On Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:39:23 -0800, Dr. Bob Wildblood wrote: >I believe that the answer to the question, When will white people stop >making pictures like Avatar is, when we don't have to make pictures >like Avatar any more.
I'm not sure I know what this means. Let me substitute the name of another movie for Avatar: I believe that the answer to the question, When will white people stop making pictures like "Birth of a Nation" is, when we don't have to make pictures like "Birth of a Nation" any more. There are two ways to interpret the statement with "Birth of a Nation" in it: (1) Films like "Birth of a Nation" won't have to be made after the White race is once again lord and master over the inferior races. Everyone will know the correct history of the U.S. (or the Confederate States of America) then. (2) Films like "Birth of a Nation" won't have to be made after true equality among the races and other groups of people is attained. Everyone will know the correct history of the U.S. then. There are some people who will think that statement (1) is the correct interpretation while others will think that it is statement (2). So, pardon my confusion, but under what conditions will a film like Avatar will no longer have to be made? >I'm sure that some people watch these movies >and seem them merely as entertainment, but I see a reflection of what >is really going on in this country and in the rest of the world. I bet that people who watched "Birth of a Nation", a very popular film in its time, thought the same thing. >Often in situations where there is an oppressed people who have been >exploited by a "conquering horde" a person who is a member of the >conquering horde steps up and makes a difference. Maybe in the movies but not often in real life. Again, not to kick a dead horse when it's down, consider the view of Avatar suggested by a couple of sociologists; see: http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/12/28/on-avatar-the-movie-spoiler-alert/ >As an example, no matter whether the actions were always the most >admirable, does anyone remember Charlie Wilson. For those who don't, >from Wikipedia (yadda, yadda) the following: [snip] >And they also made a movie about him. The movie "Charlie Wilson's War" was directed by Mike Nichols (which means that it should have be automatically seen by a certain segment of the American public), starred Tom Hanks as CharlieWilson, Julia Roberts as a Jesus freak intending to save the people of Afghanistan, and Philip Seymor Hoffman as a CIA spook named Gust Avrakotos (not to mention an exceedly cute Amy Adams who knows how to swing a mean pony tail). It is a story of how Charlie Wilson managed to get the C.I.A. to fund arming the Afghans with weapons they needed to defeat the U.S.S.R. The amounts he was able to get was in the hundreds of millions. Once the U.S.S.R. was out of Afghanistan, Wilson could not get a couple of million bucks to build schools or the infrastructure that was destroyed in the war with the U.S.S.R. The mujahideen who fought the U.S.S.R. eventually evolved into the Taliban which in turn would bring in Osama bin Ladin and we all know where things went from there. For more on the movie and associated background, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Wilson%27s_War Note: I was really surprised by the beginning when Hanks/Wilson joins friends in a hot tub in Vegas and two hot topless dancers also join in. I always wondered how they were going to show that on "ordinary" TV. It is worth noting the story that Gust tells Charlie about the "Zen master". It is quoted on the www.imdb.com website for the movie: |Gust Avrakotos: There's a little boy and on his 14th birthday he gets |a horse... and everybody in the village says, "how wonderful. The boy |got a horse" And the Zen master says, "we'll see." Two years later, the |boy falls off the horse, breaks his leg, and everyone in the village says, |"How terrible." And the Zen master says, "We'll see." Then, a war |breaks out and all the young men have to go off and fight... except the |boy can't cause his legs all messed up. and everybody in the village says, |"How wonderful." | |Charlie Wilson: Now the Zen master says, "We'll see." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472062/quotes So, returning to a statement that was made at the beginning of this post: >Often in situations where there is an oppressed people who have been >exploited by a "conquering horde" a person who is a member of the >conquering horde steps up and makes a difference. And what effect will this have? "We'll see." -Mike Palij New York University [email protected] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [email protected]. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7560 or send a blank email to leave-7560-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
