There's some bimbo out there in cyberspace named Annalee Newitz who says James Cameron's newest borefest, Avatar, is racist. Now I know what you're thinking... Who the fuck is Annalee Newitz? Well, according to wikipedia, she's a journalist. A white journalist. A white journalist with ties to Berkeley, California, people like Cornell West, and a couple of books with titles like White Trash: Race and Class in America.
So now you know who Annalee Newitz is. And what she is. Which is a professional grievance-monger. And in this case, a professional grievance-monger who seems intent on fixing her teeth to James Cameron's behind in an attempt to generate a bit of interest in whatever it is she has on sale today. Which seems to be a bit of good old-fashioned white guilt.
Given that Annalee's a female and a commie and a free-lance journalist and an author, she's pretty well situated on the totem pole of grievance-mongering (Totem pole... nice racist imagery there, eh? Took me 10 minutes to think that one up). At least she's higher up than white male liberal weenie Canadian James Cameron, which is all that really counts when it comes to grievance-mongering.
Being the sort of conservative, semi-Republican reactionary who would just as soon stomp on a butterfly as help an old lady across the street, it's pretty much a given that I wouldn't give a shit whether Avatar actually was racist. When it comes down to it, I simply don't possess enough white man's guilt to motivate my own true self to perform the amount of ritual self-flagellation necessary to make me socially acceptable to the Annalee Newitz's of the world.
Beyond that, we're talking James Cameron here. We're talking Titanic and The Abyss... two of the shittest movies ever made. Given a choice, I'd gladly spend the three or so hours poking myself in the eyes and take a pass on Avatar. Cameron's made exactly two good movies, Aliens and Terminator, and both were made over 20 years ago. And now that Arnold's turned out to be a A-One asshole, I can't even stand to watch Terminator.
Which brings me to Alien. Great flick. And you want to know what I learned from that flick? If you're not sufficiently ruthless with those who are different from you, some day one of 'em will be popping out of your stomach.
Note: OK, all you anal-retents, James Cameron directed Aliens, not Alien. My bad. Smack me upside the head and call me Andrew Sullivan. The point still stands: If you're too tolerant, there's an excellent chance you'll end up being the blue-plate special.
Note the Second: Had she been in Aliens, I'd wager the last words of dimbulb Annalee Newitz (she would have been the Sulaco's Diversity Officer, no doubt) before being torn to shreds by the Alien Queen would have been "We'd like to establish a respectful dialogue with you in order to foster mutual understanding and cooperation". That would, of course, make her death a justifiable homicide in my eyes.
The one (Und only vun!) thing Cameron can do well is action scenes. He's head and shoulders above the current shaky-cam BS that passes these days. When it comes to characters, plot, or anything else required for a good story, he's cliche-spewing hack.
Posted by: Blast Hardcheese | December 21, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Cameron made the very good "Aliens." Ridley Scott made the great "Alien." Just sayin'.
Posted by: LP Steve | December 21, 2009 at 01:32 PM
Not wanting to be pedantic here, but Ridley Scott did Alien, Cameron did Aliens.
Posted by: PALGOLAK | December 21, 2009 at 01:34 PM
Sorry, I graduated from the Andrew Sullivan school of fact checking.
Posted by: Dennis The Peasant | December 21, 2009 at 01:53 PM
Call yourself a conservative? I'D only step on a butterfly if it was sitting on an old woman's foot...
Posted by: richard mcenroe | December 21, 2009 at 03:24 PM
Did a search on the bint and yeah, she's nuttier than than a Stuckey's Pecan Log Roll. Typical, also of a Nick Denton-owned blog. Attitude to burn and a poverty of thought.
Here's a quote: "To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child." -Cicero
I'd add that the ignorance of human nature explicit in the bint's writing goes hand in hand with the historical ignorance Cicero's talking about.
As for Cameron, the only interesting thing about him was that he boned Linda Hamilton in her prime.
Posted by: David | December 21, 2009 at 03:38 PM
Avatar is racist? I thought it had blue creatures in it. Jeebus, is this one of those codewords thingies where you need the freakin' Philosopher's Stone to get it?
Posted by: Allen | December 21, 2009 at 07:08 PM
Just a glance at her dribbling makes it out not to be so bad. What she's saying is 'Can we get past the cinema of White Guilt?'
And then she goes and lists DUNE as another example.
Did she even read the f*cking book?
Posted by: DocSavage | December 21, 2009 at 07:42 PM
In Aliens, Annalee Newitz would have been the Sulaco's Diversity Officer.
In Alien, Analee would have been Ash, the traitorous android who plotted to help the oppressed black man/alien against the white fascist establishment/humans in the crew.
And I wish her the same fate as Ash - her plastic face melting while a come-like liquid spews from her mouth.
Am I banned yet ?
Posted by: Simon | December 21, 2009 at 08:02 PM
Simon-
No, you just sound a bit worked up. You need to relax some. Like me.
Posted by: Dennis The Peasant | December 21, 2009 at 08:45 PM
"It's good to have an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out."
Posted by: mojo | December 21, 2009 at 10:46 PM
"...the last words of dimbulb Annalee Newitz (she would have been the Sulaco's Diversity Officer, no doubt) before being torn to shreds by the Alien Queen..."
That movie was called Forbidden World. You'd like it.
Posted by: Grim | December 22, 2009 at 07:16 AM
Allen: the code is,white people watch it. It must be racist. I made the same thing happen to Dolemite. Rudy Ray Moore never forgave me.
Posted by: richard mcenroe | December 22, 2009 at 03:07 PM
Actually, racist and sexist.
Oppressed victim class character = black in any sophisticated dramatic analysis, doncha know. And there's no biological reason for the female aliens to sport racks that would make Bambi feel inadequate.
So it is a two-fer on the PoMo- read -into -it -what- you -will script.
Not to change the subject, but in the not too distant future there's a fair likelihood that the middle class will finally be killed. The combination of onerous taxation, criminalization via overwhelming over regulation, and economic collapse will bring about the extinction of that great all purpose villain and anchor of our national capital, the working man.
Who will the people like Newitz farm for dollars after the spring economic numbers start to come out?
I thought I had a fair shot at a working spring until this morning.
So did my bosses.
But now nobody knows.
Merry Christmas.
Posted by: TmjUtah | December 22, 2009 at 10:16 PM
She turned me into a Newitz. I got better.
Posted by: Mark | December 23, 2009 at 08:13 AM
"Who will the people like Newitz farm for dollars after the spring economic numbers start to come out?"
Well, she'll probably have to take another look at the crack whore business plan.
Posted by: vanderleun | December 23, 2009 at 10:00 AM
DUNE was so awful I decided to skip the book and avoid anything with Kyle McGlaughlin in it if I can help it.
Posted by: Lefty | December 23, 2009 at 12:51 PM