# Avatar: What Am I Supposed To "Take Home" From Seeing It? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 22, 2010, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351 "2010-05-22T08:37:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/21 "2010-05-22T23:31:37Z")
I thought it was basically Aliens, only a story set on a different planet, with different aliens, but basically the same universe. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/22 "2010-05-22T23:39:28Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > What you’re supposed to take home is “I just made James Cameron and several other people connected with this film really, really rich.” You mean, “richer”. Mr. Cameron was already pretty well off before making Avatar. ---
**Author:** ![susan\_foster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@susan\_foster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan_foster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/23 "2010-05-23T00:01:41Z")
I saw it for free. It was just about worth the price of admission. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/24 "2010-05-23T00:36:05Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I thought it was basically Aliens, only a story set on a different planet, with different aliens, but basically the same universe. Ripley: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.” Hudson: “Fuckin’ A…” ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/25 "2010-05-23T01:02:38Z")
It has to be a movie \*and \*a PowerPoint presentation? Wow… you are one demanding customer! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/26 "2010-05-23T05:39:56Z")
> [@](#): > > Do tell? I’ve still got mine as well, and was wondering if there were any further use for them. For starters: Have two people wearing glasses, and look at each other. Close one eye, and then the other, and see what happens to the other person’s glasses. Or, if you only have one pair, you can do this in a mirror. Look through the glasses at an LCD screen, and turn your head this way and that. Then, look through the glasses backwards (with the earpieces protruding in front of your face), and do the same thing. With multiple pairs of glasses, look through combinations of the lenses in various orders and orientations. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/27 "2010-05-23T05:55:03Z")
This is better than live theatre! I post my opinion on a subject, wait a bit and here comes the laughter! (from me, I mean) That isn’t mean to be critical, okay? What I mean to say is, I read the words and say to myself: “I wish **I’d** said that!” And Oh my Og, children! If y’all only _knew_ how much I _plagiarize_ you??? Life without parole, surely! Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/28 "2010-05-23T06:53:23Z")
There is no point. It’s just entertainment. Did you have a good time? That was the point. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/29 "2010-05-23T06:58:52Z")
You take home the 1000 calories you gained from the popcorn and jumbo soda. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/30 "2010-05-23T07:26:01Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > You take home the 1000 calories you gained from the popcorn and jumbo soda. No, you guys! 😉 I just thought if ol’ Jim was trying to send me a “message”, I _got_ it a long time ago! 🙂 But I _do_ see y’all’s point: **All** we see on the screen is about “good and evil”, isn’t it? Sure it is. I’m just saying that if Mr. Cameron _was_ trying to send a “message”, then those of us who _care_ already _know_, and (hopefully) are teaching it to our kids. **Yes** , it was a very nice tale! **Yes** , it carried with it a _moral_, but was it anything “new and stupendous”? No. Just a very unique way of presenting it, but here’s my caveat: If the world should end tomorrow, and only THIS film survives? I think it would be a wonderful way (even though the film takes place elsewhere) to show that we on earth treasure life and would be willing to do anything it takes to hold on to it. Q ---
**Author:** ![OneChance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/74df32/32.png) [@OneChance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneChance)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/31 "2010-05-23T07:37:46Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > If it was the special effects, then I can’t comment on them, except that the dragons (I love dragons) looked real, and I liked the part about how to bond with one’s own (dragon). That dragons aren’t real. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/32 "2010-05-23T08:32:52Z")
Things I learned from Avatar: 1. 3-D technology has really changed. The bias against the blue/red glasses is over. If you haven’t seen it in 3-D, you’ve completely missed out on a unique experience. 2. James Cameron is the greatest director on the planet, and maybe the only one who’s never sold out. Cameron is a true artiste, and always refuses to make concessions that hurt his vision. One day, watching a Cameron movie in its first run will be akin to being at Woodstock for the previous generation. 3. Even though I knew all of the planet scenes were completely animated, I was continually absorbed by how realistic the plants and scenery was in comparison to say SW:Ep1. 4. You don’t need motion capture to have realistic CGI. While the NBA Smurfs were hideous, everything else was great, particularly the animals. 5. I knew going in that the story was going to be a rehash of older stories. But really, there’s a reason there’s only so many story archetypes: those archetypes work and are interesting. Mainly, I went because I respect Cameron, but I was blown away by the 3-D. But, even though the story was a rehash, they added some very interesting twists. 6. When I went, Avatar was not yet the top grossing movie of all time (giving Cameron both #1 and #2 on the list with Titanic,) but I do feel special in being able to watch it while it was still in the theaters. I didn’t watch Titanic until it was on vhs. From a historical perspective, Avatar is a milestone, even if the story is not original (was Titanic?) ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/33 "2010-05-24T00:55:58Z")
> [@OneChance](#): > > That dragons aren’t real. I’m so glad you said that. Until now, I thought the dragons in the film were real filmed animals! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/34 "2010-05-24T01:09:21Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I’m so glad you said that. Until now, I thought the dragons in the film were real filmed animals! Don’t worry. Common mistake made by the people who loved the film. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/35 "2010-05-24T02:56:30Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > Things I learned from Avatar: > > 1. 3-D technology has really changed. The bias against the blue/red glasses is over. If you haven’t seen it in 3-D, you’ve completely missed out on a unique experience. > > 2. James Cameron is the greatest director on the planet, and maybe the only one who’s never sold out. Cameron is a true artiste, and always refuses to make concessions that hurt his vision. One day, watching a Cameron movie in its first run will be akin to being at Woodstock for the previous generation. > > 3. Even though I knew all of the planet scenes were completely animated, I was continually absorbed by how realistic the plants and scenery was in comparison to say SW:Ep1. > > 4. You don’t need motion capture to have realistic CGI. While the NBA Smurfs were hideous, everything else was great, particularly the animals. > > 5. I knew going in that the story was going to be a rehash of older stories. But really, there’s a reason there’s only so many story archetypes: those archetypes work and are interesting. Mainly, I went because I respect Cameron, but I was blown away by the 3-D. But, even though the story was a rehash, they added some very interesting twists. > > 6. When I went, Avatar was not yet the top grossing movie of all time (giving Cameron both #1 and #2 on the list with Titanic,) but I do feel special in being able to watch it while it was still in the theaters. I didn’t watch Titanic until it was on vhs. > > From a historical perspective, Avatar is a milestone, even if the story is not original (was Titanic?) Please take me at my word that I am NOT trying to be a dick, was your entire post a whoosh? “James Cameron is the greatest director on the planet, and maybe the only one who’s never sold out”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/36 "2010-05-24T04:38:09Z")
As far as I could tell _Avatar_ was all right there on the surface. There was no deeper meaning. The following things are good: nature, trust, love, cooperation, restraint, honor, friendship. The following things are bad: greed, exploitation, lying, intolerance, injustice, callousness. I know, nothing too new here. The movie was simple messages told with great visuals. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/37 "2010-05-24T13:19:15Z")
It would be nice if we could have the unexpected in a plot once in a while. A caring environmentaly minded corporation moves into a remote area/alien planet to stop the evil natives wiping out endangered species and causing major deforestation. An Afro American, handicapped, lesbian, civil rights protestor and member of Greenpeace is a brutal serial killer… The stunningly beautiful woman being attacked by six ugly and sweaty men at arms actually cannibalises the babies of the caring fathers attacking her to increase her supernatural powers at which the men are almost powerless to resisit her. The ugly as sin hero knight riding by instinctively knows this and joins in on the mens side. ---
**Author:** ![Uzi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/91b2a8/32.png) [@Uzi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uzi)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/38 "2010-05-24T14:16:01Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Just a re-telling of what happened to Native Americans, only the skins were blue instead of red? Native Americans? I thought they were Africans! ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/39 "2010-05-24T16:12:58Z")
I wrote my impressions [here](http://cephalicfurrow.wordpress.com/2010/01/30/whats-avatar-really-about-spoilers/): > [@](#): > > Yes, emotionally Avatar was about environmentalism, what with its pretty nature and conveniently humanoid Noble Savages, but is it really that much on the environmentalist side? After all, the Gaia-spirit was real and scientifically verifiable, unlike fuzzy environmentalist pantheism. (In fact one character emphatically states that the biological network is “not some kind of pagan voodoo thing.”) You could read it as wish-fulfillment, but from a practical point of view the environmental situation on Pandora has very few implications for our own planet. > > Fundamentally the movie is about property rights, how forcible expropriation is a Very Mean Thing to do. So long as the humans were mining their stuff on land not owned or used by the natives, and so long as they were negotiating for use of mineral-rich land, all was well and good. It was the resort to force that firmly moved the humans from “slightly dingy but decent” to “big fat meanies.” > > More interesting is the nativist angle. The Na’vi, by virtue of being the guys who are currently resident on Pandora, are presumed to have the moral right to include or exclude the newcomer humans. In a climactic speech, the blue head honcho said “[humans] cannot come and take what they want. This is our land!” This ties back to the property rights angle above, but step back a minute and consider how easy it is to imagine Pat Buchanan saying the same thing. The end of the movie features the eviction of all but the most extremely assimilated humans – not only did Sully give up the entirety of his culture, but the ending even shows him adopting a Na’vi body. It is strongly implied that the Na’vi wouldn’t welcome any humans who returned and maintained their own culture, even if they were peaceful miners as at the beginning of the movie. Frankly, you can’t really blame them, but this attitude would make even the Minutemen look like rabid open-borders advocates. > > (‘Course I’m being facetious; I don’t think that Cameron intended Avatar to be an anti-immigration screed, or even an anti-eminent domain piece, but the facts and emotional reactions are entirely consistent, and more interesting than the surface environmentalism) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351/40 "2010-05-24T16:26:47Z")
Pat Buchanan is not a native: he is a usurper. Therefore any speech of his cannot be comparable. His isolationism in a conquered land over the bodies of the natives make a mockery of using him to advance your point. None a line of your argument holds true, in fact. That the planet has a shared ecology is not different from the Gaea hypothesis in essence, and in kind differs only that it is an extreme allegorical version of the concept. It was never true that the human exploitation was good until the sacred grounds were threatened. It was only true that it was not a life or death matter. This has extensive historic precedence in the way Native Americans were handled in U.S. history. That humans would not be accepted back was also the attitude of many Native American spokesmen, but since there will be a sequel and there will be human good guys in that sequel that rhetoric can’t be taken seriously as policy or morality. The more you know about U.S. history and interactions with Native Americans, the more exact the parallels with the movie become. That may be why the message is so strong and obvious to some and not to others. Environmentalism is not what the movie is about. But your particular argument doesn’t work at all for me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/avatar-what-am-i-supposed-to-take-home-from-seeing-it/540351.md?page=3)