Avatar and the State of the Union address
Jan. 30th, 2010 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
openspace4lifeAs a passionate environmentalist, science-fiction fan, and computer graphics aficionado who's also mildly obsessed with flying creatures of all kinds, I couldn't help but enjoy the movie Avatar. Outside the theater I can reflect on its lame dialogue, stereotyped characters, and a plot that seems like a cross between Pocahontas, FernGully: The Last Rainforest, and Star Wars (with giant alien birds standing in for X-Wing fighters). But these intellectual critiques barely impinged on my consciousness while immersed in the visually spectacular world James Cameron's team so painstakingly crafted, and the journey of the man who has to save it. And the movie's record-breaking box-office success attests to the breadth of this emotional appeal, which clearly affects many people with much more typical interests than mine.
An Obama speech such as Wednesday's State of the Union address can have a similar effect, the finely-crafted words allowing you to forget for awhile the ugly, messy realities of American politics, and imagine in its place a world where all our legislators could put aside their petty differences and work together in pursuit of goals anyone can agree on. For instance, to hear Obama tell it, you'd think that anyone interested in fighting global warming, creating jobs, or restoring America's global economic dominance would support passage of a strong clean-energy bill (though one that will likely include nuclear power, "clean coal," and offshore oil drilling, as he mentioned in passing). And who could possibly object to a health-care reform bill that will reduce costs for struggling families in a recession?
I imagine that during the speech, even some Republican Congresspeople were drawn in by the President's smooth rhetoric and briefly imagined reshaping their positions to match his vision. But after stepping outside that chamber, it probably took them mere moments to shake their heads and reassure themselves that they didn't believe a word of it. Just as the "hero" character in Avatar betrays his own species and its economic interests for the sake of some sexy aliens and their beautiful wilderness, they might have thought, so cooperating with the Obama agenda for the sake of bipartisanship and "progress" would mean betraying America. Or at least betraying the GOP.
P.S. Amusing factoid: What does Avatar have in common with the movie Titanic, other than James Cameron and broken records for both production cost and box-office returns? Sappy theme songs with almost the same opening lines:
Titanic: "Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you..."
Avatar: "Walking through a dream, I see you..."
My advice: Don't look up the rest of the lyrics if you value your brain cells.
An Obama speech such as Wednesday's State of the Union address can have a similar effect, the finely-crafted words allowing you to forget for awhile the ugly, messy realities of American politics, and imagine in its place a world where all our legislators could put aside their petty differences and work together in pursuit of goals anyone can agree on. For instance, to hear Obama tell it, you'd think that anyone interested in fighting global warming, creating jobs, or restoring America's global economic dominance would support passage of a strong clean-energy bill (though one that will likely include nuclear power, "clean coal," and offshore oil drilling, as he mentioned in passing). And who could possibly object to a health-care reform bill that will reduce costs for struggling families in a recession?
I imagine that during the speech, even some Republican Congresspeople were drawn in by the President's smooth rhetoric and briefly imagined reshaping their positions to match his vision. But after stepping outside that chamber, it probably took them mere moments to shake their heads and reassure themselves that they didn't believe a word of it. Just as the "hero" character in Avatar betrays his own species and its economic interests for the sake of some sexy aliens and their beautiful wilderness, they might have thought, so cooperating with the Obama agenda for the sake of bipartisanship and "progress" would mean betraying America. Or at least betraying the GOP.
P.S. Amusing factoid: What does Avatar have in common with the movie Titanic, other than James Cameron and broken records for both production cost and box-office returns? Sappy theme songs with almost the same opening lines:
Titanic: "Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you..."
Avatar: "Walking through a dream, I see you..."
My advice: Don't look up the rest of the lyrics if you value your brain cells.
