Tuesday, March 02, 2010

I Grok Avatar (some spoilers)

Happy March, everyone.

James Cameron’s Avatar seems poised to walk off with the Best Picture Oscar® this weekend, together with a number of technical awards. The basic story is a familiar one; the “outsider” everyman who “goes native” and becomes a saviour to his adopted people. The story has been likened to Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves, and the movie’s production company, “Dune Entertainment”, suggests the epic Frank Herbert novel as well. Avatar is mythmaking wrapped up in pretty coloured lights seen through /r/o/s/e/-/c/o/l/o/u/r/e/d/ 3D glasses, and perhaps it’s not surprising that for some, the experience is too much. Patrons are reported as being depressed upon returning to the real world, wishing they could stay on Pandora. One viewer found the experience so intense that it reputedly caused a fatal heart attack.

Cameron’s Pandora is a pagan paradise/Garden of Eden, the Na’vi face-to-face with forces that would cause its Fall. To paraphrase Arthur C. Clarke, any sufficiently-developed biology is indistinguishable from magic, and Cameron manipulates us into the magic/nature is good, technology is bad debate. We’ve seen this before in Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards, wherein a “good” wizard named Avatar (!) battles resurrected technology from his ancient past (our present). There, as here, it ultimately becomes a battle of technology vs. technology.

Still, the concept of living in balance with an immanent deity (here called Eywa) has attracted many to an invented religion. The “I see you” tag-line of the Na’vi is the same concept as “I grok you” in Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land (which, by the way, gave birth to the real-life Church of All Worlds of Oberon and Morning Glory G’Zell). As of March 2, Eywa’s largest group on Facebook has about 2700 fans. While the movie may inspire a fledgling religion, much as the real-life Jedi “religion” sprang from Star Wars, it must be remembered that these are fundamentally fictional; their limited canon can only be a stepping-off point to other religions.

Condolences this month to Sean and Michelle, who lost Sean’s father to cancer last week.

March's Birthdays: Karen H, Jan R., the "wicked awesome" Tracy P., and probably some of my Facebook friends. Let me know if I’ve missed yours.

March Events:
Note these events are listed for information purposes only. Dates and locations may be subject to change; see the source for details. If I’ve missed anyone and you’d like to add to this listing, please contact me.

Mar. 4: The Eclectic Circle, led by SpiritnSoul. Info: http://www.meetup.com/The-Eclectic-Circle-TEC
Mar. 6: Sarah Palin visits Calgary.
Mar. 6, 7:30 p.m.: COGCOA Coffee Cauldron. Info: info (at) cogcoa (dot) ab (dot) ca
Mar. 8: International Women’s Day.
Mar. 13, 7:30 p.m. sharp: COGCOA Ostara Ritual
Mar. 15, 3:01 p.m.: New Moon. Fearn (Alder) lunar month begins.
Mar. 14: Daylight Savings Time begins.
Mar. 16, 7:30 p.m.: Calgary Witches’ Meetup, hosted by moi, in north Calgary. Info: http://www.meetup.com/Calgary-Witches
Mar. 20, 11:32 a.m.: Vernal Equinox.
Mar. 22: World Water Day. Celebrate your gratitude – details on Facebook.
Mar. 28, 8:30 p.m. Earth Hour. Spend an hour in the dark with friends, and enjoy the Moon. Info: http://www.earthhour.org/
Mar. 29, 8:25 p.m.: Full (Worm) Moon.

Blessings,
Hergest

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