| rocketpig said: I hate to say it but I didn't find the Na'Vi interesting as characters either. The ol' "we'll fight 'em to the end, no matter the disadvantage" tribal stance isn't new, either, and I found their African tribal getup and music far too blatantly allusory for my tastes. In fact, the Na'Vi were downright MORONIC in the movie. I mean, for crying out loud, these people have GUNSHIPS versus your arrows. Anyone who is smarter than a tadpole knows to stay the hell out of that fight, yet they steadfastly tried to hold on to their home without any kind of reasonable defensive plan or... well, anything, really. The humans had been there for years but it seemed as if the Na'Vi weren't interested in forming a strategy past "shoot arrows at the truck tires". Maybe the Colonel was the smartest guy in the film... Those ridiculous smurfs deserved to be wiped out for being cork-on-the-fork stupid. Now that I think of it, I don't know if there was one intelligent character in that entire bloody film. |
If you've seen so many stories about colonialism, I don't understand how you find the whole "defend one's home even if it means certain death" thing ridiculous. There have been countless battles between the USA and native american tribes over land. Just check out the events leading up to the Trail of Tears, especially the Seminole Wars. Not every culture works the same as ours. Native Americans tend to value place greatly, far more than time (opposite of Americans). They remember events more by how they relate geographically than chronologically (especially in terms of history). To them, giving up their land might really be worse than death. The Native Americans aren't the only people like this, either, just a well known example.
As I said before, there are references to various colonial situations, and having caricatures serve as the leaders of the conquering force and "unobtanium" as the object they desire keeps the setting of the movie very general so that it doesn't get tied down with a single point in history. As a result, you see stuff that's reminiscent of Vietnam, Native Americans, African Colonialism, East Asian Colonialism, Iraq, etc. I found that pretty unique, and I felt it made a stronger statement against colonialism in general than a lot of the other stuff I've read and seen on the subject (Dances with Wolves, Things Fall Apart, Heart of Darkness, etc.; I've typed out this list eleventy seven times). They may have a more powerful effect overall (I don't think I'd put this movie on quite the same level), but that effect is limited to a certain situation, rather than the idea of colonialism.
@Stof: I think my second paragraph answers the whole "Unobtanium--Good or Bad?" thing (in my opinion, of course; I'm not trying to suggest it's fact). Also, I just watched it for the second time and noticed much more how attractive Nayatrei (main female) is. They got the curves on her perfect. That really surprised me considering how slim they are as a species. So, yeah, she was bangin'.
