Avatar "Pochontas in Blue?"

(A poster image of the movie Avatar)

The Overview of the Movie

Avatar is a 2009 American science fiction film written and directed by James Cameron. The year is 2154 in the film, and at the beginning of the movie humans are mining a precious mineral called unobtanium on Pandora (The plant the Na'Vi live on). The expansion and taking of this mineral is killing the local Na'Vi tribe. The Na'Vi look a lot like humans except they are BLUE with tales. Now you may wonder where the name Avatar comes in. Avatar is a genetically engineered version of the Na'Vi which a human can put their well minds in their consciousness if you will say(crazy but what do you expect its a movie). Don't think that anyone can put their mind into an Avatar nope that is not how it works. The Avatar must be breed for you specifically. It needs your genes to accept you or it will not work properly. So later in the movie an army man is needed to be an Avatar the humans are trying to convince the natives to move. They are one with their surrounding and refuse to leave they lack modern weaponry so they are at a disadvantage. The soldier boy loves the village to much though.... OK I will not ruin the ending and or the movie for you so go watch it.

I have a question to ask though does this story not sound familiar? Yes....
Is this movie another Pocahontas? Maybe
Has this story been done before? Kind of
Was the movie worth its HYPE & did it live up to expectation(my Opinion)? NO......

(An image of the 1995 film Pocahontas)

Pocahontas was about native who were being forced out of their homeland because of the British. They are basically forcing Pocahontas and her family out of their land. The Captain John Smith befriends Pocahontas who does not want to marry another man who was picked by her father. The story goes on by having Pocahontas fall in love with John. Eventually a fight breaks out between the natives and the British and John ends up getting shot trying to stop it and save Pocahontas. The war stops momentarily and they patch things up with the natives.

Darn foreigners always stealing peoples land. Whether it is alien or human it seems like mankind always wants more.

Avatar storyline has been done before. I can accept that the movie is unique in its own way. I personally like the movie think it is good and well thought out, but I also liked Pocahontas and other Native losing land story it’s something that won't get old.

I am not saying don't watch Avatar I am merely asking was it really as good as you thought or maybe it’s because the media TOLD you it was amazing. They told the public it was amazing and had a message. I will admit that when I feel left out sometimes I give into the Bandwagon theme of the media. Everyone loved Avatar you must go see it that it all they said. Another thing was telling people it had a deep and sophisticated message the people who did not want to seem stupid always say "how could you not like Avatar it had a message." Really a message that is it, but not only a message it has blue people. I personally believe Avatar was not worth the hype it was a good movie and people have a right to see it I just don't believe that everyone should cling to it and say it was the best movie ever because it was unique(no it wasn't), different(ehh kind of),and never done before(LIAR). This is where I tell people that even though Avatar does activate the Triune Brain it is not that amazing. It has action, explosions, and half naked Alien women can anyone say Reptilian brain. Then there is soft romantic music, fascinating imagery and great graphics this is where the limbic brain pops in. Last the neocortex words meaningful lyrics a fast pace movie gathering information and thinking. The director and all the people involved in making the movie did a magnificent job at making a thrilling movie, but I just want people to think is this movie REALLY ALL THAT UNIQUE. Ignore the blue people and Alien birds think hard Natives using the environment to protect themselves from foreigners.

(The extended Avatar Trailer)

I am just asking people to step back and ask your self is this movie another Pocahontas and why did I jump on the bandwagon, why do I love Avatar, why is it the best movie so far. Look at the similarities in Pocahontas and wonder why didn't you get the same message from Pocahontas. A native women falls for a man takes to her village he loves their pure ways. He tries to save the village and the people. The female wild angry and unpredictable while the male is a military man good with strategy and easy on the eyes(LOL). One person said " I want to be them - the blue people. They are just perfect in every way." Why because they are one with their environment or because you think they do not persecuted one another. In the movie the Na'Vi are exactly like humans except they are more in tune with nature. Some people are one with the environment even though not like the Na'Vi people can basically do everything they did. They have emotions, drama, family problems, marriage, and tradition. The Na'Vi just sleep outside and hunt i just don't see why anyone would want to be them(but that is my opinion).

(The avatar image above can be found here)(The Pocahontas image can be found here)

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Media Meditation #4:The Murderous intent of the video games

(An image of the video game title DOOM)

Does a video game cause another person to kill people? In 1997 their was a case where a young man killed another boy. In this case his lawyer said, "In the Kentucky case, the young killer, 14-year-old Michael Carneal, had never undergone any firearms training. He learned how to shoot and kill from the video game." Many adults, lawyers, etc believe that video games cause kids to kill other people. This is not necessarily true their are many studies that prove other wise. One instance that we see people blaming video games for a child's violent behavior is the Kentucky shooter case, where a young boy influenced by a movie called "The Basketball Diaries" walks into his school and opens fire on his classmates and teacher. This may not be a video game but it opened the door for people to believe that simple things can influence a child a large amount. Another thing that pushes people to believe this was the interviews with a former Army colonel where he said “mass murder simulator that provides military-type training.” The colonel continued to say "it is like the flight simulators that teach military personnel how to fly aircraft.the video game “Doom” is used in the military itself to teach soldiers how to kill. In the game, the gunman moves slowly through a building, in the same way that a Special Forces soldier might enter hostile territory." This leaves the question does video games cause violent behavior in young children and adult? What do you believe?

(A child playing video games.)

The opposing side tells us a different story. They show research that tells us, "According to federal crime statistics, the rate of juvenile violent crime in the United States is at a 30-year low. Researchers find that people serving time for violent crimes typically consume less media before committing their crimes than the average person in the general population. It's true that young offenders who have committed school shootings in America have also been game players. But young people in general are more likely to be gamers — 90 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls play." It is believed that society are more likely to jump on the bandwagon because they are afraid of the games. The lawyers and advertisers against video games scare people into believing the game is dangerous and that what someone does not understand is wrong. There is more evidence to prove that games don't cause kids to become anti-social. This is because most kids today have internet and with that they play games with other kids and have conversations. It is not what society is use to but its still something. There is more evidence that shows that most violent behavior comes from the household and not a video game.

(A girl playing Video Game)

Scientific test that say video games are dangerous, most of these test were proven to be inconclusive. This is because of where and how the test where done. They did not take into consideration the environment nor did they pay attention the children relationships at school or home. This caused question to appear and say well it could be because he was bullied. Another thing is the belief that woman do not play video games, this is not true orginally men where the people mostly who played video games, but studies show that woman are playing games more and more. There is a lack of violent crimes done by woman involving the video game made me do it defense. Also the gaming industry have started making video games with female protagonist which is not uncommon today. Gerard Jones says "that young girls often build upon these representations of strong women warriors as a means of building up their self confidence in confronting challenges in their everyday lives."

Military Psychologist will tell you that video game used to train soldiers can have a negative imapct on children minds, but game industry argue that this is only true if "

• we remove training and education from a meaningful cultural context.
• we assume learners have no conscious goals and that they show no resistance to what they are being taught.
• we assume that they unwittingly apply what they learn in a fantasy environment to real world spaces."
  

The people who want you to believe use fear and scapegoating to convince people that games are monsters. While the people who believe that games do not cause violent behavior they us scientific facts and testimonials from normal kids. A lot of the times when people mention video games in a negative light they show it with fear and violent music and pictures to give people a reptilian and Limbic experiences. The thought that something that you don't understand might hurt you gives you the sense to run while violent images and music reinforces that. The evidence is their people have to find out what to believe.

Media Meditation #3: Starcraft The family destroyer for strategist

(A image of Starcraft 1)

Star Craft is a creation of Blizzard a company known for their amazing craftsmanship in the department of video game. Starcraft is a strategy where you are the commander of a flight of soldiers sometimes you play as aliens. The game has rankings, missions, campaign, tutorials, achievements, and a lot more. It is said that "StarCraft is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed by Blizzard Entertainment."Starcraft was first released in 1998 sold over 11million copies worldwide. Starcraft originally release for Microsoft Windows, but later a Mac OS version and a N64 version came to be. Blizzard most famous video game is a game called World of WarCraft (A.K.A WoW). World of WarCraft is a Major Multiplayer online Game also known as an MMO, this means the it is played online with people who also are online.

(A chess game)

Why Strategy?

Why a strategy game some may ask? Well to be honest you have to accept that some people are not into the whole gore animation thing. Many gamers may think strategy games are boring and that is fine, but this is made for the people who rather relax and beat another human being with their wits instead of their muscles. The concept of strategy game appeals to many gamers and non-gamers. Blizzard realizes that WoW would attract many gamers because of its ability to put a person in the action in the fight. Blizzard appealed to the other spectrum by giving the people who like to test strategies and who like to control armies. This is what Starcraft brings to the table.

(An image of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty)

StarCraft 2 Wings of Liberty is the most recent installment of StarCraft. The sequel to the award winning StarCraft video game, the game released worldwide on July 27, 2010 Wings of Liberty is the first of a 3 part installment. The two upcoming expansion packs, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. The game takes place in a distant part of the Milky Way galaxy in the 26^th century. The game revolves around 3 different species, The Zerg the main antagonist, The Protoss neither the antagonist or the protagonist they just want to destroy the Zerg but will hurt anyone in their ways, finally the Terrans basically humans the protagonist. The wing of liberty is mostly about the terrans the other expansion pack is about the Zerg and Protoss war. Each game takes you deeper into the story and gives you a good feeling of how it is to command a fleet of soldiers. Starcraft may seem harmless enough but it has become super famous even though only just releasing in the year 2010 it still has over 7millions loyal fans. The game strongly holds its title of being the Family Destroyer for Strategist.

(An amazing cinematic from StarCraft 2)

StarCraft does not only let you become the commander of a fleet and let you test out many different strategies versus millions of other players. It also gives you a beautiful show artwork. They makers of StarCraft did not slack off when making their master piece. They made sure everything was inline and perfect. The game takes strategy to a whole new level. StarCraft 2 is a great game for the mind.

(The Commercial for StarCraft 2)

The StarCraft 2 commercial helps lure its unsuspecting victims in. The Commercial itself only shows the good parts of the game they do not once show anything bad. Blizzard also flashes it in front of your face with loud bangs fast pacing images. This activates the reptilian part of your brain you do not know what to do, or how to react. The commercial also uses production techniques the pace does not give people enough time to process what they are seeing. A lot of action and explosions excite people. The images and music also activate the limbic portion of the brain.

(A image of a Zerg laying down and doing nothing)

There is humor in their advertisements. Some can only be understood by the fans and others many people can understand. The use a lot of scientific facts inside the game itself. StarCraft also allows people to just have fun. People love to challenge other people to prove their superiority especially with the brain. Blizzard uses these things to make a very addictive game that even the geniuses in our society can not resist. Blizzard uses our favorite things being in control of another person, action, superiority/ showing dominance and beauty to sway everyone into loving their game. There are forums and cosplays dedicated to StarCraft alone. People leave their friends and family behind just to play starcraft. I am not saying don't play StarCraft what im saying is be careful as a gamer i know it is very addictive. Blizzard the creator of the Family Destroyer strikes again.