av·a·tar (āv’ə-tär’)
n.
- The incarnation of a Hindu deity, especially Vishnu, in human or animal form.
- An embodiment, as of a quality or concept; an archetype: the very avatar of cunning.
- A temporary manifestation or aspect of a continuing entity: occultism in its present avatar.
Having an overly rational mind sometimes leads me to rebel against hype. I often find myself missing out on the simple joys of life, due to my inescapable obsession to analyze and verify everything I see and do. When I watch a movie, or read a book, for instance, I first have to consciously talk myself out of re-writing the story, and talk myself INTO just enjoying it for what it is. This illusion that I present to myself stands hard, but only for a short period of time, before it mists away and my brain begins twisting what I know into what I wish I hadn’t discovered.
This was the case while watching Avatar a week ago.
This movie has been hyped as the greatest of its time. Years of promotion and speculation built the public interest into a frenzy. And crushed any hopes I had of enjoying it. The more an event is hyped, the more likely I am to turn from that hype. The greater the frenzy, the stronger my feelings are that there is something amiss.
I will grant that the cinematics are like nothing I’ve ever seen before. A third of the way through the movie I found myself wondering if this was really CGI, or if the world had been deluded and what we were watching was actually actors in costume. I generally don’t like CGI in a movie, it takes away the fantasy of it all, ironically. Watching Spiderman 2, in all its CGI glory was a horrendous adventure, dissolving all of the “superpowerness” of the hero. It made it hard to believe that Peter Parker was in fact a “superhero”…I know that a computer generated hero can do anything, what I wanted to see was a stereotypical young geek capable of the extraordinary.
Avatar was the first CGI film I’ve watched that actually made me feel as if this was something I’d never have the opportunity to witness in real life. Now, you may say that Spiderman is not something one could truly witness in real life, however, there certainly are stereotypical young geeks accomplishing the extraordinary on a regular basis. What the CGI did was make me wonder, if what I was watching wasn’t in fact real, real actors, real makeup, real costumes, real settings.
For once, the CGI was believable, and it was the story that lacked luster for me.
The story of Avatar is not new. It’s one that can be found in the absurd. Take Zelda-Ocarina of time…here we have the story of a young hero, Link, who is an outsider in a village, the Kokiri Forest, built under the Great Deku Tree. As an outsider, Link strives to become a member of his chosen people by setting out to abolish their oppressor, with an underlying motive of saving the life of the princess, thereby ensuring his perfect assimilation into the people. Sound familiar?
The spiritual connotations in Avatar go almost beyond discussion. The idea that all things are explicitly connected, running on the same life energy and never divisible is the basis of my being. Watching Avatar is like experiencing a shrink-wrapped mushroom cloud of religion. It’s safe to say that every faith will find something to connect to in Avatar, if one so cares to look.
So, that leaves me wondering, what was James Cameron up to when he wrote Avatar? He is noted for placing symbolic relationships in his movies. His stories are littered with the lessons he wishes the viewer to learn. Or is it just people like me…those of us unable to see something for strictly what it is? Is there the off-chance that Cameron made this movie, and all his others, simply because he could? Simply because he was boxing clever, and able to re-imagine the accepted standards of film-making? Was it purely for our entertainment? Unfortunately for me, no.
Cameron had a purpose. My only wish is that his purpose fit the hype because the hype surrounding the”originality” of the movie promised a revelation. I went into this viewing with the idea and understanding that Cameron was going to change the world. The hype informed me that what I was about to watch was a brilliant new concept, not only in the cinematics, but also in idea. In the past, I walked away from Cameron’s movies with something fresh to think about, something new to wrap my head around. With Avatar, I find myself largely disappointed with the lack of newness. As much as I herald the ability present in the movie to manipulate CGI in a previously unseen manner, I recognize it as something that was inevitable, the next logical step in its developement. And the story is previously written in any dogma, any sacred text, any belief structure, from Hinduism to Islam, Witchcraft to Freemasonry.
The mundane has become original. Basics of life, human nature, have become the phenomenal, yet still, we rely on the predictable to enlighten us.
I can hardly wait for the sequel, in which I’m sure the Na’vi will spend three hours becoming assimilated into the ways of their new saviour.
