File puptcrit/puptcrit.1001, message 293


Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:42:13 -0500
From: Steve Abrams <sapuppets-AT-gmail.com>
To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] "Avatar" the dud


We remember the great characters from mythology because they have traits and
qualities that appeal to us. There is something about them that makes us
care.
I didnt find one character in Avatar that I could really care about. I cant
remember their names, none of them had appealing quirks or magical powers,
they were totally generic.
Compare those to the myth type characters in Harry Potter or to Coyote who
is totally memorable.

Some thoughts about the role of the hero.
In any action adventure we know that the hero will somehow survive the most
intense chase, the most intense battle.
We are asked to identify with a hero who is essentially invulnerable.
He falls hundreds of feet and might get a scratch. He takes on wild animals
or military machinery and emerges the  victor.
Perhaps among the earliest of these heroes
Achilles- almost invulnerable
and Hercules with his strength
It is excellent story telling. It gives us thrills, it teases us with
dangers and risks, but deep down there is also embedded in the story the
reassuring knowledge that hero will get the task done-from Achilles to James
Bond to Bourne

Young men ages 14-20 tend to feel they are invulnerable. They also tend to
be idealistic, simplistic and want to prove themselves to get the girl. They
are also the population that needs to be recruited  to fight and die for
their -group- country- religion

In most mythologies the hero/role model also serves as a way to recruit
young men (its mostly men, Im not being sexist here)
We identify with the nearly invulnerable hero. The deaths of the supporting
troops might be acknowledged but they are really of no particular
consequence- they generally do not have names, or back histories

Some mythologies offer various types of heros.
It is more difficult for the storyteller-mythmaker-author to create
character with a bit of complexity- a thinking hero who makes unexpected
choices- but unexpected actions make the story much more interesting.
Odysseus was the thinking hero. Hercules was considered a big dumb hunk.
The simple less complicated hero has always had mass appeal. Many statues of
Hercules survive- far fewer of Odysseus


In the Mahabarata there are 5 brothers -each with different qualities.
Bima is the warrior,but the most loved character-the one who we  follow
through many adventures is Arjuna-another thinking hero

I would  have no  interest in checking out the further adventures of the
characters in Avatar-By contrast I could not wait to see the 2nd Star Wars
film or the 2nd Harry Potter
Steve

On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 12:44 AM, Alexander Winfield
<sheepwpunks-AT-gmail.com>wrote:

> That Cameron harkens back to certain mythical archetypes (intentionally or
> not) I can not argue with - but there is much valid concern as to how
> effectively he told a story, and how truly resonating any message within
> the
> film may be. To wit: all would understand the symbol of coyote, but they
> might take offense if the storyteller acted him out with a mangy old fetish
> doll, or while drunk.
>
> On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 9:38 PM, David Morley
> <morleymarionettes-AT-gmail.com>wrote:
>
> > To each their own I think.I see it as a modern myth story who's two main
> > goals were to teach a lesson and make a movie that appeals to a large
> vast
> > spectrum of society,therefore making more money,and selling the message.
> > In that,I think James Cameron was very successful.The fact that so many
> > people act so "avatarded" after seeing it supports this.
> > Like any myth from the past,the point is to teach something,not simply to
> > be
> > clever at making an original script,or simply to create simple
> > entertainment.No one complains that the coyote is always the trickster in
> > native american stories.He just is because he is the most effective to
> > understand.
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 5:01 PM, Robert Rogers <
> > robertrogers-AT-robertrogerspuppets.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Well, I don't know what all the fuss is about.  I just came home from
> > > seeing "Avatar," and I can tell you that I actually fell asleep.  I
> don't
> > > care how many hundreds of millions of dollars James Cameron got to
> spend
> > on
> > > this film, or how visually stunning it may or may not be.  The story is
> > so
> > > unimaginatively derivative, the plot has so many holes, and the
> > characters
> > > are so stupidly cartoonish, that he really should be rather ashamed of
> > > himself.
> > >
> > > To put things in perspective, people need to watch "Lawrence of Arabia"
> a
> > > terrific film that he so shamelessly copied, or the not quite so great
> > > "Dances with Wolves."  And before he makes another film, James Cameron
> > > should go back to film school and take "Fundamentals of Scriptwriting
> > 101."
> > >
> > > Robert Rogers
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