For the love of Avatar
By Joel Weiss 03/10/2010
So here’s a hoot! The VCReporter in its determination to provide diverse opinions gives writing license to “The Right Persuasion.” And article writer Paul Moomjean takes us down that dark path to turning everything living (and nearly dead) into politics, politics and more politics. For a party proudly waving the banner “less government,” it seems the Republican right in all its mighty “values” endlessly turns everything into politics. OK, and for now I’ll drop the detailed analysis that every Republican president since and including Reagan increased government in staff and dollars, as I’m just going to respond to the pain Paul felt and shared regarding Avatar (Right Persuasion, 1/21).
Avatar is a conspiracy, Paul decrees. And he conjures up the assumption that all viewers will make the mighty leap that the presented bad guys in the movie are American military, and how dare anybody challenge the American military way. C’mon, give me a break! First, I don’t think most intelligent people blame the military for good or bad reasons to war, as it’s the leaders who use good or bad judgment in when and where to use the nation’s destructive might rather than other forms of problem solving. After all, don’t they have to justify that daunting budget somehow? OK, no I won’t go back to the last Republican president’s disastrous military decision supported by trumped-up BS and pathetic lies. And never mind what he did to take us into a catastrophic financial dive. And never mind that that administration controlled information to the public and congress.
If you see the movie, you realize the bad guys are a group that is hunting raw material to foster their devious business to keep their dying planet-folk alive, as they’ve cooked it all up on their own planet. For rookies like Paul, let’s explain that this is a fairly standard theme for sci-fi. And I never got that they were American and represented our values or justification to return to “survival of the fittest.” His article keeps saying “America”; Paul, that’s your take and you must have a closet full of paranoia. Dude, take another look. They reflected the arrogant, self-centered recklessness of any culture; more standard sci-fi subject matter.
So back to Paul’s dilemma. He wants to make reference to “good things” America has done but he even fails miserably at that. First, if this was about an American analogy, why not refer to how European whities looking for raw materials (and opportunity) had political leaders who used military to support stealing the land from the original inhabitants, then pushed the aboriginals into “land-locked confinements,” belittling their religion and respectful natural ways, then cheated on every treaty ever made? Na, not relevant for Paul. Sure hope he doesn’t represent all the right-wingers. Then again, that would represent the same blind patriotism I usually observe. Remember Paul, you can’t fix problems until you recognize and accept that you’ve got ’em.
But Paul did decide it was important to say how good America was to fight slavery. Paul, you can only brag about that if you state how embarrassing and pathetic it was for America to harbor slavery in the first place, especially as it was nurtured and became intrinsic to the economy and accepted lifestyle of the day, even in D.C., let me remind you. So for America to take ages to fix a sin isn’t something especially wise to brag about. Just feel glad the right Americans with true values finally stepped up and stopped the tragedy.
So let me ask you, Paul, have you ever read or watched science fiction before? Perhaps if you had enough perceptive ability you’d know that sci-fi is all about cultural references and issues about raw material procurement, power struggles, ruling governments, extreme competition and abusive behavior by one side or another. So you think Avatar is slapping your party or riding in your parade uninvited? Dude, you gotta take something for your paranoia. This movie isn’t the thing you gotta watch out for; it’s that your party is huddled into actionlessness in Washington and seeks anti-progress to protect it’s heavy-dollar special interest and pretentious banner-waving of what it used to stand for. That means it’s wasting our tax dollars hangin’ out just to say “no.” I know, I know, ya gotta’ keep those lobby bucks comin’ in, and keep the fat-cats on top.
You know what, Paul? Why don’t you just stick to bitching about health-care reform as you suggested up front? As I’m sure you’re happy with the same crap for another hundred years or so, keep those that have keep having and those that don’t just plain shut up and be happy with nothing. After all, we all know that private enterprise is way better than government making rules. That’s why Bush was so successful in taking us into an economic dive — no government oversight into anything financial. Let the good times roll, and it’ll all fall into place. Well, actually, it all just plain fell off the cliff, and most folks seem to think the new kid in town should have fixed everything in a year.
God bless America! And God bless Avatar ’cause the good guys did win!
Joel Weiss is a resident of Ventura County.
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