Avatar

The one with the blue people, not The Last Airbender. 

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The SWAMP (00:00.206)
Hello, very nice to meet you. I like to know about sex change operation. Except it's not a sex change. It's to become big and blue. No more penis. I want... Actually, I can't start off the podcast with that. Well, is not everywhere in November. And you're listening to The Swamp, which is our podcast. And it's an acronym. Stands for some whack ass movie podcasting.

say yes this week pretty wack. Yeah you're really stretching the bounds of not everywhere in November. So yeah the theme of this month we wanted to cover all movies that are like sexy erotic sort of that is the vibe but I really needed you to watch the movie Avatar because... This will make sense to you next month. Yeah next month spoiler I'm gonna make Emily watch all James Cameron sequels.

because I get to choose and so I'm punishing everyone. But it's not a punishment. It's gonna be a gift. But I also had this like Avatar journey for you because the third one is coming out. And you haven't seen or you had seen this first one, your recollection was I was nine. Yeah. So this movie came out in 2009 and we were born in 98 and 99 respectively. So we were about in like fourth grade when this came out, if I recall. Which is so crazy because I feel like I have like this feels like around the time where I became very confident

and I remember this movie for sure. And I remember the buzz and all hype and everything like that. And I remember seeing it. scantily remembered the plot. Yeah, you were like, hey, so Bernie Weaver is gonna get shot, right? Yeah, I was like kind of like calling it as it happened. was, yeah, I was like, is it. yeah, exactly. And I certainly remember the ponytail sex. Which is why it's related to nutting everywhere because...

Not only does this movie feature alien ponytail sex, but this is a case of censorship. The mouse has castrated. It's crazy. Cameron. James Cameron's Avatar is a 20th Century Fox production, and 20th Century Fox is now owned by Disney.

The SWAMP (02:10.082)
So Disney now owns like proprietary Avatar. Well, everything. They opened Pandora, the floating islands. yes. It's one of their, they have like one of the most expensive animatronics like on the globe in there or something like that. Animal Kingdom in Disney, the theme park. It's like all, which I'm like, have you watched the movie? That's like the opposite of what-

is the point of the movie, but obviously, obviously it's like they sent the tourist aliens home. Well, okay. So the censorship though, so culturally when this came out, it was insanely expensive and everyone knew that the graphics were going to be awesome. Yeah, that was the thing. James Cameron like invented several new cameras.

for capturing 3D and doing all the mocap and they pretty much, yeah, like invented a new style of filmmaking for this movie pretty much. But then it came out and everyone saw it. Like statistically, everyone saw it. It became the highest grossing movie. I think it's still the highest grossing movie of all time. If you count like all sales, including like rental, home video, everything. Avatar. Not like box office though, I think anymore has probably been crushed by like Marvel. Avatar 1.

is spot number one and it $2.9 billion. Avengers Endgame is spot number two. But then spot number three, Avatar Way of Water, spot number four, Titanic. So James Damn, it dominates. James Cameron holds three of the top four highest grossing movies ever. Which is like, he knows. He knows how to get it done. Which is interesting because you and I were sort of talking about this beforehand and you were asking me which James Cameron movies I had seen.

Not a hell of a lot. I honestly got to give it to Ridley Scott in that regard. I feel like they sort of sit in the same space in my brain. For sure. A little bit just because they are those big blockbuster guys. alien aliens. Yes, that as well. But I'm not as familiar with James Cameron's game. getting reacquainted with it, I do have to admit even on my teeny tiny little TV.

The SWAMP (04:23.982)
which was never ideal for any sort of viewing experience. This movie was gassed. Yeah, it should be illegal to watch this movie anywhere except an IMAX theater. Yeah, absolutely. You've got like a 72 inch TV at your house, which does... It scratches an itch for sure, but it's not quite the cinema. No, no, no. What had happened though is this movie, it made the most money ever. Everyone saw it, but then everyone like...

collectively kind of like forgot the plot and only remembered about the ponytail sex. Everyone was like, ah, the blue people, right? Avatar blue people. Okay, so there was kind of, okay, was the conversation really about the ponytail sex? Because I think I was too young to catch on to that if there was the conversation. No, I think- I just, I think I-

remember it being like very like SNL skit like Ryan gosselin' papyrus jokes. Right, right. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think there was a lot of topical cultural humor about the ponytail sex. And then the film just kind of like culturally goes dormant and no one thinks about Avatar until 2022 rolls around and they're like, there's a second one. And it's like, huh?

Which is why I still haven't seen it. And so what had happened to me and a lot of other people, think, is that they re-released the first Avatar in IMAX for a pretty normal theatrical run. Like was in theaters for quite a while. A month or so. Before the second one, leading up to the second one. And at that time in the press and talking about the second one, it became apparent sort of to everyone that they filmed like all of them. They took the success of the first movie.

And then between the years 2017 and 2020, they filmed movies two, three, and parts of four. There's a plan for it to go through movie five, but I think it's somewhat contingent on the success of three and how much time. James Cameron's 71, I think. So we've got time. You said he's talking like he's dying though. Like he's going to George RR Martin kind of thing. mean, it's hard to say because when asked about it, he's like, obviously I want to direct.

The SWAMP (06:33.294)
all five. Sure. This has been his passion project since what 1980 or something? Like his whole life pretty much. It's like his magnum opus. Yeah, these blue, these little blue guys. Like I think it's his mom actually, who's the one who came up with the blue people. She like saw in a dream a 12 foot tall blue person. And like from then in his childhood, James Cameron's like, those are the Navi. But yeah, so it's like his whole life he's been thinking about this and world building and working on it pretty much.

How old do you think he was when he decided on the... ponytail sex? No, no, no, the unobtanium. So I was looking, so it turns out unobtanium is actually... Yeah, fight for your man. It's like a reference. So the writing in this movie is bad. And that's what I'm going to try to encourage you to hold your reservations. Push on. When we started this movie, I'm like, it's just really important that you...

constantly remind yourself that the second movie is twice as good as this. And that this came out in 2009. Like I want there to be a flashing thing in the bottom of the screen to be like, reminder, reminder, this came out in 2009 because it looks amazing. It was really good to have you here for that reason. Because to me, I mean, it looks better than any Marvel movie I've ever seen. It looks better than 90 % of the movies that come out that are heavily CGI'd these days because

Obviously he created it, so he perfected it, so it took him, you know, 10 years or so to like actually get this technology looking perfect. But at the same time, like I do think there is this perfect window in the early 2000s of when CGI just looked so fucking mint because everyone gave a shit. Like this, I categorize in the same category as like any of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Yep, yep. Gas.

phenomenal. Yeah. And this was right at the time where 3D movies were just starting to look good. And yeah, yeah. And I think this was the 3D movie that transitioned to those hard black glasses. So like not the red and blue. looks actually normal. Like you think, but they were like plastic, you know, what you would get now at the theater for a 3D movie. I think this is like, what's the catalyst for that? Because pretty much everyone saw this in 3D to the point where

The SWAMP (08:50.142)
This the success of this movie made them start trying to sell at home 3D TVs. Do you remember this? don't. In like the 2010s, early 2010s, they were like, y'all loved Avatar. Don't you want that at home? And everyone's like, no. No, what I always wanted at home was we had I think it was the Shrek. I don't know if it was the Shrek tape or the Shrek 2 tape.

but it basically came with the home version of that ride that they have in Universal, that Shrek 3D ride. Wait, that's so fun. my God, it was fantastic. But they came with the glasses and everything like that and it kind of worked on like a shitty old TV. Yeah, yeah. So that's all I needed. I do not remember them trying to actually sell a full 3D TV. They were, yeah, they were. It didn't work out. Of course. Yeah, clearly. Yeah, nobody bought them because after Avatar,

Culturally everyone forgot about Avatar. Uh-huh. stuck. Everyone was not like, I watch Avatar every night on my 3D TV. I mean, maybe some guy does. I mean, not anymore since they cut out the ponytail sex. Yes, okay. And so getting back to censorship, so then they re-released this movie in IMAX and I go to see it again because it's like the second one, you gotta get the hype. And I was also like, I was 10.

Yeah, I need the refresher. I need the refresher. And then I remember being like, oh, I get it now. Like, I... This is gas. Yeah, I fully get it. I'm bought in. then especially after having seen the second one, I am like, I'm fully on board about Avatar. I will say, like, I have some reservations, obviously. This is a story told by a white man, a white director, a white writer, and it's about an indigenous group of people. So it's like automatically we have to look at that.

and take that at face value. But then from there, all these conversations about this being like a white savior movie, or it's just dances with wolves in space, it's just Pocahontas in space, it's just Ferngully in space. It's like, think that that is a very surface level reading of the movie. And also it's like, it's being so blatantly obvious that this is movie is starting.

The SWAMP (11:10.562)
from the perspective of the colonizer. He starts as a colonizer and he ends as a Navi. So it's like, yeah, of course it's a white savior movie. Cause here's the thing, it has to start somewhere and not that I've seen the second movie, but I have to assume that that's where it sort of goes as you get more of the native perspective as it goes. Yes. Correct? Yes. Also continues in a slightly problematic space of like white actors.

playing these roles. yes, you told me something about a lot of the kids were white actors. Not a lot of them, but not none of them, know. It's, it's, yeah, white, white actors playing these supposed, you know, quote unquote mixed race, Navi children, but even like Zoe Saldana is not an indigenous. If you're

specifically trying to cast indigenous actors. There's only one in this movie, he the father. Oh yes, yes, yes. But otherwise- At the same time, it is blue aliens in space. Right, right, right. So it's like, what is the responsibility there, necessarily? I would almost rather know that there was real consultation behind the scenes going on. If white Australian actor Sam Worthington's-

Navi Avatar has dreads. Is that a white guy with dreads? That is the question. That's the real question. And I'm going to say like a 75 percent yes. He's still a white guy with dreads. yes. And unfortunately, the number of white people with dreads only increases. He did have his bot Mitzvah though. is it? And he ends the movie fully like sort of a ship of theses situation. Like, is he a white man?

anymore? No. He is a blue alien. He let he let the tree absorb his white man body and he's now in the avatar body. Is Jake still a white man still spiritually? But he's working on it. that's yeah, guess James Cameron is just working on it too. a white guy trying his best.

The SWAMP (13:23.938)
And that's all this movie is. my God, no, I'll tell you what, James Cameron might not have nailed that sort of realm of things. I'll tell you what, he brought that oceanography special interest into the fold and did fantastic things. cannot wait to watch the next one because just watching this movie, don't even, I'm no oceanographer or anything like that, but you my family scuba dives and big ocean people.

watching this movie, the entire thing is just like, so you you plucked all of this from the reefs and from the depths of the ocean and put it on Pandora and it's stunning what he's done. Yeah, and that's just the forest. Exactly. is still very ocean-coded. I can't wait. Yeah, it's amazing. The second movie is so beautiful.

I can't wait to get more creatures, especially. like that, you know, there's a lot that you see from the ocean, but at the same time, it really folds in, you know, like a dinosaur sort of situation. Yes, there's actually a lot of cut scenes. So to get back on track about the censorship. So the censorship, they show a lot. We keep edging everyone about the ponytail size.

But basically what had happened is that the movie Avatar is about a white man named Jake Sully who plays a twin of himself. Sam Worthington plays his twin. The twin died but was training to be in this Avatar program. And they're like, the body was so expensive. We need to utilize this. So Sam Worthington, even though you're nobody, you can come participate in this project. his backstory is that he is a paraplegic Marine, former Marine, and that there's

All of this footage got cut when they re-released it for theaters, I think. And now it's streaming. Well, we saw a little bit of it, because, Derek, you brought over the DVD. Yeah, so I bought a DVD because I was curious to see if I purchased a DVD if it would be... The James Cameron cut or the Disney If it would have the ponytail sex. And we didn't get to watch it because your DVD player wasn't producing sound. So we ended up watching the censored version.

The SWAMP (15:37.504)
in the mute first couple minutes we watched, it was even different. yeah, absolutely. It's sort of like him in a dingy sort of city space, like drinking and obviously not in a good space with himself, you know? shaggy hair, but pretty much from what I've gathered, the most essential things that they cut, starting with is this like four to five minutes of exposition at the beginning of the movie that show Earth.

that show just solely on Earth and how we're at the year is 2154 or something like feel like I didn't even get the year on this. Yeah, 2154, I they start out saying. And basically humans have raped and pillaged the Earth, stripped mind everything, there's no more resources. So we've gone up to space and we found a new planet to try to rape and pillage basically. And so they found Pandora and they're like trying to colonize Pandora.

And Jake Sully is just a guy, but his twin dies, so he's gonna go be an Avatar, right? But in the beginning, yeah, we get all this exposition that shows how people are living in shipping containers and there's no resources. And I think that is a pretty key part to understanding then the awe and majesty of this untouched planet. But so I feel like that was kind of like five extra minutes, really? They really thought that was...

Or was it giving too much like, oh, this is going to be a critique on capitalism. Let's try to cut that. I have to assume it's that because I don't think they're worried about time. It was still a two hour and 40 minute movie while we were watching it. Right. But so then obviously they do cut the ponytail sex. So Jigsley is with the military. Basically this it's called like the re resourcing. What is it? The RDA Resource Development Administration. Sure. think that's what it's called. It's basically the.

government. It's basically the government and the military, and the military is taking over this planet and mining it and stuff. But there's this side project run by Soborny Weaver, and they clone the bodies of the people who live on Pandora, the Na'vi, and they've cloned them and they're able to upload the human consciousness with a neural link.

The SWAMP (17:48.352)
kind of situation and they can go into the Avatar bodies because regular humans can't breathe the air on Pandora. Humans need to have these like respirators and the Navi are also very big. Yeah, they're like 12 feet tall. So in order to sort of integrate themselves into the culture, but also try to like barter some sort of like understanding or peace or whatever, Dr. Augustine Sigourney Weaver with her CGI cigarette inside in the lab contaminating

Everything in the lab with her fucking cigarette. it's just brilliant. But she starts this program where they're going to go in pretty much. A huge part that gets cut of the movie is they vaguely reference a school and they're like, she has school. That's why some of the Navi. to save your school. They're like, oh, a charter school. Yeah, they can go into the charter school, which is like, But it's like, that's why some of the Navi can speak English and that's why they kind of have a relationship with her. Yeah.

Someone about understanding. huge, huge scene that got cut out of the movie and a whole storyline that got cut out of the movie is that she ran that school for 10 years. Holy shit. We get no context of this. So is this it just for the in the Disney cut or in the James Cameron cut? got cut as well. This no, it's in the James Cameron cut. wow. It's not in the Disney cut. What the fuck? Well, actually, I can't speak on that. Maybe it did get maybe it's like a director's cut situation or something, but.

But basically the school was running for 10 years. then some of the students at the school were part of a rebellion that went after one of the construction machines. And so then they came into the school and there was a assassination of Navi children pretty much to make a point and then they had to the school down. A really important thing that got cut entirely from the story is that

Nate Terry had an older sister who died in that incident. Holy shit. And she was supposed to be the spiritual leader and Nate Terry was just the younger sister. her sister died in the accident at the school. insane to cut in any sense. If it's a director's cut or if it's the Disney cut. Especially because if Nate Terry has a dead older sister, Jake...

The SWAMP (20:11.436)
has a dead sibling and like the two of them fulfilling the role that their dead sibling was supposed to have. Like that is such more of a foundation for a bond and a relationship than what they have. Yeah, exactly. Which is kind of very much like just like, well, you're in charge of him and teaching him the Avatar ways. And then they just happen to fall in love kind of thing. there's no, you know, and you get to see all of his sort of training and his integration into their culture.

but you don't get to see like a whole lot of them bonding on an emotional level. You see them spending a lot of time with each other, but you don't see like an actual like romantic connection until sort of- it's time. Until it's time for the ponytail sex. And he has his bat mitzvah and they say, you're a man now. And they say, you can connect to the tree of souls. You're the ancestors. You are Umatakaya now, like officially blue person certified.

And then they, Terry's like, and you can pick a wife and he's like, I already have. you know, then they sort of get to business and they connect their ponytails, but no. Not in the Disney cut. Not in the version we watched. They just sort of like dry hump. which, cause it also begs the question of if the, if the sex, if the sexual encounter is through these tendrils in their ponytails, what's under their loincloths even? Why a loincloth? If no dick?

then why loincloth? Which also, like, I don't know if in the second movie or third movie we get any more understanding of their anatomy, if there's any birds or how they're the... Yeah, they'd have to have like a cloaca at least for like waste. Yeah. It can't be smooth down there. Listen, man, I don't know, but they start dry humping, which it does get... Steamy, sort of. Well, it's just, again...

just a gray area, because what are we working with? Real, well, because they cut out the ponytail part. And the ponytails are important because that's how they connect to nature, Awa, and they have their bones with their animals, with their horses, and we see the ponytail being used multipurposefully. Sometimes even violently. I did not like how James Cameron had them mounting their bird horses or whatever. The Il-Kung.

The SWAMP (22:30.606)
Yeah. The dragons. We can't just them dragons. Yes, they're dragons. They said, well, I can understand by that logic as to like, if they're having the ponytail sex with each other, then they're also doing the dominating of this dragon and attaching their ponytails together. Yeah. It is rather violent in that, well, know, once you see it. Yeah.

put into that context, I suppose. Yeah, I guess. And I don't know if that's why people felt weird about it, but you and I, we located the ponytail scene so that we could fill ourselves in on what we were missing. We did watch, We did watch it. honestly... And there was still dry humping. I think the reason they cut the ponytail was not anyone's particular issue with the ponytail, but it's because they both kind of nut a little bit.

Like they can there's definitely a heavy. Yes. Yeah, there's some heavy heavy breath like they connect the ponytails and then there's like, you know a bit of a climax That Sam Worthington has and then it's like it also is like cuz it's like we're sharing And I almost was like if they had just toned down the like ooh this feels

say if it was more of like a wink than like a you know? I feel like... Yeah, he was a little He wasn't that subtle. But that's maybe just me being too nitpicky because probably just on the whole they were like, ugh, everyone just made fun of the ponytail sex. Let's just cut the ponytail sex part. They can still be made for life or whatever. Let's just get rid of that. But I'm like, it's losing.

a key thing for me. It honestly does because it is sort of, know, that's kind of a pervert. Yes. Well, it's also the thing of like, you know, with their dragons, it's like, well, you are connected for life. That's the whole thing is they can't have another. know, the way they talk about it as well, it's like, you can choose a wife. And it's sort of, you know, it does give me a sort of penguin vibes and you're made for life as well. That's the whole thing. Yeah. So without the ponytail, it is. Yeah.

The SWAMP (24:45.846)
You lose the ponytail scene, I'll give it to him. It was a little, it was erotic. Right. Yeah. Which I can understand where people get uncomfortable with that because it does sort of dip its toes into the realm of furries. Well, they are like cat people pretty much. They have very feline features. Yeah, yeah, yeah. would not be. that's maybe- I would not be shocked if we saw an Avatar Broadway show within the next 20 years. my God. I want to produce it. I mean, hey.

sounds amazing. Hey, now's huge set piece of Home Tree. Oh my god, gotta, who are we gonna get to write the music? You know in the way that like Meatloaf did the Spider-Man music? Who are we gonna get to do the music? Because we would have to reinvigorate the franchise. Yes. And I was talking to you about this a little bit, that like James Cameron is

doing interviews for this third movie and some people are projecting a sort of like finality to his tone, which I don't think he hasn't said. He said, obviously, I want to direct four and five. I want to make four and five. Like that, of course, is the goal. And they filmed some of it. You said they filmed like a lot of the children's scenes. They filmed everything with the kids because basically they like, can't. Yeah, we can't be filming this over a 15 year span when the kids are.

gonna be adults, yeah. If he does pass or like time passes and James Cameron isn't able to like finish, but Disney still like proprietary wants to continue with the billion dollar machine of Avatar. to me, there could be a more ethical re-invigoration of the franchise where we include more native creatives and more people of color and have it be less white narratives, right?

But like, is Disney gonna do that? Is anyone gonna do that with Avatar? Like, I don't know. Maybe we'll have to do it for the musical. We'll be woke. We as two white people are gonna be so woke and we're gonna take over the Avatar franchise. I just think would be... I would just think set design wise, yeah, a giant home tree would be pretty gassed, especially like...

The SWAMP (27:00.078)
I mean, just thinking what you can do, like rafters wise in that setting. That'd be pretty sick. Paddington animatronic? Oh my god, have I? Yes, of course. It's like a puppet slash animatronic. Yes. And it's got one person stunned by him. One person inside and then another person with a remote controlling. feel like could we get some like Navi animatronics? Probably.

or at least for some of the animals. Yeah. Well, it is the tough situation of you're going to have to be painted blue every single day. Right. For Broadway. That's a lot. Any alpha by actor can tell you probably. You have to be over 6'5 as well to be cast. Well, listen, we'll get some bitches on stilts. We'll go full Lion King mode on this.

Broadway does do some fantastic things. There were also, so there was other more dinosaur looking species on Pandora that got cut, that got left too. So it is supposed to be giving more prehistoric, you know, like there are Triceratops type things. We see the big rhinoceros sort of bug looking huge guy. Yeah, loved the panther. the wet looking kind of...

It's hard to describe because everything they're like rainforest creatures that are modeled after sea creatures that are being put through a fictional land. So it's all very, but it's beautiful. It's stunning to look at the monkeys and the bugs. Shout out to the Christmas tree worms that he threw right in the front. Like if anyone is really into the ocean, these are one of the most fun little.

sea worms that you could possibly have. Just go look it up. It's a great way to spend 20 minutes. I didn't know about this, but you were like, those plants are modeled after Christmas tree worms. And I got it. They like suck into the ground. It's quite... Yeah, yeah, yeah. They live on coral reefs. They're all beautiful, multicolored little guys. yeah, he, I mean, I do have to say this is probably one of the most impressive worlds to see Bill on a screen.

The SWAMP (29:13.006)
And obviously, it's 2025, there's so many different sci-fi films that exist out there. But he did really do something special with the way that, you know, it's so expansive. There's so many different creatures that he's put on here. I can't wait to get into the second one and just devour it. Yeah, you can tell it's something that he's thought about for his whole life. I couldn't imagine just the binders of work that he's...

There's a ton of books that I would be interested in checking out sometime about all the lore. And I know there's a comic series that kind of fills in some of the time in between the movies. And it sort of has franchised itself out. But it is very cool to think that this was an original concept thought of for film.

Yeah, like this isn't like Marvel or this isn't anything that you know has existed in its own sense before. Yeah. Yeah. Which is pretty cool to me. There's also a video game that I'm like, maybe I should check that out. That'd be pretty good. I think it's pretty crunchy, though. Yeah, I'm sure. But so Jake Sully, he gets into his avatar body. He goes to Bandora and then our antagonist of the film, the head of the military industrial complex destroying the planet.

Miles Corritch and he is like, hey, you're a Marine. I know what you're like. You're going to get me some intel. You're going to scope out the Navi, figure out what they, what their weaknesses are. And so we can exploit them pretty much. And then it's this whole dances with wolves situation where he then integrates himself into the native culture and falls in love with it and realizes their perspective on the world. And then it's sort of this ticking clock of they're like, we're going to bulldoze the home tree.

and you gotta tell everyone to get out. They're like, we're sending you in as a Navi so that they'll listen to you and be like, relocate, pretty much. he's like... puts this off until the very last second. He doesn't say He doesn't say anything until the bulldozers are there. Until his bat mitzvah. And he's like, now they'll trust me. And I'm like, maybe you should have been bringing this up at the start. much he betrays them in the sense that he...

The SWAMP (31:25.592)
doesn't bring it up, they do not have time to relocate, he doesn't barter this peace deal. Everyone calls it a white savior movie? Jake Sully doesn't save anyone! Thousands of Navi die. Crushed by Home Tree, it was crazy to watch. 9-11. Literally not truly 9-11. Pretty much they go in and they crush the Home Tree, is like genocide level of displacement and murder and just terrible.

They really don't hold back in the movie. Terry is like, hey, fuck you. Which, my God, I gotta say. Her dad dies? Dude, her dad died in the tree fire and she's gonna forgive Jake solely after Yeah, and he's coming up like, please, please, girl, fuck you. my God, I cannot believe that Zoe Saldana has that Oscar for Amelia Perez.

and not this performance because it's amazing. First of all, obviously what James Cameron has done with mocap to begin with, but the way that, you know, she can come through it so strongly and so beautifully and brilliantly. I understand, you know, it's more than just like the breaking down performances that get Oscars. But at the same time, I'm like, that bitch fucking, I could not imagine the work she put in.

And she, this is a project that's gonna be like, what, spending like 20 plus years for her or something like that. Insanity. Fuck Amelia Perez. No, I feel like in the same breath that people say Andy Serkis is like the father of Montana. yes, yes, yes. I feel like I would then, in that second breath, say Zoe Saldana, like revolutionized acting through the mouth Yes, yes. Absolutely, absolutely. Because I mean, she...

I don't feel very akin to our protagonist Jake or anything like that. He kind of is this empty vessel. He's kind of boring. Not even an anti-hero. She fucking kills this performance out of everyone in this entire movie. She is stunning. And that's why I feel like I do have to kind of hand it to James Cameron that I do think a lot of this was

The SWAMP (33:40.982)
very intentional and especially once you watch the second movie and stuff, a lot of the stuff that the first movie is like setting up makes a lot of sense, makes more sense. But I would say like Jake Sully being our protagonist and just being like this nothing dumb.

boring white guy. Like Sam Worthington is kind of a nobody. Like he's famous and he's in action movies but it's not like they weren't getting. No he wasn't a good enough actor honestly to be in this the way that his Australian accent kept slipping through. my god when he was. It was pretty brutal. He was anytime he was in his Navi body I'm like so you're you just are Australian now. We're just pretending. my god exactly I was like I hope this this got better for the second movie we'll see.

But I like how it's reinforced through a lot of really plain and kind of clunky and, you know, not very nuanced dialogue, but it really hammers the point home. Like, Awod chooses him and it's this like chosen white man thing. And it's like, he's the chosen one. He's going to save us. And it's like, I roll, okay, over it, whatever. But I like that the mom, the like spiritual leader of the clan, she's like, you are, if you're really an empty cup, like you say you are,

Help us. Maybe we can teach you. Other sky people, they can't learn, but maybe you can learn. And I feel like Jake Sully is someone who got chewed up and spit out by the world he came from. He's nothing but ready to embrace this life that he has. Well, Well, that's whole thing is it's kind of, know, James Cameron really hammers it home of like, what else does he have to live for?

considering that I will say this movie does not a great job of portraying disabled people. Yeah, yeah. Right up there with like the questionable, like culturally appropriative nature of this movie. Ableism is right up there with like the way that yeah, pretty much they're like because he's a disabled veteran, he has nothing to live for. And the only thing he's ever offered is to get his legs back.

The SWAMP (35:46.06)
And that's all he cares about. like, that's the one thing we can do for you is like, quote unquote, like cure you of this disability. And it's often brought up that the surgery to repair his spine exists. He just can't afford it. Yeah. Not on VA benefits. Well, and that's how they entice him to sort of get him to be their informant is he says, I'm going to get you new legs that work on earth.

And he brings it up again. He's like, we'll ship you out right now. You know, it's ready. It's a done deal. Ready to go. Which is just the scene of him finally going into his avatar body. And he's like, I can walk, I can run. And it's supposed to be like this huge catharsis, but it just comes off as so like pandering and tone deaf. And it's like, because that's all anyone disabled could ever hope for. Like they can't have fulfilling lives.

outside of, you know, reconciling with the one thing that's like, quote unquote, wrong with them. Yeah. Oh my God. Hated that. Because I'm like, why did he have to be disabled? It was a lot. Yeah, it was really a lot. It's like there could have been any other motivation, like a monetary thing that he has somewhat. debts. Yeah. Former criminal or something. Literally, they could have done anything else with his character to get him that motivation. rehabilitate him. You know what I mean? did not.

to be like a physical rehabilitation. No, yeah, I thought that that could have that could have been, you know, cut. And then it does seem to be this whole like needle drop or like, and look, and he's in a wheelchair. Bet you didn't expect that because we only showed you him from the shoulders up for the first 10 minutes. It's like, that felt dicky, too. I did not like that. Not a good way to start it, but obviously, you know.

I do think the good outweighs the bad in this movie. But then the other thing that gets cut, so basically then Jake goes back into his human form and is like, my God, you guys need to stop bulldozing Home Tree, stop it. And they're like, we're not going to stop. he's like, OK, so him and then he gets his team of like woke science bros. Sigourney Weaver. Sigourney Weaver. Norm Spellman, Dr. Norm Spellman, who is like, what is he ever up to? Who knows?

The SWAMP (37:57.582)
useless side quest to doing something. And then a girl boss fighter pilot, Michelle Rodriguez, she kind of joins their little ragtag group. And then there's also like another scientist guy who seems to be sort of helping them. they've got their like sort of internal group and they move the body switching devices to secret locations so that they can go into avatar mode. And then Jake is basically like, I need to gain back the trust of the Navi.

So he tames the biggest dragon in the sky and he becomes Toruk Makto and he is now basically like they have to listen to him because he's like a legendary dragon rider. Yeah, yeah. Pretty much. And that was a big hoss over there. And then he gets back and they're like, we're still pissed at you. And he's like, we got to fight back. And at this point, because Neytiri's father died, Sutei

gets to step up and Sutei was supposed to be Neytiri's, like they were sort of betrothed in a sense. And in their clan, they have two clan leaders and there's a man and then who's like the more of like the clan leader and then the woman who's more of like the spiritual leader, I guess. And it's sort of, know, those are Neytiri's parents. So she's like the princess in a way. And she is set to be...

the spiritual leader and Sutei is set to be like the clan leader. So they're like gonna be together. So then when they have their ponytail sex, Sutei immediately is like, you stink. I can smell it on you. You made it with my-

And Jake's like, sorry, sorry. I killed myself, brother. But then he comes back with Torak Muktu and he's like, you know, do I have permission to speak right now? We need to rally the troops pretty much. And he gets together all the different clans and you get to sort of see a bunch of different environments of Pandora and different communities of Na'vi living in different, you know, lifestyles and interacting with different animals. they're the horse rider wands and then they're the...

The SWAMP (40:05.326)
more sky people with the dragons. They basically get everyone together and they're like, need to clad back at these humans pretty much. Sute, as soon as he popped up on the screen, you were like, who is that? And I was like, I don't know. And then I went and I Googled and it turns out it's Laz Alonso who plays Mother's Milk in the TV show, Boys. literally every time Sute was on the screen, I was like, M.M. I'm like, wait, that's M.M. Unfortunately, unfortunately.

The reason I was asking was because that was the first time that someone popped up on that. Well, not the first time, guess. Because he's always on you hot. Hot. But yeah, yeah, yeah. He popped up and I said, you said, who is that? Wait a second. Wait one damn second. He looks good in his Navi form. I got to give it to him. But another cut scene that happens is in this huge epic final battle where they have the Navi like just tearing up helicopters and really fucking people up.

the humans are gonna drop a huge bomb on to the tree of souls and they're they're stopping it pretty much. And the action sequence of Sute jumping up onto like the helicopter pad. And just you finally get this like sense of scale between the humans and the Navi in hand to hand combat for the first time. And he's like picking up a guy and just swinging him around. like they're both.

And then you see the bow hit and it's like a pool stick sized in the bow, like in their chest. Crazy, but he gets shot and he falls to the ground and he dies. And that's the last we see of him. And there's this whole cut sequence of they find him on the ground and Jake kind of like puts him out of his misery at the end, you know? But they speak and he's like, I pass the leadership role on to you.

Like you're going to be the savior, right? Just like to have that final conversation. just so it doesn't Was this a Disney cut or was this a camera? I think it's in the DVD. I'll have to watch my DVD and I'll report back to you. these were all things that when I Googled... is so much. Yeah, when I YouTubeed cut avatar scenes, I was watching these to fill in some gaps for myself. And I was like, damn, I'll put the links in the description below too if anyone wants to fill themselves in on some cut avatar scenes if you're streaming.

The SWAMP (42:27.918)
We're also if one person either hasn't seen Avatar or hasn't watched it since it came out, revisits this because of this podcast, I will feel like I served a purpose in the world. Yeah, I think you're you are really her champion. I'm trying to trying to get people more interested in it because I'm hooked. think the optics of it being a little problematic, dissuade a lot of people and somewhat rightfully so. But I don't think any other like story that's about

colonialism and imperialism and environmentalism is being told on this scale at all. Oh, absolutely, absolutely. Yeah, there is definitely some gray area, but like I said, I think it really outweighs it. think that, and especially I'm interested to see what he does with the second one. I can't speak for it. You can obviously. Then the third one, know, that these ones have been made within the last 10 years.

I would like to think that he's gotten more people on board as they've made more movies and become more informed. And we'll see where the story goes. Should we talk about what big blue people we wanna fuck? Yeah, feel like, so I feel like fuck Marie Koe. You can do Avatar form, Jake Sully, Nate Tire, and then Soutay as like the three main.

I gotta kill Jake immediately. Yeah, of course. Every time Nate Teary is like giving him doe eyes, I'm like, do not trust that white man. Yeah. Get away from her. Yeah. get a job. Get away from her. Yeah, I'm gonna go for Zoe Saldana here, obviously. Don't get me wrong. To marry? Yeah, to marry, to marry. Soute is gorgeous. I don't want a man. Real? Yeah.

I'm I'm not trying to link ponytails with a man. I just want, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

The SWAMP (44:42.702)
And I feel like more the healing side versus the war side is more for me. Like I can get more down into like making the necklaces and Oh, they're Conti bras, dude. Oh my God. So I'll have to agree with you that I'm going to marry a nateria. I'll fuck Soute and killin' Jake Sully. Yeah, immediately, immediately. I don't even really have any special shout outs to any of the other ones. No, I mean, it is like

Did this movie make so much money because everyone's a furry and everyone's like into the cat people. Probably. And everyone's like joking like, oh yeah, Avatar with the blue people. But it's like, you were into it. It was a little hot. I can tell. It was a little hot. I'm not saying I'm a furry, but I'm not saying I wouldn't a Navi. Well, it's just the whole thing. It's also the whole thing of like, it's, it's the, think this all ties back to the discussion who you're, you're, uh,

sexual awakenings were as a child. It girl it's like Fox and the Hound or some shit. You know what I mean? It's gonna be it's gonna be Lady and the Tram. They're feeding they're feeding you anthropomorphized animals. You know, what do you think was gonna happen? Spirit the horse. Exactly. It's the whole thing of like young men had their sexual awakening to like mull the bunny.

not even like, I don't know, feel like Megan Fox in Transformers. something like that. And girls, yeah. And young girls. of Horrors. Because it's about the kind eyes, okay? It's nothing to do with her rack. It's about her kind eyes. my god. Well, at the same time, it's like, I think, I think of like, all the cartoons as a kid, like there weren't

you know, sexualized, Timmy Turner's dad wasn't sexualized. You remember that rack and that back and ass they put on his mom? Yeah, real, They sexualized all the women. What were us girls left with? Yeah, real. I had to think that the dog with an animal, with a human face was hot. You're like, by the way, not a furry. I'm just, for some reason. Hashtag not a furry. Clearing the air. Clearing the air is a fighting for ass.

The SWAMP (47:07.822)
Yeah, fighting for, I'm more of a scaly, I'd say. But do you see where I'm coming from? Yeah, absolutely. And then I feel like, if you're having your Avatar watch party, what are you going to serve and eat and drink? Me, I'm like, I'm so engrossed in the film and I need to be I was going to say, yeah, you had me on lock. I'm like, pay attention. Exactly. Right now! Like, you need to hear this line of dialogue, it's really key. Like, they're saying the theme of the movie.

Please. But I feel like, I'm like, have you ever been grocery shopping like somewhere like an Ocean State job lot or like somewhere that sells like also not groceries and they have like those military meals? yes, yes, yes, Yeah, throw some water on it and rehydrate it.

dehydrated military food. think if you could find that, that would be a really funny snack to have at your Avatar party. like that. Yeah, you, the first thing that came to my mind was sort of mushrooms. Because there's so many, I mean, there's this whole other theme in the movie where it's the, the, the home tree is connected to every single planet. Awa. To Awa, yes. So it's all interconnected. Of course, mushrooms are like,

the exact same way on planet Earth. Mycelial networks. Yes, well yes. But so I was thinking of mushrooms and you threw out enoki mushrooms and I've seen some great looking recipes for like tempura almost enoki mushrooms. And I was sitting there, was like, you know what? There's a big tempura batch that you and your girls can all crunch on through this movie. I think that sounds like a great idea.

like three different dipping sauces. You know, something like that. Wait, I feel like you put some blue food coloring in like ranch or like a spicy mayo or something. Cause I'm thinking, I'm like, I am the only one blue. I want some color. Blue food. you can get like the blue Sour Patch Kids. Make like some different blue candy. Hypnotic for your drink. Yup. What like blue Curacao.

The SWAMP (49:13.774)
Powery like what else is blue just a really blue forward. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Spread. think yeah. Yeah, I get some popsicles going. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah, I was thinking for a drink I found a recipe for a good yuzu What is it cucumber margarita? I thought that sounds delightful. cucumber margarita, but you need to make it blue. I could throw yeah. Yeah. I'll throw a little blue curacao in there instead of What's it called?

Triple sec? Yeah, exactly. Fine. Perfect. Yeah. Needs to be blue for Pandora. Yeah. And what I mean, I have to just follow it up with a second movie. I think that's my duty as someone who hasn't seen it. Yeah. I can't even recommend something else. I couldn't imagine putting something else on after that. But I also couldn't imagine watching the second one on this TV of yours because that would truly be a crime. Uh-huh. You because for how amazing the first one is, like imagine then

10 years of technological developments and catching up to like, you know, modern technology. And the second one came out in 2022. it's like the 2009 one looks better than movies do today. my God. It's gonna, it's gonna blow your mind. And I'm so excited for you to see the third one. Hopefully in my Mac when it comes out. As should everyone else get, get your tickets now. it if you can. cause I think it's like truly,

theater go where I go to the movies like probably every week. We have a movie podcast. Obviously, it's like that's I'm already bought in. I'm like, as a hobby, culturally, how do we revitalize the cinema? People don't really do that as much anymore. I feel like in this post COVID, like people want to leave the house or there's just like more of this desire. I don't know. And I feel like I saw a lot with sinners like and one battle after another, like seeing movies in a certain

projection, know, or on a certain screen or in a certain format as being this like thing to go for. I think that's really cool and exciting and I'm excited that more people are excited about being in the theater. Yeah, I'm glad that, you know, every now and then we get a good handful of movies that really plead the case for that. And I think Frankenstein and One Battle After Another lately have really...

The SWAMP (51:34.966)
Push that forward and I hope that this new avatar pushes that forward as well and everyone sort of buys back into it. I think it's a whole thing of like I think there's a generation of moviegoers that probably are missing it because they weren't here for the first one. And James Cameron recently in an interview was talking about specifically Netflix. If Netflix wants to buy Warner Brothers.

what that might do for Warner Brothers movies being in theaters, know, that sort of thing. And James Cameron had a comment, I don't have the quote on me or anything, but he said, you know, something along the lines of like taking movies out of theaters as a travesty. They need to be fully fulfilling standard theatrical runs. This Frankenstein, this two week thing, that's not cutting it. People are busy. You got to give people a six to 10 week window to see your movie. Not.

Not like what we're getting. It's just... On a scale of Avatar. Because I feel like I don't even want to rate this... I don't know. It feels like an 8 movie, but I almost want to give it a 7, because I know that I can only go up from here. Yeah. And I think there are a lot of valid criticisms against it. And the first one and its place in the cultural zeitgeist, like, you know... Is it not being remembered?

a true sign of its quality or was that just like where it landed? I don't know. Again, I was 10, so it's really tough for me to say. Yeah. Can we get some millennials in the chat, please? I need someone else's perspective from like a 15 year old. I did talk to my cousin Erin, who is a little bit older than us. And she said, I never saw it because it seems like Dances with Wolves in Space. I said, yeah. I was like, well, yeah.

That is correct. That is the movie. But even James Cameron will say he'll admit to that. It's not an incredibly original story. no. It's all about the setting. Yeah. And the marvel of cinema. Exactly. And then what? Yeah. Where would you rate this though? I'll give it, I'll give it a seven. I think I'll give it maybe an eight. Yeah, maybe an eight. Okay. Yeah.

The SWAMP (53:51.724)
I've found a lot of love for these movies in the past couple years, especially with the release of the second one, which I'm so excited to talk to you about. Thrilled. Coming up next month, June's Cameron Sequel Month, thank you everyone for listening. Let me know your thoughts about Avatar. Did you see it in 3D with your family? Did you forget about it? Did you take the glasses home and punch out the eye lenses and then paint them with nail polish and wear them to school? No? That was just me.

I would do, I have my 3D glasses and then I'd wear my survivor buff. So I had like, I had like a survivor buff and like fake glasses. I wish, I can't believe I missed this era. And like feather earrings, yeah. This is before the feathers in the hair. Yeah, yeah. Well the hair is under the buff, so it's covered. Oh my God. Well, I hope you all join us next month for more James Cameron. I'm gonna have to watch Terminator for the first time. Yup, yup, again, cause...

Me making you watch sequels is also inadvertently me making you watch double features. Yeah, all through. And that's a vibe. And then it's like Avatar and my eyes open and now I'm blue.