truly learns the culture that inhabits Pandora. Through that process, he learns that there is more to life and a culture than items you can put a price on and that everything is interconnected. Jake comes to the realization that if one is willing to destroy a culture then they are incapable of understanding humanity (so to speak). The U.S. military has no interest in learning about the indigenous people on Pandora because the more you learn about the culture the more one understands that the indigenous people are people too and they are simply trying to live their life the way they believe is necessary. This idea of knowing what is right for another culture is close minded and has been used in history by many nations not just the United States. For example, Germany in WWII believed they knew what was right for the world by exterminating the Jewish population. As another example, the United States believed that they knew what was right for Vietnam and their people in the 1960s without fully understanding what their culture consists of.
Another huge accomplishment by James Cameron through this film that needs to be noted is his creation of another language that the indigenous people of Pandora use. To date there have only been a select number of people that have created an entirely new language and that includes J.R.R. Tolkien and the creation of Elvish language. Another language creation was Star Trek and the creation of the Klingon language. Creating a whole new language system is no easy task, which is why so few have attempted to do so.
Last, but definitely not least, one must look at the name of the film and how that integrates a large part of technology today. "Avatar" in the film refers the fact that in order to understand the indigenous population they combined the human genetics with the indigenous people's (a.k.a. the Na'vi) genetics to create "hollow Na'vi bodies" so that they can link their human brain to the respective Na'vi bodies and act as them. This plays on the idea that one can create another identity through technology because today we use avatars in online gaming and networking where we create a character that represents us online. This idea is not too dissimilar but takes the idea of having an avatar to a whole new and creative level.
Overall, this film captures so many dimensions that it is hard to state that it is nothing but absolutely extraordinary. It was capable of not only criticizing the world as it is today, which is common in science fiction, but do so in a manner that embodies many human emotions in order to further connect the audience with the characters. And, of course, it goes without saying that the CGI and graphic is the film are groundbreaking. And my response to those who believe the film is lacking storyline, I ask you to look further and more in depth to what is being revealed on the screen and through the story.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
"The Road" Cormac McCarthy
Usually, I am not a fan of Cormac McCarthy's novels mainly due to his obsession over the destruction of man and the imminence of that happening, however his novel "The Road" provided a different side of him that I couldn't put down. I have to admit that the only reason I picked up the book was because I saw the preview for the upcoming film adaptation of the novel. Oddly, the film did not intrigue me but the story behind the film told me that second, "damn, that story line would make an amazing novel." Much to my delight, I was right. I was overly impressed with McCarthy's ability to demonstrate a what true survival is, but he was also able to tackle the new challenge that has come to face 21st century novelists; decay.
Ever since the start of the new century there has been a sense of impending doom of the "apocalypse" coming to the planet. In the change from 1999 to 2000, there was the scare of the dreaded Y2K, where all the computers were expected to malfunction causing mass hysteria and chaos. Then you have the continuing fear of Global Warming and the thought that a third Ice Age is on its way. Now with the year 2012 coming closer, the Mayan prediction of the apocalypse has become the new hype. With all these theories coming forth regarding how the world is going to end, it has created a new challenge for 21st century writers and that is what happens after the "apocalypse?"
While there is a continued belief that our world, in its current state, is headed directly for destruction, however no one has hesitated to believe that many will survive said destruction. A little ironic in a sense, perhaps it has to do with the idea that we, as human beings, can not fathom a world without us so then we become the survivors of a supposed "apocalypse." Because we have given ourselves the power of being the ones that will survive said "apocalypse," we then try and figure out what the world will be like and what it means to survive. This is not a new concept to literature, especially in the genre of science fiction and fiction, however it has evolved into this idea of decay and there has been a demand by readers to know what novelists think about the decay of humanity. McCarthy has been able to capture the idea of the form in which decay in humanity reveals itself, and he begins this in his novel, "The Road," by not giving any of his characters including his protagonist a name allowing the characters easier to relate to. The refusal of McCarthy to give his characters' names also refocuses the reader to the main point of the novel.
Underlying the survival aspect of the story, there is a tale of father and son not just trying to survive the world but also learning to trust each other. Repeatedly, the son asks his father if they are going to die or if everything is going to be ok, and the father's natural response is that everything will be ok as soon as they reach the coastline. The father has no idea what the coastline has to offer, there is a high chance the intended destination has nothing there except a new place in which to continue their hiding. The son is forced to "grow-up" causing him to question everything that his father is doing and in particular questioning if it would be better if they euthanize themselves the way his mother had done. It appears that the family of three captures the three different view points that everyone describes themselves as; the mother is pessimistic represented in her suicide, the father is optimistic and shows it in his attempt to survive at any costs and always seeing a "good" future ahead of them, the son on the other hand is realistic and reveals how one comes to the understanding of looking at a situation for what it truly is.
While at the beginning of the novel the father is the focus, it soon turns to the son as being the focus of the novel despite it being narrated by the father. Throughout the novel the son progressively becomes the center of the reader's attention in regards to how is this boy going to survive the harshness of a post-apocalyptic world? That is a fantastic question and there is no right or wrong answer, and cleverly enough McCarthy thought of that and left it up to the reader to decide by leaving the end of the novel opened ended. The reader has to decide how the son truly felt towards his father and the events that had transpired through the span of the novel. The father makes every effort to shield his son from the horrors of the world, but was that the right way to teach the son how to survive in this hostile world with a new family that may or may not be the "good guys." We, as the reader, are meant to assume that the family that picks up the boy are part of the "good guys," but how do we know? And the father never prepared the son for that, he went through every effort to shield him. Take for example, the time in which the father finds the basement of naked men and women, which we are to assume have become sex slaves for an unknown individual, he grabs his son and runs. While that is what most parents would do in most situations, but how can the son know why the "bad men" that may have "fire" are truly bad?
The son is portrayed as humanity's last hope, because he is the one to survive, not his mother or father. But he is not humanity's last hope just because he survived, but also because throughout the novel he expresses the goodness of the human heart. His want to help the old man, the child, and the dog are examples of pure goodness running through him and what has been slowly disappearing in the world today. While we can see the physical decay that has happened to the world that "The Road" takes place in the other decay that can be overlooked is pure humanitarianism. Slowly, we are losing the want and will to perform acts of kindness and humanity to others, especially those we do not know. So which form of decay poses the biggest threat to the 21st century, humanitarianism or natural disaster?
Ever since the start of the new century there has been a sense of impending doom of the "apocalypse" coming to the planet. In the change from 1999 to 2000, there was the scare of the dreaded Y2K, where all the computers were expected to malfunction causing mass hysteria and chaos. Then you have the continuing fear of Global Warming and the thought that a third Ice Age is on its way. Now with the year 2012 coming closer, the Mayan prediction of the apocalypse has become the new hype. With all these theories coming forth regarding how the world is going to end, it has created a new challenge for 21st century writers and that is what happens after the "apocalypse?"
While there is a continued belief that our world, in its current state, is headed directly for destruction, however no one has hesitated to believe that many will survive said destruction. A little ironic in a sense, perhaps it has to do with the idea that we, as human beings, can not fathom a world without us so then we become the survivors of a supposed "apocalypse." Because we have given ourselves the power of being the ones that will survive said "apocalypse," we then try and figure out what the world will be like and what it means to survive. This is not a new concept to literature, especially in the genre of science fiction and fiction, however it has evolved into this idea of decay and there has been a demand by readers to know what novelists think about the decay of humanity. McCarthy has been able to capture the idea of the form in which decay in humanity reveals itself, and he begins this in his novel, "The Road," by not giving any of his characters including his protagonist a name allowing the characters easier to relate to. The refusal of McCarthy to give his characters' names also refocuses the reader to the main point of the novel.
Underlying the survival aspect of the story, there is a tale of father and son not just trying to survive the world but also learning to trust each other. Repeatedly, the son asks his father if they are going to die or if everything is going to be ok, and the father's natural response is that everything will be ok as soon as they reach the coastline. The father has no idea what the coastline has to offer, there is a high chance the intended destination has nothing there except a new place in which to continue their hiding. The son is forced to "grow-up" causing him to question everything that his father is doing and in particular questioning if it would be better if they euthanize themselves the way his mother had done. It appears that the family of three captures the three different view points that everyone describes themselves as; the mother is pessimistic represented in her suicide, the father is optimistic and shows it in his attempt to survive at any costs and always seeing a "good" future ahead of them, the son on the other hand is realistic and reveals how one comes to the understanding of looking at a situation for what it truly is.
While at the beginning of the novel the father is the focus, it soon turns to the son as being the focus of the novel despite it being narrated by the father. Throughout the novel the son progressively becomes the center of the reader's attention in regards to how is this boy going to survive the harshness of a post-apocalyptic world? That is a fantastic question and there is no right or wrong answer, and cleverly enough McCarthy thought of that and left it up to the reader to decide by leaving the end of the novel opened ended. The reader has to decide how the son truly felt towards his father and the events that had transpired through the span of the novel. The father makes every effort to shield his son from the horrors of the world, but was that the right way to teach the son how to survive in this hostile world with a new family that may or may not be the "good guys." We, as the reader, are meant to assume that the family that picks up the boy are part of the "good guys," but how do we know? And the father never prepared the son for that, he went through every effort to shield him. Take for example, the time in which the father finds the basement of naked men and women, which we are to assume have become sex slaves for an unknown individual, he grabs his son and runs. While that is what most parents would do in most situations, but how can the son know why the "bad men" that may have "fire" are truly bad?
The son is portrayed as humanity's last hope, because he is the one to survive, not his mother or father. But he is not humanity's last hope just because he survived, but also because throughout the novel he expresses the goodness of the human heart. His want to help the old man, the child, and the dog are examples of pure goodness running through him and what has been slowly disappearing in the world today. While we can see the physical decay that has happened to the world that "The Road" takes place in the other decay that can be overlooked is pure humanitarianism. Slowly, we are losing the want and will to perform acts of kindness and humanity to others, especially those we do not know. So which form of decay poses the biggest threat to the 21st century, humanitarianism or natural disaster?
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Ramblings....
While this started as an assignment for a class in order to further integrate how new technologies function in the classical literary world, I have now found myself wanting to find someplace to "practice" my writing. I never at any moment thought that I would be in the place I am now, and everyday is a struggle for me to get through to the next.
With the holidays approaching, I feel a clear dissonance in me. While I look forward to holidays to spend quality time with my family, there is also this sense of impending doom. One can not know what doom I am referring to but living in a constant fear has crippled me to the point that my decisions hardly feel like they are under my control. Every choice I make is well thought out and planned according whether or not I feel fear and anxiety. I never know when I'm going to be able to handle public places, and especially in the coming season I fear going out more.
I feel like I got to get my last hoorah in before having to retreat to my house in order to feel safe. In order to feel safe in DAVIS of all places....how could anyone not feel safe there. That dilemma boggles my mind, how can I not feel safe? Every time there is a knock at my door, my heart skips a beat for fear of who may be there. I don't think I've ever felt so helpless in my life.
How much can one person take from another without even knowing what they are doing? That repeatedly runs through my head. Every time an unknown person walks behind me or a friend surprises me by touching my shoulder from behind, all I want to do is hit that person and run as fast as I can to safety. One person has been able to take every bit of power I thought I had and destroyed it. Worse, they have been able to turn me against myself and makes me want to destroy myself. I've slowly learned that over time you are your own worst enemy and I truly am my worst enemy. It takes so much of my energy just to try and maintain that I am living a "normal" and "happy" life, but what do those words mean anyway?
"Normal" and "happy" have little meaning in my life today and they rarely show their face. How could one person take so much from someone to the point that they no longer know what it means to be "happy" anymore. I have not known what happiness feels like in years, making me wonder if I really ever did know what it meant. Even at this point I am unsure of what I feel, there is numbness and an intense amount of anger. That anger is my biggest weakness, I do not know what it is like to be angry at anyone other than myself.
I have a dark past that no one knows and that I would not wish upon even my worst enemy (ironically, previously identified as myself). I've heard what many people describe me as, and I look at them with a quizzical look and say to myself, if they only knew the other half of me that lurks in the shadows and fears going to public places. For example, to put some vagueness aside (probably prompting some guesses as to what I am going through), I was out at the bars with my friends and we went to the G pub that is filled with all the people I went to high school with, many of which I would not wish to engage. While waiting for the bouncer to check my ID (and yes, despite the picture of my 15 year old self, it is a real ID and it is me) a man to the right of me that I don't know feels it is necessary for him to put his arm around my waist. My immediate thought is, "please let this be my friend that I am with." Much to my dismay it was not my friend, who I do have a "history" with, but instead a random man who thought that was appropriate. Trying to act as calmly as possible, I did the only thing that I thought would get the message clearly across to this man, I clung to my friend to give the impression that I was "spoken" for. Luckily, that worked but I found that the rest of the night the only sense of security I got and any relief from fear I got was being close to my friend. From there the story is of no one's concern but my own. What can I say, while I try and be as open as possible, I find it easier to keep my secrets.
At this moment in time, my biggest release is my writing. I do not care if anyone hears or reads it but it makes a difference for me to at least practice writing again, it has brought back a pleasure in my life that I thought I had lost for a while. This could be seen as my first step to regaining my power, but that is always open to interpretation. Instead I find that this is the only way to at least letting someone know how angry I truly am for someone taking away the simple pleasures in my life that I now miss. As mentioned above, I do feel like I am not the one making my decisions and the reason is because ever choice I make is based on how much fear I have at the moment caused by someone else. All I want is to be my own person and not have to make a decision based on fear. Living in fear may be the most exhausting thing I have ever had to experience and I'm hoping that it will all be over soon, like waking up from a bad dream...
With the holidays approaching, I feel a clear dissonance in me. While I look forward to holidays to spend quality time with my family, there is also this sense of impending doom. One can not know what doom I am referring to but living in a constant fear has crippled me to the point that my decisions hardly feel like they are under my control. Every choice I make is well thought out and planned according whether or not I feel fear and anxiety. I never know when I'm going to be able to handle public places, and especially in the coming season I fear going out more.
I feel like I got to get my last hoorah in before having to retreat to my house in order to feel safe. In order to feel safe in DAVIS of all places....how could anyone not feel safe there. That dilemma boggles my mind, how can I not feel safe? Every time there is a knock at my door, my heart skips a beat for fear of who may be there. I don't think I've ever felt so helpless in my life.
How much can one person take from another without even knowing what they are doing? That repeatedly runs through my head. Every time an unknown person walks behind me or a friend surprises me by touching my shoulder from behind, all I want to do is hit that person and run as fast as I can to safety. One person has been able to take every bit of power I thought I had and destroyed it. Worse, they have been able to turn me against myself and makes me want to destroy myself. I've slowly learned that over time you are your own worst enemy and I truly am my worst enemy. It takes so much of my energy just to try and maintain that I am living a "normal" and "happy" life, but what do those words mean anyway?
"Normal" and "happy" have little meaning in my life today and they rarely show their face. How could one person take so much from someone to the point that they no longer know what it means to be "happy" anymore. I have not known what happiness feels like in years, making me wonder if I really ever did know what it meant. Even at this point I am unsure of what I feel, there is numbness and an intense amount of anger. That anger is my biggest weakness, I do not know what it is like to be angry at anyone other than myself.
I have a dark past that no one knows and that I would not wish upon even my worst enemy (ironically, previously identified as myself). I've heard what many people describe me as, and I look at them with a quizzical look and say to myself, if they only knew the other half of me that lurks in the shadows and fears going to public places. For example, to put some vagueness aside (probably prompting some guesses as to what I am going through), I was out at the bars with my friends and we went to the G pub that is filled with all the people I went to high school with, many of which I would not wish to engage. While waiting for the bouncer to check my ID (and yes, despite the picture of my 15 year old self, it is a real ID and it is me) a man to the right of me that I don't know feels it is necessary for him to put his arm around my waist. My immediate thought is, "please let this be my friend that I am with." Much to my dismay it was not my friend, who I do have a "history" with, but instead a random man who thought that was appropriate. Trying to act as calmly as possible, I did the only thing that I thought would get the message clearly across to this man, I clung to my friend to give the impression that I was "spoken" for. Luckily, that worked but I found that the rest of the night the only sense of security I got and any relief from fear I got was being close to my friend. From there the story is of no one's concern but my own. What can I say, while I try and be as open as possible, I find it easier to keep my secrets.
At this moment in time, my biggest release is my writing. I do not care if anyone hears or reads it but it makes a difference for me to at least practice writing again, it has brought back a pleasure in my life that I thought I had lost for a while. This could be seen as my first step to regaining my power, but that is always open to interpretation. Instead I find that this is the only way to at least letting someone know how angry I truly am for someone taking away the simple pleasures in my life that I now miss. As mentioned above, I do feel like I am not the one making my decisions and the reason is because ever choice I make is based on how much fear I have at the moment caused by someone else. All I want is to be my own person and not have to make a decision based on fear. Living in fear may be the most exhausting thing I have ever had to experience and I'm hoping that it will all be over soon, like waking up from a bad dream...
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