The point of Avatar, why empathy is important and why humans are like cancer

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Danpascooch

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Apr 16, 2009
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Poofs said:
go hug a tree
btw the movies plot was basically a remake of Pocahontas oly with more aliens and some interspecies sex thrown into the mix
You know, I always thought Pocahontas didn't have enough inter-species sex
 

Ham_authority95

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danpascooch said:
Ham_authority95 said:
Yeah I see what you are saying

I think that humans are advanced enough now that, as a whole, can put other life on earth before ours.

But as a plot for Avatar, it really fit. It was simple enough as to not distract you from all the work that was put into its computer-generated animation
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait.

put other life BEFORE ours? as in, sacrifice ourselves to save another single species?

I think we are advanced enough to NOT be that stupid.

I think we should consider life on our planet as precious and put it before our comfort, but their lives before OUR LIVES?

Screw. That.
No no no I DIDN't mean our LIVES lol
 

Danpascooch

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Rahnzan said:
10 dead in plane crash is a statistic. Man kicks dog for fun is a tragedy.
QFT.

seriously, what the hell is wrong with us that this is the case?

But it's worse than that. More like:

STATISTIC
"23 die in train derailment"

PETA MOVEMENT:
"We should rename fish "sea kittens""
 

Danpascooch

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Apr 16, 2009
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Ham_authority95 said:
danpascooch said:
Ham_authority95 said:
Yeah I see what you are saying

I think that humans are advanced enough now that, as a whole, can put other life on earth before ours.

But as a plot for Avatar, it really fit. It was simple enough as to not distract you from all the work that was put into its computer-generated animation
wait wait wait wait wait wait wait wait.

put other life BEFORE ours? as in, sacrifice ourselves to save another single species?

I think we are advanced enough to NOT be that stupid.

I think we should consider life on our planet as precious and put it before our comfort, but their lives before OUR LIVES?

Screw. That.
No no no I DIDN't mean our LIVES lol
ok, just making sure, lol
 

moe19911

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Jun 26, 2008
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first of all; there is a limit to how much you can/should love nature and OP you've gone past it.

but on another note, there is definitely something we can learn from that movie. it's not that we have to love and protect every single tree ever created. it's that we should in fact be a bit more aware of the damage we are doing to our planet, to the animals on it, and to ourselves. and to say we are a cancer... well i somewhat agree. we are slowly killing ourselves and everything around us; much like a disease. just because someone says don't cut down all the trees, kill all the animals, and spray poisonous fumes into the air you breath doesn't mean they're a hippie tree hugger. it means they have sense enough to know their actions have effects on the world around them. you could learn a bit from them.
 

Terramax

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LockeDown said:
Don't think for a second that your faithful dog wouldn't eat you in a second if its survival came into question.
That's a very good point.

Internet Kraken said:
I mean really, you think it's wrong to chop down trees? What the hell?
Wait a sec... you think it's ok to chop down trees? I certainly hope you're joking/ being sarcastic?

danpascooch said:
I will plant TWO TREES (as valuable as two people to you) if you let me chop off your head, two for one, good deal huh?
Reported. I find it offensive that just because people like you don't have any respect for the environment, you feel the need to demean those who do.
 

Danpascooch

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Apr 16, 2009
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cball11 said:
Asimov said:
Avatar has been getting a lot of hate here at the escapist for one big reason- the unoriginal plot.
Sorry dude, but no. Avatar gets a lot of hate around here because Escapists like to act like they're better than other people, even if they're fourteen and pubeless.

Though that pretty much covers why anything gets a lot of hate around here. Half the jackholes who mock and talk shit about movies games and shows on the Escapist's forums haven't even watched or played them. Call me old fashioned, but I like to form an honest fucking opinion before I start shoveling shit down other people's throats.

Guess I'm the minority.
rock on, minority guy with pubes

I am so sick of asshole people like this generalizing an entire user base based on age or sexual orientation that they know nothing about.

I hope you're the minority, because I hope there isn't a majority of generalizing physically speculating narcissistic assholes on this website.

You say that "the escapist users" like to think they are better than others, then say that you are the "better minority" do you even realize how stupidly hippocritical that sounds?

Honest opinion my ass, unless you have asked enough people and got enough answers about peoples pubic hairs and age to conclusively state that the majority are 14, you are an idiot and an arrogant ass (also, random out of nowhere talk about pubic hairs suggests that you are quite unstable)
 

Danpascooch

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SnipErlite said:
Internet Kraken said:
SnipErlite said:
Just, say we found a new planet rich with resources, it would not surprise me if we went in, took everything useful (thereby draining it) and left.

But maybe I'm just a massive cynic :)
If we found a planet full of resources, we would utilize it. No point in letting those resources go to waste. However, that's not a bad thing. And I guarantee we would make attempts to renew all possible resources.
Even though a big faceless bastard corporation would probably get in charge of the extraction process?
Why does everyone assume that anything corporate is big and scary and faceless and will rape the environment and not buy it breakfast the next morning? Definitely not all corporations are like that.
 

Danpascooch

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Pyode said:
danpascooch said:
UGH! Do NOT remind me of Fern Gully.

EVERY SINGLE TIME we had a substitute teacher back in high school and they didn't know what to do, they put that shit on.

OH NOES! DON'T DESTROY RAINFORESTS! YOUR KILLING A BUNCH OF FAIRY THINGS WITH YOUR GIANT SLUDGE DEMONS!
So true. But you've got to admit that Tim Curry did one of the best evil guy voices of all time as Hexxus. Which is why I loved him in Brutal Legend because he used pretty much the same voice for Doviculus.
Yeah, too bad they had him voice such a douchebag hippie killing villain (hippie killing doesn't make you a villain, it makes you a hero)
 

AnonymouZero

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Oct 23, 2009
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i'm still eating pork. but i agree with your points completely.

but.. bringing this up on the escapist forums? bunch of sour guys that will report/bann/probate ya just cuz you thought you were making a point. x(

which is to say... go to your usual forums where there might be an actual response instead of random flaming xD
 

Treblaine

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I saw Avatar and I liked it to spite usually hating these fern-gully type stories mostly because it was told so well and was not preachy, or at least not preachy in the bad way. Ultimately, James Cameron is a fucking good director and wish he had made more films in the past 12 years.

Props to Stephen Lang who played the villain Colonel Miles Quaritch, this wasn't a particularly deep or moralistic film and was mostly driven forward by the characters and performances so even if you are a tree chopping republican I think you could definitely like this film. It didn't really try to "Demon-ise" the humans but rather set them up as a the bad-guys you equally like yet side against. I hope we see more of Colonel Quartich in prequels or maybe a Captain price style return as I hold him up there with Darth Vader as ice-cold villains you love to hate and hate to love.

Actually, Cameron did this before with Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, he was the bad guy but was so damn he brought him back as the hero... in a way, hope he comes back as an anti-hero.

Also Sam Worthington is looking to be a great new action star and he just has the mannerisms that make him perfect for the job. Hope to see more of him, I'm going to call him the new Michael Biehn.

But I didn't like the 3D, especially in the Live-action scenes were it just didn't work for way too many times, it looked like I was looking at a scene of cardboard cut-outs, yes the scene had depth but each character on screen looked flat... too flat even. At some points the effects got so annoying and stuttering I'd have to close one eye to remove the 3D effect which instantly turned it back to smooth 2D.

the Fully CGI scenes did not have any disconcerting effects... but then I hardly even noticed it which made me wonder if it was worth it. Overall with 3D I just couldn't focus on anything and I think the film was worse off for that, I will not pay to see any more 3D movies and if 3D becomes standard then I will invest in what are called "2D-ising glasses" which "decode" both left and right eyes identically so you only see one field = 2D.

Overall I found the Live-action scenes the biggest let down, the CGI was just SO GOOD it was better than photo-realistic, as they could craft each scene so perfectly while live-action you're stuck with what you've got in terms of actors/sets.

So finally, if any "tree-haters" who might not want to see this movie because they are worried they will be preached to... don't worry.

I mean The Terminator hasn't made anyone a luddite about technology or robots, in many ways Cameron approaches Avatar it in the same way and just uses the premise as a framing device for a bloody good movie regardless of ideologies. I mean Kyle Rhys goes on about "the machines!" just like the Navi go on about "the corporations" and we all go along with it but at the end of the day we all use the internet and buy branded products built in third world countries.
 

moe19911

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Jun 26, 2008
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danpascooch said:
SnipErlite said:
Internet Kraken said:
SnipErlite said:
Just, say we found a new planet rich with resources, it would not surprise me if we went in, took everything useful (thereby draining it) and left.

But maybe I'm just a massive cynic :)
If we found a planet full of resources, we would utilize it. No point in letting those resources go to waste. However, that's not a bad thing. And I guarantee we would make attempts to renew all possible resources.
Even though a big faceless bastard corporation would probably get in charge of the extraction process?
Why does everyone assume that anything corporate is big and scary and faceless and will rape the environment and not buy it breakfast the next morning? Definitely not all corporations are like that.
I'M LIKE THAt >:D

and i think it has in part to do with the industrial evolution when corporations were exactly like that.
 

Versagen

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Aug 19, 2009
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moe19911 said:
i don't think it's wrong to cut down trees because they feel pain. it think it's utterly moronic to cut down trees at the rate we do because #1 we need them for oxygen #2 other animals need them for habitat.
1. Trees feel pain. But so does lettuce. And tomatoes. And yams, potatoes, corn, broccoli...
2. And so do cows, pigs, horses, chickens, turkeys, and fish.

So again I ask the question: what the hell are you people eating? An IV-drip?
And if you use any tree products then it must not be that wrong. I guess it's just wrong in theory and not in practice.
 

gim73

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Jul 17, 2008
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danpascooch said:
gim73 said:
Uh, you missed the point entirely. It's a movie, not a lesson. It's there to entertain you. You even watch it? Most of the humans knew better than to mess with most of the animals on the planet. It's the same crap that was fed to us back with Ferngully, except for more explosions, cooler visuals and big blue chicks.

Have we killed every dangerous critter out there? Nope. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! They are still out there. Packs of wolves and mountain lions still wander around with venomous snakes and poisonous frogs. Yetis and Loch Ness monsters haunt our history channel. It's a dangerous world out there.

If you think that trees and plants also feel pain, then you should just give up living right now. You are probably already a vegetarian, so what can you eat if you are afraid of hurting a plant?

It's a simple fact. Humans are animals. We eat meat and veggies. It's what allowed us to leave the trees and eventually develop a more advanced brain. There is no monolith, we are just versitile animals.
UGH! Do NOT remind me of Fern Gully.

EVERY SINGLE TIME we had a substitute teacher back in high school and they didn't know what to do, they put that shit on.

OH NOES! DON'T DESTROY RAINFORESTS! YOUR KILLING A BUNCH OF FAIRY THINGS WITH YOUR GIANT SLUDGE DEMONS!
I know, ferngully was so unimaginative. The only thing worse than that is the constant liberal bias 'guilt trip' they try to barrage on us from day one for abusing native americans. I mean, come on! Most of the native americans I know are living pretty well off because of their casinos. Statistics are a *****, especially if you are only selectively showing what you want your point to be. You can spout all you want about how european diseases ravaged native populations, but if you neglect to say how early settlers were dying in the new world faster than they could send ships for many years, you fail. People like to lay the blame on europeans for bringing disease to america, but by that logic we should blame the chinese for bringing the black plague to europe. The past is history people. Get over it and look to the future.
 

Caligulove

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Sep 25, 2008
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Humans are far from being a cancer.

I did like that you looked more into the movie than at a face value though. But Humans are far from lacking empathy, at least not as much as you try to convey. The beauty in Humans is that each person is an individual and not so much like cancerous cells of a tissue. Each of us has our own decisions to make, our own views and our own empathy or lack of such.

It's hard to group humans together in something so general like empathy though. And I disagree with you on that note
 

moe19911

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Jun 26, 2008
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Versagen said:
moe19911 said:
i don't think it's wrong to cut down trees because they feel pain. it think it's utterly moronic to cut down trees at the rate we do because #1 we need them for oxygen #2 other animals need them for habitat.
1. Trees feel pain. But so does lettuce. And tomatoes. And yams, potatoes, corn, broccoli...
2. And so do cows, pigs, horses, chickens, turkeys, and fish.

So again I ask the question: what the hell are you people eating? An IV-drip?
And if you use any tree products then it must not be that wrong. I guess it's just wrong in theory and not in practice.
i think you misread my post. i said i DON'T think it's wrong to cut down trees because they feel pain.