Avatar

I hated the trailer when I saw it this summer.

Yes, some of it was cliche (I guess a lot of it? Imperialism, love, bad guys, flying) but the way it was presented was just mind-blowing.

Mind. Blowing.

It was absolutely breathtaking and I'm still working through how I actually feel about the film. It's that glowing feeling you have when you have a crush on someone, except in this case the someone is the feeling of escapism and faith. I'm in love.

Georgina, don't make fun of me if you go see this movie and you don't like it as much as me. I am the one, after all, who made avatars on Second Life for her machinima class.

Ahhhh it was genius! The fact that it was digitally made is completely consistent with the fantasy of digital avatars--Pandora is simultaneously reality and imagined, and for someone with an incredibly impressionable mind like me, I am completely dazzled by its ability to rest as a real place in my imagination. I can't get my thoughts out clearly, but I just want to say that Cameron is a master of making audiences emote.

Oh, and the Sigourney Weaver part was perfect. She basically had to be in this film as the culmination (?) of her career in sci-fi with the director.

Ok I'm going to go see it again like 5 times before I go back to Hanover, which is basically the opposite of Pandora. Ughhhhhhhh I am writing like a 4th grader right now. Signing off,

Fay

Mad Men: Misery Loves Company

Happy Sunday! You know what this means: Mad Men and Next Iron Chef are on TV. You know it's bad when I label the days of the week with what shows I watch (okay, that's only true for Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday). Anyway, in these hard times, Mad Men has found a place in many viewers' television schedules, reflecting the fact that maybe we aren't searching for escapism through musicals and luxe films, but through depressing programming that makes us feel like we aren't the only ones in trouble.

But Bravo believes in escapist television shows, and TLC's almost fetishistic programs about weddings or extremely large families make me sick with how intensely they try to convince its viewers that their lives aren't that bad, you could have 18 kids and be a mermaid girl who has a domineering mother and a rainy wedding day.

With the escapism of today, I'd prefer to watch Mad Men. I'd prefer its temporal removal, beautiful people and unrealistic problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/17/opinion/17sat4.html?_r=1&emc=eta1