dream out loud

One of the things that I like about living in China is that I’m, for the most part, sheltered from media opinions about entertainment. I don’t know who the Golden Globe nominations and winners are until I’ve looked it up online. I don’t know who the latest “It” girls and guys are or what “Must See TV” is anymore. I guess this means my information is opt-in, rather than in-your-face-all-the-time.” Back home, it was impossible to *not* know these things, it was on the newsstands when you were grocery shopping, heard about while you were in line or on the subway, in every commercial break during your favorite shows.

So going into Avatar, I knew only a few things: it was a James Cameron creation, it used CGI, it cost a lot of money, but was also making a lot of money back home. I read not a single review. This is not to say that this information already came with a lot of baggage. Now, James Cameron has some excellent work (The Abyss) and he has what I might refer to as “in-between” work, such as Rambo, Terminator, and Aliens. They are “good” as an entity but when you stop and think about it, I don’t think anyone would say they have particularly good dialogue, character or plot development. Last but not least, there was that behemoth film Titanic. It was beautiful to look at, but in the end, really just a waste of three hours.

Well, going back to Avatar. It was somewhere in the middle of all these films. Beautiful, and dazzling special effects like Titanic. A bit more plot, but not as much as The Abyss. There were some thinly veiled allegories to political situations, but nonetheless appreciated. But similar to all the other blockbusters, a clear villain and a clear good guy. Like always, the villain is unrelentingly bad, with no positive traits. Meanwhile, the good are without fault and you cry on the inside when they get hurt.

In these cases, I have learned to suspend my perception of reality. It’s the only way to enjoy these characters and movies. When you think too much about the plot and the characters, then you’ll find flaws and weaknesses. So my advice? Sit back, relax, put on the 3D glasses, and enjoy!