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In Reply to: RE: Technological piece de resistance, and the story may have surprising insight posted by patrickU on August 29, 2009 at 05:25:01
PAINTING: "Double Portait of Henry Ford"Patrick,
Yes, the glasses are a disadvantage,and probably a drag on 3D acceptance but as I wear glasses when watching movies, it is not too distracting. And, if my intuitions and reports are correct, once we're watching " Avatar " we will immediately forget them. Decades from now, the 3D glasses and virtual reality goggles will probably be seen as a cumbersome interim technology to some form of holography.***
*** And, as has been true for every communication technology from cave painting to fresco to printing to film to video to computers, within 6 months of the invention of that holography, it will be used for porno!
James Cameron in my view has more the mind of an engineer and craftsman than artist, but he is more complex than I think his target audience understands, and this complexity creates an air of irony around his movies.
Cameron’s work has produced some astounding and memorable images: Governor Schwarzenegger as Terminator prying out his eye- (homage to Chien d' A?"), the "T2" morphing from the checkerboard floor to security guard clone, Big Mama Alien at home laying eggs, the erect stern of the Titanic against a star field, and many others, and his movies are visually stunning, but in addition to the wondrous level of technical achievement, what I believe is important in Cameron's work is the consistent, pervasive warning about the dangers of technology that seem to underlie all his work. Upon review, technology is always depicted as a kind of human arrogance, prone to spectacular failures, RE: the “unsinkable” Titanic, corruptions of use RE: “Abyss”, “Terminator”, and as a gateway- and entry point- for real nastiness, RE: "Terminator", "Aliens", and I believe, “Avatar”. Cameron in this regard is making modern versions of Chaplin's "Moderns Times"!
Cameron is not completely even-handed in this aspect as he is vehemently pro-space exploration and will never make that appear as unnecessary or too risky. Cameron would never have made "Apollo 13" even though the underlying theme of human struggle against technological failure is identical. Cameron would do a superb "Hindenberg", but the George C. Scott version probably covers it and of course, the flaming demise sequence couldn't be stretched out long enough! -"Oh, the Humanity!"
The problem is that Cameron in my view often has written better stories for the machines than the people- I find the characters often seem more an infestation to movies that yearn to be documentaries about technological potential. With "Avatar" though he may have found a way to create a CG "techno-human" style as the ultimate integration of his animal/machine first expressed in "Terminator". And, as I believe "Avatar" has a love story involving the remote, virtual animal/machine, perhaps we will see -ironically a more convincing, more realistic love story than DeCaprio, Winslett, and the Fabulous Blue Doorknob. -This is what I find intriguingly paradoxical about Cameron's movies. The strange layering of fantasy and reality within the technological warning agenda is really amazing.
It's also interesting that the important character- the hero and sensible, calm and capable is almost always female- Sarah Connor in "Terminator", Jamie Lee Curtis in "True Lies", Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as the female engineer and ex wife of Ed Harris, of the underwater drilling rig in "Abyss", Sigourney Weaver and "Newt", the plucky little girl in Aliens- a 22nd Century Shirley Temple", and the main "villain" in Aliens is Big Mama Alien- the Queen bee surrounded by male worker drones, "Dark Angel" in the series, and so on. Can you name the actor that played My impression of the alien main character in "Avatar" in fact to me looks far more feminine than masculine. I find this to be a general trend- look how many fantasy/action figures in movie are female now- how about "Lara Croft"? Well-, “relatively” female, as I see these characters as male personalities but with cleavage for entertaining the 13 year old boy in all of us!
I may seem an apologist to Cameron in trying to suggest an importance to his work, but I think the underlying existential theme of "be careful what you wish for" as it is embedded in technological fantasy for the younger teen is quite brilliant, the technical and craft aspect of his movies engineering genius and a sign of consistent, incredible discipline. After the $2,400,000,000 income from "Titanic", and by his intensely intellectually curious nature, Cameron is free to spend the rest of his career making patient, super-crafted movies and I think will continue to amaze us in many, many ways. And, as an explorer- more than 40 visits to the Titanic- and I'm guessing one of the first paying passengers into space on Rutan's taxi.
We’re living in an interesting age for movies, but not at one of the pinnacles- “Van Helsing” alone brings the average too far down !
Cheers,Bambi B
PS: My concept for a Broadway musical "Titanic 2", story by Bambi B, libretto by Tom Stoppard, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and John Adams:
"Titanic 2":
The heartwarming, tender, five hour long story of a song and dance troupe from Liverpool living- and performing- in an air pocket in the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic. The musical highlights include the songs: "Air Pockets, Diamond Lockets", "Decompressions of my Heart", "I got those 14,000 Feet under the Ocean Blues, and "White Star, Hopes Far".The surprise upbeat ending is said to be super-fabulous.
Edits: 08/29/09Follow Ups:
You know, I admire *your* admiration for the man but I really think you're ascribing far too much to his artistic sensibilities. I don't think Cameron has made any reference to Bunuel or Chaplin in a movie EVER - at least not on purpose.But I hope the Avatar meets your expectations, since you have such high hopes for it. The only film of Cameron's I ever really truly enjoyed was The Abyss, which suffers from his habit of employing simplistic villains.
I will admit the Titanic going down was pretty cool too, although the rest of the movie makes me twitch.
Edits: 09/02/09
Harmonia,
In their totality, I am not an apologist for Cameron's movies, but I remind myself that I am far and away from Cameron's target audience- smart and dangerous 13-year old loners.
My interest in Cameron's work is mostly to do with the instances of what I see as consistent and pervasive comments on the social impact of technology. And, with a delightfully paradoxical presentation of the subject. If I may summarize: Technology is both miracle cure and answer to all the important questions, but is also a potential tool for self-destruction. Arrogance and lack of discipline in the technological environment is fatal. People should get used to the idea that the technology we own is having more fun than we are.
And, in the presentation of this, Cameron advance techniques (designing and building ROV's, advance the technology the 3D digital video system. Some kind of modern film dictum is emerging: You must improve the technology to the level necessary to present the hazards of technology- McCluhan could fill volumes.
While I find some really astounding images in every movie, there are important areas of character- stereotypes and sentimentality, dialogue- forced naturalness, and plot- applied romantic conflict that bother me. And, it interests me that the focus of attention, the deeper characters, and often the heroes of the whole story are women, given that the subject is technology and often in military/combat conditions.
Where Cameron succeeds: Despite the applied quirkiness for demographic reasons, the internal logic is always impeccable as is every technical aspect and the putting together. When there are action sequences, they are cohesive and comprehensible, and have great continuity. Editing is very good and not overly cross -cut so that you can never understand the pov- this is why I found "Dark Knight" unwatchable- and in fact all the Batmen I've seen suffer from that 1/8 second per cut problem.
My expectation that "Avatar" will be wonderful to look at, has a story that works like a fine clock, and will seem well aimed to the 13 year old video gamer in all of us. There will be ethereal military disco music of the future and along the way, we will learn through the artifice of CG, the truth about the way technology ill-applied is forcing us to live in an artificial, virtual way.
We will not have to wait much longer to answer these important questions:
1. Am I a real person?
2. Was the precursor to Avatar "Total Recall"?
3. Could I ever fall in love with someone who is blue and may have a long tail? And can long distant romances succeed?
4. Should I fall in love with someone involved in dangerous political causes on another planet- and has a strict macro-biotic diet? Would I end up being shot at with ray guns while hungry? Plus all that virtual travel time and "hyper-space lag" from changing 977 Billion time zones.
Virtually yours,
Bambi B
Bambi B ( how is your first name,or am I too indiscreet?) but I is like talking to a phantom without the prejudice of a picture within a name-
The beast in us? Porno never really sublimate us, but is the very essence of our life, the main motor.
At least when you are young. But that it use every new technology comes hardly as a surprise...
What IS is target audience? The cleaning lady ( go on Patrick, be arrogant ) and the romantic soul of a "Drei Groschen Roman ? "
Or the brutal youth killing machine.
Irony, maybe if I think back I can contemplate the possibility, but to tell you frankly his personality shining through his films never gave me lust to go after any symbols or analogies nor parables.
Now I can more critical as I saw only a few films, , ( for one time I did dig his Abyss for his immortality as love being the vector )
True Lies, I hardly remember and as for Terminator I never care, nor for Titanic then and now it is a failure.
Comparing to both others main version ( The Stanwick and the English one ) it fall back.
Alien was inventive and very well made, but not a film I would really love.
" 13 year old boy in all of us " Well I believe then that I am an old man by now, may have lost the magic, who knows, but the magic for me go through my own fantasy and not through technical wizardry, on the contrary this effects tend to kill mine.
"I may seem an apologist to Cameron in trying to suggest an importance to his work"-
Yes...But I hope HE deserves you. Anyway I will see Avatar and try to watch it with the few feelings you sent overboard to me.
But please NO Titanic II.... (Even not with the brilliant distribution..)
Bises,
Patrick
On that old " T " Model is this a " Swastika" or do I have a optical / mental misconception?
Bonjour & a bientôt.
Patrick,
Henry Ford had a lot of proto-fascist in his makeup- part of his odd Mid-western utopian concept of social justice. He insisted immigrant workers shed their national dress and customs in their lives, they should have family values, Jesus, wanted to shoot union organizers, and that no employee should smoke or have alcohol on their own time, and other interesting concepts of social engineering- eugenics too.
I've forgotten the details, but Ford had a kind of company magazine and over time published substantial anti-Jewish material: the international Jew was running all the world's banks, degenerate art, the works. Hitler had this material translated and reprinted in, I think 35-40 volumes.
Supposedly, Ford's very public and published rants and the laissez-faire, ultra-conservative attitude of the English aristocracy led Hitler to some degree believe that the UK and US were sympathetic to Nazism and would not oppose him in his lebensraum land grab in Europe. At the same time, Ford was a pacifist and made hundreds of millions from war despite his earlier promise that he wouldn't take any war profits, had the highest wages in the car industry and some of the better working conditions/ benefits for his workers of the time. -Interesting fellow!
So, yes, the arrows make a proto-Swastika,- but the caring, Mid-Western, friendly, salt of the Earth, family style of Swastika.
The section/perspective of the car by the way is a copy of a contemporary Ford illustration of the 1930 Model A Standard Coupe.
Cheers,
Bambi B
Your premise sounds a little like the TV movie "Goliath Awaits". Given James Cameron's penchant for waterlogged stories and propensity for plagiarism, I wouldn't rule it out...
Edits: 08/29/09 08/29/09
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