hrrmmmmm

[shawnsegler]

...as a white guy I have to say this is probably both correct and incorrect...interesting read though.

http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

[gosao]

Well white folks have to make movies from the perspective of the white folks because if the audience doesn't relate to the characters it won't make much money at the box office. For those that wish to see things from the perspective of another group or culture there's always the art house foreign cinema theater but what shows there isn't going to be showing in the 20 screen mega mallplex.

[GrahamB]

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/

[Steve James]

Wow, that essay deserves an essay. There are always three perspectives, at least, from which to address/analyze a literary work: from the author's perspective, from the audience's perspective, and from the purely textual perspective. I.e., what do we think the author wanted to do, if he can't tell us: how the audience reacted or expected to react to the text; and simply the black letters on the white page regardless of intent or expectation.

Cameron is a "white" guy --though what that actually means is unclear when it comes to literature. But, at least we can say that he has --is forced to have-- a "white guy's" perspective --again, what that means is unclear. So, Avatar is definitely written from a "white guy's" perspective. For example, just like Mutiny on the Bounty, the white guy always ends up screwing the native girl. (However, this is of course textually different from Dances With Wolves or Tarzan, which --to the western audience-- are typically "white" plots. So, textually, from that perspective, Avatar and DWW and TZ are different. Yeah, they all have white male heroes, and were written by white male writers.... duh, what other perspective would they have?

I don't believe that either Cameron or Costner intended to write stories that re-established an empire or denigrated a people. In fact it was quite the opposite from their own admissions. But, we come to the third aspect: that of audience response and expectation. Racializing Avatar is normal for some audiences who have come to expect some things from some writers. No time to address that now, but I can ask how the reception of Avatar would differ if the invaders were blue and the natives were white? I think that the audience would relate (emotionally, if not psychologically) in the same way. Maybe it's true that a non-white writer would take that approach; but, how would ya'll take it? Would it be "more" popular or less "white"? Wouldn't everyone see it, though, as a political statement that was too obvious? If it were the purple people against the maroon, could people see past the social connections? Is it the text? or is it US?

[yusuf]

my head hurts .....