I know that James Cameron’s Avatar has been out for a long time already. I hardly expect that anyone is going to be reading this who hasn’t watched it already so expect spoilers ahead. Though honestly, if you’ve seen Pocahontas then you already know the plot anyway.
Lets get started: Avatar sucks. Here are some reasons why: Plot is cliché, dialogue is cliché, acting is porn-quality. James Cameron spent upwards of $300 million dollars to deliver us a film with spectacular visual effects and a story that is as intellectually stimulating and complex as a straight line. We’ve seen this movie before: Pocahontas, Last Samurai, Dances with Wolves, etcetera. We aren’t going to be surprised by what we see, in fact its a fair bet that we already know the major plot-points from the very beginning.
Most people I’ve informed about my hate of this movie respond: “Its not about the story”. Bullshit. Film is a storyteller’s medium – if you don’t tell a good story than you don’t have a good movie. I’ve never heard someone say “This is a really good book – even if the story sucks”. I guess that’s because you can’t really be distracted by the shiny pictures of a book.
Response #2 to my hate: “Its entertaining, its not art. Don’t look at it as art”. Fair enough, and I wish I could. I understand there is a difference between movies made for entertainment value and art films – I accept that and judge accordingly. However, since James Cameron keeps treating his film as if it were the goddamn Mona Lisa – I’m forced to judge it based on his intentions. The fact that it was even nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (which it luckily didn’t win) is enough to warrant a judgment on artistic and intellectual merit. This film is simplistic to its very core.
Considering that almost everyone knows that the plot is thin, I’ll focus on some less common gripes with the movie:
World-Building
I’ve heard a lot of people claim that the level of world-building in this movie is amazing. I seriously have to wonder if these people saw the same movie I did. The creation of his world and the races within them was absolutely lazy. Alright, so he sets the movie on some distant moon that takes over 5 years just to reach from Earth. Somehow, on this distant planet, there is an almost entirely humanoid race who developed technology suspiciously similar to that of many indigenous people of the world. I understand it is a metaphor but Aliens are supposed to be ALIENS. Not only is it absolutely ridiculous that they would have developed bows and arrows but it is ridiculous that the Na’vi would be entirely humanoid despite evolving in an entirely different environment. Basically, all Cameron did was make a more beautiful version of earth with inconsistent laws of physics (floating mountains??) and threw in an alien race who are just a hodgepodge of indigenous cultures mixed together with nothing original added in.
Message Destroyed by Ending
Kudos to Cameron for making a movie which spends the majority of its time developing a message of peace and environmentalism and then throwing that whole concept out the window because explosions are fucking awesome! The climactic battle scene isn’t some bittersweet reflection on the horrors of unavoidable war. This is Cameron’s inner 13 year old boy imagination let loose on the screen in an OMG SUPER AWESOME BATTLE!!1! Hell, there aren’t even any consequences to the damn thing… every important character who died was forgotten about by the end because they were just so damn happy. Hollywood ending, that’s a wrap folks – wait for the next movie when its all war and we don’t need that pesky exposition getting in the way.
Racist
My biggest problem with Avatar is that at its very core – its a racist film. It appeals to our guilt as Westerners for the horrific things we have done in the past. Of course, the best way to do that is to have a white guy come in and save the day for native people who couldn’t make it on their own. Think about this: white guy takes over an entirely new Na’vi body, integrates himself into their culture, and becomes their strongest and smartest warrior in a matter of months. In fact, the Na’Vi are so naïve (note the anagram) that it is only noble white man Sam who realizes that he can tame the big, bad dragon by jumping on it from above. Are you fucking serious? How can it be okay for Joe-shmoe white guy to become better at being an Alien than the fucking Aliens are? Its White Man’s Burden pure and simple – we feel good because its us who are there to save the day and help the poor, helpless, backwards people who just aren’t as advanced as us. Obviously no native people could defend themselves on their own – we’re too superior for our own good. Its amazing how we can still manage to be racist even when we’re actively trying not to be.
Summing This All Up
In the end, Avatar is a film of contradictions. It is a film meant to “revolutionize storytelling” yet has a generic story. A film that promotes cultural understanding while still making whitey the best of all. A film that teaches peace and how awesome war is. A film that cost $300 million to make but isn’t worth the $10 to see. If you want to see a movie that uses alien encounters as a metaphor for our racist and xenophobic tendencies then go watch District 9 – its a lot better. And to be honest, I thought the aliens in that film looked much more realistic.
Final score: 4/10
Originally Posted on March 15, 2010.
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