Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Randy Cassingham on December 21, 2009:

Regarding my "problem with the way they chose for sentient beings to connect to each other to communicate."

All the Na'vi humanoids have long hair braided into a pony tail, and there are nerve fibers in the end of the braid. To communicate with, say, their equivalent of horses, they connect their braid with a similar braid on the animal.

Clever. But really: nerve fibers in hair?! The Na'vi have tails for goodness sake. Tails connect to the body at the base of the spine -- which is absolutely teeming with nerve fibers. It would have made a lot more sense if they used tails than hair to carry neural impulses to communicate. It's still a quibble, but they could have not raised the question in the first place.

Posted by Robert in Oklahoma City on December 21, 2009:

I am glad you enjoyed the movie. I did, too. One thing that really got me, though. On Pandora, humans can't survive because they can't breathe whatever air is on Pandora. However, fires can burn. I thought that fire required oxygen to burn, or am I missing something?

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I see no contradiction. Just because there's something toxic in the atmosphere (they mentioned "gas") doesn't mean there's not plenty of oxygen too. -rc

Posted by Jason, Singapore on December 21, 2009:

Yes, it was a great movie ... my small post on Facebook led to a discussion that went through "panentheism" (look it up, I had to!), the USA in Iraq, and what God's original Creation on Earth was like. Fascinating.

Like you, I am also going back to watch it in 3D.

Good point about the hair-tail-tendrils thing. Didn't think of that. The little fly in the ointment for me was the massed charge of the horsy troops in the final battle. Jake, as a Marine, should have known better than to let the Na'vi be mowed down by a Charge-of-the-Light-Brigade tactic. Natives with local knowledge and good mobility should have just hit-and-run and drawn the humans in farther and farther until their battery packs run out. But I guess that's less dramatic for the movie side of things.

Posted by Bonnie, Altadena CA on December 21, 2009:

My thoughts on the braid-end neural fiber thingies....

OK, first thought is, dang, I want them. And, Randy, you know I have the braid already so it seems a simple modification.

While its true the base of the spine (or anywhere on the spinal column) would already have the resident nerve fibers, I can think of a few reasons why having it there would sure be awkward. It's part of mating...so unless you don't like looking at your partner, that won't work. If used for riding, well, as someone who rides, I can tell you the last place you want the connector to be is on your seat. One good buck and broken connection, and don't even think about it with those dragon things, I mean there's no SITTING there. The braid can be pulled forward, sideways, and is flexible and moves either with or independent of the body. Made sense to me!

The end of the tail could also work, but the tail acted like a true feline tail, an extension of their, hm, attitude...and there was a LOT of tail lashing going on in some of those scenes.

Anyway...just my random thoughts. ABSOLUTELY was entranced by this flick. Can't wait to see it again!

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I guess I wasn't clear: I did mean that the "connection" should be at the end of their tails, which lead to the spine, rather than at the end of their hair braids. But it's still a quibble! -rc

Posted by Caleb - Iowa on December 21, 2009:

Did you notice that when they were guiding Jake Sully to Eytucan near the beginning they held a knife to his pony tail? We hadn't really been shown the idea of linking yet, so it made me think of Samson. Perhaps they thought linking tails might have counted towards that "sensuality" rating a bit more :p

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I did not notice it. I'll watch for it on my second viewing. -rc

Posted by David, Florida on December 21, 2009:

Just saw Avatar and I agree that the story is basically, basic.

When the Riders rode up it felt like a western or hell even Chaka Zulu. The well armed against the Uncivilized. However, that's when it changed for me. The basics of the movie added other levels of basics - Spiritual overtones, environmentalism ideologies and corporate greed - which actually made it interesting.

Then there's this beautiful world (even without the 3D glasses a gimmick I could've done without, actually). Plus, brace yourself, it was actually a manly flick. I mean Mech-Warriors, Discovery Channel style animal fights, big guns, death, aerial warfare and Aliens! Yeah, rock on. Plus your notwithstanding, love story. Good times.

Basic plot? Yes, very. Nothing new just turn on any cable network news channel. Manly Flick? Sure. Girly Stuff? Absolutely. Including a strong woman figure for the "Feminist". I said it already but it's good times. Remember how Jurassic Park (The first one) changed your life? Expect that.

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Good, except that I found Jurassic Park and its deus ex machina ending to be a bore. -rc

Posted by Gerard,Enniskillen,N Ireland on December 22, 2009:

On the Hair/tendril issue,I'd rationalised it that it was like a second "Tail" coming from the head that happened to be hairy along its length! ymmv. The movie in my area had a preview in 3D at the second closest screen, so went to that last Wednesday. The closest one has opened its run with the 2D version, so am going this week to compare it w/o glasses! I'm not usually a multiple viewer of movies. If I enjoy, I'll buy the DVD too! I enjoyed this, but am going back. Sigourney's character smoking was for me part of a nod to the "Aliens" movie, with the Space Marines, A "Carter Burke" Company Weasel Guy, And the Robotic exoskeletons.

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I never saw any of the Alien franchise, so if that's homage to that series, then I feel better about it -- even though Alien/Aliens was set in the future too, right? -rc

Posted by Donald, Vermont on December 22, 2009:

"I won't be doing them [movie reviews] that often" - an excellent plan. Never again may be worth considering. A long boring item not up to your standards, serving only to confirm that 99.9% of what comes out of Hollywood is crap.

Have a joyous Christmas!

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Your mileage may vary. I saw it, and said it's fabulous. You didn't see it, and say it's crap. Not exactly objective, are you? -rc

Posted by Lynda, Alabama on December 22, 2009:

Jason, did you mean panatheism: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/panatheism

or pantheism: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/panatheism

??? I tried to look it up and got these which are vastly different in meaning though similar in spelling. Thanks for clarifying.

Posted by Richard, Veneta Oregon on December 22, 2009:

I read up on the Wikipedia entry on Avatar: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avatar_(2009_film)

Apparently the atmosphere of Pandora contains: Methane- hmmm not a big deal but could be tolerable, and Ammonia- O.K. even a little bit of that is toxic to a human. But to me, the notion of an unbreathable atmosphere makes for real science fiction. It's nice to see aliens who don't automatically speak English.

The planet/moon of Pandora, orbits Polyphemus, which itself is a gas giant (one of three) that orbits Alpha Centauri A. So, humans have advanced enough to take a 4.3 light year trip in roughly 5.9 years? Not too shabby. Not light speed for sure, but a significant fraction of 'c' though. One strange thing though, the 'ex'-marine paraplegic apparently never needs to go to the bathroom in his Avatar Immersion Unit in the Lab, yet they've no problem forcing him to eat there.

And somehow I'm not the least bit surprised that the 22nd Century's Veteran's Administration has the technology to grow a new spine, yet can't be bothered to do so for a Vet.

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Yeah, the bathroom issue came up for me, too, but hey: when have you ever seen that addressed in mainstream SF? Not even the Enterprise had a head until they needed to do a shower scene in the first movie! -rc