While films with similar ideas (Pocahontus, for example) have been made into big media releases, nothing compares to this. Not to mention the 3D is really amazing. But I hope that the message from the film gets into the minds of those who see it. I hope people can discuss it afterwards.
Many aspects of the film can lead viewers towards the idea that the conquering group could represent the United States in the world today. They even mentioned "we will fight terror with terror." Something we could say today in all honesty. And what kind of a philosophy is that? But I digress. In the film, there were military units, scientific units, and cultural units. Each maintaing their own duties, which some crossover between units. The ones who studied the culture ended up being ignored. Has this not been the case in history? The problems that have been most grave have mostly been due to misunderstandings of cultural differences and values. Greed and other evils have worked their way in too, obviously. But cultural misunderstandings are something that can be prevented.
After leaving the movie I stepped outside into a dark and foggy night. My car was alone in a nearly vacant lot. It was very eerie. Then I was reminded of the world in which we live in here on earth. The differences that exist between places. In Waterloo, Iowa I felt no fear going to my car with my companion. But as we approached the car, my companion from a "developing" world country expressed to me his fear in approaching the lone car in the dark lot. Saying that we could be robbed or the car could blow up. I laughed but realized that this could be a potentially dangerous situation.
It is hard not to take things for granted. Habits turn into a type of dependancy. In the "developed" world so many things are taken for granted. And somehow there are times when we think things are improving, progressing, moving forward, those are the times when we as a society have been the most childish. I take for example the idea of time. Faster has become better. Has it not? Fast food, fast solutions, etc. While in Argentina I learned the importance of proper nutrition and how it affects one's body. It is highly underrated in the United States. To make themselves more healthy and attractive, people eat better and sleep when they are tired. In the United States people take the quick solutions (that somehow may not always be so quick) of getting special medicines or buying certain products to improve their hair, acne, blemishes, under-eye circles, wrinkles, teeth, etc. Why is it that the symptoms are getting treated and not the source: malnutrition and lack of sleep? Now if "backward" had to be used to describe one of these societies, which would you choose?
Good points, and to answer the last question, I feel that, especially in the US, people are so set in their ways that they are not willing to put fourth the time and energy needed to solve the source of the problem, instead people settle to fix the "symptoms."
ReplyDeleteSelfishness is the source of this neglect for striving to cure the cause of the problem. It has become too much of a sacrifice for Americans to give up the slightest degree of freedom for the betterment of society.
With abuse comes restraint, but in a country where excess is promoted, freedom, which is suppose to advance society has morphed into a serious liability and, to quote PS 310, has caused many problems to become serious issues that are completely preventable.
I like the well delineated summary of the movie. If we are to discuss the film in class, these are some themes we could talk about:
ReplyDelete- healthcare (main character enrolls in the Pandora mission hoping for new legs after coming back to Earth)
- military mercenaries (the Pandora units. read: Blackwater)
- parallels with Iraq and Afghanistan (think Greg Mortenson and his outlook on understanding the culture and the people)
- metaphorical hints to American history (think
"Manifest Destiny" and the 19th century expansion to the West)
the movie is laden with messages and other symbols that are open for interpretation. Although I generally despise sci-fi movies, this one was worthwhile!
But "freedom" holds an exhalted status in our society and is the value of choice for nearly every politician of note for the past thirty years at least. And political science, borrowing from economics -- Anthony Downs, in particular -- is party responsible for this excess and liability Joe correctly identifies. The so-called "rational choice" school of contemporary political theory is an academic version of the "greed is good" philosophy that Ronald Reagan sold as a better alternative than the liberalism of his time. But there are signs of change. More significant for political science and economics is the Nobel Prize winner for economics this year: Eleanor Ostrom, actually a political scientist. Her work, on the borders of economics and politicsk is signficant for its success in taking strong issue with the rational choice theorists, in a series of papers and books on governing arrangements for the so-called "commons," an ungovernable, nobody's-in-charge line of attack by the proponents of privatization and free markets. I think the Nobel Prize for economics was genuinely deserved by Prof. Ostrom, who runs the workshop in political theory at University of Indiana and has shown a keen interest in Q methodology of late. Her vita and highlights of her work are available via the website for political science at Indiana. This, as you might have surmised, is a development that Ricci's argument would have trouble with.
ReplyDeleteChelsea-
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you posted this. I too place emphasis on the importance of culture, in general, but also with respect to political matters. Ethnocentrism trickles into many people's lives and habits, wether it's conscious or not. With this sense of, as i was taught while studying in Spain, "Nosotros y 'los otros'," that is, "Us and the 'others,'" valuing another way of life sometimes falls through the cracks. I couldn't agree more that when discussing another culture, ethnicity, etc. it is imperative to incorporate a culturally relative filter, and hopefully dismiss words such as "backwards, wrong, savage, etc.," from the converstation. This too applies to politics and all other disciplines involved, just as you used the comparison of the U.S. with the conquering nation from the film.
By spending time outside of the country, completely unattached from my native culture, i was able to critically examine my own culture in comparison to the new one i was fully emersed in. As you mentioned, (and i'm sure you know from your time abroad as well) the people of the United States do have a need for instant gratification. This is evident with our fast food restaurants, plastic surgery, and countless businesses with "Quick" in the name, just to name a few. My point is, time, getting things done in a hurry is valued here. In Spain, this notion is not as common. I studied in the south where the Spanish culture has been beautifully preserved for their enormous history. Time to these people is an opportunity to live. This is evident in their habit of taking a break in the middle of the day to dine with their family, have a cup of coffee at an outdoor restaurant and take in the day with people you enjoy to be around. Indeed this reduces the stress these Spainards feel, as is evident in their extremely low heart attack rate, and impressive longevity. By comparing Spain and the United States simple cultural values were evident every where i looked.
To Relate this to Ricci, the tragedy he points out is the fulfillment of both the normative and quantitative aspects of Political Science can not be met. Science can not critique, judge or analyze values, culture, or traditions. It is often the case that the normative is overlooked and the quantitative reigns supreme, as is the case with Avatar. I think that it would be extremely interesting to look deeper into this movie as a class, as i admit, i have not seen the film. I really appreciate you mentioning this Chelsea!
I also couldn't help but notice many political parallels in the movie Avatar. The funny thing is that this has been such a huge "event" movie, breaking records seemingly every week, and I would say that while sometimes overly simplistic, it is deeper than most blockbusters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the humans portrayed in the movie can be seen as an exaggerated version of current US policy (and past European policy), and that may increase its popularity in many parts of the developing world. It will be interesting though to see if Americans can actually take any of the lessons in the movie to heart and actually create a meaningful change. Somehow I don't see that happening.
The cultural aspects of Avatar are interesting and I totally agree with the comments above on the US culture compared to others. I also would like to point out (spolier alert if you haven't seen the movie!) that in the end, the American saves the day for the natives. David Brooks worte an article about this a couple of weeks ago. He comes to love the culture, but in the end he has to save the day for them.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/opinion/08brooks.html
Have fun with Ricci and stay warm!