avatar hallelujah : white male goes to strange land : makes out with exotic local woman ; rebels against own culture
Seriously how is the above plot different from any given week here. I haven’t seen Avatar, nor do I really want to (preferring to convince myself that I’m able to lord some sort of indie-film-hipster sensibility over the easily entertained masses of humanity… it’s also hard to get a ticket). The film is a big deal here, and many have commented extensively on mainland interpretations of the film as an easily celebrated allegory for eminent domain, which seems like a fairly Sinocentric reading. Recently, the 2D version of the film was pulled to make way for the domestic epic, Confucius, which makes perfect sense since both films are science fiction/fantasy.
Ancient philosophers meh: Hunan claims to have mist-covered picturesque mountains similar to those featured in Avatar (English here), using the resemblance to draw tourists. The city of Zhangjiajie has renamed even named a local peak Avatar Hallelujah Mountain, the first two terms being phonetic transliterations (阿凡达哈利路亚, Afanda Haliluya) which just seems sort of wrong, though not quite Starbucks in the Forbidden City wrong. Popular culture will of course be interpreted in a local context, and instead of assimilation one should view these things as fusion. Perhaps we only wish the interpretations weren’t so crass. HT Ellie.
It’s actually quite well made for a blockbuster who’s general theme has been done a million times before. Good acting, better then mediocre writing, and beautiful cinematography. But if you’re going to wreck your indie-film-hipster street cred for an American blockbuster go see Sherlock Holmes. It rocked my world.
From what I can tell here in the ROK, the redeeming qualities the South Koreans look for in film (and computer games) are: computer graphics, cheesy violence, and lots of basic SF type stuff. By that measure, Transformers was pretty incredible and Avatar was just orgasmic. When not watching film, Starcraft is still the go-to. It seems clear, though, that they won’t be renaming their geographical locations any time soon.
i might see avatar later this afternoon. i’ll probably just think about how it isn’t different from any given week in the life of tony skriba.
[...] seemed appropriate to see the perfectly crafted anti-imperialist anti-technology film at a high-tech theater in Shanghai China. Impressions: the 3D glasses made my big Caucasian nose [...]