Avatar

Release Date: December 18, 2009

Watch Date: November 2 – November 3, 2024

“Avatar takes us to the amazing world of Pandora, where a man embarks on an epic journey of adventure and love, ultimately fighting to save the unique place he has learned to call home. James Cameron, the Oscar-winning director of Titanic, delivers an immersive cinematic experience, where revolutionary technology meets engaging characters in a timeless, emotional story.”

---

   I am a person who, prior to this viewing with my husband, if asked to watch Avatar would have immediately put on the series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ and been quite content with my choice. That’s not because I don’t know what Avatar is. I do. I like, many of the masses of people, saw it in 3D Imax at release. I felt queasy. I brushed falling ash from my popcorn.

   And I walked away feeling like a large amount of money had been spent on a remake of Pocahontas, and this John Smith didn’t even sing so what was the point?

   Now, I’ll admit, that might have been a little too harsh. I now know the scientific boundaries James Cameron pushes with the money he gets off of these massive films. And, being older, I can now see that Pocahontas isn’t a completely original story. I mean, colonials trying to take over an indigenous groups land for resources that are important to the colonials but not important to the indigenous peoples, thereby having the colonials be willing to wipe out an entire culture, and possibly commit genocide, that’s a tale as old as time. A soldier integrating into the culture, falling in love with the princess, learning to see the world through her eyes and ultimately choosing to defend it? That’s Pocahontas.

   But it’s also romantic. And it’s also the side that, I think, each human wishes they’d choose. We don’t want to think we’d be the nameless army grunt killing to kill. We want to believe we’d see the human side of things.

   The world of Pandora is rich, and detailed, an alien planet that even I wish I could visit. The romance and chemistry grows at a realistic pace, and doesn’t feel forced. The characters are well written. I can’t say anything about this film that hasn’t been said a million times before. It shouldn’t be written off like just a big budget film, because it does have something important to say. It’s not just nerdy sci-fi. It’s actually a really relevant, and important, story that maybe (definitely) I brushed off a little too quickly in my youth. Do not tell Bob.

   I’m actually, and do not ever tell Bob this, kind of hopeful that he’ll pick the sequel for a later viewing in his birthday month – but it won’t be for awhile. Our children couldn’t stand a 3 hour movie, and I couldn’t stand the questions that I would be constantly bombarded with.