theaussiezombie

I noticed that movies nowadays almost always have some sort of subliminal message. For instance, the viewing of Avatar today brought the film geek in me to another level, what with James Cameron’s special effects on crack, the high definition quality of 3D images, insane cinematography albeit mostly CGI and of course, superbly choreographed action scenes, oh and love those blue creatures/people.

But despite all these known ingredients for your successful, billion dollar grossing, popcorn blockbuster movie, they always seem to add in messages of being socially responsible, especially to the environment.

Sure the movie blew me away, but it almost made me think about how big corporations like Kleenex who destroy virgin forests in Northern Canada to make ‘the softest tissue in the world!’. The Na’vi people in Avatar could just as well be the protector of the forest, while big nasty corporations destroy the magical Pandora for what? A ridiculous amount of money, of course.

Capitalism is basically the only solid religion left in our society today, we can’t escape it, in fact, we ourselves feed it. We all play some part in our dying planet, big mean corporations are just something solid we can put a blame on because their actions seem the most obvious.

But can we really live without those soft tissues? Do we really know what’s going on to our planet out there? How many people would die to protect our earth like the Na’vis? And most importantly, do these messages even get through to us?

Avatar has a strong focus on its message – choose your side, and fight for what’s right. The only problem is, in real life, there are so many grey areas that movies like Avatar fail to address. Then again, it’s a holiday blockbuster movie, you spend $15 to enjoy yourself, not think about freaking virgin forests in Northern Canada. Right?