The Chinese Perspective of Avatar | Hacker News Reader

The Chinese Perspective of Avatar

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30 pointscwan22 comments

Science fiction is largely about telling one story while pretending to tell another.

In the case of Avatar, it's a couple stories as old as man (and perhaps older) - use of violence and cohesion of the powerful against the weak, impossible love, hero warrior enlightened and betraying his original allegiances and religious experiences are just the few that pop up after 2 minutes of thinking about it.

And, of course, you get a big reaction when the audience perceives it as telling their story while pretending to be about blue aboriginals of an alien moon.

To add to this point, Avatar is actually more than an old story: it's a boilerplate movie plot. Anyone who is educated about script writing knew exactly what it was by minute 20 because it followed the formula to a T.

The reason the formula exists is that it's versatile. Anyone can plant themselves inside and understand it from their worldview. That's why it's so similar to other movies, and that's why people can see the Vietnam war and Chinese real estate developers in it.

"Anyone who is educated about script writing knew exactly what it was by minute 20"

So true...

My wife says that's my "useless superpower": to be able to predict the next 5 minutes of a movie I never saw.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monomyth

I've pissed off my girlfriend several times by reading a book she recommends, and instantly predicting exactly what the "twist" at the end is. Comes from being a lonely nerd with nothing much to do but read tons and tons of science fiction.

"Anyone who is educated about script writing ..."

I am to the extent that I've seen enough movies to recognize the patterns... but are you suggesting those formulas are taught somewhere as a formalized script-writing practice?

Not only is monomyth the first thing you learn when you learn about script writing formulas, there are actually applications out there that can assist you in developing dramatic arcs. Sort of like a sketchbook for writing.

Yes. I took a class in formula script-writing this last semester.

Echoing my sibling: yes, absolutely. Think of it like a design pattern for writing. I think you can push the analogy pretty far actually: they are codified formulae designed to "implement" concepts in a story in a familiar and largely effective way, in the general case. They can be tinkered with around the edges, and implementation details can change, but at the core a factory is a factory.

Not every formula can be applied to every "story problem", and they can often be mixed and matched to achieve the desired outcome.

I've taken a screenwriting class that taught a few formulas as well.

I think in Aristotle's Poetics he discusses the "best" plot for a play to have.

“For audiences from other places, barbaric eviction is something they simply can’t imagine–it’s the sort of thing that could only happen in outer space and China.”

If you look at the bottom of the water reservoirs for New York City, you will find entire towns! Yes, the state government of New York disappeared whole towns so that New York could have enough drinking water. There's a lot of use of the "Eminent Domain" in the US too!

I have an unfavorable impression of Han Han for this quip.

"If you look at the bottom of the water reservoirs for New York City, you will find entire towns!"

This could be a great device for a horror movie plot.

Please, that's just a suburban legend. snort

I don't know about New York, but once-inhabited structures were submerged under dam-created Lake Travis (near Austin, TX) -- and their ruins have become visible as the lake receded late last year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwjg0jUtIuU#t=0m40s

"Most of us thought a lot of it was urban myths, but then, the lower the water gets, they aren't so much of a myth anymore."

Interesting take on it, though really it's a tale as old as man - a powerful group trying to push aside/enslave/wipe out another, weaker group.

Avatar is quite clearly about the north American Indians, since that is likely what Cameron knows best.

If you didn't know who made Avatar, would you still be so confident about this interpretation?

A major part of art is its ability to be a "reflecting pool" and generate discussion about current topics, even if the resulting analogies go far beyond author's intent.

Avatar does very well at this because it's so focused. The focus makes the story simplistic, but also metaphorically powerful. It makes a valid interpretation of the story - any valid one - feel much stronger.

I agree, my wife, who is not from North America originally, saw the Na'vi as "Africans".

Given the fact that it is about a 'mined resource' you could just as easily see it relating to the Middle East - especially since the US is actually engaged there at the moment and the troops are modelled on US Marines.

From an Australian perspective it would seem to be about the 'aboriginals' (the word is actually used in the film).

I'm sure there are many other interpretations.

Edit : I just read a review that thought it strongly evoked the Vietnam War.

I don't see the Vietnam connection (apart from "being in the jungle") - there was nothing in the Vietnam conflict that was about resource extraction.

You must be fairly young; there was a lot of Leftist crap being spouted in the seventies about Vietnam really being about American access to Vietnamese tin. One problem was that Vietnam didn't really have more tin than many other places.

I think this shows just how well Cameron understands how to make movies people want to see. He outright said that Titanic gave him his "F-you" money in the Wired interview, so I doubt he cares much anymore what the critics say. But I'm guessing his ego still enjoys making a movie that untold millions of people around the planet see and feel that it especially resonates with their particular cultural situation.

In this way, I believe Cameron exemplifies the YCombinator mantra of "Make something people want."

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