I got the blues…

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The Avatar storyline is about power and hegemony, with a little bit of deceit and a sprinkle of romance to bind it together. Not unlike real life?

When you see the movie (spend the bucks; watch it in the theater in 3D*), my cautions: don’t get whacked over the head by the Tree of Life symbolic imagery or seduced by the nod to the Gaia concept….

So, which is the most ethical human character?

Vocabulary for discussion: emic and etic. Anthropologists commonly use these terms to differentiate between the point of view from within the culture (emic) and an exterior (and often judged more objective) perspective (etic).

Etic: I’d say the answer is the Marine Colonel, outstanding portrayal by Stephen Lang (hey, this guy runs the Actor’s Studio in real life). This is why: he has pledged to follow orders, right? The best way he knows, right?

Emic: who?

The piece I didn’t pick up on is how the private company seeking to exploit the planet got the US military to do their dirty work.

In short, Avatar’s core storyline is a parable for our times, or perhaps more correctly, a parable for the last century.

* Note: I get no kickback for these favorable comments!

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