Avatar

Avatar was a cool movie. The 3D experience was really, really cool. It was like looking at one of those Viewmaster toys that I had as a kid, but instead of one still image at a time, it moved and lasted for a long time.

The story had two interesting elements. First, the humans were unequivocally The Bad Guy. The message of the story was pretty clearly that, as a species, we suck. Even though the hero was (sort of) a human, he only became a hero by transforming into a new species. So, even if we occasionally produce a decent specimen now and then, we're pieces of shit overall.

So, the "humans suck" element provides a nice backdrop to the second interesting theme: what's so great about reality? I suppose a lot of films have taken on the topic of virtual reality, whether it's a mind-generated reality (Alice in Wonderland, That creepy movie where Tom Hanks gets obsessed with Dungeons and Dragons and goes crazy) or computer-generated (The Matrix, Lawnmower Man, Tron), but Avatar is unique for seeming to endorse the virtual over the actual. Or, probably more accurately, by so thoroughly blurring the line between the two that one can't tell them apart. Is it intrinsically better for the main character to exist as a paralyzed human than to exist as a 10 ft tall super-athletic alien? Avatar pretty clearly says no.

This story element is nicely synched with the 3D format, where more than I've ever experienced, the line between the viewer and the screen, between reality and representation, has been blurred. It's almost as if James Cameron has created the perfect Siren's Song to lure us into his new reality on this new planet in these new alien bodies. Something about this pitch-perfect pitch leaves me a bit paranoid; I don't like aggressive salesmen. But, I have to admit, it's an intriguing invitation.

I'm not sure what to take away from it, though. Am I supposed to accept that it's cool for kids to stay cooped up inside playing World of Warcraft and atrophying instead of playing outside and being creative? Or that facebook is just as "real" a community as, say, a town-hall meeting, or dinner at a friend's house? In the former case, my instinct is to disagree, and in the latter case, my inclination is to agree (probably because I spend a lot more time on facebook than I do playing online games). But, if Cameron is right, maybe they're all valid, and "reality" is just an evolutionary hitch on our way to perfecting ourselves as a species.