My Thoughts on "Avatar"

I have now read a number of critiques, mostly by anthropologists since they are the people I read the most, about the film "Avatar." These arguments tend to claim that there is a racist theme to the film; in fact, that seems to be about all they see in the film. While I acknowledge that, to a degree, this critique of the film is correct, I also feel that there is a great deal more in it.

My greatest difficulty with being an academic and constantly being surrounded by academics is our lack of ability to appreciate almost anything. Somewhere along the line (I think it was in grad school) we learned that kudos went to the person who could best deconstruct and destruct almost anything. I took a colloquium course in graduate school in which every week we had a new professor who would lead a discussion of the book that he or she had assigned for us for the week. Often these books were lengthy and difficult, and I am not a fast reader. I put many hours into preparing for this course every week. Then, in class, I was consistently disappointed as the instructor would tear the book apart and tell us all how worthless it was, how the data was faulty and the analysis weak, and so forth. In frustration, I wondered why the instructors did not choose a good book; since they only had one shot at us, why didn't they choose the very best book that they knew of on the subject? But, they never did. I guess the lure of intellectual superiority was just too strong and they wanted to demonstrate their prowess. I resented this so much that I have revolted from it ever since. I never assign materials that I feel have no value. In my theory course, for instance, I try to help the students understand that there is something of value in every...

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...mensional (of all races), that the shamanism is kind of silly, and so forth. These things I can forgive; it's science-fiction, not biography, not ethnography.

The film is also spectacular and gorgeous. It has far and away the coolest fantasy forest ever on film, and it makes the best use of 3D ever. Some critics have put down this as an argument for it being a good film, discounting it because of the racist theme. I don't think this is fair. Although films can be critiqued based on their political content, they are also visual works of art. This is a legitimate way to evaluate a film, and visually this one is superior. The film also succeeds on an emotional level: the love story works (despite cliché) and the scenes like the destruction of the sacred tree (read: sacred site) are painful. It works as a science-fiction adventure film, and I love the flying.