When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like "Avatar"?

[freshbottoms]

You see how much money this movie is making? Why would you stop making movies that make crazy money?

 

[veryanalytical85]

Originally Posted by eNPHAN

Originally Posted by AntonLaVey

We live in a white dominated society, from an economical stand-point it wouldn't make sense to tell these stories without a European protagonist. Especially, in these big budget blockbuster type movies...you go with a proven thing revenue wise. The only black actor that can get away with this is Will Smith.

that's BS

the "blockbuster" movies are blockbusters off of promotion and marketing alone...

granted, there are a couple of bombs every year, but those aren't bombs because they don't have a white protagonist...

this movie would have sold hundreds of millions it's first weekend whether dude was white, black, asian, purple or didn't even exist.

that "its what sells" excuse is so lame....

whatever they put out is going to sell....

just like rap these days....hot hook, hot beat, marketing, promotion......and you chose to rhyme like a preschooler...

you could literally hum your verses and it's gonna sell...

why are you coming with that wack @***, then?

Nope, it wouldn't be successful Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and John Cho would not be making nearly as much. As erroneous as Anton's statement was, Chris Rock(in his Never Scared comedy segment) said it best... if it's all white then it's all right....

.

 

[nash]

white guy descends from the heavens and saves the savage natives and becomes their hero...this is not a new formula at all

 

[antonlavey]

Originally Posted by VeryAnalytical85

Originally Posted by eNPHAN

Originally Posted by AntonLaVey

We live in a white dominated society, from an economical stand-point it wouldn't make sense to tell these stories without a European protagonist. Especially, in these big budget blockbuster type movies...you go with a proven thing revenue wise. The only black actor that can get away with this is Will Smith.

that's BS

the "blockbuster" movies are blockbusters off of promotion and marketing alone...

granted, there are a couple of bombs every year, but those aren't bombs because they don't have a white protagonist...

this movie would have sold hundreds of millions it's first weekend whether dude was white, black, asian, purple or didn't even exist.

that "its what sells" excuse is so lame....

whatever they put out is going to sell....

just like rap these days....hot hook, hot beat, marketing, promotion......and you chose to rhyme like a preschooler...

you could literally hum your verses and it's gonna sell...

why are you coming with that wack @***, then?

Nope, it wouldn't be successful Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and John Cho would not be making nearly as much. As erroneous as Anton's statement was, Chris Rock (in his Never Scared comedy segment) said it best... if it's all white then it's all right....

.

You call my statement erroneous and provide a quote supporting it?

 

[bobbytripledigits]

Whether or not you agree with the R-word being thrown around, any veteran moviegoer can see the story's lack of originality. Therefore, I think it'simportant to investigate and understand WHY this formula is so popular and successful amongst movie audiences. I don't necessarily agree that the peoplewho produce and appreciate these types of movies are racist, I think there's just something about a protagonist turning against his own people to do theright thing that makes people feel all fuzzy inside. Anyways, one of, if not THE, most interesting threads I've read on Niketalk all year. Thanks OP andHueyP.

 

[duba169]

 

[antonlavey]

Originally Posted by Nyota de la star

That District 9 thing w/ the Nigerians was soo offensive. It was ridiculous. I thinking like "really?"

But yea, everything HueyP stated is on point.

I enjoyed the movie but they ODed......interspecies prostitution? Word?

 

[blackcease]

Yea this is definitely a recurring theme in hollywood, it's almost as formulaic as buddy cop movies nowadays. Native people + white guy that initiallyhates them + white guy learns to love their culture + white guy becomes their savior = profit. I don't think there's anything inherently bad or racistabout it, on a certain level there is a positive message behind it (there's value in learning to understand other cultures), but it still kinda bothers meto an extent. Can't really put my finger on why though.

 

[b smooth 202]

Which is exactly why I fell asleep in the theater watching this bull @+@$

 

[harlemkickdiva]

Interesting you mention this because my godmother was talking about the same topic

How yea the movie makes for great entertainment but the undertones are super evident and no1 sees them

White colonialism is why this country so so eff'ed up now... but I've never heard of anyone owning up 2 it

 

[throwedindagame]

Originally Posted by HarlemKickDiva

Interesting you mention this because my godmother was talking about the same topic

How yea the movie makes for great entertainment but the undertones are super evident and no1 sees them

White colonialism is why this country so so eff'ed up now... but I've never heard of anyone owning up 2 it

*World

Fixed.

I wasn't trying to open that can of worms on NT though. Maybe on a more mature forum.

 

[akuratl02]

WOW ... I have been WoW'd on NT now ...

It's weird because I was telling shorty during the middle of the movie that this seems to be EXACTLY whats goin' on.

W/ out going into this too deep because we all know how NT hates to read long responses, I left the movie w/ 2 feelings;

1. White people can't take land from everybody ...
2. We need to take better care of our planet.

There were soooooo many hidden under-tones in this movie that I don't think I could watch it again ... I would definitely sit there dissecting everything,which would make this Christopher Colombus movie imbearable to watch.

It was so nuts .... Because (I dont know if this scene was mentioned or not), but when they started bombing that big #%% tree they only showed the crazy Guilelooking captain smiling, and they made sure to show all that other sad white faces displaying their sorrow for what was going on, but doing absolutely nothingto stop it from happening.

If the white guy w/ no legs hadn't connected his pony-tail to a flying dragon

than those same sad white faces would have been sad until they were able to cash in on all of the land's resources ... In general, whatbasically happens today ...

 

[harlemkickdiva]

I also find it interesting that many indigenous cultures are taught to respect the land

Yet that in which indigenous ppl hold sacred is pretty much torn apart by their greed

When will it end? SERIOUSLY.... when?

 

[milestailsprowe]

I agree ith the article because its just another movie about a white becoming the leader of a race of natives that his people are destroying. Then again thisis reaching kinda hard

 

[Shanegerous]

This is rubbish.

 

[outforaction]

Originally Posted by kimahrioftheronsotribe

Ms. Newitz seems so full of self-loathing that she can't enjoy a story told by white people because it's ingrained with the natural-born racism and privilage that only white people have (not her, though, she insists).

But while Avatar is not a deep film by any means, it goes beyond depicting the mere discrimination of another skin color and extends into the human abuse of another species. While the actors protraying the humans didn't need to be white, they certainly needed to be humans, because it's a story about us as much as them. Half the story of Avatar is the internal and external conflicts of a human who has taken the guise of the native species and lives amongst them.

As shallow as it seems, Jake Sully is able to rally the Na'vi because he learns their way of life and eventually earns their trust. He doesn't do this through conquest or smacking them with condescending earth-based morals, but through accomplishments that the Na'vi respect. He chooses to live with and fight for these aliens, because he can no longer justify the destructive actions of his own kind.

Because James Cameron is white, and the human actors are (mostly) white, Newitz sees it only as racial subtext - and that very notion is itself founded in white guilt. Newitz fails to grasp the motivations of the humans, because Avatar is not at all a "basic colonizing story." The humans had arrived on Pandora not as conquistadors but as prospectors for resources, because they've squandered the resources of Earth.

The plot resembles Dances with Wolves, but it is not about any sort of white "racial experience" but of diplomacy, the rules of engagement, and how dimishing resources drives our species to exploit, pillage and ruin another, man and beast alike.

And anyway, Avatar is more about 3D eye candy and entering a new universe and watching *%*% get blow'd up. The most cliché aspects of the Na'vi are their vaguely Oriental/Native American/jungly stereotypes, but that I think comes more from Cameron's efforts to make the humanoid Na'vi be "foreign" yet familiar. His biggest offense was not pushing the cultural gap further than District 9 had, although he wrote this movie long before it.

Ms. Newitz writes as though she were evolved past this white man's science-fiction plot line, but she neglects the real message of this movie to rest upon her own white guilt. If she wants whites like herself to stop rehashing these stories and "think about race in a new way", then she should open up her word processor and start writing a screenplay. Please, Ms. Newitz - come down off your high horse and enlighten us.

thats all you need to read....not locked yet?

 

[bostonthreeparty]

as long as people have the money to do it, they will. simple as that

 

[neighb0rh00d]

I dont even know what you guys are talking about now.

are yall talking about Avatar? or District 9?

Either way, Avatar was amazing. IDC if the story line was used before. Cameron added some twist and i enjoyed it more then any movie with the same story line.

ie. The Last Samurai

 

[big sippin spendin cheese]

the name of this mineral that thy're tryin to get is funny



unobtainium



looks like un-obtainable with "ium" thrown at the end like every other mineral we know of



kinda funny its like a play on our never ending search for a super resource that'll fuel the planet and solve the energy crisis

 

[nktran001]

Didn't read any of that, but Avatar was the best movie I've seen in my life.

 

[nash]

Originally Posted by NEIGHB0RH00D

I dont even know what you guys are talking about now.

are yall talking about Avatar? or District 9?

Either way, Avatar was amazing. IDC if the story line was used before. Cameron added some twist and i enjoyed it more then any movie with the same story line.

ie. The Last Samurai

What the **@% are you posting for then

 

[throwedindagame]

Originally Posted by Nktran001

Didn't read any of that, but Avatar was the best movie I've seen in my life.

Great contribution champ.

 

[handullz]

So the white man get to fantisize, but the BLACK man can't?!?! Lol...

 

[bangdak]

I dont know why i read. complete waste of my time.


half the people in here arguing didnt read it either. that article says nothing about racism, in case you people w ho dont like to read missed it.


So if i understand this completely, this article is basically saying, why is everything in the "white" perspective, blah blah blah.

And that theres no originality?

 

[neighb0rh00d]

Originally Posted by Nash

Originally Posted by NEIGHB0RH00D

I dont even know what you guys are talking about now.




are yall talking about Avatar? or District 9?




Either way, Avatar was amazing. IDC if the story line was used before. Cameron added some twist and i enjoyed it more then any movie with the same story line.




ie. The Last Samurai

What the @%!$ are you posting for then

to tell yall how great avatar was