James Cameron’s Avatar has been hailed by movie critics as one of the greatest and most pivotal films of all time. A critic for the Detroit Times stated in his critique of the: “I have seen the future of films, and it is Avatar (rottentomatoes.com).” Critics and audiences alike were entranced by the fast paced and intense science fiction film that was released during the Thanksgiving holiday in 2009. Many were marveled by the immense amount of detail, dedication, and creativity that it took to produce the movie: “Big money, big risk, pretty big reward. That's been his consistent pattern, and it's high time to give credit where credit is overdue: James Cameron delivers (rottentomatoes.com)”. Others were impressed by the technology used to make such an epic film: “Watching it, I began to understand how people in 1933 must have felt when they saw King Kong (rottentomatoes.com).” However, no matter how overwhelming Cameron’s use of new technology was, his message at the heart of the movie was not lost. By combining superb special effects and romantic principles, Cameron was able to speak out against imperialism, corporations, and environmental issues.
The first principle used in Avatar is the green world. Of all the principles used in the movie the green world is the one principle that every other principle is based on. The green world is also important in romantic literature. Romantic writers portrayed Nature as holy, the true religion. Avatar is no exception.
Pandora is the planet that is used as the setting for the movie. The environment of Pandora is nothing but breathtaking. The forest is lush and tropical in a way that mimics the coral reefs that Cameron studied in order to build his fictional paradise( ). The natural ...
... middle of paper ...
...ant cause( oprah.com).
Whether Cameron was successful in starting a permanent change of ideal concerning the environment is anyone’s guess, but he did successfully make a movie that will never be forgotten.
Works Cited
“A Review of Avatar” rottentomatoes.com. March 10, 2010
Avatar . Dir. James Cameron. 20th Century Fox, 2009. Film
Burns, Robert “Song For A’ That And A’ That.” Greenblatt Norton 146-147
Byron, Lord. “Manfred.” Greenblatt, Norton 635-669.
Scott, Walter Sir. “Wandering Willie’s Tale.” Greenblatt Norton 411-421
“The Cast of Avatar Renunited” Oprah.com. March 3, 2010
Wordsworth, William. “Simon Lee.” Greenblatt Norton 245-248
Wordsworth, William. “Tables Turned.” Greenblatt Norton 251-252
Wordsworth, William. “Three years she grew” Greenblatt Norton 275-276
Wordsworth, William. “We Are Seven.” Greenblatt Norton 248-249
These are just a few of the various examples of how the movie “Avatar” and chapter 12 of “Creating America: A History of the United States” by McDougal Littell are each greatly alike and different from the other in several ways.
I have always admired Al Gore, and after watching this film, I am disappointed even more now, that he never became a president. He is indeed very smart and very talented person, who truly desires to change things not only in the United States but around the world. Especially, after watching his film about global warming, he made me feel like he does really care about the world and people. He said: “what we take for granted might not be here for our children,” to me, perhaps, this is the most moral idea that came across the entire film. Not only his words, but his actions prove his true diligence about our present and future, and also about future generations. He was able to deliver an important message to me, which ought to alert me and
Avatar the motion picture throws you into a rich world, with diverse characters who clash over cultural and socio-economic issues. At the heart of the story is a former Marine named Jake Sully, who falls in love while on an alien planet with a woman from a race of people called the Na’vi. The character whom he falls in love with is an alien for which he sacrifices his whole way of life to be with. By way of his experiences with the Na’vi, he begins to adopt a new worldview, which can only be described as Pantheism.
Carver, Raymond. Cathedral. “The Norton Introduction to Literature.” New York: W.W Norton &, 2014. Print.
The United States has earned the reputation of a rebellious country since its birth in the revolution against Britain. Over the course of history, Americans have repeatedly confronted oppression, both foreign and national, through various wars and rights movements. Unfortunately, when it comes to environmental issues the average American has grown increasingly complacent. With a renewed urgency, government is working to combat global warming, but lacks the necessary social backing. This social support could be supplied through a new environmental movement that differs from past efforts. Throughout American history there have been three categories of environmental movements: preservation, conservation, and modern reform, all of which have failed to bring a ubiquitous social change and substantial impact on the overall environmental health.
He connects well with his audience by beginning with the sound that is very familiar, the sound of jet engines. Continuing he takes the audience on his journey to find a place which is untouched by the noise of man. Throughout his article he uses evidence to demonstrate how the audience can hear electronic, engines, and noises that are not natural to mother earth throughout the day. Yet Mark points this out in such a way that the audience becomes aware of it but he doesn’t put the blame on the audience. The intended audience of Mark is those who love nature and those care for the environment, such as hikers, nature photographers, and
Wordsworth, William. “The Thorn.” The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. 2B. Ed. David Damrosch, et al. New York: Longman, 1999. 319-325.
“The biggest mistake we have made is to consider that films are primarily a form of entertainment. The film is the greatest medium since the invention of movable type for exchanging ideas and information, and it is no more at its best in light entertainment than literature is at its best in the light novel.” - Orson Welles
... was not until the production of Terminator 2: Judgment Day that the effects were shown in their true colours. Another great thing is that James Cameron writes very entertaining stories that are particuarly good for movies. With great action and great characters that are unique. Cameron's movies are action movies, but they have other qualities too. For example Cameron uses a lot of messages in his movies. In the Abyss there is a message from an alien saying that all people should live in harmony, and in Terminator 2 - Judgment Day Linda Hamilton is ending the movie with this clever sentence, "If a machine can learn to respect a human life maybe we can too". These are the kind of messages which make Cameron's movies just a little bit better.
One of the films that deal greatly with the effects of overconsumption on the environment is the animated motion picture WALL-E (2008). The movie is set on Earth in the year 2805 where the Earth is a barren wasteland, void of any signs of life (save for cockroaches).
Since the creation of films, their main goal was to appeal to mass audiences. However, once, the viewer looks past the appearance of films, the viewer realizes that the all-important purpose of films is to serve as a bridge connecting countries, cultures, and languages. This is because if you compare any two films that are from a foreign country or spoken in another language, there is the possibility of a connection between the two because of the fact that they have a universally understanding or interpretation. This is true for the French New Wave films; Contempt and Breathless directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and contemporary Indian films; Earth and Water directed by Deepa Mehta. All four films portray an individual’s role in society using sound and editing.
Peters, John G. “Wordsworth’s TINTERN ABBEY” The Explicator(Washington) , Winter 2003, Vol. 61, Iss. 2, pg. 77 : eLibrary. Web 05 Mar 2002
Parisi, P. (1998). Titanic and the making of James Cameron: the inside story of the three-year adventure that rewrote motion picture history. New York, NY: Newmarket Press.
Jones, John. The Egotistical Sublime, A History of Wordsworth’s Imagination. London: Chatto & Windus, 1960.
A. A. William Wordsworth. New York: Chelsea House, 1985. Print. The. Hartman, Geoffrey H. Wordsworth's Poetry 1787-1814. New Haven: Yale UP, 1964.