Posted by Kaapuikinaea on January 14, 2010 at 5:00am
James Cameron's film "Avatar" has been receiving all types of criticism. The typical Hollywood story where the White man initially infiltrates the natives in order to get them to move so that they can obtain precious resources found in the natives' land, who later feels guilty & in the process loses trust from the natives once the betrayal is uncovered. But in the process of making a wrong right, he usurps the native antagonist & as always the antagonist is only portrayed as lacking the leadership ability & knowledge, something that only the White protagonist possesses. In the end, the White comes out as the hero of all the natives, he becomes beloved & a part of their tribe.This is a continuing theme in Hollywood movies both in non-fiction like with the recent Barbarian Princess movie or The New World as well as in fiction movies such as Dances with Wolves and Avatar. The plotline is aliens unspoiled planet and humans who want to pillage their resources reminiscent of past coloniztion and wars. Of course anyone can see that it is only told from the perspective of a Haole, that just reinforces that "White Messiah" fable. But James Cameron says that the real theme is about respecting others' differences.Recently the Vatican has expressed their concerns on the movie's theme, but it may not what you might expect. They criticized the film for flirting with the idea that worship of nature can replace religion, a notion that the Pope warned against. They didn't like the idea that it was man versus nature, and the Vatican's paper said that the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature." The Vatican radio said it "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium. Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship."They say that they do reflect the Pope's views on the dangers of turning nature into a "new divinity". Although the Pope was nicknamed the green pope for being outspoken on protecting the environment, he warned against turning environmentalism into neo-paganism.In a recent World Day of Peace mesage, the pontiff warned against notions equating human beings with other living things in the name of a "supposedly egalitarian vision", that notions, "open the way to new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man's salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms."The Pope explained it should not lead to "absolute nature" or "considering it more important than the human person."It's as if the missionaries never left! The continued belief that for us as Kanaka 'Oiwi, as well as all indigenous people out there, that our ways of worship, stressing value on ka 'aina, our brethren along with aspects of nature such as the winds, the oceans, the mountains, the trees, all of which are essential to Hawaiian beliefs. "Pagan" apparently is how we are continued to be viewed, and NEO-pagan for those wanting to see and understand our ways.We're talking about something natural for us, something that we've always had a strong belief in. Not just us, but this goes for other indigenous people where the belief in a harmonious relationship with mother earth is more than just about protection, it's about the long, everlasting relationship we've had since the beginning. Compare that to the very, very young christian faith that is only 2 thousand years old. Not to mention prior to christianity, particularly in the Italian peninsula, Rome to be exact, the type of worship they used to have with their multiple diety & idolation. How quickly they forget, yet quick to condemn the rest of us.And just when you thought only the Vatican was attacking it from an imposing, religious perspective. One right-wing's belief, was that it is a "revisionist western" in which "the indians became the good guys and the Americans the bad guys" and that it asks the audience "to root for the defeat of American soldiers at the hands of an insurgency." Of course "insurgency in the sense that they resist invasion. Sounds familiar? Ken Conklin's favorite word is REVISIONIST!Anyway, you can check out the 2 links, the first one covers the Vatican's views.http://movies.yahoo.com/news/movies.ap.org/vatican-says-avatar-no-masterpiece-aphttp://www.monbiot.com/archives/2010/01/11/the-holocaust-we-will-not-see
Liturgical hand movements? The vatican has been sensitive to issues the reporter says. lol Geez, and typical of Hawai when it comes to forcasting the weatheri..."chances of showers..." Nope, it's either a percentage + the word "Rain". lol
I'll have to ask my cousin if he knows your cousin.
Charles...interesting, I didn't realize that Sigourney said that. Those @ the Vatican are close minded.
On another note, my cousin Nat told me of our cousin Robert sharing his stories of his trip to Rome/Vatican and Belgium during the sainthood or canonization or whatever it's called for Father Damien. He said that while he was there, some man sounded upset and was speaking Spanish. Robert asked what was going on and they said that the man went there (Vatican) wanted to meet someone from Molokai. So Robert said he was from Molokai, the man shook his hand...he was pretty content. lol
I read that about the vatican before I saw it and as soon as Sigorny Weavers character said "Eywe is real", I went Ah-ha, that's why the vaticans don't like this movie. Their saying another god is real, while their god is not even mentioned anywhere in the movie. The marines don't even pray before going into battle like some do now, which would have been worse if they prayed 1st then got their buts beat and kicked off the planet. (who's the stronger god?).
Nah, spirits don't stalk me b/c I get along BETTER w/ those who passed on, the ancestors, than those like *coughin' out a name of someone who uses a name of a revered god, plus his co-hort who habitually post crap in these forums*
Oh okay. So it is just sitting there. Not being used. Gotcha. Just joking LOL
I wouldnt be too scared though. Some of the living come stalk you. What is a spirit stalking you? Same thing LOL Nah I shouldnt laugh but I have never had spirits come and haunt me LOL
I have his stereo or HD system but I never set it up. With his HDTV, I could set it all up, but I didn't even subscribe to the HD service anyway. But yeah, the system is all in pieces in my garage. lol What a waste. Kian said it's ok if I decide to sell um, but I not going do that. Cannot do that. lol Befo' Tom pays me a visit. lol
Whoa fancy ah! I don't have HD. However I love surround sound. I have heard though that HD is good to watch porn because you can see EVERYTHING LOL Okay... hope that made you laugh. I never know you have HD though. Wow... living it up. Das the way....
In my garage, I actually have Tom's speaker system. Kian gave it to me but I didn't want to go through the hassle of setting it all up. *sigh*
I do have Tom's huge ass FULL HD 1080 or whateve it is t.v. Kian took possession of it, by default. But he temporarily put things in my garage while he was in moving transition, I told him I wanted to borrow it, then time passed and now I told him I'd be willing to pay for it. I didn't want it to come to that, but I'd hate to disconnect it, especially since it's kinda confusing, which is why I won't put together the sound system. lol This HD t.v., Tom just bought it before he died, less than a year before he died. And Tom bought me a t.v. shortly after Nicodemus died (2005) but that t.v. is pretty much on the fritz now, and I'm used to the HD thing, the size, not the quality. lol So that's as far as my home theater system would go, but i'm too conscious about the sound that may annoy the neighbors.
Yes... but nothing fancy. I should post a pic of it at my Facebook so you can see but it's a large TV with a sofa that is like movie chairs and I hired some guys to install speakers so that I have surround sound which I bought from Costco years ago. They can recline and in the middle I can flip the middle seat and there is a place where I can put my drink and popcorn. I love watching movies at home. It's not like the ballers' though. It's not huge.
Anyway I can't wait til it comes on DVD LOL You one person who watches movies though but I have never been really into movies... because with movies comes lots of crowds and annoying people lmao
Comments
I'll have to ask my cousin if he knows your cousin.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21iLJncZLBo
On another note, my cousin Nat told me of our cousin Robert sharing his stories of his trip to Rome/Vatican and Belgium during the sainthood or canonization or whatever it's called for Father Damien. He said that while he was there, some man sounded upset and was speaking Spanish. Robert asked what was going on and they said that the man went there (Vatican) wanted to meet someone from Molokai. So Robert said he was from Molokai, the man shook his hand...he was pretty content. lol
*sigh, big cough*
lol
I wouldnt be too scared though. Some of the living come stalk you. What is a spirit stalking you? Same thing LOL Nah I shouldnt laugh but I have never had spirits come and haunt me LOL
I do have Tom's huge ass FULL HD 1080 or whateve it is t.v. Kian took possession of it, by default. But he temporarily put things in my garage while he was in moving transition, I told him I wanted to borrow it, then time passed and now I told him I'd be willing to pay for it. I didn't want it to come to that, but I'd hate to disconnect it, especially since it's kinda confusing, which is why I won't put together the sound system. lol This HD t.v., Tom just bought it before he died, less than a year before he died. And Tom bought me a t.v. shortly after Nicodemus died (2005) but that t.v. is pretty much on the fritz now, and I'm used to the HD thing, the size, not the quality. lol So that's as far as my home theater system would go, but i'm too conscious about the sound that may annoy the neighbors.
Anyway I can't wait til it comes on DVD LOL You one person who watches movies though but I have never been really into movies... because with movies comes lots of crowds and annoying people lmao
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