The sensor bar and wii-mote are very similar to a mouse. Do not think of you pointing exactly at the screen but you are controlling the "aimer" and moving it with relative motion.
Also if you want to see how it really works...go to the sensor bar calibration. You'll see two little white dots surrounded by the gray matter square. The square is the camera in side the remote. Point it at a candle or a light fixture and you'll see the the camera picks that up too.
It's all about relativity.







