Everyone has been rabbiting on about how Cameron spent years and millions of dollars developing the technology to make this film. IMO time and money that would have been better spent bringing the mise en scene to life, holograms for the win. A few people with opinions I once trusted said this movie was actually really good so I went to see it. I tend to agree more with the reviews below. (Spoilers etc).

“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. Think of it this way. Avatar is a fantasy about ceasing to be white, giving up the old human meatsack to join the blue people, but never losing white privilege. Jake never really knows what it’s like to be a Na’vi because he always has the option to switch back into human mode.”

“But the more blatant lesson of Avatar is not that American imperialism is bad, but that in fact it’s necessary. Sure there are some bad Americans—the ones with tanks ready to mercilessly kill the Na’vi population, but Jake is set up as the real embodiment of the American spirit. He learns Na’vi fighting tactics better than the Na’vi themselves, he takes the King’s daughter for his own, he becomes the only Na’vi warrior in centuries to tame this wild dragon bird thing. Even in someone else’s society the American is the chosen one. He’s going to come in, lead your army, fuck your princesses, and just generally save the day for you. Got it? This is how we do it.”

I’ll give you the first one for free – the second one is in Polish.

Article on engadget >

Thanks @jonohutchison for sharing this and @andrewbprice for pointing out that they’ve also photoshopped the iMac laptop.

Nice to see Africans are now welcome in this kindergarden in fitzroy.