As moms of two kidlets, we rarely have the opportunity to go out. My mom has a busier social/work calendar than most celebrities, and we can't hire a babysitter to come over with my Grams at home. Since we've moved here we've seen 3 movies. Ha.rry Potter, She.rlock Holmes and now A.vatar. Av.atar was getting mixed reviews from people we knew but Rebeca really wanted to see it.
*bleh* That's what I thought. I tried my hardest to push down my critical eye and just enjoy the entertainment, but I couldn't. For one thing, those 3-D glasses did not allow me an enjoyable viewing experience. And, they're not sexy.
Secondly. *deep deep breath* If I have to see just one more white dude saving some poor brown/yellow/mixed tribe/group/community/country I may very well gouge out my eyes and stick a chopstick through my brain. All the talk of "saving your home" and "your children's children" made Rebeca almost audibly puke in her mouth. (Also, not sexy.) I cringed every time that Jack, or Jake or whatever his name was, opened his stupid mouth. Was he even a necessary character in this film? Why couldn't the blue Maori/Aboriginal/Indigenous/African/Inuit/Mexican/Chinese peeps save themselves? Because only single-white-hetero-man can organize the clans and create tribal peace? Pleh. In the beginning, I had high hopes. The chief's daughter was super kick ass, then suddenly she's riding bitch on the red dragon thing. Pleh pleh.
This movie was made by the same guy who did the boat movie right? (Another film I completely hated. Waaaaay too depressing.) He's seemingly reputable and respected. That said, this film was so overtly stereotypical it makes me wonder if he wasn't just being completely sarcastic. There were definitely many messages. Love the earth/creation/nature. Greed is not good. Etc. etc. But I wonder if there's another message hidden behind the Maori sharing of breath and Chinese queues. Either the director is saying that all non-caucasian people can be lumped together, because really they're all the same. And that as a group must be tamed and assimilated toward the utopia that is white "culture". OR He's commenting on racism and on what the dominant populations believes, even if they don't admit it to themselves. *sigh*
I'm so out of practice. It's been quite a few years since my Women's/Ethnic Studies classes and protest rallies. These days my thoughts are more geared toward organic baby food and the pros and cons of vaccinations. But I can't let myself become comfortable! Not when movies like these are making katriillions of dollars and little boys are shown that they too can save a ghetto, or little girls are taught that even though they are powerful, they'd still better not take the steering wheel in a high speed flying dragon/broom chase.
Racism, sexism, homophobia abounds. And as little Japexicans, my daughters are sure to face this and so much more in their lives. As their mothers, we won't be able to shield them from it all. That pisses me off.
Although I want my girls to be happy, I hope there's a little bit of angry in them too.
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