Avatar: A "Great warning for generations to come"

 I can't even make up a snarky comment for this. It's just, just...wow. This might just be the most perfect specimen of an Avatard I've ever encountered. Misanthropy, bullshit attempts to tie the film in with real world history (which in fact, trivializes the real world suffering of 'colonized' peoples), belief in aliens, elitism, and the not so subtle implication that he believes the events of the movie will really happen.

I can't help but laugh at how he's been "dying to see a movie like this". A common defense that avatards make is that they are perfectly aware of how unoriginal and done to death the story is, but that it doesn't matter to them. Yet, here we see a fan who apparently thinks this is the first ever film of it's type to have such a message. Just further proof that avatards don't know jack shit about film history (or even the history of their own "movement", which proves that they probably never cared about environmentalism before seeing the movie)

"and yes i am attacking the being called human, because that's what they are. And i am one of them, there is no escape from it".

I would give him a point for acknowledging that he can't escape what he is (unlike other avatards who think they actually are Na'Vi or can become Na'Vi), but I'd also take it away from him for referring to humans as if they were a seperate species, so no points for you!

"i hope that by the time humans are colonizing alien planets they act in our terms "human" towards the indigenous lifeforms, no matter what profit might or might not be gained."

No, us humans will simply make a profit off of them by showing them a shitty movie about how corporations and capitalism suck that was made by a corporation and made billions of dollars through the capitalist system. It's an old human tradition we call "hypocrisy" and/or "liberalism".

I'm never going to forget this post whenever I see another avatard claim that no one has taken this movie to heart.

Avatards: At war with their own feelings:

A common tactic used by Avatards when defending their favorite movie is to argue that the film, whether or not it was any good, must be considered a technical masterpiece simply because James Cameron created his own planet (yeah, I know how stupid that sounds, since pretty much anyone can create their own planet when writing fiction). Some of the more intelligent ones (and I say intelligent solely on the fact that they realize how easy it is to dream up your own planet) will argue that it's not even that which is special about Cameron creating Pandora, but that Pandora is special because Cameron thought up a whole language, culture and ecosystem and science for it. They will also say "only an intelligent mind can appreciate and comprehend such an achievement".

So basically these dipshits are arguing that liking Avatar makes you a scientific genius or an intellectual, and that anyone who dislikes the film must be an idiot who knows nothing about science.

Except that, Avatards can't even agree on the simplest basics about the 'science, culture' etc.

For example, the troll SewageMan started a thread pointing out the racial stereotypes that went into the Na'Vi, and one of the things he and his supporters cited was how the Na'Vi were portrayed as a violent, stupid warrior culture who needed a white man to unite them. This is how the Avatards responded to this accusation:

Now remember, ALL Avatards like the film because they can comprehend the brilliant, scientific world-building put into the film.

On another thread, resident superfan xy-ted, who actually HAS researched all of the science, language and other crap that the film didn't bother to go into, has this to say about the Na'Vi culture, who remember, do not fight amongst themselves according to the two idiots above:

So they DO fight amongst themselves.

This proves that yes, there ARE intelligent Avatards out there who have researched the Na'Vi culture and the "science" of the planet, etc. Not that this makes them Rhodes Scholars or anything, but it at least shows they know their shit about, well, their shit.

....And such fans are a minority whom other fans disagree with about something as simple as whether or not the Na'Vi fight amongst each other.

I don't know what's more pathetic; obsessive fanboys who have memorized every useless detail about a film, including stuff that you could only learn from bonus material that was not even in the film, or obsessive fanboys who can't get the most basic details right about their favorite movie that they will vehemently defend.

Wouldn't it be the greatest case of irony ever, if it turned out that a majority of Avatards, the same ones who make death threats against people who hate the movies, whine about being oppressed as if they were a minority, and dress up in stupid costumes for videos that they broadcast over the internet for all the world to see.....haven't even seen the film?

Avatards and Race Relations: Exposing a myth

One of the great myths spread by Avatards is that Avatar was successful because it had an "anti-racist" message, and was beloved by all minorities (especially black people) and that if you dislike the film, you must automatically be some sort of white supremacist racist inbred pot-bellied redneck sharecropper KKK member from the deep south who "doesn't want to see the truth" that Avatar provides. The only minorities who dislike the film are "Uncle Toms" (a submissive, weak-willed black person who loves white people and bows down to them), supposedly.

 Except, no. That isn't true at all.

A quick search on Google images for Avatar fans shows almost exclusively white people in costume, at conventions, or attending re-releases of the film. With one exception on page 3, it is like this for more than 20 pages (which is where I stopped looking) of ALL the results you see on Google images. Furthermore, a quick search on Google for White people + Avatar immediately brings up completely negative articles regarding the film and calling it "racist", "a feel good movie for white people", "patronizing", etc. Don't take my word for it though:

 Also interestingly, that first article, "When will white people stop making movies like Avatar", isn't just one that only came up because it matched the search terms; it is actually a very widespread article which many people believe and agree with. Look at how mnay times it has been copied to other sites on the internet; clearly, it isn't just an obscure/ignored rant made up by some lone crazy person:

 However, those results don't prove anything so much as that lots of people see a racist-condescending subtext in the film. There are people out there who will read racism into anything. Broad results like this don't prove that black people love or hate the film.

 But individual bloggers do.

The person who runs Truth First, a black power blog so outspoken some have called it satire, absolutely hates the film, and considers Neytiri "a white man's perversion" of African beauty.

 Now read some of the other posts on the blog.

 Does the person who runs "Truth First" sound like an "Uncle Tom" to you?

 Next we find the forums for Assata Shakur, black panther and mother of Tupac. This place has been described by some people as the "black version of Stormfront".

 While some members liked the film, the majority of them considered it condescending and a phony "peace offering", objecting to the character of Jake Sully and saying the film would have been better off featuring the Na' Vi as the heroes. One person even laughed at the reports of suicidal fanboys.

 Do those people, who consider white people a failed mutant race who suffer from undiagnosed insanity that makes them want to conquer other races, sound like submissive Uncle Toms to you?

 I'd be very interested in seeing an Avatard try to tell these people, in person, that they are Uncle Toms because they didn't love Avatar.

 Now we come to one of the only black guys I can find online who likes Avatar, Mr. Bunche, of the Vault of Buncheness blog.

 Vault of Buncheness exclusively reviews B-movies, sci-fi movies, porn and exploitation films, so it is inevitable that Avatar would be reviewed and, compared to a lot of the crap covered there, would come out looking good. Bunche did not LOVE the film, but he enjoyed it a lot and said he would see it again.

 I think it is telling that, for a film that "all black people everywhere" love, one would have to seek out an obscure sci-fi film blogger to find a black person who actually likes the film. Keep in mind too, that Bunche did not praise the film because of it's message, he thought the film was as cliche as the haters did; he just enjoyed it because he felt it was a technically apt, entertaining film and that there was no way the story could really be fresh, so he enjoyed it for what it is. Bunche also is known for enjoying the films of John Waters, as well as comedies like Soul Plane (which is widely loathed among the broader African American community as a "modern-day minstrel show").

 Clearly, he is a very hard man to offend, thus it makes sense that he wouldn't find Avatar problematic. I am not saying I am questioning his credibility because of the films he watches, in fact, I find it admirable that he likes "trashy" movies so openly, but clearly this is a guy who couldn't care less about the film's "message".

 So ultimately, we see from just these simple results that NO, Avatar is not universally beloved by the African-American community. At best, it was mildly enjoyed by ONE blogger who doesn't even view films in terms of race, at the most moderate, it was considered a well-meaning bone toss that was still extremely problematic and that would have been better if the main character was not present at all, at worst, it is considered a perversion of African culture and lambasted for it's racist, condescending use of the "mighty whitey" trope.

 And as for racists disliking the film...

 I've long used the term "chimpout' both online and in real life to describe people who fly off the handle because of stupid shit, but I've used it increasingly less because of a racist website called Chimpout.com, which is a site devoted to comparing black people to monkeys. Chimpout.com is interesting, in that it occasionally makes good points about double standards in media and is extremely tolerant of most non-white races, but it's still a despicable hate site. So, because of my personal dislike for the site, I decided to use it as my test to see just how much "racists" really "feel threatened" by Avatar.

In brief, they weren't.

 Most of them in fact, praised the film for not having any black people play human characters, several made defenses for the film saying it was harmless entertainment, one of them even liked the character of Neytiri and said they could ignore the fact that she was voiced by a black actress, one poster even approved of Zoe Saldana's casting by saying "who better to play a non-human than a non-human?" (which is as close to a compliment as they can give). Even the most vehemently negative of the posters still praised the film as a "technological triumph" and found good things to say about the film. Some even praised the Na'Vi as being better than actual black people.

 While I can't say that they all liked the film, for a forum whose entire purpose is to demonize black people, the posters on CO all seemed fairly ambivalent about the film. Clearly, they were not "threatened" or offended by it's message, several even defended it. Even the most negative feelings towards the film were calmly delivered and not filled with rage. All in all, that being the biggest thread on CO about Avatar, it was clear that not too many people cared.

 Objectively then, I would say that, when a website second only to Stormfront in infamy that has been called "the most racist website in North America" is ambivalent at worst towards a film, sometimes supportive (if in a condescending way), then that film is probably not "making racists everywhere feel threatened".

So who are the racists and bigots who discuss Avatar?

 Using the same logic that the fans do, I can only say that most racist and bigoted people who discuss Avatar are: The Fans.

 They make N-word jokes, check out this fan's username:

 He also clearly is not simply using the name as a term of endearment towards himself, he knows he's being racist, and laughing about it. Proof? He changed his username overnight because he didn't want to get called out for it:

  They also have no problem with other forms of bigotry, such as homphobia:

 They also quote racists in their signatures:

 Yes indeed, Gandhi was a racist. He even has fans on Chimpout.

 Yes, I know that "FinalFantasy_" was just joking around, pancake-eater was just issuing a common schoolyard taunt (although it does show how immature he is), and MuchToBeGratefulFor is not quoting Gandhi because of his racism, but still, this shows their hypocrisy.

 So what does this prove? Does it prove that I'm right? No, there are exception to every rule, but it does prove several things:

 -Avatar is not terribly popular with African-Americans to any overwhelming degree, and those who do praise it either couldn't care less about it's "message" or like the message but still find the film problematic. It is DEFINITELY not universally popular with them.

-Racists (and not just any racists, but ones from one of the most infamous racist websites of all time) don't have any particular hatred for the film, most are ambivalent about it, and some even support it. They are certainly not "threatened" by it.

-Avatar fans have no problem making racist and homophobic jokes, quoting racists, and telling people how they should feel. If anyone is the bigots, it's them.





Avatard believes in ancient aliens, film at 11:00

 For people who have epic chimpouts whenever someone calls the Na'Vi "smurfs", Avatards sure do behave similar to smurfs. Just as the smurfs have _ smurfs (Papa, Brainy), Avatards also fall into categories defined by only one characteristic. We have Furry Avatard, Cosplay Avatard, Fair-Use Hating Avatard, Scary Avatard, and so on. Personally, I'm waiting for Neo-Nazi Avatard and Fundamentalist Christian Avatard to show up. Thus, it wasn't too far out of the reach for me to find out that there's an Ancient Aliens Advocating Avatard out there:

Now here's where it gets really funny:

 For those who don't know, Chariot of the Gods is based off of a long-debunked book by some crackpot named Erich Von Daniken.

 Don't these morons realize how much serious scientists (including a few UFOlogists) have come to resent all of this ancient alien crap? They really think this shit gives them credibility? Most history teachers have come to hate the History Channel almost exlcusively because of the popularity of this crap. There's even a wide-ranging internet meme based off of it. Hell, I even made one myself:

  

The Avatardery grows crazier every day. You just know there's going to be Holocaust denial and Moon landing hoax theories popping up next amongst these idiots.....

.....if there hasn't been already.

Avatar fan cries because people don't appreciate clichés

 One of the most fascinating characteristics of Avatards is their victim complex. My friend "100Aliases", provider of many of my screenshots and comic book blogger extraordinaire (and an old pro when it comes to trolling avatards) described this phenomeon succintly in an E-mail conversation we had:

 He's right.

 Just for fun, I thought I'd star cataloguing instances of Avatards whining about the film and it's fans being "marginalized". Keep in mind, this has already been going on for a long time.

 Lo, and behold, I just hopped onto IMDb and this was one of the new topics:

The butthurt is strong with this one.

 I'll say one thing positive about these people, they rarely disappoint.

Seriously, don't these morons get it that no one gives a damn about what the film's message is? No one is "threatened" or confused" by the message, because it's the same old treehugger crap every person who has ever attended school in the past 50 years has had rammed down their throats. Tyler Perry's Madea movies supposedly deal with racism and family values, so does that make them masterpieces?

 I want to take a piano wire to these people.

More shuckin' n' jivin' from IMDb:

 IMDb is the gift that just keeps on giving.

 First, we learn that Avatar is 2 deep 4u:

 So it's a cultural thing, now eh? Well, I have some ancient oriental widom of my own for you:

 Confucius say you're a race-baiting retard.

Ah, honesty.

 Up next, sexual deviancy rears it's ugly fursuited head:

 Even Robert Crumb would be horrified.

 Oh, and our old friend Johnlindsey289 just had to pipe in:

It really does start early in childhood...

 For the record, here's the "Cleo" in question:

Fap Fap Fap

 What the fuck is wrong with these people?

 In comparison, Jason Baldwin of the infamous West Memphis Three, who has spent the last 18 years in prison, recently got an outstanding report card:

 Keep this in mind; Baldwin claims he and his friends were railroaded for being seen as freaks in their community, and legally, he is still considered guilty.

 So yes, a guy who is legally guilty of child murder who has spent his entire adult life in jail for being "weird" is still an infinitely more normal, likeable and productive citizen than your average Avatar fan.

Avatard makes a shocking discovery:

 Some of you may remember IMDb's new years greeter Johnlindsey289. Here he is with an enlightening and brilliant discovery sure to change your outlook on life:

Note the enthusiastic responses

 

 I'd say he has a shot at a Nobel Prize, wouldn't you?



A return to Youtube

Been a while since I toured Youtube, but check these little gems out:

 You never can tell whether these are studio shills or actual people. No wonder they don't object to Cameron's silly dialogue; they actually talk that way in real life! It's like finding a Shakespeare fan who uses "thee" and "thou" in everyday conversation.

 Now here's a comment which may just be the most genuinely despicable thing an Avatard has ever said, what's funny is that it has nothing to do with the video in question, which is just a trailer:

 Burn in hell.



Idiot thinks Eywa is real:

 Damn, and I thought those Lovecraft fans who think the Necronomicon is real were dumb.

 You just can't make this shit up.

A Parade of Idiots:

Youtube has never been a place renowned for it's variety. Just the same old LOLspeak and stupid comments about Justin Bieber and the number of people who dislike a video. Still, I was getting bored with cataloguing the reactions of various idiots to spammers on the trailer, so I decided to check out other Avatar-related videos. Oh boy, did I hit the jackpot.

 From the video for the film's theme song (which I don't remember hearing even once in the film); a goldmine of Avatard stupidity:

 I like to think my Robert became an Avatar when he died. He was enthralled with this movie and ten times moreover with the song "I See You". His own body wore out on him. Maybe he loved this so much because he wanted to be free of his own body so badly.

 I'm of the belief my Robert died n became an Avatar. His own body wore out on hime. He LOVED and was enthralled with this movie and the song even more so. I see why now.

 These two comments are from some idiot named kpiccindooley.  I'm all for heart-felt recollections of dead loved ones, but why remember him just through a movie? And even further, why say it twice in a row? I'm starting to wonder if Robert really died of a debilitating disease, or if he cheated on kpiccindooley and she had her brother Jimmy, who shares her speech/typing impediment, rub Robert out with Jimmy's mob connections.

 Oh well, at least friend kpiccindooley has (or had) someone else in her(?) life.

i want a girlfriend that likes this film as much as me and would love to live like this. that is all. -wattsybaby123

 And you'll never get one.

 It's comments like these that are why this blog exists.

this song Dont Works when i sing.Wait am Still Blind!!!!!!! -Damiaskill

 What the Fuck?

 And in a refreshingly hilarious twist, when I did a search for "avatar james cameron" while on Youtube, this was the recommended "featured" video:

Hmmm, Avatar has no connections to the Smurfs, you say? Youtube would haveth words with thee.



There is no God:

Cambodians have apparently started cosplaying as Na'Vi to protest the rainforest being destroyed. Jesus Christ. I mean, I know some of these people really have made their homes there or have jobs related to the rainforest, but for every one of those there are five well-off dumbasses protesting just because it's hip. Man, protesting the treatment of the rainforest is so old you'd think they'd consider it too "mainstream" by now.

Somewhere, some avatard is jerking it to this.

 Still, at least most of these people actually have a purpose and are doing their protest peacefully. Sadly, it's only a matter of time until some dumb white fucks decide to copy this here in America and tries to really imitate the film by chucking homemade spears and rocks, probably at some Mom & Pop store that has no connections to the Government. The good thing though is that here in America, they can get arrested for that.

 Wait a minute? Arrested? Okay, now I do hope some avatards here in America copy this. I would die a happy man if, when something like that happened, some avatard tried to fight off a cop with a homemade spear constructed out of cardboard and then got tasered or beaten with a nightstick, and it was all caught on camera. Bonus points if he screamed "Eyw protect me!" or some shit.

 Man, I love Cambodians now.

This man will never know the love of a human woman:

From IMDb and an avatard named torukmakto4:

OK, where to start?

How about the title?

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Stealing ideas and calling it original

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So you assert that Cameron...

STOLE, as in plagiarized, a valid original concept (not a genre element, a generality, or an archetypal concept)

AND

called this stolen idea his own?

If you want that rather radical and severe statement to fly, you will need to back it up with three important pieces of concrete data:
1. The original idea(s) that were infringed upon.
2. Proof that the usage of this concept in Cameron's work is in fact a violation of originality, i.e. documentation of the fact that Cameron did in fact copy the idea from another specific source rather than developing it by coincidence in isolation or deriving it from the same inspirational source that also inspired the work claimed to be infringed upon. This is not going to be easy. In fact, it may not be possible.
3. Concrete proof that Cameron cited this idea as a 100% original work of his own. If he admits an inspiration, he is not calling the idea a 100% original work of his own.

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Poul Anderson wrote Call Me Joe in 1957...(Cameron) called it Avatar

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OK, so you mean make an unoriginality claim about Avatar based on Anderson's Call Me Joe? Let's see what evidence you have.

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a story about artificial life-forms, Psionics, space exploration and complex human psychology

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Alright... seeing some general similarities here, mostly sci-fi basics, broad themes, and... some dissimilarities! OOPS! Um, way to do a good job using the distillation method to make two works look similar... NOT! You are going to have to try harder, because the trolls have already come up with better-looking and more believable unoriginality arguments more than a year ago!

Let's run these point by point...

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artificial life-forms

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The theme of ARTIFICIAL (i.e. designed from the ground up in an intelligent manner separate from natural evolution) organisms is NOT shared with Avatar. The avatars featured in said film are genetically engineered, but they are simple modifications of natural organisms, unlike the synthetic Jovians.

If we interpret that theme in a broader sense to include all bioengineered and modified lifeforms, it becomes uselessly broad. Avatar has more in common with Jurassic Park (genetic modification to serve human purpose) than with Call Me Joe under that comparison.

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Psionics

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Another broad theme, a parallel to science and brain/computer interface research.

The one valid similarity under this theme is a human's remote control of an entity in a telepresence manner by means of a hardware interface.

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space exploration

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An incredibly general theme that appears in the majority of sci-fi.

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complex human psychology

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A theme that does not appear as a primary element in Avatar, although Jake's journey could represent a sort of yearning for and achievement of a higher and less constrained existence, which is one possible way to interpret both Call Me Joe and Avatar. There may be an inspirational connection, although the concept of the achievement of a higher and less constrained existence through a shift in loyalty or a massive change in the basics of one's life may also be traced back to the archetype that inspired every "turncoat protagonist" or "going native" story INCLUDING CALL ME JOE.

Since this argument of yours is almost comically sparse and general, how about I just compare Call Me Joe and Avatar at a moderate level of generality?

Call Me Joe: A disabled man, Anglesey, is involved in an effort to explore the surface of Jupiter by means of telepathic control of a synthetic lifeform, a Jovian. He faces technical problems with his link hardware that cause disconnections at an increasing rate. This is attributed to a psychological cause, possibly rejection of the circumstances by his mind. Eventually it is realized that Joe, Anglesey's Jovian "avatar" (a term NOT used by the author!) has developed an independent existence from Anglesey himself, and the cause of the link failures is the composite mind's fear of separation. Eventually, Joe's mind takes over and Anglesey's separate existence ceases, his body now dead and empty. Anglesey/Joe's character lives on as a Jovian independent of outside control.

Avatar: A corporate entity, RDA, exploits the superconductive mineral wealth of the moon Pandora at the expense of its diverse biosphere, which includes an intelligent and evolved humanoid people, the Na'vi. A paraplegic man, Jake Sully, is brought on-world through a sudden turn of events to serve as his dead brother's replacement in the Avatar Program. This is an effort to further diplomacy with the Na'vi and scientific study of Pandora through the use of human drivers remotely controlling bioengineered Na'vi avatars. Jake, through the will of the moon's biological superintelligence Eywa, soon comes upon the Omaticaya, a Na'vi clan who take him in and educate him in the Na'vi way of life. He also comes upon a love interest, Neytiri, who becomes his mentor. Jake is ordered to act as a mole for RDA against the Omaticaya, but slowly comes to understand that his new existence with the Na'vi through his avatar is superior, all the while shifting in loyalty toward his new people and coming to realize the terrible injustice of RDA's actions. When a devastating RDA attack on the Omaticaya's ancestral home becomes imminent, Jake reveals his status in a desperate attempt to convince the Omaticaya to leave peacefully. His last-ditch attempt fails and the RDA fleet attacks the Omaticaya Hometree, leveling it and killing many, Neytiri's heart is broken by Jake's disloyalty and he becomes a traitor in the eyes of both sides. Jake, having been aided by sympathetic members of the Avatar Program and science team, returns to his avatar and fulfills his destiny as the sixth Toruk Makto, unifying the clans of the area in a final stand against oppression and proving his true loyalty to Neytiri and the Omaticaya. RDA, meanwhile, responds with its own genocidal final stand for its own survival. When Jake's forces nearly lose the ensuing battle, Eywa intervenes, crushing all RDA resistance. Jake destroys an RDA bomber just before it obliterates the single most sacred site, the Tree of Souls, which is a sort of portal to Eywa. Jake and Neytiri then proceed to kill the RDA head of security in a desperate fight. The RDA presence is forced off-world, securing the future of Pandora and the Na'vi for the foreseeable future. The film ends with Jake's permanent transference by Eywa into his avatar body, marking the completion of his transformation.

Trying to identify all dissimilarities between Call Me Joe and Avatar would be terribly difficult and incredibly long-winded, because, like the case of Avatar and Dune, another written work of sci-fi that has been referenced in Avatar unoriginality claims, these two stories have very little in common. Compared to the massive landscape of differences, the similarities are tiny and insignificant.

A much more viable strategy is to identify the similarities.
Here you go:
Disabled protagonist
Telepresence in a biological surrogate/avatar
Transformation of a character into a non-human being leading a superior and less restrictive life

Everything else is generalized sci-fi genre cornerstones: space, alien worlds... and generalized turncoat plot archetype themes.

What this comparison seems to indicate is that there MAY have been an inspirational connection to Call Me Joe in the creation of Avatar. This makes PERFECT sense, since Cameron has noted (or "ADMITTED" if you prefer) that his primary inspirations for Avatar were science fiction writings that he was exposed to in his childhood.

EDIT: Including Call Me Joe!

But as to THIS...

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Poul Anderson wrote Call Me Joe in 1957. Cameron called it Avatar

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No. Absolutely, positively, hell no. Avatar and Call Me Joe are VERY DIFFERENT stories with VERY DIFFERENT plots, characters, themes, messages... one centers on a psychological development, the other on a conflict between societies!

Their ONLY commonalities are those few concepts I mentioned.

Sidenote: Perhaps it's an homage? Did you ever think of that? Rather nice of Cameron to give some classic and obscure sci-fi a nod in his rather, um, popular film.

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and added some basic and simple liberal principles of environmentalism, anti-militarism, white-guilt, anachro-primitivism

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So unoriginality isn't enough? You just have to bash EVERY ASPECT of this film in the most tired and unoriginal (*cough* hypocritical *cough*) manner possible... seriously, learn to hate creatively. Those arguments and claims are older than dirt and make me want to yawn. There are more insidious and less obvious angles of attack to use that I could at least get a laugh out of reading.

They still demand a refute, though.

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liberal principles of environmentalism

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Environmentalism in Avatar is not a primary message. It is a generated message consisting of a narrow interpretation of the concept of societal responsibility, which is exemplified in the Na'vi. This extends to every aspect of life and culture. Respect for the biosphere that sustains one's life is just one way that overall societal responsibility manifests in a culture.

Not to mention that partisan politics have no place in this matter. Liberalism may tend more toward developing responsible societies (or it may not, in some cases) but these principles are deeper and more fundamental than something as high level as the (American...) political motives you are getting at.

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anti-militarism

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Note the following:
- The enemy (RDA) forces in Avatar are CORPORATE SECURITY FORCES. MERCENARIES. HIRED GUNS. MEN WHO HAVE SOLD OUT TO MURDER IN THE NAME OF PROFIT!

They are NOT MILITARY and they do NOT REPRESENT A NATIONAL INTEREST!

- Two protagonists, one our hero, are ex-Marines.

- Protagonists uphold ideals consistent with US (and other) military doctrine throughout the film.

- The rightful side of the conflict (the Na'vi) also engage in militaristic action against the enemy's forces. The protagonists (Jake, Neytiri, Trudy...) act as military leaders among Na'vi forces.

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white-guilt

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This is a common attack on any "going native" type scenario: The Western protagonist is the avatar (ha!) of white guilt for past actions, or is the white messiah who saves the "inferior" and "savage" other society. An equally valid interpretation is that the protagonist's journey represents a complete transformation of the "white" man that inherently removes his "whiteness" or "Western-ness", symbolized in the plot by his adoption of a new way of life and a new loyalty against his former "guilty" fellows. You look at a shot of Jake as Toruk Makto in the final battle and you see pure Na'vi warrior, other than his Marine-ness coming through in that rather out-of-place machine gun.

But that's just subjective analysis. Whatever. Point is that white guilt is more a perception, an artifact of the viewer, than an inherent characteristic of a story.

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anachro-primitivism

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That is the result of a very literal and rigid interpretation of the characteristics of the protagonists, combined with a prejudiced view that defines the Na'vi as primitive. I know it's hard to think about bows and arrows NOT being "primitive", but have some respect for the fact that technology != societal value. The Na'vi have other ways of coping. Us Westerns may love our tech, but that doesn't make it the only game in town.

Then there is the fact that several protagonists are scientists! (Grace? Max?) Avatar is in actuality pro-science, upholding reason and foresight over (corporate) illogicality and ignorance. Avatar holds technology as a tool to be wielded responsibly, nothing more or less.

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plus excess CGI and explosions, etc.

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Not gonna debate. Tasteful use of effects is subjective.

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just to appeal to the Lowest common denominator to get box office numbers

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What you may not know about the history of Avatar is that it had little studio or commercial influence in the early stages. It was written in 1994 and quickly shelved because technical issues prevented its production. Cameron created it as the fulfillment of his personal creative desire.

Early on, Fox was fearful of its potential to fail. This was a similar situation to Titanic: the concept of Avatar becoming a mainstream/commercial film did not emerge until production was well under way. There were times when it was feared that it wouldn't break even, and that it might bomb terribly. Prior to the release, a certain user named sith56 made his prediction: "Avatar will be the biggest box office flop in movie history." Even today, he is mocked on the Avatar boards in "sith56 EPIC FAIL" threads.

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The moment I realize AVATAR was the biggest joke played on humanity was when I watched Palestinians dressed up like Na'vis while protesting against Israel.

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Why does that make it a joke? Your evidence flies in the face of everything you are trying to claim about Avatar's ineffectiveness as a portrayal of real world events! This protest deal is a case of an oppressed people at risk of losing everything to an encroaching hostile outsider. Sound familiar? I don't care whose side you are on here, there is still very real injustice at play. Similar protests and cases of Avatar inspiring resistance and unity among the threatened are well documented all across the world.

That the image of the Na'vi is such a powerful and recognized metaphor for real-world injustice and oppression just goes to prove that Cameron absolutely hit the nail on the head.

China even made a very controversial move, one that I deeply despise, to CENSOR Avatar. No joke, there was governmental interference with Avatar showings. Theaters were forced to drop many screenings in favor of some communist documentary. Why? There was fear that Avatar's message would hit very hard among the victims of government injustice, forced evictions, and that there would be very serious and real unrest as a result.

I'll say that again. There was LEGITIMATE CONCERN that THIS FILM and its morality would inspire the oppressed to rise up in unity in defense of their natural rights.

Some way for Cameron to put forth a message not applicable to real situations in the real world.

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Really, when a movie is loved by everyone and offends no one

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Loved by everyone? Offends no one?

"Yeah, it was loved by everyone!" says the hater as he empties his flamethrower at Avatar. Real smart!

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then you must realize it appeals to the dumbest people in our society.

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That is a fallacy. There is no connection between overall success and success with the dumb. There is not even a connection between the dumb understanding it in any significant way and its success with the dumb. You could miss 90% of a film's substance and still enjoy it.

Popularity could also be explained by the film telling a desirable, and thus popular, story.

Actual picture of torukmakto4

Avatar: The New Blonde

 Well, I must say I was disappointed as a whole with the naviblue forums. Not nearly as many crazies as I was prepared for, apparently they actually have competent mods to weed out all the aspies. But still, that doesn't enitrely prevent a few gems from seeping through the cracks, like this thread titled "Have you recently had an AVATAR moment?" started by a basement dweller named SacredFern. Apparently being an avatard is no different than being a blonde; you have "moments".

An Avatar Moment might come suddenly, you walk straighter, faster, maybe break into a run, feel the sun, your senses are very much alive. Just like your Na'vi cousins. Or you are in the car, listening to the AVATAR soundtrack, and WHAM, there you are, transported into the middle of that scene (hopefully not into the bumper of the car in front of you).

Or it might be a situation where you make a total skxawng out of yourself, like me today.
I went to pick avocados this morning. Normally, I'd use a ladder, a picker and be all grown up about it, but today I took off my shoes and climbed up a tree (which are not very tall, by the way). I sat in the branches, picking those gnarly avos and putting them into a cloth sack on my side. The fog was in the air, birds were noisy, and -yes- I wore my AVATAR necklace plus my hair in a swishy braid. I just felt so alive! I started speaking the few lines of Na'vi I know from the movie out loud to myself. Awesome!
Well, my ipod funneled AVATAR track 5 into my ears, so I didn't notice that my neighbor had walked up underneath the tree. She had thought I was talking to her, and now she looked at me really funny, as in "I think you need help".

 I'm no fan of christianity, but I must say that it's good to see that friend Fern's neighbor lives by the maxim "Love thy neighbor". Let's hope this neighbor does the good christian thing and let nature take it's course; meaning letting SacredFern fall out of that tree someday and break her neck, while laughing about it.

 Still, I gotta give props to SacredFern for actually going outside. You won't see avatards doing that very often. And it's nice to see that naviblue isn't as crazy I had thought it would be; too bad they aren't as entertaining as the crazies I want to document.

 So even when avatards are winners, they're still losers.

 And what the fuck is a skxawng?

Paying the Piper:

In 1284, the children of the town of Hamelin were led away, along with rats, by the Pied Piper. But that was just a legend. In 2009, James Cameron did the same thing, only he didn't use a flute to call away all the rats and children in the land, instead he used a shitty movie called Avatar to call away all the cretins and (man)children in the land, who were dazzled by it's original storyline , innovative special effects , well-rounded characters and mature adult storyline. I can't say for certain that rats did not enjoy the film as well, but that would be an insult to rats as they have notoriously good taste in film, with the exception of Armond White.

 'Twas not long before the cretins, gushing with many a hurr and many a durr, sought out the inter-ma-net to use as a cumrag for their constant ejaculations over the movie. Naturally, I, being a humble servant of the people who is here to make you laugh, like a clown, to fucking amuse you, have decided to archive examples of Avatar fanboy (or as I affectionately refer to them as, "avatards") stupidity, hypocrisy, immaturity, bigotry, and other "ys". Examples can be found almost anywhere, even in real life, but today's example comes from IMDb and from an avatard known as kaneishurt:

This is why if a technologically superior alien life form does attack this planet I will willfully take their side and kill as many humans as I can. After all one of the laws of nature is to adapt. Another example is how immigrants are coming over North America and taking all the jobs- Adaptability.

Honestly, I hate humans. I give to charity towards animals and environment.I will never give to cancer nor to tsunami "victims" . Even if I found a cure for cancer I won't part with it until the world bows down to me, sends every woman on the planet aged 23-27 in my bedroom and deposits 75 billion dollars in my account. Call me evil but that's my philosophy of life.

As you can see, I couldn't think of any comment better to get this blog rolling. Don't get used to the (fairly) competent spelling and grammar on display though, because as we probe deeper, we'll soon find that most avatards are not as courteous to the queen's english as friend kaneishurt. I'm gonna need a bigger blog...