Avatar
I keep talking to my artsy type friends about this movie and they don't seem to like it that much. and then others like it basically for the 3D effects, etc. I'm going on record to say that i thought it was a brilliant movie. Granted, it's a cliche story. yes, its been done many times in different forms. sure, the acting/dialogue left plenty to be desired. but i think its a story that cannot be told enough times. or rather, a story that needs to be told in more interesting ways, suitable to both adults and children, that tell of some of the atrocities and hawkishness that not only abound 400 years ago, but still remain today.
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i think i enjoyed this movie also cuz the scientist reminded me of my dad who used to work with plants from the amazon forest to try to extract nutrients or chemicals that he would use to make different kinds of medicines. his boss had a long standing relationship with the community that lived in the forest and used to travel there every year. proof that deals can be made on a human, non-threatening manner.
*********side note*********
back to subject at hand. Though the story focused around the americas and relationship of settlers with the native americans, i think its one that can be applied in most colonial histories. i read an interesting article (link below) with this intersting insert:
"Throughout the Americas the earliest explorers, including Columbus, remarked on the natives' extraordinary hospitality. The conquistadores marvelled at the amazing roads, canals, buildings and art they found, which in some cases outstripped anything they had seen at home. None of this stopped them destroying everything and everyone they encountered..."
Link to the rest of the article: http://www.mg.co.za/article/2010-01-12-mawkish-maybe-but-avatar-is-a-profound-important-film
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Anyway thats my shout out to the movie. Another interesting fact (see you come to this blog to learn, i just know it!): james cameron and his crew must have done a sht-load of research. kudos to them. did you know that "I/we see you" - a key phrase in the film - is a direct translation of "Sawubona"? Sawubona is the Zulu word for "Hello", but as the movie iterates, its meaning goes much deeper than that. If I see you, i'm acknowledging that you matter - everyone matters - that you are validated, respected, a valued member of the community. It's been described as an affirmation, an invitation to a deep witnessing and presence.
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I see it as the first step to ubuntu.
7 comments:
finally watch it. was soo good. idealistic, hopeful, insightful. i will watch it again
oh and Skin is really good too :)
someone else also thought you might enjoy skin. haven't seen it yet tho.
why would someone else think i might enjoy skin?
I just read your blog. Something you might not have thought about: Even though many of us may have a South African mother tongue, we have, through our Angl education, learnt to think in English, so to many of us, Sawubona means hello. It's nice to be reminded that it actually doesn't but means "I see you" coz we, Africans, have stopped seeing each other lately.
thats deep zama. i like it. it's always good to be reminded of something so powerful.
Sawubona Folu,
Interesting blog, thank you! Thought you'd like to see two articles I recently published related to 'Namaste' and the Avatar's 'I see you', both of which are profoundly akin to Sawubona :)
Here the two links:
http://bridgie8.hubpages.com/hub/Meaning-of-Namaste
http://bridgie8.hubpages.com/hub/Namaste-and-Sawubona-a-Zulu-greeting
Enjoy, and take care :)
Bridget
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