Avatar is about capitalism

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Judging by the communist revolutions we had so far, I'm not holding my breath for that.

qyron

I'll grant that waffer thin idea as a good attempt of putting something akin to good sci-fi into an otherwise solely for visuals work, although I disagree with the notion of deifying something that is tangible, as in the setting put forward in the movie.

And I mentioned Dune because of the immortality mention. The spice is also irreplaceable and unique, produced only in a single planet, through a rather complex organic process, harvested at great risk and cost, then to be synthesized by the tons.

That was good sci-fi, with sound social and religious criticism in it.

Dragon Rider (drag)

If you'll allow drag to play devil's advocate, Eywa isn't tangible. Ewya is a mind, and minds are made of electrical signal patterns. You can't touch electricity. And you definitely can't touch a pattern of information, which is essentially made out of maths. That's what a mind is, a bunch of incredibly complex maths.

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They get stronger because they mutate to fight back

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Are you Teresa?

Dragon Rider (drag)

That's not how evolution works. A species evolves to get stronger in battle if the weak ones die in battle. A species evolves stronger lungs if the weak ones die of lung cancer. Dying of lung cancer doesn't make a species better fighters.

Dragon Rider (drag)

Are you? You're the one claiming racism because drag listens to Aboriginal elders. Drag's got sources for what drag says, and it seems like you don't. So you're just making stuff up.

Besides, the noble savage trope is about thinking indigenous societies were pure an untainted by evil. Aboriginal Australians knew what evil was. They had policies in place within their governments to prevent ecological devastation. That's not innocence, it's technology. Aboriginals aren't savages and drag didn't say they are. You're the one denying their advanced environmental policies. Sounds like you're the one calling them savages.

FuglyDuck

You're intelligent. Or at least, well read/educated.

I didn't say it was a good plot-device. The entire movie was hamfisted from the world building through the dialog, the character development, and those hamfists evolved into bulldozers to bring the moral home.

The only thing it had going for it was the CGI... which was obsequious.

Regardless, it's their fictional world. They designed it to be stupid and boring so they could make some sort of moral superiority bullshit statement about capitalism while grossing 2+ billion.

Also, I'm just gonna say it. It wasn't even sci fi. sure, sure. it had ships and stuff. but that's not what makes sci fi sci fi.

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Next you'll listen to some hip hop and start calling black people removeds?

FuglyDuck

I fall back to my original thought: is well thought sci-fi so hard to achieve nowadays? If seems there is a fixation about misery and destruction nowadays.

considering that mass media will slap a space ship into anything and call it "Science Fiction".... yes, actually. Because they're idiots who will only copy what's already been done because it's a reliable way to make money.

FuglyDuck

allow me to play the idiot-younger-sibling of said devil's advocate and just point out you can absolutely touch electricity, which is why we put safety plugs in them to keep toddlers from licking electrical outlets.

lad

Drag is correct, but it's fantasy evolution we're talking about

qyron

From what I took from the movie, there was a knowledge that such a collective overarching conscience existed. It wasn't a figment of imagination nor a collective (de)illusion. It was tangible in that way.

And being cheeky: electricty can't be touched? i disagree. Every single time I put my fingers where I shouldn't, it reminded me in very tangible way I wasn't looking at what I was doing.

qyron

Sad but true.

Dragon Rider (drag)

Oh. This argument is pointless. Carry about your day, then.

qyron

Usually, at this point, I would say even a broken clock us right twice a day, but I'm trying to get accostumed to receive a compliment, so I'll instead say thank you for those kind words. And that we agree.

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Yeah man, we all understood that the first time around when it was called Fern Gully.

Like Avatar if you want but like.... it is not a deep piece of media with hard-to-discern messaging. Shit is pretty clear.

Dragon Rider (drag)

Maybe. Or maybe they like the pollution. Maybe with better resource availability, they're able to spend more energy on growing bigger and stronger without threatening survival.

Dragon Rider (drag)

Electricity can be felt, but not touched.

Flying Squid

Fucking Tarzan was fighting evil white exploiters of pristine Africa in books back in the early 1900s.

A good white saviour from the evil white people, because the indigenous can't do it for themselves. Just like in Ferngully and Avatar.