Comments on: Avatar vs. The Hurt Locker

By: Daniel Ezra Johnson

Daniel Ezra Johnson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:51:53 +0000

http://movies.msn.com/oscars/avatar-point-counterpoint/

By: the passenger engine

the passenger engine — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:20:05 +0000

Hurt Locker 6-2 at the Baftas

By: the passenger engine

the passenger engine — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:33:03 +0000

Further Reading: Why the Chinese Government is Afraid of Big Blue Aliens Apolitics and the War Film

By: the passenger engine

the passenger engine — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:12:08 +0000

Not everyone finds Avatar so apolitical. Some conservatives are complaining that it's anti-American, anti-corporation, and anti-military. Fun Fact: Zoe Saldana (Neytiri from Avatar) and Anthony Mackie (Sgt. Sanborn from The Hurt Locker) played sister and brother in the forgettable Cayman Islands drama Haven.

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 18:58:59 +0000

The differences between Avatar and Hurt Locker reminds me of what Carl Sagan once said about astrology versis astronomy: "In contemporary Western society, buying a magazine on astrology â€“ at a newsstand,say â€“ is easy; it is much harder to find one on astronomy. Virtually every newspaper in America has a daily column on astrology; there are hardly any that have even a weekly column on astronomy. There are ten times more astrologers in the United States than astronomers." Basically, I think he's too harsh on Americans in this, so I'll expand that out to simply all humans: The vast majority of us will choose the fantastic over the realistic. One needs to just look at online discussions of both films Avatar is discussed for it's "realistic" faux reality. The Hurt Locker? Practically every comment thread on the film is filled with real soldiers (active and retired) ripping it apart for not being realistic enough. An interesting conundrum. All I know is nothing smells of desperation more than Hollywood tripping over itself to pump out 3D films to save the industry. I actually can't think of anything more annoying than having to sit in a theater for 2+ hours wearing an extra set of glasses.

By: Daniel Ezra Johnson

Daniel Ezra Johnson — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 06:32:52 +0000

i haven’t seen the hurt locker, so i’ll take your word that it’s politically relevant. avatar is too. first off, as pocahontas buffs have pointed out, it’s a close allegory to the story of the encounter between europeans and native americans (or other “indigenous” peoples). that’s not apolitical just because it happened a while back. secondly, it has a strong environmentalist message. isn’t that political? third, it pits sensitive scientists (chief among them, a sexy older woman) and funny-looking aliens/indians against recognizable corporate assholes, and (spoiler) the tree-hugging good guys win and the capitalist pigs get rounded up and escorted off the planet.

in star wars, it’s basically just nazis who are the bad guys and who (spoiler) lose at the end. in avatar, it’s basically ordinary americans in that role. that’s arguably a riskier, more provocative conclusion. to me, a revolution is always more political than an ordinary war. and by the way, the oscar ceremony is not excruciating. it is magical. who will katherine bigelow be wearing?