io9 
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San Francisco, 10:24 PM
Fri Dec 18
29 posts in the last 24 hours
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09:51 PM
I'd like to add something though. Here in Latin America most people is colored and like to feel like they (we) have our own culture and history, that is different from North American (or white to that extend). I think any people in the world would feel proud for being original (as long as they give value to originality). However, we see a LOT of Hollywood and enjoy much listening to english music, eating fast-food and just any other thing that turns us more westerners than we'd like to think!
That's why we've always tended to call this kind of cliché movie plots as "gringadas" (north americanisms). But if we think about it, not always have Americans been the dominant people... and further, not always have whites been the powerful dudes around the world (granted this is pretty much the situation since Cyrus the Great, 2500 years ago). But Human civilization is millennial. And this -fictional- romantic kind of plot dates back from biblical times (Gilgamesh, Joseph in Egypt, etc...)
Maybe it's not only a whitey thing but a human one. Maybe it's the way how the powerful people of the moment -through literature- like to dream about themselves not imposing over small peoples just the easy way (with power), but instead earning their respect in a friendly and cooperative way. (Neither necessarily the messianic way.) But epic literature has always been a way to compensate what we think is a flaw in us.
Just something to think about. With best regards.
09:48 PM
09:39 PM
Envision this with lightcycles!
09:14 PM
08:37 PM
I'm actually much more interested in seeing the film now, to see how the analysis holds.
Sadly, I don't see this type of story going away any time soon, especially in science fiction. So much of our beloved genre has race relations written so deeply into its DNA, that this "white man goes native, then leads the natives" trope is going to keep popping up, over and over again.
07:17 PM
Well, yes , but if you remember the end of the film, no. I think all Sully ever truly wanted was his legs back. He didn't want his body to be a prison to him anymore and "becoming" one of The People was the cure he needed. Becoming one of The People was a perk he learned to appreciate.
As a person of color, I have to say that I think white people make films like Avatar precisely because they know it's fantasy. They have had the chance many, many times in real life to be this hero to the ethnic world that is portrayed in films like Avatar or Dances With Wolves or The Last Samurai, but it's never happened because no matter how much white people play dress-up or learn the language, that very thing you mentioned, the desire to blend with the natives without losing the "white privilege" mentality permeates every action that is done. You cannot truly be a turnip if you are still an orange inside. Until white people can figure out how to "think black" or whatever you want to call it, we will get the Dances With Wolves fantasy on film because that's the only place where things can fall conveniently into place without requiring any dramatic change in mentality or politics. In Avatar, Netyri screams at Avatar!Sully that he will never be one of The People when his fellow jarheads bulldoze into town. All Sully has to do is a mime act of the Na'vi ancestors, ride of the giant orange pterodactyl thingies and all the Na'vi are in shock and awe. What could be easier? He has proven that he can be one of The People and still be lilly white inside. That's not always going to cut it in real life.
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06:25 PM
Thinking about your article did cause me to change my mind about something, though: I now have a new appreciation for that massive potboiler, "Shogun." The character in that is forced to enter a strange society (and an uncolonized group as well), achieves some level of success as he adapts to their ways, and still doesn't wind up some kind of superhero within the new group. Basically, I am suggesting that James Clavell dealt with the issues you write about very nicely. I might have to read or watch it again.
08:43 PM
As for movies, there are a few filmmakers who handle unfamiliar cultures really well. Ang Lee comes to mind. Sophia Coppola too. John Sayles has made some great multicultural movies (Lone Star is one of my absolute favorites). They don't fall into a single demographic category, but they are out there. If only someone would give them half a billion dollars to make a blockbuster science fiction film.
06:00 PM
As a film, it's also as technically impressive as Lawrence of Arabia.
06:16 PM
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06:45 PM
My point is, it's as much a "race" movie as Lawrence of Arabia.
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05:26 PM
I know that someone will flame me for this opinion. However, the stilted dialogue, totally silly aliens and wooden acting put SG-1 in my list of most shameful SF series.
05:22 PM
Don't get me wrong, I love Trek, but I couldn't stick with this one. I remember being happy about my choice later on when I heard a radio ad for it that made it sound like they'd recycled a Dark Angel plot for an ep.
Not that I watched Dark Angel, but I do seem to hear a lot of radio ads.