How ’bout concentrating on parking rates, alderman?
Only in Chicago.
As we dig ourselves out from the first big snow of the year, as we deal with yet ANOTHER parking meter increase, as we shake off the loss of the 2016 Olympics, as we deal with crime and corruption and all the other problems facing any major metropolis in the 21st century, a local alderman has his sights set on…
“Avatar”???!!!
Ald. James Balcer (11th) says the film makes U.S. Marines “look like lunatics.”
Chicago alderman hates \”Avatar.\”
Balcer is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam war. He is entitled to his opinion and he deserves our respect.
But come on. First of all, the soldiers in “Avatar” aren’t soldiers—-they’re ex-military men and women hired as contractors working for the RDA corporation. The evil Miles Quaritch is the head of the security force for RDA. He is not an American military commander.
Granted, the security force looks and acts like a military unit. But (SPOILER ALERT!!!!)…
The main hero, Jake Sully, is a former Marine who changes his ways when he learns the true nature of the Na’vi tribe. Another hardcore military type, Michelle Rodriguez’ Trudy Chacon, defects from the security unit, saying, “I didn’t sign up for this shit,” when she realizes it’s more of a mass slaughter than a war.
Says Ald. Balcer: “We are a good, generous country that helps people.”
And in “Avatar,” the “good, generous” Americans that help each other and want to help the Na’vi include the aforementioned Sully and Trudi—-as well Sigourney Weaver’s Dr. Grace Augustine, the head of the Avatar program. In fact most of the major American characters in “Avatar” are the good guys.
The CBS-2 story about this controversy includes a quote from the almost comically predictable ultra-conservative windbag Tom Roeser, a minor figure on the Chicago scene known (if he’s known at all) for spewing blustering, bilious streams of envy of toward journalists who are half his age and have had 10 times his success.
A line for the ages from Roeser:
“This is the only time I ever sat in a theater where people were cheering the forest and the blue people, attacking ex-Marines.”
Really? The first time? But wasn’t that the plot of “Annie Get Your Gun” too?
I just love the idea of Roeser approaching a ticket counter and growling, “One for the commie-liberal-anti-American movie ‘Avatar.’ What’s a movie cost these days, a buck fifty?”
Here’s hoping Ald. Balcer has this out of his system and goes back to meeting the needs of the fine people of the 11th ward.
In the meantime, I’ll remember the words of an actor who years ago reacted to a controversy about a major blockbuster by telling me, “It’s a fucking movie. There’s life, and there’s movies, and this is a movie. People need to get some perspective.”
Amen.
January 8th, 2010 at 10:31 am
love the line! intend on using it whenever possible!
January 8th, 2010 at 11:32 am
I met my friend’s fiance a week ago, and she was upset that he’d supported Avatar by going to see it. I asked her why. She said it was the “whole principle of the thing.” Much like Mr. Balcer, she felt that it bashed U.S. troops. I don’t get it, Rich. It’s fictional, right? Now, there’s certainly some symbolism going on, and I personally think that the movie makes an accurate comparison with the fictional future and the all-too-real past of American expansionism. Nut even if that’s true, like you said, it’s a movie, people. Besides, Cameron’s script, while drawing some allegorical comparisons, is broad enough to warrant a number of interpretations. It just seems that there is a segment of our population who feels a need to look for consipracies and hidden agendas in any new bit of popular entertainment. What I want to know is this. Haven’t they got anything better to do? Instead of complaining about a new movie that’s out, why not volunteer at the Salvation Army or at a soup kitchen? Why not donate time to teaching kids how to read or visiting a home for the elderly? It’s been proven throughout history that campaigns against controversial books or films usually end up helping their business anyway, so why not devote one’s time to something that will actually make a difference in someone else’s life?
January 8th, 2010 at 11:47 am
I gotta ask, who was the actor you quoted in closing? If you can’t/won’t answer that, can you at least give up the name of the movie?
January 8th, 2010 at 12:10 pm
Amen Adam…very well said.
January 8th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Double on the amen, Adam. If everybody spent the energy that’s wasted on worrting about pop culture on good causes, the world would be a better place.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:46 am
I loved Avatar – but I also get some of the controversy. Saying that people who are complaining about it should stop talking about it is kind of hard when everyone is talking about the film and it’s on its way to a Best Picture Oscar. Maybe if everyone wasn’t so focused on the film, than there wouldn’t be so much controversy. Maybe if it wasn’t on it’s way to being the highest grossing film ever made, than people would see it as just a movie.
I recently wrote about this saying “All controversy aside, it’s a far from perfect picture”. I think the bigger question should be, why has it become the frontrunner for Best Picture?
http://onemoviefiveviews.blogspot.com/2010/01/if-it-werent-for-ties-to-titanic-would.html