Avatar

When Avatar first came out, I decided to avoid it because I thought it was just another left-leaning anti-corporate anti-capitalism movie.

Then I read this article about Avatar being all about "white guilt" and well... you can read the article yourself. One salient quote:

Our main white characters realize that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, AKA people of color - their cultures, their habitats, and their populations. The whites realize this when they begin to assimilate into the "alien" cultures and see things from a new perspective. To purge their overwhelming sense of guilt, they switch sides, become "race traitors," and fight against their old comrades. But then they go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. This is the essence of the white guilt fantasy, laid bare. It's not just a wish to be absolved of the crimes whites have committed against people of color; it's not just a wish to join the side of moral justice in battle. It's a wish to lead people of color from the inside rather than from the (oppressive, white) outside.

Annalee Newitz, the author, is convinced that what people (like me, although I'm not very white, I'm more pinkish) are overwhelmed with the guilt of our ancestors and all their evils, and we keep making movies like this (Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves, District 9, etc...) in order to make ourselves feel better.

I went to see the movie in part because Annalee was so irritating about it. That and because my brothers said it was a lot of fun.

I think Annalee is mostly wrong. It is about guilt at doing the wrong thing, not about being white. Here's why I liked the movie and it appealed to me:

A man goes on a mission. He realizes the mission is wrong, that he's been wrong, that he's been helping bad people do bad things. So he stands and fights for what is right. In the end he helps destroy the evil and earns the affection of a strong, smart, beautiful (and blue!) woman. Blue women it seems are quite hot.

Avatar spoke to me because a man became a warrior for the right side and won the heart of a great woman. I feel bad for Annalee that she doesn't see that.