Monday, January 25, 2010
Good point...
...about Avatar, made by David Brooks from the NYT -
"would it be totally annoying to point out that the whole White Messiah fable, especially as Cameron applies it, is kind of offensive?
It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace. It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration.
It’s just escapism, obviously, but benevolent romanticism can be just as condescending as the malevolent kind — even when you surround it with pop-up ferns and floating mountains."
What is so sad is that so many people I know (including myself) did not notice this when we saw the movie. We recognized the story wasn't very original, but we didn't recognize how underhandedly offensive it was.
I'm sorry.
No comments:
Post a Comment