Whoever attends a performance of [Beethoven’s] Ninth Symphony and then sits down to draw a wallpaper pattern is either a con man or a degenerate.

Is Avatar Racist?

A friend points us to Newitz at io9, who says:

These are movies about white guilt. Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color - their cultures, their habitats, and their populations. The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the “alien” cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become “race traitors,” and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It’s not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it’s not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It’s a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.

This is interesting, but a bit off. There are two distinct but separate race-related issues in the film: 1) a colonizer vs. colonized theme, and 2) a black vs. white theme.

Regarding colonization, Newitz assumes too much. While the film does use role reversal of the main character as a crucial turning point, it is not due to Sully’s “guilt” of the forest people’s (the “Na’vi“‘s) destruction at the hands of humanity. Indeed, the disaster has yet to even occur; Sully takes up an opposing cause in an attempt to prevent it from happening. Simply put, nobody’s doling out reparations here.

The black vs. white theme is a bit more complicated, and prevalent. The first issue is that Cameron made the misguided creative decision that the forest people should physically resemble African people. Uncannily, in fact. Which, for an American audience, quickly calls to mind modern-day racial tensions. Making the fact that a white character single-handedly(!) “saves” an African-looking race from elimination certifiably cringe-worthy.

But is this “racist”? There is certainly some glorification of limited and incremental colonization, as well as a bit of military fetishism (but only a bit—any compliments here are pretty backhanded). But does it promote the “idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others”? Considering the film’s ending, which outright suggests that racial integration is basically impossible…it’s a tough sell.

Rather, as mentioned in the previous post, the film’s greatest offense is its pathetic predictability. These awkward racial undertones simply exacerbate its badness.

Film Review: Avatar

“Movies will never be the same” is the trailer tagline for this effects-soaked drama from the future. But in reality, a bit more modesty would have been appreciated—and appropriate.

James Cameron’s latest is undoubtably entertaining (even more so in 3D). Its foreign lands are brilliant and luminous. Each rich, untouched natural space is breathtaking in its detail, and simply getting to witness the characters effortlessly bound through them is arguably be worth the price of admission.

But the beauty mostly ends there. The plot—that of an intergalactic colonizing power deciding between nurturing and destroying (for great potential profit) a race of forest people—is disappointingly formulaic. For all the unexpectedness that flourishes in the backdrops of Cameron’s world (known as “Pandora”), the bland interactions of the humans and aliens against them seem hopelessly mismatched. While certainly exciting at times, there is no overarching sense of suspense; after nearly three hours, it ends precisely as you would expect Hollywood to end it.

And despite the objection that a strong plot isn’t that essential in a film that leverages an unmatched amount of special effects, the story does matter. A lot. Ever since the emergence of fully-animated features pioneered by the likes of Pixar which depend on, and are complimented by, strong storylines, it is no longer necessary to have to choke down a tepid plot as an excuse for visual-only entertainment. Said otherwise, Avatar is no Titanic. Or The Abyss. Or Ratatouille—one of so many effects-driven films with an equally compelling and original storyline—for that matter. James Cameron can do better. And we should demand as much from him with his next creative endeavor.

One major cost the conventional American media bears in order to achieve its veneer of objectivity is tolerance of a pretty ridiculous level of policy ignorance

Laws and Landmines

Turns out the U.S. will continue to NOT take part in the International Mine Ban Treaty. Why? Partly due to the actual difficulty of ratifying international treaties.

First, the facts of the Mine Ban Treaty: conceived in 1997, 156 signatories, 37 non-signatories (including China, India, Russia). Now, while the treaty has been in existence for nearly twelve years, the U.S. has never signed it (even though they were a party in its creation) as it would conflict with official policy. As noted:

The United States refuses to sign the treaty because it does not offer a “Korean exception”, as landmines are said to be a crucial component of the U.S. military strategy in South Korea. According to the US government, the one million mines along the DMZ between North and South help maintain the delicate peace by deterring a North Korean attack.

Yet that doesn’t make the Obama administration’s announcement any less surprising—many were expecting a turnabout on par with the more prominent (albeit unsatisfied) promise to close Guantánamo.

But, as Drezner says, would a policy reversal even be possible? After all, a massive 67 Senate votes are needed to ratify any international treaty. Which isn’t a terribly bad rule; in theory, choosing to adhere to an international treaty could effect a great deal of future foreign policy legislation, moreso than any single law passed internally. A greater consensus should be required.

The real question is, could another type of defense mechanism replace the land mine in the DMZ? Finding an answer could be good news for both defense contractors otherwise worried about military cutbacks (hawks), as well as for anti-landmine types (the rest of the world). Until then, though, there probably won’t be much change to look forward to.

Deep Thought

Health care reform could be Obama’s Saddam Hussein.

- Do you mean to tell me that you’re thinking seriously of building that way, when and if you are an architect?
- Yes.
- My dear fellow, who will let you?
- That’s not the point. The point is, who will stop me?

Evolution Denial

Razib Khan points out that a healthy number of prominent politicians—potential U.S. presidential candidates, no less—are “rather frank Creationists”. Maybe the biggest problem is how this isn’t shocking to a lot of people.

He notes:

Creationism doesn’t really have the same valence as abortion as a “culture war” issue, but, it is useful in being a distinctive marker for social conservative candidates. Mitt Romney is now notionally as pro-life as the social conservatives, but it seems unlikely that he’ll flip his position on evolution since he expressed himself so explicitly in the 2008 debates.

And in a follow-up post, he adds:

Obviously a particular combination of policies and beliefs would lead to different assessments of a candidate’s viability to different individuals. Many of Ron Paul’s enthusiastic supporters backed him not because of 100% agreement with all his views, including his skepticism of evolution, but because of core substantive agreement with is policy prescriptions. On the other hand, some weird beliefs probably would serve as a way to filter out genuine loonies who rely on non-mainstream sources of knowledge.

For all the observant things said here, its unfortunate that his very last point is made so casually. Not due to fault on behalf of the author, but rather due to the reality that Creationism doesn’t live under the larger tent of “loonie-worthy concepts” in the greater public consciousness. Said otherwise, it’s incredible that Creationism isn’t a disqualifying factor in mainstream American politics.

Recently, researchers discovered Ardi, one of our 4 million-year-old bipedal ancestors. So, as yet another piece of evidence added to the theory of evolution, it is more than clear that the misinforming power of Creationism is eating away at what should be a straightforward, science-based history of humanity on Earth. Yet such a belief still stands front-and-center on politicians’ public platforms.

One of Khan’s commenters says “I don’t…grant that mormonism is that crazy; catholicism’s transubstantiation isn’t weird because it is widely held.” A good point—that wide acceptance of an idea can lead to cultural normalization.

However, with transubstantiation (the Catholic belief that the Eucharist is actually the body of Jesus Christ), the concept doesn’t necessary contradict decades of scientific research. If you choose to believe that you are consuming God, that is your choice. In the same way—it should be mentioned—that the idea of Intelligent Design doesn’t necessarily contradict the theory of evolution. If you believe that God “chose” a certain branch from the tree of humanity to become man as we know it today, that is fine. (Just don’t pretend it’s a scientific, since you can never actually test that belief of yours.)

But the problem with Creationism? It tries to contradict an exhaustively strong scientific theory. With no evidence to present on its own behalf. Such blatant denialism should have no place in a voting booth.