Advent Calendar: 21 Dec 09-The Gift of Avatar!

Official Avatar Movie
Well as mentioned on last Saturday's blog post I did indeed head off to see 'Avatar' the movie this weekend. When I was about to leave Meady's Musings Production house for the cinema...the little mouse came up to me courtesied and asked for permission to climb up to my shoulder. This I allowed and that he did and then proceeded to whisper into my ear a request to join me to see the film! Now the little mouse has accompanied me to the movie theatre halls already you see...so he is accustomed to this treatment and has developed quite a fine taste for film I might add. He is one of the few animals I house who can do this as he can fit into my purse and then when the lights are lowered and the film rolls he peeks out of my purse to view the film...usually unnoticed!

However on this occasion I didn't like the idea as he had so many mice relatives and friends over I thought it rude of him to leave them and be off to the movies. In the end I allowed it though after much pleading on his end and after I was convinced that all his mice relatives were to be well taken care of in our absence. The Purple Elephant was a key helper in all of it as he volunteered to fill in as a main host so that the little mouse could get to go...aah as I always tell you they are such good friends those two always looking out for each other! A couple bears also agreed to take care of the shepherds in my absence...they even made them three bowls of porridge to help them recover from their long journey. So off it was for the little mouse and me to see the movie 'Avatar'.

And today on the Advent calendar I present the gift of avatar in three special ways...you see 'Avatar' is the name of this particular film and in recent decades the name has been adapted for use in terms of the virtual (computer) world but the concept of avatar has existed since the time of the ancestors of the purple elephant and the little mouse back in India. In fact it is only when already seated in the theatre hall and 20 mins into the film that the little mouse confessed to me that he so wanted to see the film because he thought he was going to see an avatar of Vishnu in the film. The little mouse also said that some in the mice community had believed he (Vishnu) was going to incarnate in the form of a mouse in this film...but...well...that was clearly not what this 'Avatar' movie was about! Much to the disappointment of the little mouse but as the film progressed he took a fancy to the female lead...the Na'vi named Neytiri and all was well in mouseland again!

So today as my gift on the calendar I analysed avatar in three ways:

-On Meady's Musings:The metaphysics behind avatar as it is seen in Hinduism and how it has been continually re-used and re-adapted since in various concepts of the modern world.

-On UCP:We will meet Vishnu himself as he speaks of his various avatars! :)

-On Books and Films Corner-We will talk about the film 'Avatar' ...what I and the little mouse thought of it! I can say we did enjoy it more or less! :)

But read on to learn more...

'AVATAR' THE MOVIE!

The little mouse and I we really enjoyed the movie Avatar even though we had to do with watching it on 2D as not available in 3D on the island! But perhaps it is better as if it was in 3D perhaps the little mouse would have jumped out my purse into someone's popcorn or worse yet the cheese dip for their nachos! As much as he fell in love with Neytiri he kept squeaking at the site of the six legged dogs!

We did however feel that the movie dragged on a bit in the end I mean almost 3 hrs long surely from a man who had me on the edge of my seat for every second during T2. A movie that was to me better than its original Terminator...a rare feat for Hollywood. Well you'd expect more tightness...but perhaps after Titanic he just likes the big epic films!

I do also feel the movie although a nice Christmas/Advent calendar treat...it did lack in originality of story but made up for it time and time again in eye feasting beauty and detail of this imaginary land...Pandora (that's the lack of originality in writing I speak off!)

However I love the idea that James Cameron said when making this movie that was really just a big video game he wanted to put some heart and cause into it...and that he did! Had a tree hugger like me almost teary eyed in parts...and oh so reminded me of when just a week ago on the calendar we gifted Trees ! You see they knew too about those big buttresses of spiritual strength too! :)

The story itself felt like a bit of Pocahontas at times and reminescent of many great religions that knew of the importance of nature. Hey but they were using avatar as the name of the film and I'm born and raised Hindu so I kept seeing the Hinduism in it...I loved that it was highlighted that in the end we are all just a spirit...no matter how we look on the outside...

I can go on and on about the cool tech stuff in the film but there are many bloggers out there already taking about that!

However I hope to see people again in films soon...call me old fashioned...but cgi can't just take over films...unless we want to go to the movies to ourselves run our own avatars...and well for that discussion you'd have to loop back to my Meady's Musings discussion here! :)


Some other little tidbits I found made me cornily smiley faced in the film were...

Sigourney Weaver back yet again in a James Cameron flick! So expected! :) And her Stanford T shirt to be her tag of smartness and to mark her! :)

The line to mock George W. no doubt... "Fight terror with terror!"

And the whole analogy that they were fighting for this unobtainium in the same way people fight to drill for oil in today's world! :)(again so George W. and Dick Cheneyish)