A (very) Modest Defense of Avatar

There are some good aspects of the film Avatar. Anytime a film brings to light the destructive aspects of colonialism and imperialism I'm all for it. Although secondary to Cameron's 3-D filming, the focus on a society being invaded and destroyed both socially and environmentally is an important one especially in light of what the United States has been doing this century, and since its formation. In case you've forgotten, or Mr Cervi didn't mention it, the U.S. has invaded two countries within the last decade, we've killed hundreds of thousands of people, there are 5 million orphaned children in Iraq due to our invasion, we have 750 active military bases around the world, 30,000 troops in S. Korea, 115,000 soldiers in Iraq, soon there will be 130,000 soldiers in Afghanistan, we are the largest arms dealer and this year our defense budget will be $663.8 Billion. By the way just on Iraq and Afghanistan the US spent $170 Billion last year. The next country closest to the US is China which spent $122 Billion on its military last year. http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending#InContextUSMilitarySpendingVersusRestoftheWorld )

All this at a time when unemployment is skyrocketing and millions of people are losing their homes! Now Avatar does not connect the dots to the US, but even if people can make a small connection to the evil of imperialism no matter where or when, so much the better. Even today, when everyone is concerned for the people in Haiti due to the earthquake many people forget colonialism's impact in Haiti and the US role in their impoverishment beginning in 1804. As the first free black society the US refused to recognize Haiti for 60 years. (for a great article on Haiti: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/opinion/22danner.html?scp=1&sq=mark%20danner&st=cse

I actually find more problems with Avatar than good things, such as the need for a white hero to save the day for the Navis (yeah that would happen!) and a 'Dances with Wolves' complex (where is Costner anyhow?). In fact, Kipling would probably love Cameron! Finally, as long as big money and big corporations control Hollywood, and we are now witnessing the pinnacle of this, we will continue to see huge movies that Cameron typifies, and less and less small productions. For most Americans there isn't a solution - they will keep on texting, facebooking, driving SUV's, and worrying about who won on American Idol. Don't change things - just consume them!!