Suicide fantasy in Avatar?

[Eilonnwy]

I'm always disturbed by people who take fiction seriously. Then again the majority of people believe in some sort of religion.

I don't think that the world is spiritual, that islands can fly, and a people could exist with a neural brain consisting of a bunch of fucking trees, or that a savage determination to keep a home in tuned with nature and never change it is all ideal and true. I just liked the movie. The plot, for what it was, was great, as far as I'm concerned.

People mock it for being a combination of Fern Gully + Dances with Wolves + The Last Samurai, but you know what? I LOVE those movies, and most plots that exist are reused in other movies anyway. It's how you develop the story, make the characters unique and believable, etc... that separates them all out, and I thought Avatar was great on it's own.

I once had a guy tell me he can't believe I'm liberal and watch 24. For those who don't know, 24 is a FOX television show that features Jack Bauer, a counter-terrorist agent who has to stop a terrorist plot in a day. Each episode consists of 1 hour of a 24 hour day. The show prominently features torture as a "Something is going to explode in 20 minutes unless this dude talks right. fucking. now. and torture is the only thing that will work" scenario. As a result the show has been demonized for it's unrealistic applications of torture and for the fact that Republicans have used it to justify the torture program in the U.S.

Fact 1: 24 is just a fucking TV show, it does not and should not dictate US policy
Fact 2: Those who would attempt to justify torture on the basis of a TV show need a labotomy.
Fact 3: IT'S A FUCKING TV SHOW.

I like it because it entertains me in cheap and childish ways. I don't suddenly think torture is good because of it, and that whatever happens in the real world is at all reflected in the show.

So when people complain about Avatar for it's social commentary, I just shake my head in disdain.

As an artist, people can express their viewpoint on society through their medium. That's their prerogative. As a person you can either dislike it or like it, that's your prerogative and furthermore you can like it and not completely agree with the commentary being made.

The point I'm making, is when people start saying a movie/show is terrible because it doesn't mesh with their view of the world perfectly or they somehow perceive a social commentary that should be taken seriously, that's when I lose people.