Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Movie Review: Avatar

I know that Avatar is not necessarily a movie that people would expect to be reviewed on my blog since it is about permaculture and homesteading, however I think the message of Avatar is an important one that anyone with a love of the earth will understand.

First of all, let's get the obvious stuff out of the way.  The visuals are stunning, and they really bring you into the film.  The environment, no that word doesn't quite describe it... the ecology that James Cameron creates feels very authentic, very believable, and is amazingly beautiful.  If you have not seen this movie, it is worth seeing just for the cinematography alone.  And if you haven't seen it, make sure you see it in 3-D.

With that said, I want to talk about the subject of the movie.  The message of Avatar is, on the surface, easy to understand.  Environmental destruction and displacement of indigenous cultures is bad.  But it goes much deeper than that, and as someone who feels a strong connection with nature, this movie spoke to me deeply.  The connection that Cameron builds between the Na'avi and their world, Pandora, is something that I think every permaculturist, environmental advocate, and nature lover in general has felt at some point.  In fact, the connection the Na'avi have with their environment is one that I found myself jealous of while watching the movie.  The deeper message of the movie, that losing or ignoring the connection we have with our surroundings can lead to their careless destruction, is one painted so vividly in this movie that at times I felt myself moved close to tears for a world that is entirely fictional.  I know of course that those feelings were a vessel for what I truly feel about my own planet, and I hope that some people who may not have yet realized their connection with the earth might be stirred to explore that connection by watching this movie.

I do not want to write too long of a post, because this is off-the-cuff, I'm am writing it late at night, and I don't want to spoil the movie.  Also, a lot of the message of the movie is rather political, and I don't want to go into that here because it is not the general message of my blog and I don't want to sound preachy.  But if you have ever felt that nature has spoken to you in some way I know you will love this movie.  And if you consider yourself a permaculturist or a naturalist, even if you only dabble, this movie will give you a taste of what that ultimate connection with nature might feel like once achieved.

1 comment:

  1. yeah dude, quite an experience. i saw it three times... heh. That Neytiri is one fine woman ;)

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