The Catholic review of AVATAR

breath123breath123 Posts: 397
edited March 2010 in A Moving Train
Wrong on just about every count

"Nature worshiping"?! umm yeah there's no connection between god and nature.

http://catholicmediareview.blogspot.com ... -2009.html
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • gimmesometruth27gimmesometruth27 St. Fuckin Louis Posts: 23,303
    yeah i thought that as well. nope, no connection between god and nature....i think the review was a little harsh....can the movie really be that bad?
    "You can tell the greatness of a man by what makes him angry."  - Lincoln

    "Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
  • g under pg under p Surfing The far side of THE Sombrero Galaxy Posts: 18,200
    Interesting review I don't think it was that bad at all but if this movie was worse tha Speed II then I gather they won't be a Avatar II.

    Peace
    *We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti

    *MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
    .....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti

    *The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)


  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    edited January 2010
    The religious right are just upset that the movie is clearly a parable of the American genocide. This doesn't of course tie in neatly with their idea of manifest destiny and the righteousness of murdering 100 million people.
    Post edited by Byrnzie on
  • OffHeGoes29OffHeGoes29 Posts: 1,240
    Byrnzie wrote:
    The religious right are just upset that the movie is clearly a parable of the American genocide. This doesn't of course tie in neatly with their idea of manifest destiny and the righteousness of murdering 100 millkion people.

    100 million huh? Where did you get those facts? Iraq has only 24 Million and A-stan has 12 million people living there, did we kill 80% of there population?
    BRING BACK THE WHALE
  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    Byrnzie wrote:
    The religious right are just upset that the movie is clearly a parable of the American genocide. This doesn't of course tie in neatly with their idea of manifest destiny and the righteousness of murdering 100 millkion people.

    100 million huh? Where did you get those facts? Iraq has only 24 Million and A-stan has 12 million people living there, did we kill 80% of there population?

    I wasn't referring to Iraq or Afghanistan. I was referring to the original inhabitants of the Americas.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... -important
    '...In 1492, some 100 million native people lived in the Americas. By the end of the 19th century almost all of them had been exterminated. Many died as a result of disease, but the mass extinction was also engineered..'
  • A good book (fiction) about how the Christians (Catholics, in particular) killed Paganism is called Jitterbug Perfume. One of the countless themes, actually.

    I don't know... I'm agnostic... but Paganism appeals to me more than Christianity... but that's not saying much.

    Every "spiritual" experience I've ever had has been in nature.

    The Vatican is just making themselves more irrelevant to the younger generations.

    "RELIGION SHOULD APPEAL TO THE HEARTS OF THE YOUNG" - Jim James (Gideon)
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • OffHeGoes29OffHeGoes29 Posts: 1,240
    Byrnzie wrote:
    Byrnzie wrote:
    The religious right are just upset that the movie is clearly a parable of the American genocide. This doesn't of course tie in neatly with their idea of manifest destiny and the righteousness of murdering 100 millkion people.

    100 million huh? Where did you get those facts? Iraq has only 24 Million and A-stan has 12 million people living there, did we kill 80% of there population?

    I wasn't referring to Iraq or Afghanistan. I was referring to the original inhabitants of the Americas.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... -important
    '...In 1492, some 100 million native people lived in the Americas. By the end of the 19th century almost all of them had been exterminated. Many died as a result of disease, but the mass extinction was also engineered..'

    Most of it was done by Europeans...
    BRING BACK THE WHALE
  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    100 million huh? Where did you get those facts? Iraq has only 24 Million and A-stan has 12 million people living there, did we kill 80% of there population?
    Byrnzie wrote:
    I wasn't referring to Iraq or Afghanistan. I was referring to the original inhabitants of the Americas.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... -important
    '...In 1492, some 100 million native people lived in the Americas. By the end of the 19th century almost all of them had been exterminated. Many died as a result of disease, but the mass extinction was also engineered..'
    Most of it was done by Europeans...

    European settlers - the first white Americans. The contact between these two cultures - the whites and the natives - is what the movie avatar is an allegory of. Check the other thread if you need any further clarification.
  • Byrnzie wrote:
    European settlers - the first white Americans. The contact between these two cultures - the whites and the natives - is what the movie avatar is an allegory of. Check the other thread if you need any further clarification.

    My "economics history" teacher in college had the opinion that it is justifiable because we can use the land more efficiently. In other words, it takes 100 acres of land to support 1 native american but since we are so "efficient" (agriculture, industrialization, etc) we advanced primates can support 1 person per 10 acres of land.

    He wasn't teaching, he was proselytizing.

    I am embarassed to say that I didn't say anything... just sat there like a fool and nodded my agreeable little head. :oops:
    Everything not forbidden is compulsory and eveything not compulsory is forbidden. You are free... free to do what the government says you can do.
  • Pepe SilviaPepe Silvia Posts: 3,758
    i liked the part where the author was mad because a guy in the movie refuses to fight and is later seen walking around and smiling instead of being thrown in a brig or shot for cowardice
    don't compete; coexist

    what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?

    "I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama

    when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
    i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
  • OutOfBreathOutOfBreath Posts: 1,804
    Some people get a kick out of spouting bile for pages I guess.

    No, the movie wasn't realistic (which seemed to be his main shtick with it). No it does not promote christianity. Yes, it's a fantasy/sci fi movie that is heavy on the visuals and a bit light on the plot.

    I for one thought it was a great movie. It's strength is the visuals, not the dialogue. But I knew that going in. In fact I expected something a lot worse plot-wise, but it didn't get in the way too often. It's a great popcorn movie where you just sit back and dont have to think much. To "analyze" it like you would a serious piece of literature or something is just stupid and out of place. You dont judge punk records for their skillful use of classical instruments, you judge them on their own terms.

    As for promoting paganism and pantheism or what have you, a big "meh" from me on that account. Respect of nature and balance is the dominant theme really.

    The author also seem to have a shtick with whites being portrayed badly and blacks being the good guys. To be so focused on such details (which I didn't at all notice) tells more about what he thinks...

    I give this review 1 out of 10. Because it's wrong on the count of it being a poor movie (subjective, I know), and because he judges it from the completely wrong premises.

    I recommend everyone to see Avatar in 3D. It's mindblowing, really. :)

    Peace
    Dan
    "YOU [humans] NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME?" - Death

    "Every judgment teeters on the brink of error. To claim absolute knowledge is to become monstrous. Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty." - Frank Herbert, Dune, 1965
  • CommyCommy Posts: 4,984
    You dont judge punk records for their skillful use of classical instruments





    goddamn.


    and the rest of the post is accurate.
  • Pepe SilviaPepe Silvia Posts: 3,758
    it also seems that the author justifies the mentality of 'the ends justify the means'. he brings up at least twice that the guy helps the natives of the planet and not the humans who are trying to kill them all to steal their resources and how this is apparently wrong of him
    don't compete; coexist

    what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?

    "I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama

    when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
    i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
  • Pepe SilviaPepe Silvia Posts: 3,758
    this guy says it's the most satanic, demonic film he's ever seen :shock: :roll: :lol:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cI5GxM4 ... r_embedded
    don't compete; coexist

    what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?

    "I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama

    when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
    i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
  • rebornFixerrebornFixer Posts: 4,901

    The author also seem to have a shtick with whites being portrayed badly and blacks being the good guys. To be so focused on such details (which I didn't at all notice) tells more about what he thinks...

    I give this review 1 out of 10. Because it's wrong on the count of it being a poor movie (subjective, I know), and because he judges it from the completely wrong premises.

    I recommend everyone to see Avatar in 3D. It's mindblowing, really. :)

    Peace
    Dan

    I dunno ... It IS pretty trendy to portray "whites" as colonialist, nature-destroying devils these days. I agree with your view of the film, though. Its awesome, at a basic visual level.
  • haffajappahaffajappa British Columbia Posts: 5,955
    So we're clear:

    Primitives = happy, natural, honorable and spiritual
    Humans = destructive, greedy, violent and conniving.


    No look guys, he's got it!
    Now if only he stopped there.
    live pearl jam is best pearl jam
  • rebornFixerrebornFixer Posts: 4,901
    haffajappa wrote:
    So we're clear:

    Primitives = happy, natural, honorable and spiritual
    Humans = destructive, greedy, violent and conniving.


    No look guys, he's got it!
    Now if only he stopped there.

    Primitives that ride huge-ass beasts with hammerheads = EVEN MORE happy, natural, honorable, and spiritual!
    :D
  • haffajappahaffajappa British Columbia Posts: 5,955
    Byrnzie wrote:
    Byrnzie wrote:
    The religious right are just upset that the movie is clearly a parable of the American genocide. This doesn't of course tie in neatly with their idea of manifest destiny and the righteousness of murdering 100 millkion people.

    100 million huh? Where did you get those facts? Iraq has only 24 Million and A-stan has 12 million people living there, did we kill 80% of there population?

    I wasn't referring to Iraq or Afghanistan. I was referring to the original inhabitants of the Americas.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... -important
    '...In 1492, some 100 million native people lived in the Americas. By the end of the 19th century almost all of them had been exterminated. Many died as a result of disease, but the mass extinction was also engineered..'
    I can't believe you actually had to explain that one... :roll: :lol:
    live pearl jam is best pearl jam
  • CosmoCosmo Posts: 12,225
    What the Catholic Church needs to explain is this...
    If the atmosphere around the floating mountains disrupted the military communications hardware's abilitiy to send/recieve ship to ship transmissions... how come the Avatar's worked? I mean, the same technology for the Avatars came from the same people who built those helicopters, right?
    ...
    Explain that one Mr. Pope.
    Allen Fieldhouse, home of the 2008 NCAA men's Basketball Champions! Go Jayhawks!
    Hail, Hail!!!
  • luke.luke. Posts: 190
    Byrnzie wrote:
    100 million huh? Where did you get those facts? Iraq has only 24 Million and A-stan has 12 million people living there, did we kill 80% of there population?
    Byrnzie wrote:
    I wasn't referring to Iraq or Afghanistan. I was referring to the original inhabitants of the Americas.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... -important
    '...In 1492, some 100 million native people lived in the Americas. By the end of the 19th century almost all of them had been exterminated. Many died as a result of disease, but the mass extinction was also engineered..'
    Most of it was done by Europeans...

    European settlers - the first white Americans. The contact between these two cultures - the whites and the natives - is what the movie avatar is an allegory of. Check the other thread if you need any further clarification.


    get over yourselves, avatar has nothing to do with the 'americas' .. and the world doesn't revolve around the wars in the middle east... or the usa. its a friggen movie with blue people. the end
  • Pepe SilviaPepe Silvia Posts: 3,758
    luke. wrote:
    get over yourselves, avatar has nothing to do with the 'americas' .. and the world doesn't revolve around the wars in the middle east... or the usa. its a friggen movie with blue people. the end

    you better tell james cameron

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/ar ... 5809286903
    War on Terror backdrop to James Cameron's Avatar

    However, it also contains heavy implicit criticism of America's conduct in the War on Terror.

    As the director of Aliens, The Terminator and Terminator 2, as well as Titanic, the highest-grossing film of all time, Cameron has a formidable box-office track record.

    However, a string of films about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have flopped at the box office in the past two years, including the Reese Witherspoon vehicle Rendition and Lions for Lambs, which starred Tom Cruise, Robert Redford and Meryl Streep.

    Cameron said yesterday the theme was not the main point of Avatar, but added that Americans had a "moral responsibility" to understand the impact that their country's recent military campaigns had had.

    "We went down a path that cost several hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives. I don't think the American people even know why it was done. So it's all about opening your eyes."

    Referring to the "shock and awe" sequence, he said: "We know what it feels like to launch the missiles. We don't know what it feels like for them to land on our home soil, not in America. I think there's a moral responsibility to understand that.
    don't compete; coexist

    what are you but my reflection? who am i to judge or strike you down?

    "I will promise you this, that if we have not gotten our troops out by the time I am president, it is the first thing I will do. I will get our troops home. We will bring an end to this war. You can take that to the bank." - Barack Obama

    when you told me 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'
    i was thinkin 'death before dishonor'
  • polaris_xpolaris_x Posts: 13,559
    interesting ... i took my gf to see avatar on imax last nite (saw it a while ago) and she was crying for pretty much the last quarter of the movie ...

    the story has been done before but this one has a modern context with the use of paramilitaries instead of an official military ...

    anyhoo - typical with a james cameron movie - the dialogue is pretty bad but you can't beat the visual spectacle he created in this movie ...

    anyways - this isn't a fantastical story in that multi-national mining companies are heading into developing countries where indigenous people live and are basically forcing them out ... they are poisoning their land and using paramilitaries to control dissent ...

    anyhoo - gf was wondering if anyone actually gets that message - and i'm like 95% don't ...
  • FiveB247xFiveB247x Posts: 2,330
    The message everyone gets is "cool 3-d effects and explosions". We are slowly becoming just like the movie "idiocracy".
    polaris_x wrote:
    interesting ... i took my gf to see avatar on imax last nite (saw it a while ago) and she was crying for pretty much the last quarter of the movie ...

    the story has been done before but this one has a modern context with the use of paramilitaries instead of an official military ...

    anyhoo - typical with a james cameron movie - the dialogue is pretty bad but you can't beat the visual spectacle he created in this movie ...

    anyways - this isn't a fantastical story in that multi-national mining companies are heading into developing countries where indigenous people live and are basically forcing them out ... they are poisoning their land and using paramilitaries to control dissent ...

    anyhoo - gf was wondering if anyone actually gets that message - and i'm like 95% don't ...
    CONservative governMENt

    Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is contagious. If the government becomes a law-breaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. - Louis Brandeis
  • haffajappahaffajappa British Columbia Posts: 5,955
    FiveB247x wrote:
    The message everyone gets is "cool 3-d effects and explosions". We are slowly becoming just like the movie "idiocracy".
    :lol: intro to that movie was awesome!
    too bad it went down hill from there... had potential though.
    live pearl jam is best pearl jam
  • markin ballmarkin ball Posts: 1,075
    shitty plot + shitty dialogue = shitty movie.

    shitty plot + shitty dialogue + the most amazing visual effects ever = shitty movie.
    "First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win ."

    "With our thoughts we make the world"
  • ByrnzieByrnzie Posts: 21,037
    FiveB247x wrote:
    The message everyone gets is "cool 3-d effects and explosions". We are slowly becoming just like the movie "idiocracy".

    I hear ya. I have a built-in aversion to Computer Generated Graphics. I detested the last three Star Wars films for this reason. Lucas didn't need CGI's to make the first three films and the special effects in those films were superb. Sometimes, with those later movies, I didn't know if I was watching a Sci-fi movie or a cartoon half the time.
    I think CGI's are a lame sell out. And they just don't work.

    Edit: I've still not gotten around to Avatar. I downloaded it and was quite looking forward to seeing it after reading about how much Republicans and Christians are offended by it's message. But now I just think, 'Who gives a fuck?'
  • SmellymanSmellyman Asia Posts: 4,524
    jesus loved avatar
  • JonnyPistachioJonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    Byrnzie wrote:
    FiveB247x wrote:
    The message everyone gets is "cool 3-d effects and explosions". We are slowly becoming just like the movie "idiocracy".

    I hear ya. I have a built-in aversion to Computer Generated Graphics. I detested the last three Star Wars films for this reason. Lucas didn't need CGI's to make the first three films and the special effects in those films were superb. Sometimes, with those later movies, I didn't know if I was watching a Sci-fi movie or a cartoon half the time.
    I think CGI's are a lame sell out. And they just don't work.

    Edit: I've still not gotten around to Avatar. I downloaded it and was quite looking forward to seeing it after reading about how much Republicans and Christians are offended by it's message. But now I just think, 'Who gives a fuck?'

    I have to agree with you on the Star Wars thing. Those last three were a mis-mosh of bragging rights in the CGI world. I first got scared that CGI was going to ruin movies when I saw Martix 2.. that scene where he battles thousands of Agent Smiths was awful. It looked like a video game or a cartoon. However, I didnt think Avatar was a good movie plot-wise, but it was a fun time.
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
  • JonnyPistachioJonnyPistachio Florida Posts: 10,219
    luke. wrote:
    Byrnzie wrote:
    100 million huh? Where did you get those facts? Iraq has only 24 Million and A-stan has 12 million people living there, did we kill 80% of there population?
    Byrnzie wrote:
    I wasn't referring to Iraq or Afghanistan. I was referring to the original inhabitants of the Americas.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... -important
    '...In 1492, some 100 million native people lived in the Americas. By the end of the 19th century almost all of them had been exterminated. Many died as a result of disease, but the mass extinction was also engineered..'
    Most of it was done by Europeans...

    European settlers - the first white Americans. The contact between these two cultures - the whites and the natives - is what the movie avatar is an allegory of. Check the other thread if you need any further clarification.


    get over yourselves, avatar has nothing to do with the 'americas' .. and the world doesn't revolve around the wars in the middle east... or the usa. its a friggen movie with blue people. the end

    get over yourselves?! geesh, sounds like someone woke up onthe wrong side of the bed. nobody said anything about the world revolving around the Americas, but it's a little tough to ignore the wars going on if you live here. And i'd be surprised if Cameron doesnt have some influences from American history in Avatar. But Pepe Silva already showed that to you in detail. So I guess the the world does revolve around the Americas, huh?
    Pick up my debut novel here on amazon: Jonny Bails Floatin (in paperback) (also available on Kindle for $2.99)
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