A while ago, I mentioned that I enjoyed Avatar and that it was something I wanted to talk about. I realise that makes it sound like I’m looking for some sort of counseling or that I feel it’s something I need to confess as opposed to express, but I did find it a genuinely interesting film and I’m a little perplexed as to why it received so much hate and negative criticism from the greater geekdom. Perhaps it was just because it did really well and there’s an instinct to disregard anything that’s mainstream.
The theme is what interests me the most. I’m not talking about the basic plot of a man from an industrial and technological culture defecting to a more spiritual and romanticized tribal way of life in the style of dances with wolves or Space-Pocahontas or anything like that. What I mean the basic theme that underpins the entire film: that of escapism.
The story follows Sully, a monster who is the top scarer at Monsters Inc an ex-marine who has been paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheel chair, stripping him of his identity as a soldier and condemning him to feel trapped in a life he is utterly unprepared for. The treatment exists to cure him, but he can’t afford it, adding a layer of frustration to his torment in that he knows there is a way out, but that he feels powerless to reach it. This mirrors the way a lot of people feel towards their lives in modern society: They are trapped in lives they don’t particularly enjoy and although they know there are ways out of it, they feel powerless to escape because they can’t afford it, or it’s just out of reach. Sully is invited onto a research program that his twin brother was working on that allows him to explore an utterly alien world through the body of a synthetic alien-like avatar, offering him a complete escape from his current life.
So we’re back to escapism. The film is about any video game where you create a character and explore a fantasy world. It has parallels to MMOs and the acceptance otherwise socially awkward or unaccepted people find within their virtual walls. Sully becomes a very much accepted member of his new society whereas it’s clear from one of the opening scenes that he is looked upon with pity or shame by his own people. As he’s leaving the drop ship, one of the passing marines comments “that’s just sad” when he sees Sully wheeling past him on the tarmac in a patronizing yet throw away fashion, telling us exactly what his people think of him and how they treat him.
At first, Sully is very much a “n00b” in the alien society, learning how all the mechanics of how everything works and being run through various tutorials, but gradually he becomes highly proficient and skilled before becoming their leader and leading them in to a final battle to save their home. This is your atypical fish out of water story once again, set in the context of vicarious living through an avatar that allows you to be something you’re not and achieve things you otherwise can not. In fact, the clue is in the title.
This is currently the highest grossing film of all time, beating James Cameron’s previous highest grossing film of all time about a love story on a sinking ship. Love story on sinking ship < sci-fi action about vicarious living through and avatar set on a visually stunning alien world. I would consider that statement a no brainier, but it’s incredibly reassuring that so many fellow members of the general public feel the same.
Avatar was by no means a perfect film. There’s a fair amount of cheese, some of the tropes are a little overused and heavy handed, and I suppose you’d be disappointed if you were expecting twists and intrigue beyond the obvious, but there’s a lot of good stuff in there as well. Some of it is clearly subjective: I personally think Unobtanium is a fantastic name and fantastic plot-macguffin that doesn’t need an explanation but I know that had people spitting and spluttering in disgust at the unexplanium of the Unobtainium.
To all those that went into Avatar sneering that it was just Dances with Wolves in space, I’d suggest giving it another try without letting that bother you. To be perfectly honest, I think I’d also enjoy a film called Dance with Wolves in space, and I would wager that half the people who complain that it’s Dances with Wolves in space hadn’t heard of Dances with Wolves before they’d heard that comment, much less seen it.
Avatar is by no means the next generation’s Star Wars (there isn’t half as much toy-making or marketing potential in it) but it is a piece of original science fiction cinema that isn’t based on a bastardized franchise and isn’t a sequel to something. Even if the film was bad, in my book, that would count for something.
Additional Notes:
The sequel might as well be given the tag line of “the burning crusade”, or be about a massive dragon bursting out of the world, tearing it in two.
I didn’t mention it above, because it’s not really important, but visually, Avatar is stunning. Every frame is packed with visual elegance without it being over saturated or distracting. Incidentally, on the subject of visuals, I got through this entire piece without mentioning 3D! I think I deserve a biscuit.