Anti-Imperialism in 3-D

AVATAR IS a visually stunning marvel of film technology, as many reviewers will tell you, but what really stands out in James Cameron’s newest film is its unabashed critique of corporate greed and its inspiring tale of solidarity and resistance against occupation.

Set on a distant planet called Pandora, Avatar re-enacts the genocide of indigenous populations by colonial capitalism, and links this history to the rapacious resource wars of our own times. The film is not a moralistic wringing of hands that relies on “white-guilt fantasies” as some commentators have claimed; rather, it is an uncompromising defense of the principle of self-determination and the right to resist exploitation and plunder.

Listing some of Cameron’s blockbuster films–The Abyss, Aliens, the Terminator films and The Titanic–is enough to remind us that we are dealing with a master of visual effects technology. Fans of his earlier work won’t be disappointed with Avatar’s special effects–the 3-D version in particular is a breathtaking experience. As the New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis writes:

Review: Movies

Avatar, written and directed by James Cameron, starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang.

This isn’t the 3-D of the 1950s or even contemporary films, those flicks that try to give you a virtual poke in the eye with flying spears. Rather, Mr. Cameron uses 3-D to amplify the immersive experience of spectacle cinema…After a few minutes the novelty of people and objects hovering above the row in front of you wears off, and you tend not to notice the 3-D, which speaks to the subtlety of its use…

Similarly, we find ourselves dazzled by the brilliantly rendered planet of Pandora, replete with bioluminescent flora and fauna, ethereal floating mountains and touch-me-nots that look like giant seashells. All of this, no doubt, represents advances in special effects not seen since the Wachowski brothers invented “Bullet Time” for The Matrix, and Peter Jackson brought Gollum to life in The Lord of the Rings. Only the most jaded and cynical of moviegoers would deny Cameron’s accomplishments in this area.

HOWEVER, FOR all the gushing praise that Cameron has received from critics for the film’s technological accomplishments, reviewers have been less enthusiastic about Avatar’s political message. Some of them seem to be so dazzled by the spectacle that they don’t even notice its ideological significance.

In the New York Times, Ross Douthat dismisses it as a “long apologia for pantheism–a faith that equates God with Nature.” Similarly, while Dargis’ review acknowledges the film’s “anti-corporate message,” she seems unmoved by its uncompromising anti-imperialist message.

On the other hand, left-wing critics have panned the film’s politics for its director’s “banal and conformist outlook” (David Walsh’s review at wsws.org) and as “a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people” (Annalee Newitz’s much-circulated post for the sci-fi Web site io9.com).

Read the rest of this post at Socialist Worker Online.

Look who’s back!

Hello everyone. It’s been a long time since my last post. Nine months, in fact.

No, I haven’t been pregnant.

Well, hello at least to those of you who still bother to subscribe to this much-dormant RSS feed, for there’s no reason why this url would make its way into your browser otherwise!

Sri Lanka’s hypocrisy

I haven’t had time to write about this just yet, but you have to check out BBC’s Hard Talk intervew with the Sri Lankan Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights (sic). Stephen Sackur, the host of the show tears into him, castigating him for his government’s abominable record on human rights and press freedoms. Watch this interview and think about what the Tamils in Sri Lanka are enduring.

Sri Lanka’s War of Terror

Few people in the U.S. have paid attention to the island nation of Sri Lanka, and to the decades-long struggle for self-determination by the Tamil-speaking minority community. As the conflict has begun to instensify and make headlines in recent weeks, the Sri Lankan government has done its utmost to control the story being told by the international media.

After the Mumbai attacks

TENSIONS ARE rising between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan after Indian politicians accused Pakistan of supporting or tolerating the armed groups responsible for the massacre in Mumbai, India’s largest city.

Anatomy of the Kashmir crisis

Sanjay Kak is a filmmaker whose recently completed documentary, Jashn-e-Azadi (How We Celebrate Freedom) was made over a period of several years in Kashmir. I interviewed him on August 16, days after the mass protests began.

An Appeal from Kashmiris

Received this earlier today.

-LP

APPEAL

Civil society calls for international intervention in Kashmir

Srinagar, Aug 27: In view of the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the media black out of the events in Kashmir, we call upon the international humanitarian agencies, particularly the UN bodies and world press to intervene immediately to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Kashmir.

Where is the Kashmiri intifada headed?

A potentially world-historical event seems to be taking shape before our eyes. Its resolution, one way or another, will have lasting consequences, which will be felt far beyond the subcontinent.