posted January 12, 2010 12:50 PM         

quote:

---

LEXX, the hippy part was placed in quotations for a reason . Maybe I should have been more politically correct and should have said "Left wing loony environmentalist" theme Lol!

---

quote:

---

Anyway, this article here should be proof enough that some people out there need a good kick in the butt.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html

---

quote:

---

Reminds me of the stereotypical sensitive person that Brendan Frasier played in "Bedazzled."

---

posted January 12, 2010 01:31 PM         

quote:

---

In that respect it reminded me of "Medicine Man. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicine_Man_%28film%29
Which was not about "Left wing loony environmentalist".
It made me think of the woods of huge trees many 5 to 6 feet across that I enjoyed sitting under as a child, until idiots butchered them. There are hardly any such old trees left, let alone a woods full of them.
The saddest part was what I was sitting on under or by those huge trees. Old stumps that were 6 to 10 feet across!!!!!!!!! Oh my how amazing those old butchered forests must have been! I grieve knowing folks now will never see such an amazing thing. So Avatar hit me hard in that way.
Same for the rain forest destruction.

---

With all due respect LEXX, the irony encased in the plot mechanics of the movie itself is just way too much to take. Its funny that the movie itself has strong anti-war/anti-globalization ideals to it but when you take into account the fact that space travel, advances in medical and civilian technology, and exploration gear happened because of war and strong commitment to being the best . In short... Its compeition that forced people to advance us and like it or not, the driving instintive force behind competition in general is personal gain. Had it not for the wars we fought and the strides we have made towards advancement, the luxaries we now enjoy wouldn't have existed.

So I wonder if anyone here picked up on that twist in the basic preachy plot of Avatar Lol!

posted January 12, 2010 05:21 PM         

quote:

---

In short... Its compeition that forced people to advance us and like it or not, the driving instintive force behind competition in general is personal gain. Had it not for the wars we fought and the strides we have made towards advancement, the luxaries we now enjoy wouldn't have existed.

---

quote:

---

As for picking on sensitive people... LEXX... Being uber sensitive is just as bad as being emotionally dead.

---

quote:

---

While the OP has a tendency of picking on people with the "can do!" attitude, he doesn't realizes that its those people who end up making something out of themselves and when things get rough, they are the people that everyone turns to.

---

posted January 12, 2010 07:14 PM         

quote:

---

Its compeition that forced people to advance us and like it or not, the driving instintive force behind competition in general is personal gain. Had it not for the wars we fought and the strides we have made towards advancement, the luxaries we now enjoy wouldn't have existed.

---

I don't quite agree with this thesis.

Many advancements and inventions happen without the need of, or in the absense of, competition. People create because it's part of our nature. We've all had ideas on how to improve various things that aren't contingent on war or competition. For instance, if I develop a better process for something at work, it's not because I'm out for glory, but rather because it's smarter and it's helpful.

posted January 12, 2010 08:35 PM         

quote:

---

McDonald's and Coke, as far as I know, are not depleting the world's resources and putting the Earth in crisis (unless we're talking abstractly). That's what Cameron's stated was the environmental issue. As such there is no irony in McDonald's and Coke participating in the marketing.

---

OH! Sweet Jesus, are you serious?????

Ag, these are two of the most evil corporations on the face of planet. I don't even know where to start.

Ok ... lets go alphabetically and start with Coke.

posted January 12, 2010 08:47 PM         

quote:

---

Many advancements and inventions happen without the need of, or in the absense of, competition. People create because it's part of our nature. We've all had ideas on how to improve various things that aren't contingent on war or competition. For instance, if I develop a better process for something at work, it's not because I'm out for glory, but rather because it's smarter and it's helpful.

Circumstance can kick our assets into gear on certain things for sure, but I don't like the idea, whether intended or not, that war is necessary for progress. Even in the case of war, it's not the war cause alone that drives innovation. Dire straights focus our innovative eyes on helping situations in various ways that may have nothing to do with accomplishing a military mission.

---

posted January 12, 2010 09:06 PM         

quote:

---

I maintain that the movie is not about globalization. I primarily see the term as meaning one of two things. One is the idea of a corporation utilizing international resources. The other, which I think is the intended meaning here, is companies that wish to do business around the world. The movie deals with the former...sort of, but not the latter at all.

McDonald's and Coke, as far as I know, are not depleting the world's resources and putting the Earth in crisis (unless we're talking abstractly). That's what Cameron's stated was the environmental issue. As such there is no irony in McDonald's and Coke participating in the marketing.

---

The movie's about the plunder of resources, but also the imposing of a dominator culture on a partnership one. It shows how the humans try to find something that the natives want. Like wolves in sheep's clothing, they infiltrate the culture, and pretend to be respectful of it, when the true intention of the people funding the AVATAR Project is to gather information in order to exploit the Navi in the most cost-effective way. (It's only when they find that the Navi are too clever to be fooled, and too pure to be bought, that they resort to honest violence.) I think, whether they mine for "unobtainium" in the ground, or set up a global chain of McDonald's restaurants and "mine" for the people's cash, the situation is the same. But, if nothing else, the fact that the Navi are very respectful of animals, and McDonald's is not, should be reason enough to call "hypocrisy!" Shura is right, though; the list of offenses attributable to these two corporations is formidable, -- and, I think its safe to say, the Navi would not approve.

posted January 17, 2010 01:52 PM         

quote:

---

milk free shakes are a nice treat
for those with milk allergies
or who are lactose intolerant

---

Not to mention, cruelty intolerant.

Although there are several good reasons
not to drink those shakes, milk or no milk.

posted January 17, 2010 04:59 PM         

Hey LEXX!! long time no see x

posted January 20, 2010 04:19 AM         

*** cool effects - am a Star Trek and Dr Who fan from way way way back.

*** embrace film technology - this is our future (you can't escape technology).

*** message is of dominance, greed and tied to historical events around the world, esp in the Americas.

*** companies do deals with each other to make money - it's a business strategy - so I'm not surprised Maccas and Coke will try to earn bucks from this film.

*** Colonel Quaritch mentions a "pre-emptive attack.....fight terriosm with terror".

*** Colonel Quaritch reminded me of Rumsfield for some weird reason.

From Yin's link......

quote:

---

The 55-year-old Canadian director also told how he was influenced by the history of America being invaded and taken from its indigenous people.

He said: ''It's a way of connecting a thread through history. I take that thread further back to the 16th and 17th centuries and to how the Europeans pretty much took over South and Central America and displaced and marginalised the indigenous peoples there.

''There's just this long, wonderful history of the human race written in blood going back as far as we can remember, where we have this tendency to just take what we want without asking.''

---

I love this link from Dervish......

Although, I've never seen Ponchahontas, the plot is predictable.