Tis the Season to Destroy?

Just got home from seeing "Avatar."

Seriously. GO SEE IT.

The CGI alone is reason enough to see it. It's...mind blowing how far technology has come that we can produce a film that is 60% CGI and looks SO realistic. It's seriously phenomenal.

The world they live in (and that James Cameron ENVISIONED and CREATED!) is beautiful. If such a place existed, I would seriously consider living there. Giving up my precious city life and moving into this surreal jungle. It's THAT gorgeous.

The action sequences are so intense that they had me on the edge of my seat...heart racing. Even found myself getting choked up at times (don't tell anyone!)

Seriously, I don't gush often.

But this movie is RIDICULOUS.

However, it DID get me thinking (of course).

Of COURSE you're not supposed to be cheering for the (characteristically one-sideded) Colonel...but the idea behind his motives in the movie just...stuck with me.

Semi-spoiler: The whole reason this military force has come to this world is to collect some...rock substance...that is worth a lot of money. MOTIVE = money. How materialistic. Unfortunately, the Na'vi's (the native semi-human, quasi-alien, giant blue people) hometree happens to sit on the rock that they want. Solution? Destroy their home and families, of course.

On the other side, there are the scientists who HAVE hearts and want to understand the way of life of the Na'vi.

The world needs more of the latter and less of the former.

It's really no shock to anyone that I'm not a fan of war. I think that we, as a society, should be able to come up with a more intelligent, more humane, and more civilized solution to problems than just blowing everything up. I think the military has seen one-too-many action movies.

This movie further solidified my hatred for the idea of war. Essentially, people don't want to make the effort to understand other cultures or lifestyles. They believe that their way of life and/or agenda is more important than anyone else's, and, because of this, they have some divine right to use whatever means they want to achieve their goal.

Since when is okay to destroy someone's entire home, family, and LIFE...for you to make money?

Yes, it's a movie. But think about it...it's not that far exaggerated... Take a look around. What does destruction REALLY solve?