So far, so good...
But here is where we go political.
While Cameron's cinematographic achievement has earned deserved ovations, there are voices that turn the attention to the political side of the movie. Basically, the accusations are as follows...
Accusation 1. Avatar is branded as an obvious leftist, anti-war, anti-industrial, pro-environmentalist propaganda. It is animation, and many children are going to watch it. And they will get brainwashed into the New Age, hippie naturalist agenda of the author(s). Just one more proof that Hollywood is Liberal, etc. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/geoffrey-dickens/2009/12/14/today-james-cameron-reveals-liberal-propaganda-avatar
Accusation 2. Avatar is unpatriotic, un-American and many more "un" things, and above all, un-humanist, because it puts mankind in the position of the bad guys, the oppressor, who is colonising the poor lovely aliens. It is also seen as an allusion to the Iraq War. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100019656/is-avatar-an-attack-on-the-iraq-war/
Accusation 3. Avatar is racist, because, when drawing the above parallel between the human invasion and colonialism, it creates an impression that only the white man (i.e. the humans) possess the ability/capacity to destroy worlds, and respectively to save worlds. The native aliens are obviously not able to save themselves on their own, and they need a white/human to do it for them.
Accusation 4. In the meantime, Avatar promotes reverse racism, because it implants white guilt - humans are the bad guys, they are destroying a beautiful planet and a native civilisation that lives in harmony with nature. "And then there’s his underlying purpose: Avatar is the corniest movie ever made about the white man's need to lose his identity and assuage racial, political, sexual and historical guilt." http://www.nypress.com/article-20710-blue-in-the-face.html
Miscellaneous accusations. For instance, some Indian religious organisations have expressed concerns about the way the movie depicts their religion (I am talking about Hinduism).
And then, there are the most fringe lunatics coming out of the woodwork and telling us that the movie is about population control and the director is an eugenicist.
http://www.thestoryofagirl.com/2009/12/20/avatar-propaganda/Etc, etc.
Being a cinemaniac myself, all this made me thinking. What is going on here? I mean in the world of cinema, and art as a whole? Thus I arrived at a couple of questions that I would like to put here for discussion.
1) How powerful an indoctrination tool is cinema, actually? We have seen many examples, from the early propaganda films during WW2 and beyond, to the modern creations that earn the Oscars. Has the role of cinema as a tool for shaping public perceptions increased with the advance of technology and the globalisation of the media?
2) Is this avoidable? Does the public have any way to protect itself from being indoctrinated by the ideas that are constantly pouring from the screen? And is this necessary at all? I mean...the art and media are part of social life, including politics. It is an open stage for presenting ideas and exposing the public to ideas. In this sense, should we try to resist this phenomenon, or we should embrace its effects, while still remaining capable of critical thinking?
3) Does art/cinema follow the current trends, or does it create them? Does the cinema establishment (producers, directors, writers) actually answer whatever preferences the mainstream public has at the moment, or just the opposite - they are like a powerful mind cabal that has its own agenda and is trying to shape the brains of the "sheeple"? If the former, then isn't this what free market is about (numbers sell)? If the latter, who/what are these working for?
4) What is the reason for the increased polarisation in society recently? People seem to react with much more extreme emotions to nearly everything, especially politics...and yes, also including art, and the cinema in particular. Just remember the Muhammad cartoons. Several Danish embassies in the Muslim world were besieged by angry crowds. Then, there is the movie "300", a clearly cartoonish one, but it was banned in Iran because it was perceived as offensive to the Persian/Iranian culture. There was also the movie "Borat", an apparent spoof, which however caused an angry reaction by the Kazakhs, who said it depicted them in a derogatory way. Even Brokeback Mountain caused outrage with its "apparent promotion of the gay agenda" and "mockery of the traditional American symbols". And now there is Avatar, a nice well thought and well executed high quality fiction 3D animation which again is stirring the passions. What is wrong with people? Or has it always been like that, but we are noticing this just now, because the modern age of global information exposes us to these phenomena worldwide?
This of course could be expanded beyond cinema, it could apply to any kind of art. But, being quite interested in the media, I needed to ask these questions and see your opinions. Avatar comes very timely now, as it was released just after the Copenhagen summit (I am sure it is no coincidence). Being close to the environmentalist ideas myself, it would have been so easy for me to say that the movie is in tune with my convictions, period. But I feel we should be more critical about these things.
And...if anything, the movie is a very good way to kill 3 hours in the theater! So, in case you still haven't seen it, go watch it and then report back!
Or just tell me your opinion on the above issues.
