Avatar *Here there be spoilers*

[Ludmila]

The curious thing about this character is that if you assume she spent 5 years in cold sleep to get to Pandora, even if she was a heavy smoker before she left she would have been off the stuff physically and long past physical withdrawal symptoms by the time she arrived. Starting again would have been just plain stupid at that point.

IMHO, the body in that "sleep" quasi shuts down and no processes (including the physical consequences of leaving off smoking) take place. As a result the addict must face her (his) addiction after waking up anew.

[Distracted]

That would be entirely true for the psychological aspect of nicotine addiction since the person would be unconscious, but the physical symptoms of withdrawal resolve in a week or two whether you're awake or not. I suppose that since it's currently impossible to cryogenically preserve a whole human being without killing him or her the point is moot, but I've always thought that if somehow cryogenic preservation was possible that metabolic processes would just be slowed, not stopped altogether. Otherwise the person would just be dead. I would think that in five years someone in cold sleep would have had the equivalent of at least two weeks of nicotine metabolism. But it's all hypothetical anyway because there's no such thing as "cold sleep".

[honeybee]

I wonder how expensive cigarettes are on Pandora. It must cost a lot to ship them.

Io9 has been writing about the sex scene that landed on the cutting room floor. They didn't have to tell me that the Na'Vi would lock tails during sex. It sounds a lot like how I envision bond sex:

http://io9.com/5445676/the-avatar-navi- ... e-revealed

[Distracted]

Thus Grace's advice "Don't play with that, you'll go blind" is explained. But if there are no genitals and the tendrils are nervous tissue, where are the gametes and how do they make babies? Are the "ultimate intimacy" and reproduction separate activities? That might make their home life interesting, don't you think? If one has a lifelong bond with one partner but breeding is like... "Hey. You look strong and intelligent. Why don't you come over and meet my husband so we can negotiate a gamete transfer over dinner?" And how would she get pregnant without genitals? Swallow the stuff?

Regarding cigarettes, even if Earth plants won't grow in Pandoran soil, fruits and vegetables (and tobacco) have to come from somewhere. Maybe a hydroponic garden?

[justTripn]

Hi, I just saw Avatar. I thought I would type out my first impressions before reading the thread. Then I'll go see what you all said,

OK, it was visually amazing. The 3D wasn't totally perfect, probably due to my poor eyesight and glasses, but it sure popped. I've just seen my first holodrama. I hope it will be the first of many. In terms of visually groundbreaking, it reminds me of the Matrix.

Thematically, it reminds me of ""Lawrence of Arabia or "The Cove," a documentary about the slaughter of tens of thousands of dolphins in the process of looking for dolphins to capture for trainers and aquariums of various types, So yes, the actors and the scenario were realistic.

Visually and thematically it was something like Pocahantas

As for cool sci fi elements,

SPOILER!!!:

I loved the idea of the trees forming a computer network into which memories or even conscience can be downloaded.

The concept of the avatar itself was very nicely executed. I could empathize very strongly with Jake as he becomes more involved in the Nabari world than the human world. (Nabari? They have a race named that on Farscape too).

I hate to say anything against a movies so amazing, but I get a little overwhelmed with too much action, and then I tune it out. I am in the odd position of sayhing, that objectively that was an absolutely amazing movie, but subjectively it didn't grab me as much as the directors other big movie: The Titanic. It was also less compelling for me than the Matrix or most recent Star Trek. I think that the avatar/gorgeous artwork works against it in one way: we are all so used to video games that look better than real life. I think the hyper-real gorgeous scenary and action perversely signals to our brains that "it's not real, it's an amazing video game." I know that I've been confused a few times by an absolutely gorgeous football game, if the players have shiny uniforms. I think, oh, it looks too good to be true, must be a video game. Oh wait, this one's real. But what causes the confusion is too many shiny, beautiful people, and 3D filming (Matrix style 3D).



I

[Elessar]

I didn't read every detail, just saw a hubub about the smoking and something occurred to me:

What if smoking isn't unhealthy anymore in 150 years? I mean she calls em cigarettes but so what, maybe they're completely different. It's completely concievable that they're no longer a health risk of any kind.

[Asso]

What if smoking isn't unhealthy anymore in 150 years? I mean she calls em cigarettes but so what, maybe they're completely different. It's completely concievable that they're no longer a health risk of any kind.

Interesting.

[honeybee]

I've always wanted to write a fic where our heroes go to a planet where everyone smokes because whatever they smoke helps them breath and is healthy. It's just a funny idea.

[Distracted]

Funny thing is, there was a time when the boys in British boarding schools were encouraged, even required, to smoke daily. Doctors at the time believed that smoking tobacco was healthy because it helped fight off consumption (tuberculosis). Obviously, they were wrong.

[justTripn]

I just read through all the comments. So to respond to everyone: First off, you are all so much more articulate than I am. In my own defense, I wrote my impressions at 1:00 in the morning and I had to stop and think to remember even simple words. And you guys are all so soulful.

Distracted, about the waterfall off the floating mountains. I don't know how you would get floating mountains--radioactive decay of porous rocks creating helium; there you go--but the waterfalls are possible. I know because I saw it in Hawaii: This impossible steep rocky mountain with a waterfall coming off of it. We could see the top of the mountain and it wasn't raining. How does that work? How do streams run when it's not raining? I guess it rains and the water slowly drains out of the soil and heads to the stream.

About the fact that it's 2154, no I didn't notice, and I love it! The obstacles to crossover are not insurmountable. Distracted? Elessar?? Whoever posts the first Star Trek-Enterprise/Avatar crossovers at fanfiction is going to have 10s of thousands of readers. GO, GO!!!!!

Sigorney Weaver smoking??? Who cares??? The most starling line in the movie for me was when Jake said, "The aliens returned to their dying world" and we realize by aliens he means the humans. That was the first I heard about the Human's dying world, so I was a little sad. I think in the context of everything D. said--the stress of being in charge, having an alternative younger body "out there," and the disutopia of Earth--it makes perfect sense. It's odd to me that no one ever proposes a future with no alchohol, but smoking is presumed to go away. It will be around in some form, if only as cigars for special occasions, therefore some people WILL get addicted.

I second Elessar's comments about the networked trees providing a scientific explanation that paralleled the religious explanation. I love it when both ways of looking at things--religious and scientific--can be true at the same time. And yes, it kind of fell apart for me at the end when those rhino's attacked, but still I was willing to hope that there was some unkown scientific explanation for that too. Afterall, the whole ecosystem was psychically interconnected. People could connect with birds through that psychic plug. Trees could connect with each other and with people. I assumed that the rhinos were activated biologically somehow (maybe through the plants?), but that part for me was the biggest stretch.

I loved that the aliens were so alien that they didn't have big breasts. Alien women with big breasts wearing bikinis would have been so cliche'd. I have to admit I kept examining Netyri's chest to see how they did her chest and she didn't have big breasts, she barely had any breasts and she didn't have nipples, and covering everything was always some sort of necklace or pasted-on decoration. It wasn't a bra for support. That part was SO well done.

I agree with everyone that the most powerful scene was Netyri finding Jake's in his real body. It was very poignant also because of Jake's legs being atrophied, and all of him being small in relation to Netyri. Also, I start out prefering Human Jake to Avatar Jake in terms of attractiveness, but at that point in the movie I suddenly see the Human version of Jake as more fragile and less attractive (or at least I worry that the NeVari woman will think so) and it startles me that I have been so taken in by the movie. It is similar to watching Star Trek and acclimating to the alien makeup to the point that the actors look less attractive without their Klingon forehead ridges.

The whole movie was SO well thought out. It all hung together very well. Another aspect of the movie that could have been cartoony (and was a little cartoony), but you also get a scientific explanation: all the falling and not getting hurt. All the willingness to climb cliffs. I guess that is explained by the low gravity. The NeVari are tall and thin because of the low gravity. The tree is enourmous because of the low gravity. The military aircraft looked a little on the heavy side. It was all consistent. It was VERY nice how the scifi premise of low gravity was integrated throughout the movie. Usually we just get a token demonstration of the scifi premise, usually pulled out of a hat just for the moment that we need to get the heros out of a tight spot. Not so here. The unique shared physiology of the flora and fauna of Pandora was VERY well thought out and carried through in a consistent way.

Having said all that, a recent sci fi movie I liked better for some reason is District 9.

[honeybee]

Well, the Vatican has chimed in on Avatar:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100112/ap_ ... can_avatar


They object to the religious themes. It just goes to show how MMV, because little, old agnostic me saw the movie as profoundly pro-religion and pro the idea that there is a God and an afterlife, though there might be a scientific explanation for "God". But I suppose that's not enough for certain people. The Vatican apparently doesn't like that the film's version of religion isn't their version. I'm also guessing they don't like the idea that the film's "God" is portrayed in the feminine.

On a totally different note, now that you mention it JustTripin, I wonder what the evolutionary purpose of nipple-free breasts are!

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

What if smoking isn't unhealthy anymore in 150 years? I mean she calls em cigarettes but so what, maybe they're completely different. It's completely concievable that they're no longer a health risk of any kind.

Ah, the synthehol method.

[justTripn]

On a totally different note, now that you mention it JustTripin, I wonder what the evolutionary purpose of nipple-free breasts are!

Actually they are hardly breasts at all. Hooray! A victory for flat-chested female sci fi fans everywhere!!! (Prior to this we only had Ensign Ro as our sexy role model)

[Kevin Thomas Riley]

^ What about Milla Jovovich?

[justTripn]

I googled her and you are right KTR. She is very attractive as is. But 0h how annoying. Look what they did to her for the poster:

http://www.millaj.com/pics/resident3-bluraydvd1.jpg

*sigh*