tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513963011536895932.post2182802754843707754..comments2020-03-04T03:46:25.162+09:00Comments on Taking A Moment To Think: Avatar: The Lowest Common DenominatorSemprinihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08786207993240429842noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-513963011536895932.post-66798638972166055212010-01-31T18:15:13.999+09:002010-01-31T18:15:13.999+09:00I thought at the start that you were going to poo-...I thought at the start that you were going to poo-poo Avatar but I see that you enjoyed it. I did too.<br /><br />But I'm a bit surprised that I did.<br /><br />I do think that Hollywood often aims for the 'lowest common denominator'. I despair in particular at how the scripts are so often of such poor quality, with plot holes and flaws abundant (the poor writers just can't seem to handle science fiction in particular). Maybe I'm even more super-analytical of such things these days, having spent 2.5 years critiquing the HP series and counting its many errors. I find myself doing a thumbs-down on many popular movies.<br /><br />Take the recent Star Trek film, for example. People on the internet seemed to be raving about it. Myself, I think it was a bad movie; the plot holes and conveniences to advance the story were just too large for me to ignore.<br /><br />There are a few such whoppers in Avatar too ... yet to my surprise they didn't stop me at all in enjoying the movie. For some reason I was able to file them under the SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF category and just sit back and enjoy it.<br /><br />Maybe it was just the scale or breadth of the plot gimmicks. Spock just happens to decide to jettison a Star Fleet officer and maroon him on a nearby planet which just happens to have prime!Spock at just the same spot where Kirk arrives to save him from a monster? I couldn't accept that.<br /><br />But the much broader, wider sweeping existence of the 'FLUX Storm' (whatever it was called) in Avatar that allowed the natives to get within primitive spear range of the Earthmen's ships? Not a problem.<br /><br />The latter was possibly just as flagrant a case of a script writer thinking "well, we need SOMETHING to allow the story to go where we need it to go, uhm, let's throw this in" but it was broad enough - setting the context for the entire picture, rather than a one-on-one fortuitous event too lucky to believe - that I could accept it. And so I was able to enjoy the movie.<br /><br />>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><br />What I really dislike in this whole discussion is the literate, intelligent 'lover of fine things' who ostentatiously turns up his nose at things that the masses enjoy, and he turns it up more the more they enjoy it.<br />>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><br /><br />Part of that possibly applies to me in my ongoing insistence that the Harry Potter series and author are undeserving of much of their fame and commercial success. I'm certainly no 'lover of fine things' but I do know that, in this endeavour, I'm fighting the decision of the masses. The silly billies! :-)Bradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09805639038947974566noreply@blogger.com