text:
Looking at the Avatar movie from the perspective of the "other world"
******************************************"Once upon a time, trees were sacred things in Haitian/African culture, looked upon as living energies that provided strength to the people. Thus, cutting down trees was relatively a taboo. But these core Africanist values were scorned and desecrated by the influences of Western colonialism and Christian missionaries on traditional Vodun. These core values were uprooted during the anti-Vodun Rejete campaigns (1940-41) as a means for the Catholic Church to get rid of Vodun as its rival religion and philosophy in Haiti and as a way for the US to clear peasant Haitians off lands they wanted to acquire for their agricultural initiatives in Haiti in the 1940s during the post-U.S.-occupation presidency of Elie Lescot (1941-46).
The Catholic Churches' brutal anti-superstition campaigns in the 1940s, which made it alright to destroy trees that holds up not only the land but a culture, adds to deforestation in Haiti. For, once these core values were broken down and substituted with foreign ideals (senility?) - foreign psychology irrelevant to Haitian survival, things in Haiti for the vast majority, as Chinua Achebe, would put it: began to "fall apart..." (Ezili's HLLN on the Counter-Colonial Narrative on Deforestation, See also - HLLN on the causes of Haiti deforestation and poverty and Avatar parallels: Warrior Mother, Vodun and the Sky People)******************************************
In order for consumerism, corporate greed and imperialism to work there must be a narrative. A narrative that claims to be about the common good, about science, development, advancement, education.
In that way, although it is just a regular sci-fi movie with the same ol' plots and the same white hero narrative, I take the time here to analyze the Avatar movie because if James Cameron was looking to tell a story from the point of view of people of color, he fell short. The racist subtext effaced that desire.
I went and saw the Avatar movie looking to find a redeeming deeper meaning in it as so many on this Ezili/HLLN list had such divergent opinions.
First, let me say, what I am about to write is not an attack on anyone. It's what I think, from my point of references, after seeing the movie.
I thank everyone who expressed an opinion on the movie. Those of us who are concerned with human rights, environmental degradation, corporate greed will find that the Avatar movie is a parable and metaphor for how Western culture, corporate greed, consumerism, white privilege and imperialism is destroying the earth through wars for oil, occupations for taking "the other world's" resources and minerals, through mining, clear-cutting, taking down the environment without regards to the human being and the ecology that's destroyed. So, if you are a moviegoer, this is not a bad choice and I recommend the movie for that. I also recommend the movie as a study of the white savior complex. It's very instructional in that way.
I've done Haiti work all my life and have run into the "assimilated" white savior who feels so assimilated and "Haitian" he can insist on his cultural empathy as credential for LEADING the indigenous Haitian to liberty!
Ezili's HLLN has always maintained that the best function of friends of Haiti is not to strum dependency but load our gun and also to go to Washington and push their own to change their policies towards Haiti. No one can give another his/her liberty. We Haitians, we Blacks, we Africans must take what's ours, own our own liberty, as all human beings must. Otherwise it's charity, degrading and meaningless.
The movie is also worthy as a study because one can see the analogy to Haiti, Iraq, Afghanistan and every other place where the US/Euros have gone to invade, conquer and plunder in the name, of course, of bringing democracy or humanitarian aid or bringing civilization and God!
In an interview, James Cameron reportedly said he was writing from the indigenous point of view. If I took him seriously, and let him look through my eye, this is what he would see:
A real life example of what happened to the fictional Na'vi people in the movie is happening to Haiti right now. The US military took down president Aristide, deported him to Central Africa, and took over Haiti with hired thugs and death squads, then used the UN and the NGO squads to deflect charges of terror, racism and imperialism. Meanwhile the UN is protecting not Haitian rights and sovereignty but the right of the NGOs, corporate greed, sweatshops, trans-national corporations' right to privatization of Haiti's assets - bling (gold, iridium, copper, oil, diamonds, marble)- and the mining and oil companies to do as they please in Haiti. How greed and imperialism destroys the environment...The Avatar movie is a good analogy, a good parallel for this. In it, we see the mad preppy corporate guy, head of the mining operation who employs a small army of former marines for security and directs them to attack the Na'vi people because his company wants the bling -a mineral called unobtainium - that's underneath the soil in Pandora where the Na'vi people live.
In the Avatar movie, the fictional cultural expert played by Sigourney Weaver is the expert who is wiring the humans' brains into the bodies of Na'vi avatars to try to win the indigenous people's trust; building schools in the Na'vi people's world and trying to "educate them," all, on behalf of the mad preppy corporate guy so to befriend them, manipulate them and convince them that the more civilized thing to do is to leave their ancestral lands where the life-force of their mother Goddess and Tree of Souls (ancestors) live and go elsewhere. Manipulating for corporations' profit. If the anthropologist team doesn't succeed with their psychological brainwashing then the mad preppy will just get his military forces to crush the Navi's with tanks and bombs. Sounds familiar?
Think: false foreign aid to Haiti and Africa, false Euro/US benevolence, false charity to get a foothold and plunder indigenous people's lands and labor regardless of the human or environmental consequences.
Some years ago, in the essay entitled, Ezili's HLLN Counter-Colonial Narrative on Deforestation, I wrote:
"Once Haiti's natural zones for agriculture were confiscated by big agribusinesses and pushed off their ancestral lands, disenfranchised peasants had no choice but to go into the harsher lands in the mountains or wherever they could, to try to grow some food to feed their families, while a small group of the world's rich - such as the procession of US lumber companies in the 19th century and then, in the 20th century the procession of US lumber, sugar and fruit companies paid large sums to corrupt government officials to cut down pine, mahogany, cedar, oak and other trees for access to the Haitian forests and peasant lands in order to pillage Haiti's resources, under the guise of "development," "job creation" or "anti-superstition."
Yes, the Avatar movie is a good analogy to colonialism, and the role of the missionaries, development folks and USAID experts of modern day and may be seen in that light.
But as entertainment, that's a matter of taste. And for me, except for the very beginning when the spectacular scenery and 3-D experience was so riveting, the analogy is much too life-like to the situation of Haitians vis-à-vis the US/Euros for the entertainment value to mean much.
Jake Sully, played by Sam Worthington is the white hero who enters the Navi's land, learns, in three months, all their secrets, becomes a super-Na'vi and is able to return and save them from the attack of his crazy nation's war mongers.
It's relevant to note that the main Na'vi characters are voiced by four Black actors: Zoë Saldaña who plays the warrior princess Neytiri; CCH Pounder who plays Mo'at, the Na'vi shaman (spiritual leader) and Neytiri's mother; Laz Alonso who plays Tsu'Tey, the young warrior prince, Neytiri's betrothed and heir to the chieftainship of the Omaticayas, Neytiri's clan; and Peter Mensah who plays Akwey, leader of a plains clan of Na'vi; as well as Wes Studi, a Cherokee, who plays Eytukan, the father of Neytiri and the supreme leader of the Omaticaya clan of Pandora. The evil humans are white.
The movie is a fantasy from the point of view of white people. At the end the white man leads, just as he would lead as a colonizer, but this time he leads the natives from the inside. The hero is always a hero in any world and he's always white. That's why Danny Glover found it impossible to do a movie about the Haitian revolution with Jean Jacques Dessalines and Toussaint Louvertures as the heroes.
Frankly, I found the Avatar movie patronizing and no, Jake was no more than a white outsider who comes in and does his Tarzan thing. The racial subtext of the movie was extremely blatant.
This was my first 3-D experience and that was dazzling and I agree the scenery is spectacular...at the beginning.
The 3-D IMAX is stunning viewing and combined with the lush green scenery, the message that we need to protect our environment, wild life, respect other people's cultures and way of life, and control the profit-driven military-industrial complex makes Avatar worth the time. But it gets so, so typically racist, violent, violent, violent - literally and psychologically - and despicably so.
When the Omaticaya clan's Tree of Voices and the Ancestors fell, that genocide resonated. It reminded me of how the Catholics in Haiti, destroyed the mapou trees in Haiti because in Haitian Vodun each village compound/Lakou, each family had a tree with the spirit and life of their ancestors. But in the 1940s rejete massacre in Haiti, the US sponsored the burning down of the most sacred of trees and the psychological devastation still hasn't left the Haitian psyche to this day. So much so that trees became, for many, just wood for charcoal burning! I cringed when that Navi tree went down. The Will Heaven and Annalee Newitz reviews have it correct, this is no more than a white savoir movie where the "assimilated white" becomes the messiah for the "savages."
Here's a few other parts that grated my nerves to no end:
In the movie, the white man is the ONLY one who can pray to the Na'vi's mother goddess (Eywa) and she HEARS him, not her own people 's prayers and grief but HIM. The Jake character prays to Eywa to intercede on behalf of the Na'vi in the coming battle and when the battle seems lost, suddenly the creatures of the forest start to help attack the expendable corporate soldiers fighting for bling - (Gold and sugar in Haiti and the Americas during the African Holocaust and oil, gold and iridium right now under UN proxy occupation for the US). We hear Neytiri yelling – "Eywa heard you Jake, Eywa heard you!"
The white man mates with Neytiri, the most beautiful, most powerfulwarrior princess in the realm but he expects her intended, Tsu'Tey, the young warrior prince, the king-to-be to meekly accept the fait accompli and fly with him because now he's a super-Na'vi after having been the ONLY one to tame and ride the Toruk, an immensely powerful red flying beast that only five Na'vi have ever tamed in their history.
The Toruk is recognized by the Na'vi people as the most ferocious beast in their realm. When Jake, the white hero character, swoops down from above astride the red Toruk, he becomes not just a mythical hero, he becomes Eywa –the mother Goddesses' - chosen one, the white messiah, and now he wants the young warrior king of the Na'vi people, Tsu'Tey whose character is voiced by the Black actor, Laz Alonso, and whose princess, voiced by the Black actress, Zoë Saldaña, he's mated with to meekly ACCEPT, submit to him as leader of the Na'vi battle AND to TRANSLATE FOR HIM as he addresses the new King's people and revs them up for war against the humans! The parallel emasculation of the Black man here cannot be more obvious.
Dr. Grace Augustine played by Sigourney Weaver, says at one point in defending the Na'vi tree "This isn't some pagan Vodun, this is their home and destruction of the Hometree will affect the biological connection to nature's lifeforce of all Na'vi organisms." Something like that.
This is the same anthropologist who, later on, in the movie would be rushed to the Tree of Souls and Mo'at, the Na'vi high priestess, for healing through the making of a sacred connection to nature's lifeforce to save her. The whole chanting ritual and raising up of sacred energies pretty much looked like Vodun. (In Haiti, Vodun means lifting up "sacred energies." See also Vodun and the Divine Mother - Ezili/Aset/Isis.)
If James Cameron was indeed doing what he said he wanted to do and writing from the indigenous point of view, if I took him seriously, then I would not have to see how Grace, the white woman's life was made to be so important that in the middle to their grieving of all that they had lost from the shock and awe attack upon their village, that HER HEALING was the priority. She's so important to Jake, the whole village that's just lost its beloved king and perhaps thousands upon thousands of their people, take time to value THIS LIFE above all else and sit in unison to chants for her wellbeing! But alas, Dr. Grace dies. But wait, all is not lost. Her life is so unique and valuable, that her lifeforce gets to be DESERVING enough to join into the collective Navi's Goddess (Eywa) vibration.
This is such an obvious white fantasy in a long, long line of the noble white savior films. After the Sigourney Weaver character's Hollywood demonization of Haiti's sacred way, her demeaning "Pagan Vodun" comment, it would have been poetic justice if Cameron truly wanted to speak from "the others" point of view, if the good doctor's spirit had NOT gone directly into the blissful Navi Eywa collective soul but spent some time in some Christian purgatory or some such place!. For that privilege too reminded me of the foreign Vodun converts who come into Haitian culture and claim our ancestors, priesthood and to be Vodun spirit masters in just one generation of submission.
If I were to take James Cameron's sci-fi movie seriously I'd say it was Richard Pryor who once remarked, Do you have any dreams? They'll want them too.
Ezili Dantò of HLLN
See also: Avatar parallels: Warrior Mother, Vodun and the Sky People
Avatar Haiti, part two interview with Ezili Dantò of HLLN
Forwarded by Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network ("HLLN")
Vodun and the Divine Mother - Ezili/Aset/Isis
Avatar Haiti, part two interview with Ezili Danto of HLLN
Ezili's HLLN on the Counter-Colonial Narrative on Deforestation
Ezili's Counter-Colonial Narrative on Vodun and Vodun Links and Bio of Ezili Dantò
Why the UN is in Haiti as military proxy for the US/Euros colonial enterprise, right now:
Unobtanium in Haiti
Scientists say there's more oil in Haiti than in Venezuela
Unobtanium in Haiti
There is a multinational conspiracy to illegally take the mineral resources of the Haitian people: Espaillat Nanita revealed that in Haiti there are huge deposits of gold and iridium
Unobtanium in Haiti
Oil in Haiti - Economic Reasons for the UN/US occupation
Travesty in Haiti – False aid, false orphanages, false charity
Unobtanium in Haiti - Haiti's Riches
Sign our on-line petition demanding France pay Haiti back $22 billion Independence Debt it forced from the formerly enslaved Haitian people
Avatar parallels: The Warrior Mother, Vodun and the Sky People
Thanks for the feedback. Your lingo is a bit challenging and I 'm not altogether sure I get it all. But I think you're saying not too expect much from just a movie. As you say a movie is for our entertainment and it can be also for our enlightenment. In terms of entertainment, this one in 3-D IMAX is stunning and combined with the lush green scenery, the message that we need to protect our environment, wild life, respect other people's cultures and way of life, and control the profit-driven military-industrial complex makes Avatar worth the time. And that's enough if you're white and comfortably always fill the hero template and can project yourself onto the Jake Sully character. But I'm not white and the means the Avatar movie uses to allow the ecologically balanced Na'vi's to find redemption and freedom from the evil humans, has a racist subtext and stopped my "good times" at the movies. The sub-texts delivered the same racist narrative that the profit-driven military-industrial complex always puts forward – that of the privilege and superior race that must lead "the natives" for their own good. The white savior hero part, wasn't so enlightening. Not so progressive. Sure, fiction is fiction. It's a fantasy film. We agree on that point. But every narrative extends a view point. The one you're responding to, extends this writer's viewpoint, from her point of references, on Cameron's fiction and its obvious metaphors, parallels, to real life and their impact. Be well Zyskandar Jaimot.
Ezili Dantò
"I don't understand you're comment about the symbolism of Jake implanting his crippled body with a Navy soul. I thought his virtual body, his robotic body is what was implanted with a Na'vi soul. And the symbolism of that just boggles the mind. I'm thinking silicon implants, breat augmentations - Soul or soul-less? But we're probably on different pages here."
the point is that ok, the whole thing of white supremacy which you dissect in the movie, which I agree has some appearance, is that you would be "black" "over my dead body". that is literally the case with jake. its easy to make the case that the movie is actually the opposite of racism. the navi are upheld as far ethically superior to white-men in their perspective on the world. jakes implanting himself into the navi body is the final act of commitment. could there be any deeper commitment to his cause? at this point he becomes a navi, there is no longer any Avatar-- he becomes his avatar... its a climactic point of the movie on which a whole essay could be written....
ps did you see that other post by I-forget-who that made it to front cover EP on the avatar... had some other similar analysis of the racial issues.. well written.. will dig it up if you msg me about it..
did I misunderstand the scene? I havent seen anyone else dissect it....
Thank you for posting the comment I sent you via email. I've been trying to respond not only to you here but to Arock, but can't. Not good because I lost each comment and had to re-write it to send it via email message. Don't know what's up with this. Anyway if this one doesn't post, I'll email it to you again.
The thing is Vzn, I didn't, as you write: "forget to mention that the white savior character abandons his crippled body at the end in a ceremony to implant his soul in a Navi body."
I just found the implication of implanting a human mind or soul, if you will, into a synthetic host not something a native culture would do, or wish to do because death is not viewed in the same way in native cultures as it is in Western society. It's just not that final, as all is recycling energy, sustaining and renewing life. That's a point that goes totally over Cameron's head and he writes from a Euro perspective and value base. It's so critical it deserves an essay by itself. Besides this implanting a soul into a full body prosthesis-so-to-speak was so filled with social-implications I couldn't even begin to enumerate them. Besides I made the similar point about Grace and thought it too much work to again question why would Eywa, the Na'vi mother Goddess, would find Jake's life so valuable that she would transfer his soul from a crippled body to the tall, regal, WITH LEGS and able to mate cause he's now got the INDIGENOUS MAN'S uhmm, intact and non-atrophied appendage! I just chose not to go there.
Geez, folks are already defensive enough about what I did write. Of course I saw the various subliminal messages and sub-texts: See the indigenous men may be tall and physically bigger than Jake, but they sure don't know how to save their own people or solve their own problems. Isn't that what we've all learned in the history books - that the well-endowed Mandingo "natives," meekly accepted their subservient role to the bad-ass, warrior colonizers? No non-emasculated Jean Jacques Dessalines or Sitting Bull in this Cameron fantasy. I chose not to mention the various phalanx symbol imageries, for various reasons. I didn't feel like being bothered saying the obvious. But I will say that Jake swapped a broken body for a seemingly BETTER body in every way – that's not some racial commitment as you assert. That's a clear self-serving choice. You seem to forget, Vzn, that Jake spends a lot of time in the movie gathering Intel for the Blackwater Marine Mercenary-type character because he's promised Jake new legs. And, low in behold, at the end, the white savior gets the indigenous girl, wins in battle and get's the new legs and a whole new bigger appendage anyway from the indigenous mother Goddess for doing the colonial thing and saving the day! That's disturbing. It's a recycling of the white savior stereotype, but this time not as the Columbus hero but as the assimilated outsider who leads the natives in battle against the Columbus types of modern times. But further, it could symbolically be a eunuch becomes whole - spiritually, physically, and morally. The more I think about it, the more it could be a possible view.
Vzn, you wrote that the "Sigourney weaver character was attempt(ing) to be transplanted into another body also, I believe, i.e. similar scene, but the queen said "we didn't have enough time, it was too late." You say I don't understand. It's possible. But I'd just say we just saw things differently.
I wrote that "Grace, the white woman's life was made to be so important that in the middle to their grieving of all that they had lost from the shock and awe attack upon their village, that HER HEALING was the priority. She's so important to Jake, the whole village that's just lost its beloved king and perhaps thousands upon thousands of their people, take time to value THIS LIFE above all else and sit in unison to chants for her wellbeing! But alas, Dr. Grace dies. But wait, all is not lost. Her life is so unique and valuable, that her life-force gets to be DESERVING enough to join into the collective Navi's Goddess (Eywa) vibration."
That's what I wrote. And just as I found the Na'vi's willingness to give new life to Jake through the Na'vi false body – or ROBOTIC-sort of body "genetically engineered by human scientists, injected into the Pandora world and called an avatar that looks and functions like a real Na'vi body, but is controlled remotely by the mind of a human" in spaceship cubicles. I found it questionable the indigenous folks who live in harmony with Nature's cycles, would have WANTED to do this for Grace, especially in the middle of mourning the genocide committed against them and the murder of their King. It reminded of how a thousand of Blacks or Africans may die, but let one white person die and it's a federal case and the media is all over it because, in our society white is the "everyman" that is relatable and therefore whose life counts. I won't give you the various factual parallels for this in our modern society.
Anyway as I wrote to you, Jake's soul was implanted in a synthetic and laboratory created body. I'm not confused about that. Though you seem to be confused about the many implication of such a thing. You say you think this is the opposite of racism because Jake takes on a "Black" body or an indigenous body. I say it's Jake's good luck to go from crippled to legs and a functioning sex organ so he can mate with the Na'vi warrior princess! No wonder he doesn't want to leave Pandora. It's not some final act of commitment or expression of solidarity with the Na'vi. It's what Jake's wanted from jump street. To have uhmm…, legs---!!!! . Vnz, you may not have read it elsewhere or thought about it, but the symbolism of Jake's human mind or soul being implanted in a synthetic Na'vi body and that being acceptable to the live-in-harmony-with-nature-Na'vis just plain boggles the mind. Like I said: I'm thinking silicon implants, breast augmentations with a soul. As I said, we we're probably on different pages here. You probably were not thinking of those implications: the scientifically engineered Navi "body" that Jake has is not a body that a human Navi female or any female, for that matter, gave birth to. It was created in Dr. Grace Augustine's LABORATORY and used by the film's human characters to interact with the REAL Na'vi, to feel what they feel, to breathe Pandora's air that humans can't survive. At the end of the movie, this synthetic body is given a human soul? So, if I understood the movie correctly, a laboratory entity, grown in some high-tech space Petri dish, without a female egg or male sperm is then used to house a Na'vi soul. Suffices to say: Can an eternal energy be trapped in a technologically engineered "body" that had no living, breathing parents? Who is God here? Grace Augustin who genetically engineered the host shell or "body" controlled remotely by the mind of a human, or the Eywa mother earth Goddess at the Tree of Souls, who permanently transfers Jakes human mind/soul to the synthetic Na'vi replica. Cameron's messages here are mixed and paradoxical. There are lots of arguments either way, with a good dose of it denying the female's traditional role and giving it to the laboratory scientist.
This has been interesting, thanks Nzn.
Thank you for your comment. I respect it. And yes we are shaped by our experiences. I, because I come from a lineage that has dealt with 300 years of Euro enslavement, a Revolution where the African Ancestors where the heroes who first broke the chains of that slavery in the Americas and then the subsequent 200 years of containment in poverty on an Island with nowhere to go, surrounded by the now united Euro-tribes and their client states/colonies and that is ravaged by neocolonialism. And then of course, there's the USA experience of being Black and female in the United States. Can't say that doesn't affect my views and world outlook. But I'm glad to talk this over with someone, as you say, whose "life is filled with helping those with disabilities." I don't have those credentials, Personal personal and I wish I had read you're comment before I sent the piece to Vnz because I purposely didn't comment on the ableism in the Avatar movie because I've no expertise with that storyline, other than empathy for all who are oppressed by social norms. I hope that my comment to Vnz was not, in any way, insensitive to the disabled. I don't wish it to be. I dealt with the issue from the racial perspective and yes, from the female perspective that I know well. And my statements are made from those points of references. Thank you for the feedback Personal, personal. I appreciate that you've brought your perspective up here, for I didn't feel qualified to comment on Avatar from the disabled person's viewpoint. Be well.
(Rated for reality)
It is clearly necessary to analyze and criticize the mainstream narrative/propaganda (meant for our entertainment or served up as "news") that we all are bombarded with every day. The hypocrisy can be numbing, but your sharp and incisive critique is right on time. Your viewpoint is always a fresh and a conscience building lesson in reality. The reality that the privileged and entitled never have to face--but that we "indigenous" know so well.
"In Zanadu did Kubla Khan, a stately pleasure dome decree, where Alph the sacred river ran... so twice five miles of fertile ground, with walls and towers were girdled round."
-- Samuel Coleridge
You'd say: so wouldn't a better use for those "fertile grounds" be to grow food to feed the community? And, please don't girdle round the sacred river, it's needed by the worshipers!
I still like Coleridge's poem, but I can now appreciate that Kubla Khan was a thoughtless son-of-a-gun!
You rock, because you voice those questions that no one thinks to ask.
"You seem to forget, Vzn, that Jake spends a lot of time in the movie gathering Intel for the Blackwater Marine Mercenary-type character because he's promised Jake new legs. And, low in behold, at the end, the white savior gets the indigenous girl, wins in battle and get's the new legs and a whole new bigger appendage anyway from the indigenous mother Goddess for doing the colonial thing and saving the day! That's disturbing. It's a recycling of the white savior stereotype"
ok, the white savior stereotype lens is an interesting way to view the movie, but I think it breaks down and goes in circles after awhile. jake is a traitor to his own race in many ways. that isnt true at the beginning, but by the end of the race he's a complete traitor. its true he starts out as providing "intelligence" but he didnt intend for it to be used for the destruction of the navi-- he thought he could help avoid war, it seems like.
as for "robotic" .. you can use that word to describe his relationship to his body in the sense of "remote controlled" but robotic typically implies devices, hardware, and that doesnt fit too well. his body is biological. as for the body, the movie does not address the idea of it having a soul when it is created in the laboratory. (or maybe we should call it more scientifically "animating force") maybe its created animating force-less. is the synthetic body an abomination by its mere creation? you seem to feel it has frankenstein overtones, which are strong in many senses, but the movie does not play that angle. when jake gets in the body for the first time, he is overjoyed, and the scene is a little scary [due to jakes lack of cooperation] but mostly joyfull, ecstatic as he runs around like a kid in a candy store. its a celebration of overcoming/transcending his handicap and the confines of his own body.
I am getting the most amazing and thoughtful comments on this piece of writing. That's nice. I don't normally get much OS feedback, so this is new. I have the same essay on Pacific Free Press and Op-ed news. There's a very interesting comment on the Op-ednews from a charity worker from Haiti. Check it out. But I thought this comment I am pasting here is so well referenced and thorough, OS folks might appreciate it also. It's at the Pacific Free Press issue of this same essay and the commentator writes:
I recently saw "Avatar" (in 3-D), and while I could discuss the rather cookie-cutter plot or the truly amazing special effects, I will confine my comments herein to the issue of race in this film. From what I have read online, many people are asking the question whether "Avatar" propagates racist ideology. Well, from what I saw, "Avatar" bluntly dealt with intermingled historical and present-day forces: Western (= "white") notions of (1) government, (2) corporate enterprise, and (3) racism. Good – too few films do so. But is overtly addressing racism the same thing as propagating racism? Well, it does not have to be, but it can be, and usually is, without the individual realizing it. Hence all the questioning from viewers of this film. So I went to the evidence: what did I see and not see in "Avatar"? Well, I saw the results of choices presumably made by James Cameron.
Here is some of what I saw:
1. The Na'vi had physical characteristics that are associated with Africans and (for lack of a better term) Native Americans: Na'vi facial structure (particularly jaws and noses) was clearly evocative of Africans or people with a good deal of African ancestry. Such features were clearly intentional, as the avatars for both Grace and Jake clearly exhibited different facial physiognomies, those of their "white" drivers. Additionally, many of the voices of the Na'vi were provided by African and Native American voices: Zoë Saldaña (Neytiri) and Laz Alonso (Tsu'tey) are both African-American, CCH Pounder (Moat) is African-Guyanese, Peter Mensah (Horse-clan leader) is African-English, and Wes Studi (Eytukan) is Cherokee. This array of contributors was clearly the result of a choice.
2. The Na'vi clearly had cultural characteristics that are associated with African and Native American cultures, especially but definitely not limited to: (a) the unity of and respect for all living things; (b) the freedom of the individual to make her/his own choices without suffering the compulsion of the group; (c) the presence of the divine in all aspects of life (modern Western/"white" culture compartmentalizes God). Very interestingly, in the movie, you may recall that it was pointed out to Jake's avatar that Neytiri and Tsu'tey, who were sister and brother, were to be mated and succeed their mother and father in leading the clan. This act of the marriage of sister and brother is a distinct characteristic of ancient Black Egyptian culture. Pharaohs married their sisters, and together, they ruled. While sister-brother marriages also appear in later Native American cultures, such as the Olmecs of what is now called Mexico, Ivan vanSertima, an African-Guyanese scholar, in his book "They Came Before Columbus" makes a convincing case for the fact that this cultural attribute was brought from Africa by Africans who arrived in the Americas centuries before Columbus did. Again, this is the result of a choice: James Cameron went out of his way to include this piece of information in his script.
3. The Na'vi are depicted as being physically superior to the diminutive "humans". This is again a parallel to a source of "white" racist mentalities in our real world. Just the mere fact of having a height advantage is extremely powerful in our own human real-world personal interactions. Interestingly, the Na'vi/human height ratio was clearly evocative of the adult/child ratio. Again, another choice by James Cameron: the Na'vi are the adults, and thus it is their task to teach unruly children (the invading "humans") respect for the world, even if it means a beating. Additionally, much like the invading Europeans in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, although to a much greater degree, the invading "humans" on Pandora were unable to cope with the environment of Pandora – an environment in which the Na'vi had no trouble thriving.
4. The Na'vi were referred repeatedly referred to as "savages" and even once (by Colonel Quaritch) as "roaches", terms that are often used by "white" people today when describing Africans. This represented yet another choice in drawing as clear a parallel between the "humans" in this picture and "white" people here in reality.
5. The "human" occupation was depicted as a Western/"white" enterprise. But importantly, Mr. Cameron also chose to depict some of the deep complexity of race: he made it clear that "white" enterprise will often employ agents who are themselves not categorized as "white". You may recall that after Quaritch gave his rousing speech to the troops, the camera focused on a Black marine who verbally expressed his approval of the colonel's speech.
So Mr. Cameron did indeed go out of his way to address the phenomenon of race in his film. And while his effort was refreshingly blunt relative to so many other films that allegedly address race, I think that perhaps the accusations of racism are largely founded on Mr. Cameron's failure to go far enough. If this is so, then I agree. So where did "Avatar" fail? Rape, slavery, the disconnection of a people from their history, and the "white" savior.
In "Avatar", there was no rape. Among humans in the real world, one cannot separate rape from the historical and present-day issue of race. Additionally, among real-world "people", rape allows slavemasters and invaders to force their bloodline into that of the enslaved. The social and psychological price of such acts of evil are to this day immeasurable. But rape assumes a shared reproductive physiognomy. The issue of procreation and the physical means therefore among the Na'vi was never explicitly addressed. If we assume (as the film leads us to) that the Na'vi procreate as humans do (there were no comments from Jake or the scientists to the contrary), well, then can a puny human male rape a Na'vi female without feeling, shall we say, inadequate? Maybe by imagining the Na'vi to be so tall, Mr. Cameron collected the unexpected benefit of avoiding dealing with the issue of rape. Yet even if forced intercourse were not possible, the phenomenon of sexual mutilations, or even the degenerate innuendo with respect to sex across racial lines, could still have been addressed.
There was no depiction of slavery or any attempt at enslavement. In the real world, "white" people wasted no time when they arrived in the Americas: Christopher Columbus and his crew enslaved the Native American people of what is now called the island of Hispaniola in order to mine gold to send back to Spain. Today in the Congo, Africans are enslaved by other Africans to mine the ironically named columbium-tantalum (aka "coltan"); the African slavemasters then sell the coltan to European, American, and Asian global computer manufacturers. (The involvement of coltan mining in one more recent of many African Holocausts – the deaths of over five million Africans in the Congo from 1998-2003 -- is too big to discuss here). But in "Avatar", the invaders already had technology that allowed them to not have to rely on local manual labor to obtain the prized "unobtainium". So they apparently did not need slave labor. Thus Mr. Cameron, while directly addressing the issue of the forced movement of peoples away from their homeland for the sake of exploitation of the land by invaders, sidestepped slavery.
There was no depiction of the disconnection of a people from their history. While it is not explicitly stated, I received the impression that the invaders had been on Pandora for less than a generation – and so the same generation of Na'vi that saw the invasion of the humans, also defeated the humans. Thus the generational curse of self-hatred and self-destruction inflicted on the enslaved and the conquered could not take root in the Na'vi (again, the real-world parallel of the issue is too big to discuss herein). But Mr. Cameron's depiction of a successful first-generation repulsion of an invasion obviated the examination of this issue.
A most important issue that I have read often raised by people is that of the character of Jake being just another "white savior". Well, I see two aspects to this: (1) a "white" person chooses against "whiteness", and (2) a "white" man leads the oppressed against his former kinsmen. So firstly: can a "white" person really choose against "whiteness"? Yes. It does not happen often, but I think that it does happen on occasion. Chancellor Williams, in his magnificent work "The Destruction of Black Civilization", recognized that historically, there have been a few "white" people who accepted and respected Black cultures, and who willingly chose to join Black Africans fleeing the millennia-long historical and present-day southward-creeping "white" expansionist front in Africa. Additionally, Howard Zinn, in his work "A People's History of the United States" reported of numerous historical incidents in which "white" people abducted by Native American tribes, when given the chance to return to "white" society, refused the opportunity. So while watching "Avatar", I accepted as theoretically possible that Jake could have chosen against the invading "humans". Did being a cripple alienate Jake enough from his fellow invading "humans" as to make his choice easier? It certainly could have, but, to his credit, Mr. Cameron addressed this possibility by giving Jake an out, and having Jake turn down the chance to get new legs from Col. Quaritch.
But, to address the second facet of this issue, did Jake, in joining the Na'vi, have to be depicted as a "chosen one"? And upon much reflection, my answer is no. This film would have propagated a far more realistic and righteous message if Jake had realized that the Na'vi must save the Na'vi. Jake is a man, and could certainly have fully expressed his individuality as a man, but he could have done so without taking the leadership role. Jake could simply have chosen to serve as a trusted advisor to Tsu'tey and Neytiri, because he did know the invader better than the Na'vi did. Furthermore, Mr. Cameron had Jake take it upon himself to "deputize" Dr. Max Patel, played by Dileep Rao (an American whose parents are from India; please be aware that racism among the many peoples of what we call India is also a huge discussion for another forum), citing the need for a trusted inside man. Thus it was OK to depict a brown-skinned man choosing to accept his designation as an advisor to a "white" leader but not OK to show a "white" man choosing to serve as an advisor to a Na'vi leader. Mr. Cameron did recognize and deal with this issue, but to an insufficient degree -- Jake clearly learned to respect the Na'vi enough to ask the permission of Tsu'tey to speak to the clan, in the same manner that any Na'vi might ask of their leader; Jake also made clear that after the battle, he would no longer play the leadership role. But this does not prevent Mr. Cameron from falling into the "Tarzan" trap: an outsider learned the language and ways of the people more quickly and to a better degree than any of the people themselves. There will always be gifted individuals due to variation in ability and acquired skills among large groups of different peoples, but this movie is not the product of random, statistically sound sampling, but of deliberate, non-statistical choices made by the writer/director, and we should interpret this film with this idea in mind. While Jake's decision to join the Na'vi was very moving and very positive, and certainly was the most that could be asked of the character, Mr. Cameron did not have to also depict Jake as a savior. Mr. Cameron might even have chosen to imagine Jake an African-American man.
So, yes, "Avatar" directly addressed the issue of race, and that is good. Should not more films that claim to do so actually do so? But Mr. Cameron failed to go far enough, and I think that that failure is the result of racism. Am I asking for too much? I do not think so – if you have not done so already, may I strongly suggest that you view "Strange Days", a (then) near-future science-fiction film set in Los Angeles, and released in 1995, which starred Angela Basset, Ralph Fiennes, and Juliette Lewis, and which was co-written by James Cameron, and directed by his then-wife Kathryn Bigelow. If you have not seen or heard of this movie, I am not surprised. Like "Avatar", "Strange Days" directly addressed race. Like "Titanic", "Strange Days" was a very powerful love story. Yet unlike "Avatar" and "Titanic", "Strange Days" addressed race in our world -- in the USA -- and was almost completely ignored by the media and the movie-going public. Why? Perhaps because, a mere three years after the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles forced the world to consciously think (at least briefly) about race and our ugly history, "Strange Days" depicted an on-screen revolt against "white" authority in Los Angeles, a revolt catalyzed by Angela Bassett's character (Lornette Mason) and initiated and led by Black people. Perhaps because the "white" protagonist, Lenny Nero (played by Ralph Fiennes), who, like Jake Sully, had also chosen to stand against his former brothers-in-arms (the Los Angeles Police Department), was not depicted as a savior, but just as a man. If I had to name the five best films of the 1990s, "Strange Days" would be on that list, and "Titanic" would not be. And because of this, I expected more from Mr. Cameron – I expected him to push past his already strong statement on race in "Strange Days".
Thus "Avatar" either defines the limit of Mr. Cameron's understanding of race and history, or the limit of his control over a film. I do not know, and probably never will. I can only speculate intelligently. I do not seek to apologize for Mr. Cameron, but while I would think that Mr. Cameron at this point in his career could certainly command enough control of a film to pretty much do as he pleased, perhaps the extraordinarily high production cost forced him to acquiesce to the fears of additional investors. A depiction of rape and slavery would have pushed this film's rating into the R category, which would have eliminated the chance for children to see this film in theaters, thereby greatly reducing the box-office gate and eliminating lucrative commercial connections aimed at children, such as the "Avatar Meal" at McDonald's. And perhaps financial backers, at the end of the day, could not stomach the notion of a "white" Jake Sully being in anything but a leadership position, let alone that of an African-American Jake Sully. Nonetheless, as it stands, I think that "Avatar", while very strongly positive in its treatment of race, propagates a dangerously mixed message: it was racist, not by virtue of when it got the statement right, but racist by virtue of when it got it wrong, and should not have.
no, I think thats a misreading of the movie totally. initially he was motivated somewhat by curiosity and having no other alternatives on earth. they offered him good money or something to go to pandora. then, the general offers him his legs back if he can provide useful intelligence. but he becomes sympathetic to the scientists who are trying to build a healthy diplomatic relationship with the natives. I dont think its so much a calculated/premeditated decision to want to be with the natives. he only does it in the end after again, having no good alternative as his base decides to go to war with the navi. he didnt intend to betray his base/race from the beginning, he only did so after they became increasingly warlike. also, to have legs in a weird/foreign aboriginal environment vs having no legs on earth.. huh?? he could have gone back to earth and possibly figured out a way to get legs back there. his psychology and motivations change tremendously during the movie. he undergoes a transformation, a transfiguration, a metamorphosis, a transmogrification. =)
false, there were scenes where the Navi rejected him as a traitor/outcast/shunned prior to his flying in on the mother-of-all-dragons despite his trying to work with them. he was forced into the Chosen One role if he wanted to help them save themselves from themselves. it wasnt his 1st choice. it was borne out of desperation.
I agree, rape of Africa, Haiti and the colonized is more than physical. As Steven Biko once remarked "The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. " To Biko's quote I'd also add making normal or putting on a pedestal folks like Rhodes (of Rhodesia perhaps before the Africans changed it to Zimbabwe, for which they've never been forgiven) is also a rape of the dominant societies unsuspecting peoples. Good observation Zyskandar Jaimot!
I do agree with some other postings here, though, that the "white man" was "born again" (as is an old old term) as a Na'vi, not parading as a white male savior. True, that was part of his journey and he was a first very reluctant about this, but his views truly did change, enough that he was willing/wanting to be born again as a Na'vi. Literally, in this movie. Same with Grace. It's something that can be done with fiction that can be profound if it is seen--if we can step out of our own worldview.
The biggest issue in our movies, I think, is sexism---it will win out ever time over racism. Although, the two are connected, when one looks closely it is typical for the male to be "above", woman (regardless of color) "below"---I understand there are hierarchies in this when one compares the way white women have stood over black women, but white women have also fought along with black women for rights. After many black men in this country had the right to vote long before any white woman did.
It was refreshing to see the divine as female in this movie which pointed to all that has been (not talking about New Age or Wiccan) but more ancient than any religions of today. The connectedness, sacrality of nature, animals as brothers and sisters---all that has been lost and in the face of dualistic thinking-- remains lost. Male/Spirit (God) split from Female/Nature (Chaos, Evil).
Still with the female prevalent in this movie (which I applaud) as the metaphor for the Divine. In our culture the female is inadequate metaphor for the divine. She has been obliterated and is handmaid to the the God (of whatever color)
What major characters die in this movie who are female? I am aware of the horror of the many indigenous people (young, old, male, female) who died, but of the "American Token Sky -people cast" who dies? Trudy (Michelle Rodriguez) who has had enough of the military industrial complex, who takes a stand (and as I recall, she was not white)--"I did not sign up for this." If it were not for Trudy, flying the helicopter (under fire and this is when---ah---Dr. Grace Augustine gets hit)---if that helicopter had not lifted off, and before that, if the heroine, Trudy, had not released Grace and Jake to begin with, then the story would have stopped there as far as the story we saw goes. There would be no Jake hero in any form. So why is the heroine, Trudy, not mentioned? She was as much a heroine as Jake--or more so. Dr. Grace Augustine (not many females get to that level in science with any compassion, yet she did) is hit and starts dying. We know how that goes and we know what happens to Trudy---blown up in her own aircraft. While the wisdom of the female divine is present and I was glad for that, the two women (one of color and one, white, but at a high rank for a woman, period) get killed. Yet no one comments on that. The sexism isn't seen. At all.
Also, in terms of the "privileged" white idea---Jake Sully was a poor Marine, uneducated, a Marine, paraplegic bound to a wheelchair unable to use his legs at all, disabled because of war, unable to afford new legs which, btw, were available but the Marines wouldn't pay for them ("in this economy" Jake said) and Jake couldn't come close to affording them. Jake was looking for a way to make a living and worked as a security contractor contractor---and all this after his twin brother is just murdered. Jake's social status, lack of education and his disability figures strongly in the theme and that seems to be overlooked because he is white.
In terms of religious elements, it is interesting to reflect on the fact (fact) that the "saviors" or "leaders" in all three Western religious traditions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all men who are not white. So when we talk about the savior or leader issue and tie it in with religion, we need to remember the saviors or leaders in those religions are men of color. They've been co-opted, sure, by many (long ago and now) for conquering others. The female divine (the first way of imagining the divine to begin with) was co-opted long ago---thousands of years ago. I was amazed to hear (in an American made movie) Jake say that where he comes from (Earth) is no longer green; the people have killed their Mother. Never have I heard that in an American movie and I thought it was both educational and well-done. There are other cultures that grow up knowing of the stories, the legends of the First Mother, but not in America, and this was a movie made in America.
Thank you for the comments. In my experience race trumps gender, mostly. For instance, Disney just did its first Black princess cartoon – The Princess and the Frog - and not only does the movie malign an African religion – Vodun – because it's Vodun's "black magic" that turns the prince into a frog. Also although ALL the white Disney princesses have had a white hero prince, this time the interracial relationship is used to hit the Black boy over the head because the Disney Black princess's prince is not a black male. I've got nothing against interracial relationships but Black boys need to be heroes also. These messages are important. And this is certainly notable in this first Disney movie with a Black princess, as is the demeaning of Vodun – an African religion. Thus, in this case race trumps gender, as well as the Black male takes a back seat, again, as in Avatar. The hierarchy, some say, goes from white male, white female, black male, black female. Some say it's reverse and the Black male is more oppressed than the Black female. I agree with that. Mostly.
Black males are, because of sexism seen as more competition for the white male, sometimes that allows for the Black female to be seen as more malleable. I know in Haiti, the US corporations would rather hire females in their sweatshops than Haitian men, and so also in Mexico at the Maquiladoras. This of course, further emasculated Black and Brown men who cannot take care of their families. But, Black is also a culture and a consciousness, Sarah C. Geiger, as well as a set of physical characteristics, so when that culture is demeaned, in any way, it affects both Black males and females, Black girls and boys. So, those are the instances where racism trumps sexism, mostly because it maligns a CULTURE, a shared history, a shared consciousness, a family of people. That is not to say Haitian or Black men are not, individually, in many ways, as misogynistic as other men in modern societies. Paradoxically, though, the more powerful spiritual leaders (manbo) in Vodun have been and are: Haitian WOMEN. Still, I didn't start to write to make that point...
I think that Disney distorts most stories and I would not compare Disney to Cameron (as least in Avatar.) Disney's movies (I'm thinking animated---the fairy tales especially) don't go near the more original versions, but stay close to the recent interpretations of fairy tales that I would never (nor did I) read my child. He didn't hear "Cinderella"; he heard Ashputtle---the girl who does the choosing, not the girl who is saved. But Ashputtle is really about sibling rivalry anyway and nothing about "true love" which Disney laps up in its Cinderella version. In fact, when my son did see Cinderella (in a play---typical Disneyesque model) he said, "the step-sisters aren't suppose to be ugly, but beautiful, and what happened to the tree that helps the girl, and what about the blood in the shoe of the stepsisters? ( the stepsisters who deform themselves--lop off parts of their own flesh to get the prince.) Yes, we later discussed the whole shoe fetish thing to begin with and why the blood in the shoe and all that. He got it. But I am getting off track.
I understand your points about Haiti and how you were taught about the First Mother; well, that doesn't happen in America. And we have God on our money, "God Bless America" when our military goes on any mission, and so on--- which goes against our supposed separation of church and state. We even have ministers that speak legally for the state in marriage ceremonies (this is not even allowed in Europe.)
It's important, I think, to remember that in Western religious traditions'-- the deity is male, too (think of people saying God is not male; He is Spirit. That tells the tale)---the deity written on our money is male and is suppose to bless America "herself." None of that do I agree with. In Western religions world (which originated in the Middle East) try speaking of "God" as She (God is a word that is associated with maleness) and if you speak of the deity as "She" as opposed to "He", suddenly we're into paganism. The female at least in America, overwhelmingly, is not considered adequate metaphor for the Divine at all.
Think though, please please of Will Smith, a black man, in roles where he has saves the entire planet (twice now) and the upcoming movie with Denzel Washington where he, too, a black man will save the planet. Those movies will have nothing about the female divine, will have little but destruction in them and shows only a heroic male that must "save" us---leaving out any heroines for the most part. Personally, I think no boys need to see that stuff. White, black, red, or brown.
I understand your point of view re: Haiti and the Vodun comment (in Avatar) and I agree that would make me angry if I were you and grown up in your culture. Note, though, that Grace reverses her Vodun comment as she is dying. Her biology isn't what she speaks of in her last breath. What she speaks of in a positive way is what she earlier had put down. She saw. She saw what the Vodun legends and stories speak of and she spoke of what she saw in her last words.
Thank you for your article, your blog, and for allowing and encouraging discussion and insight.
I was reading Gregory Maquire (author of Wicked--where the witch and her son are green.) But, this is from another book of his...
"Hobbling home under a mackerel sky, I came upon a group of children. They were tossing their toys in the air, by turns telling a story and acting it too. A play about a pretty girl who was scorned by her two stepsisters. In distress, the child disguised herself to go to a ball. There, the great turnabout: She met a prince who adored her and romanced her. her happiness eclipsed the plight of her stepsisters, whose ugliness was the cause of high merriment.
I listened without being observed, for the aged are often invisible to the young.
I thought: How like some ancient story this all sounds. Have these children overheard their grandparents revisiting some dusty gossip about me and my kin, and are the little ones turning it into a household tale of magic? Full of fanciful touches: glass slippers, a fairy godmother? Or are the children dressing themselves in some older gospel, which my family saga resembles only by accident?"
I was reading Gregory Maquire LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 (author of Wicked--where the witch and her son are green.) But, this is from another book of his...
The most heart wrenching moment for me was when the tree fell, I still feel sick if I think about it, it just symbolized too much of how we treat our world, and the tree was the most relate-able character in the movie for me.
The rest felt like someone's ego trip.


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boundary waters canoe area - Page 2
MPCA: Reduce Exposure if you Smell Smoke, See Haze
Boundary Waters Fire Hits 60,000 Acres
A forest fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area has more than tripled in size and is now burning more than 60,000 acres in northeastern Minnesota. Minnesota Interagency Fire Center spokeswoman Jean Bergerson says strong winds are expected to further spread the fire Tuesday and Wednesday.
Closures Ordered As BWCA Forest Fire Grows
A forest fire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area near Ely has grown to about 4,500 acres. Fire officials said Sunday that dry air and north winds pushed the Pagami Creek Fire father south Saturday, so authorities are moving campers out of the area from Lakes Two through Hudson and the Isabella River.

subset: commoncrawl


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Reebok settles with Nike over Tebow jerseys
If you haven't already gotten your contraband Tim Tebow New York Jets jersey, we're afraid you're out of luck.
Court rules Reebok must stop selling unauthorized Tim Tebow apparel
A little more than a week after Nike sued rival athletic wear maker Reebok over its sale of unauthorized apparel featuring National Football League quarterback Tim Tebow, it has prevailed.
Nike sues Reebok over Tim Tebow apparel
The magnetic pull of Tim Tebow was just too much for Reebok to resist.
Reebok must pay $25 million in false advertising settlement
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered sportswear company Reebok to pay $25 million for making false claims in advertisements for its EasyTone shoes. The FTC said Reebok's claims that a pair of its shoes helped tone and strengthen legs and buttocks was deceptive.


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Welcome to our Site This site was created to promote our quality bucking stock…for events, sale, lease, training, partnerships, and/or transportation of livestock. Our herd, although small, has exceptional, proven bloodlines. Bloodlines include: Gunslinger, Houdini, Mossyoak Mudslinger, Backlash, Brokeback V, Up in Smoke, Big Bucks, Real Deal, Mr. Juicy, Yellow Jacket, Little Yellow Jacket, Katie Did, B-12 Vitamin Pac, M-17, Night Life, Neon Nights, Copenhagen Lite, Spook, Western Hauler, Hobo, MSO, CP1 Kung Fu…plus more. Thank you for visiting our site; we hope you enjoy your visit. Please contact us with any questions or requests. Michael Mace and Patti Siebold 464 Perkins Road Mossyrock, WA 98564 Phone: 503-708-2588 Email: firstname.lastname@example.com Email: firstname.lastname@example.com |
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A new Tennessee law makes it legal to charge a woman with child abuse and assault if she takes illegal narcotic substances while pregnant. The first woman who was arrested under this new law was a 26-year old woman whose baby girl tested positive for methamphetamines after being born. The woman was reportedly arrested on her way out of the hospital. Although she was later directed to a rehab, this new law may set a terrifying precedent to all pregnant women.
Laws like this are disguised at protecting babies, but in fact just feed the prison pipeline and deter pregnant women from seeking healthcare. If we really want to uplift the status of women, then community resources and further education better serve this, rather than the cycle of incarceration for one nonviolent act after another. Keep reading »


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Having spent the better part of the last 10 years in Japan, I have not been all that familiar with Dave Ramsey. Sure, I've heard from time to time that there is a radio show financial guru who talks about 12% market returns and an 8% withdrawal rate in retirement, but that sounded so farfetched that I guess I thought it was an urban legend. Apparently, it is true.
Dave Ramsey got into a bit of a kerfuffle this past weekend on Twitter in his response to fiduciary planners about the nature of his investment advice. He was questioned about the prudence of suggesting 12% returns and recommending loaded mutual funds to his listeners. Because what he promotes is seemingly unjustifiable, he lashed out at these financial planners for challenging him, indicating that he can help more people in 10 minutes than they help in their entire lives, and that they are all snobs because they do not help regular people.
In March, I debunked the myth of the 8% return. Dave Ramsey takes that a step further by promoting 12% returns, but he is simply making all of the mistakes described in that post to an even larger degree.
There is a lot of distrust toward the financial services industry, and while much of it is justified, sometimes consumers should share a bit of responsibility. I could recently see how this plays out, and how honest financial planners can be pushed out of the business. As I'm not a financial planner myself, I don't have to worry about obtaining clients. I was recently talking to someone about getting started in investing, explaining the benefits of a low-cost index fund approach. The conversation was going fine, and then he asked me what return he should expect from such a portfolio. The question caught me off guard, because once you have a sound strategy you need to be ready to receive whatever the market provides, but then I started getting into some of the issues from the myth of 8% return column. If I had been a financial planner seeking clients, I can see that this is where I would've likely lost this lead. He could have then said, well thank you Mr. Pfau for your time, but I've been listening to Dave Ramsey and he knows how to pick mutual funds that offer a 12% return. I think I will take my business to one of his affiliated advisers so that I can get access to those high earning funds.
This is the fundamental trouble facing honest people trying to make a living in the financial services industry. There is always going to be someone willing to suggest that higher returns are possible. Consumers will naturally gravitate toward whoever is offering them the best story about how they can achieve riches. With his 12% returns, Dave Ramsey sits at the top of the financial services heap. And as his business model of using affiliated advisers who pay him a fee and sell you commissioned high-load mutual funds depends on maintaining the fiction of 12% returns, there is no way he can step down when challenged about this issue. So he sidesteps the issue and makes personal attacks instead.
When it comes to retirement, Dave Ramsey says you should be 100% stocks and that this will support an 8% inflation-adjusted withdrawal rate. It sounds wonderful. Certainly that allows for a lot more spending than what you would think possible if you're a regular reader of this blog. But this number comes from a completely ludicrous basis. He opened an Excel spreadsheet, assumed a fixed annual return of 12% [Bernie Madoff might even be jealous of that return sequence], and determined that 8% is a sustainable withdrawal rate with inflation of 4% and that wealth will never be depleted. The problem with this is so basic that it's hard to believe Dave Ramsey is ignorant about it. It's the sequence of returns risk. It's what William Bengen illustrated in the 1990s. The sustainable withdrawal rate can be less than the average portfolio return because people are taking income out of the portfolio, and when the market is down the funds they take out don't get the chance to rebound on the subsequent recovery.
Readers of this blog know that I am not a big fan of the Trinity study. But once in a while, the study can be dusted off and put to some use when helping to dispel some bizarre notions. The Trinity study simply tells us the percentage of historical periods in the US when a particular retirement income strategy would have worked. In the following table, what we want to focus on is the Dave Ramsey strategy of using an 8% withdrawal rate and a portfolio of 100% stocks. In 74% of the historical cases, this would've supported 15 years the spending (or in other words, in 26% of cases someone following Dave Ramsey's strategy would have ran out of wealth within 15 years). Over 25 years, someone has the coin flip to whether this strategy will work, as it has a 50% success rate. Over the more typical retirement planning horizon of 30 years, Dave Ramsey strategy would have worked in only 37% of the historical cases. As retirement lengthens the success rate continues to fall.
And these numbers are pre-fee. If you pay a 5.75% load at the beginning, your effective withdrawal rate would be pushed up to 8.5% for the purposes of this table. And this is still optimistic, because it assumes that the recommended mutual fund manager is able to outperform the market enough to cover the active management fees they charge, which is an exceedingly unlikely outcome over a long period of time.
Someone may still decide to use Dave Ramsey's strategy if they have low aversion to outliving their financial assets, but "regular people" must understand what they are potentially getting themselves into with that advice.
(Just a technical note: for longer time periods there are fewer historical simulations and so sometimes you see an increase in success rates because one of the failures gets cut off... That happens with the 35 years and 40 year retirement periods)


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Welcome to the WDW Radio Show - your Walt Disney World Information Station. Thank you for tuning in once again. I am Lou Mongello, coming to you this and every week bringing you the very best ways to enjoy and enhance your Walt Disney World vacation experience. This is show #68 for the week of May 25, 2008.
News from Walt Disney World includes some Prince Caspian sightings, a new restaurant opening at one of Disney's Resorts, as well as a welcome new addition to another restaurant, and changes coming to the Wide World of Sports.
In the Walt Disney World Rumor Mill, I'll have an update to the Space Mountain rumors, a sponsor that may be moving out, and no longer Living with the Land, and a few hints at some other new rumors as well.
With Star Wars Weekends rapidly approaching, and some rumors about this attraction resurfacing once again, there is no better time for Jeff and I to don our Jedi robes and do a DSI: Disney Scene Investigation of Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios. We'll explore the history of the attraction, the story behind it, a exceptionally geeky look at the queue, the shop and what the future may hold. You don't need to be a Star Wars fan to enjoy the attraction or this segment but it might just make them a little more fun.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet and chat with TC Newman, one of the two Walt Disney World Ambassadors about her role, what a day in her life is like, her duties and responsibilities, and so much more. Its a look into one of the most highly-coveted roles in the grand Walt Disney World cast.
I'll answer some more of your emails, play some voicemails, and tell you about some changes to the web site, as well as new free downloads you might enjoy. So sit back, relax and enjoy this week's episode of the WDW Radio Show.


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Spelling 4 features difficult spelling patterns such as the schwa sound. Word histories, Bible word studies, and more advanced dictionary skills are emphasized.
Miss Tara Liston teaches this course.
An abridged Teacher's Edition and its printable resources as well as applicable activity manual answer keys are included when you log in to bjupressonline.com. Grades 5-12 take tests and quizzes online.
Lesson Content: five 15-minute lessons a week; 181 lessons per year
>>Click the Resources tab to view technical requirements for Distance Learning Online and information about the course's instructor.
*Note: Windows Vista and Windows 7 users will need a minimum of 1 Gigabyte of RAM to run Windows Vista or Windows 7, but 2 Gigabytes is recommended for optimum efficiency.
FAQs about Distance Learning Online | Terms & Conditions for Distance Learning Online
Miss Liston has experience working with children from primary to high school. "Teaching is a joy. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to impact children's lives with the hope of encouraging a growing relationship with the Lord. I love teaching, and I hope my enthusiasm will give your child a love for learning."
Spelling 4 Online Only366518 |
Spelling 4 Online with Books365536 |


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One double Victorian bed; one twin sleigh bed; Victorian furnishings; cubby-corner closet; TV; air-conditioning; private bath w/ full tub and shower. Between Queen Victoria's accession to the British throne in 1837 and Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, British and American society saw a rise in the revival of craftsmanship in the production of such items as murals, wood-carvings, stained-glass windows, embroideries, metalwork and furniture under the direction of William Morris, founder of the Craft Movement of 1861. Morris sparked many artists to take craft seriously. Among these was Candace Wheeler, maven of OnteoraPark, and founder of the Society of Decorative Art, which supported excellence of design in American embroidery.
Sales Tax In addition to your room rates, 8.0% sales tax will be charged to your bill at check-out.
Cancellation In case of cancellation less than 72 hours prior to arrival or in case of no-show, one night-stay per room will be charged on your credit card.
Check-in Check-in time is 2 PM & check-out is 11 AM.
Children No charge for children under 5 years oldChildren Ages 6-12: $10 additional per child per night. Only well-behaved children, please.
Meals Breakfast is included in your room rates.
Back to Accomodations
Washington Irving Inn Video View the Video
Afternoon Tea Click here Directions: From NYC and Albany The Museum of Washington Irving Visit the Museum site.
Knickerbocker News Archive Click here
Antiques Click here
Hunter Area Links: Click here
Updated: 12/27/12


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It's about time here at TV Today that we started to give some kudos and nods to the unsung heroes of television, and I'm going to get the ball rolling with a request that we all put our hands together for Bernard Black, late of the much missed Black Books.
This week, as part of my quest to fill the grim hours of the summer TV schedules, I have watched all six episodes of the first series of Black Books. It remains as brilliant as ever. I love Fran (Tamsin Greig), I adore Manny Bianco (a sublime Bill Bailey), but both are put in the shade by Bernard, as played by the sitcom's creator Dylan Moran.
Bernard is vile. He's a rude, arrogant, elitist, filthy, chain smoking alcoholic. But, and this is the inspired brilliance of the character, he's no idiot, and Moran's cheeky, almost boyish charm renders him utterly likeable throughout all three seasons of the best sitcom of the last decade. And that's no mean feat, as any students of quality comedy will know.
But why is he so likeable? I think it comes down to Bernard being closer to us than we'd care to admit, a manifestation of our darker impulses. There's a side to us all that wants to say the horrible things to the people around us - and get away with it. Witness in the first episode as Bernard gets up from his desk in the bookshop he runs and hollers through a loudspeaker for everybody to get out. When challenged, he quite justifiably says: "it's my shop." It's difficult to argue with such brazen logic.
He is utterly cruel to Manny, his hapless assistant in the shop. On discovering that Manny has a painful reaction every time his mobile rings, he gleefully rings said phone repeatedly, delighting in watching Manny suffer. But that's a classic sitcom relationship - Manny is meant to be the butt of Bernard's more sadistic side, and it doesn't feel wrong. Well, not to me anyway - perhaps I should be worried.
He is flagrantly disgusting - Manny disgustedly refers to him as a:
"filth wizard, friend only to the pig and the rat."
and it seems to sit well with him. And still, despite being a filthy, cruel and debauched example of humanity, you end up just wanting to ruffle his hair and buy him chips.
There's something irresistible about that wide eyed innocence. Bernard doesn't know whether to shout at the world or laugh at it, so he does both before heading down the pub to smoke 60 fags and swill a bucket of wine down his neck. And sometimes, don't we all just want to do that?
He has a playful side - his favourite party piece is an anatomical wonder called Belly Savalas that requires the use of his belly button and a lollypop - but just be hopeful that if he wants to do Cubumbo that he's left the cigars at home. If you snub him, he'll get mortally offended, but if you turn up at the shop with a bottle of wine he'll welcome you with open arms - until it's empty and then he'll chuck you out.
Across all three series, Bernard has many, many fine moments, almost too many to choose from, but I humbly put forward episode three of series one: The Grapes of Wrath…
Forced out of the shop while it is being cleaned, Bernard and Manny housesit for a friend, where they inadvertently drink a £7000 bottle of wine that's due to be presented to the Pope. It's an audacious piece of sitcom writing that riffs on Frankenstein and Hammer Horror to supreme effect as Bernard attempts to recreate a strain of super wine with a bottle of cheap plonk, a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a twig from an oak tree.
Friends of TV Today, I give you Mr Bernard Black, our first Unsung Hero of Television.


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Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals Announces Filing of Biologics License Application (BLA) for IB1001, a Recombinant Factor IX Product for People with Hemophilia B
Approval of IB1001 would offer people with hemophilia B a choice of recombinant therapies
Cambridge, Mass., April 17, 2012 – Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that it has submitted a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of IB1001, an intravenous recombinant factor IX (rFIX) protein for the treatment and prevention of bleeding in individuals with hemophilia B.
Based on the terms of its agreement with Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), Inspiration will receive a $35 million milestone payment associated with its filing of the BLA. In return, Inspiration will issue a convertible note to Ipsen, bringing Ipsen's fully diluted equity ownership position in Inspiration to approximately 43.5%.
Approval of IB1001 would represent a significant advance for the hemophilia community, including the estimated 75% of people living with hemophilia worldwide who do not have adequate access to currently available treatments. IB1001 would be the first recombinant therapy for people with hemophilia B introduced in more than 15 years.
Regulatory review is now pending in both the U.S. and Europe. Inspiration's Marketing Authorization Application for IB1001 was accepted by the European Medicines Agency in September 2011. The company is currently finalizing plans for additional regulatory filings and preparing for the commercial launch of IB1001.
"The introduction of recombinant factor IX was an important step forward in the treatment of hemophilia B, but a single product is not sufficient to meet the needs of all people affected by this disease," said John P. Butler, Inspiration's Chief Executive Officer. "At Inspiration, we are solely focused on the needs of people with hemophilia, and we are proud of the progress we have made towards bringing forward a new choice of treatment for patients. We plan to work closely with regulatory authorities both here in the U.S. and around the world to make IB1001 available as broadly and rapidly as possible."
The IB1001 BLA filing includes a comprehensive set of pharmacokinetics safety, and efficacy data from a Phase 3 clinical trial in people affected by hemophilia B. A surgery substudy was also included.
John Taylor, Co-Founder and Chairman of Inspiration, stated, "With sons affected by hemophilia B, Inspiration co-founder Scott Martin and I are acutely aware of the impact of limited treatment options on families. We believe more choice can help us achieve our mission to broaden access to care—increasing the supply of products, driving healthy competition, and supporting prophylaxis, which is rapidly becoming the standard of care in hemophilia. We believe that the approval of IB1001 will be the first step in our journey to make broader access to care a reality for thousands of individuals with hemophilia."
About IB1001
IB1001 is an intravenous rFIX product being developed for the treatment and prevention of bleeding in individuals with hemophilia B. IB1001 has completed pivotal Phase 3 clinical studies that support the filling of the BLA, conducted at study sites in the U.S., Europe and India.
To date, IB1001 has been well tolerated by patients and pharmacokinetic (PK) analyses have demonstrated non-inferiority to the one approved rFIX product currently marketed for the treatment of hemophilia B. Confirmatory PK studies reported at the 53rd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology showed no evidence of development of inhibitors during treatment periods ranging from 4 to 18 months.
Results recently presented at the 5th Annual Congress of the European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders demonstrated that IB1001 provided effective surgical hemostasis in study participants with hemophilia B undergoing major surgical procedures.
About Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals
Inspiration Biopharmaceuticals is exclusively dedicated to developing treatments for hemophilia, with a primary mission to broaden access to care by providing safe and effective recombinant therapies and advancing innovation for people living with hemophilia. Inspiration has a broad portfolio of recombinant hemophilia product candidates, which includes one under review by the FDA and EMA for marketing approval in the U.S. and Europe, one in late-stage clinical development, and two preclinical programs.
Inspiration's lead product candidates are IB1001 and OBI-1, an intravenous recombinant porcine factor VIII (FVIII) product being developed for the treatment of individuals with congenital hemophilia A who have developed inhibitors against human FVIII, and for individuals with acquired hemophilia. Inspiration has earlier-stage development programs focused on human recombinant factor VIIa (rFVIIa) for individuals with either hemophilia A or hemophilia B who have developed inhibitors or those with factor VII deficiency, and human recombinant FVIII for individuals with hemophilia A.
Inspiration's senior management team has broad experience and expertise in hemophilia product development, biologics manufacturing and the successful commercialization of products to treat hemophilia and other rare diseases.
In January 2010, Inspiration entered into a strategic agreement with Ipsen (EURONEXT: IPN; ADR: IPSEY), leveraging the combined expertise and resources of the two companies, to develop a broad portfolio of hemophilia products. As announced in late August 2011, Ipsen and Inspiration extended their agreement to create a hemophilia business unit structure that will act as the exclusive sales organization for all hemophilia products commercialized under the Inspiration brand in Europe. For further information on Inspiration, please visit http://www.inspirationbio.com.
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