I saw Avatar over the weekend, along with a few million of my closest friends. I had been aware of the controversy surrounding the movie’s supposed “anti-military” message going in, so as I watched I was looking out for that message. I didn’t see it. What I did see was an anti-capitalist message.
Let’s deal with the anti-military thing first. I call BS on anyone trying to tell you it makes you root against the good old U.S.ofA. If you see the movie, notice that none of the “military” characters wear any military decorations or identifiers. There is not a single American flag patch or military insignia to be found on any uniform or vehicle. The only thing even resembled military insignia was a few stripes on the epaulets of the nut case colonel. A couple of the characters mention they are EX-military, but we are seeing a mercenary army here, not the American military. Root against the heartless bastards with a clear conscience.
On to the anti-capitalist message. Consider this, the mercenary types in the movie all report to a scrawny guy in a white shirt and tie who makes no bones about the fact he is only interested in the corporation’s quarterly report. Yes, it’s the cartoonish ex-Marine Colonel that goes out and guns done the natives, but he only does so on the orders of the corporate geek. The final say whether or not to use force rests with the corporate guy on, not the sociopathic colonel.
And why does the corporate guy order the slaughter of the natives? Money, of course. He doesn’t care one fig what religion they believe in or political system they use; they are sitting on a large deposit of expensive ore, so they must be eliminated. It’s not personal, it’s not religious, it’s not political, it’s just business.
The corporate guy thinks he can get away with it since there is no higher authority, no one to tell him he can’t wantonly kill the natives. The few people who are willing to stand up to him are promptly clamped in irons, called traitors to their race, and eventually some of them are killed. After all, there is a lot of money in them thar’ hills. The corporate guy is so focused on the bottom line that he doesn’t even consider the implications of what he is asking the colonel to do. The “savages”, as he calls them, are standing between him and his money, and they must go, end of story. (During the attack he does seem to feel some fleeting regret for ordering up a heaping helping of genocide, but not enough to recall the troops.)
This perfectly illustrated the weakness of an unregulated capitalist system; there if there is money to be made in harming someone, you can bet there is some slimy bastard out there willing to do it for a paycheck. When you let the capitalists loose without someone to watch them carefully, they do things like that.
Don’t get me wrong, Capitalism can be a great system because it allows entrepreneurs to succeed and innovation to flourish. Unfortunately, and conservatives often forget this, it has a dark side in that people are often greedy, unfeeling bastards who will harm and exploit anyone they can for increased profits. Without oversight from some higher authority, they will trash the environment, exploit workers for every last cent, and screw their customers in pursuit of the almighty dollar. The way to prevent such behavior is to regulate, and I don’t mean let the industry police themselves.
History is full of examples of unfettered capitalism causing havoc, and more than a few examples of it causing a genocide or two, but certain people in positions of power and influence continue to deny that a well regulated capitalist system is even needed. If they had their way, we would be at the complete mercy of the corporations, and corporations are entities that have no mercy at all. Just ask anyone who has a pre-existing condition about getting health care.
So go ahead and root for the aliens in Avatar, you are not rooting against the American military who are fighting for your freedom. (cue the Star Spangled Banner) However, you will be rooting against a system that has shown that it is not worth rooting for.
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Comments
I guess I don't think most people examine the insignias that closely or notice that there aren't American flags around. I think people respond more knee-jerk and emotionally than that. It seemed to me, in a vague way, that the military guys were against the good guys. Sure, they were the tool of the corporate suits, but that's the way the real military is, too. I think in a way it depicted a pretty accurate picture of a military that kind of likes when they get a good gig and can destroy a bunch of stuff. I'm not being terribly analytical or intellectual here, but that's my point; I don't think most people do when they see movies.
I'm not anti-military either. My brother is an AF colonel, my nephew a Navy fighter pilot, my cousin a retired Marine general, and his brother an investigator for NIS. I do think the military is a tool often misused by politicians, though.
No argument there. I suspect that the people who are complaining an anti-military message can’t acknowledge this fact.
And yeah, the plot is pretty simple. I thought the messages were pretty-in-your-face. It’s a John Cameron movie after all!
Don't like being in a crowd?
If regulation does not exist and there is money to be made by hurting people, then those people that represent a henchman's paycheck are free to defend themselves and hurt right back. While there might always be people in the world willing to hurt others for money, that doesn't mean that they'll be successful at it.
Other than that, I didnt find it anti-military, or anti-capitalist. But anti Blackwater (now known as XE)? Yes. When you tie corporate interests to private armies, you get Iraq, Afghanistan, and XE all rolled up together. The only thing the movie missed was clear references to the Bush Crime Family Syndicate, but they were comfortably ensconsed in Paraguay, or some other planet lacking an extradition treaty.
I would have to disagree with this statement. The corporate guy makes it very plain that the ore is very, very valuable, and profit is his only motive or interest.
While there might always be people in the world willing to hurt others for money, that doesn't mean that they'll be successful at it.
History is full of people in successfully hurting others for profit. Sweatshops flourish all over the world, and indigenous peoples who get in the way of the bulldozers get wiped out. Spend a few minutes researching the plight of the Amazonian tribes, and you will see that hurting other for profit isn’t exactly hard. It is denials like this that allow the practice to continue.
Thank you for the comment, I do welcome comments from the other side.
I would include them under the capitalist umbrella due to that fact that they almost always have a profit motive, but I can see calling them out separately.
Since the motive was profit, I would call say you and I are saying the same thing, just using different terms.
The Vatican actually agrees with you!
It doesn't have to be "anti" anything.
It's a stacked deck story of pure evil against pure good, machine vs. nature. And the people who do the taking happen to be corporate types, capitalists, and they use a ruthless military to accomplish their taking.
If that isn't anti-capitalist or anti-military, all that heartless power mounted against a pleaceful, loving people, I don't know what is.
But transcending this puerile view, the story is an allegory, a morality play condemning America’s imperial adventures on behalf of corporate economic interests, e.g. in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc..
Most people, even those who support these obscene wars, identify with the movie’s primitive "people" on the planet "Pandora" (get the quagmire allusion?) under brutal attack by the all-powerful American military’s exercise in "shock-and-awe" to get the extremely rare mineral, "unobtainium".
Of course, like any good allegory, the movie makes its point by exaggerating reality; there is little doubt who the "bad-guys" are and why. But also like good allegory, the point made is unquestionably valid; its aim is to get people to reexamine their presuppositions and hopefully to move them to think instead of blindly following corporate warmongers over the precipice.
It remains to be seen how successful the movie will be in the long term for influencing us to demand changing America’s imperial foreign policy.
Sure, people armed with shotguns are going to go up against a mercenary army with attack helicopters. They "are free to defend themselves and hurt right back." And when they actually use a weapon that DOES hurt back, like an IED or a suicide bomber, the oppressor has a hissy fit.
Also let's remember - The Reich had plenty of regulation! It's not just important that Corporations are regulated but regulated to service more than their shareholders bottom line or a countries need for 50,000,000 barrels of oil imports every day.
All in all it fair boggles the mind that we can have the Media demonizing Yemen the same week this movie is breaking all box office records... Where are we going with all this?