Different avatars

As the Academy counts down the last minutes to the Oscars,we may ponder the ideological battleground that a single film,touted as the harbinger of a new age in film technology and feared as another popcorn epic,has opened up since its release last December. James Cameron,certainly,had a definable thematic framework for Avatar,the making of which had been delayed by almost a decade since the technology wasnt here,and called it an environmental parable. But the progress of Avatar is a demonstration of reader response theory in operation. You give them an inch,they take a yard.

But the responses to this sci-fi about blue-skinned humanoid aliens defending their pristine,pantheistic life from colonising humans are a veritable Whos Who of interest groups,thought schools,thought polices,leaders,nations,races. Evo Morales in Bolivia celebrated Avatars attack on capitalism. Pacifists and leftists drank up its critique of imperialism and Americas wars. Environment activists read in it their new gospel. The Vatican criticised its nature-worship. American conservatives blasted its unpatriotic wish to see the defeat of US forces. China,fearing its subversive intent,thought of replacing its 2-D version in theatres with a biography of Confucius. The self-same Left came down heavily on its double racism of the white guilt complex.

A film with nine nominations,begat by giant predecessors,with ideas and inspiration from the museum of science fiction,environmentalism,hottest global causes,may dwarf,not just dominate,the Academy Awards itself. Whats more,it has robbed the biggest actors of sleep,who may feel redundant,much like the inverted message of the film that it is we who need our planet. The planet can jolly well do without us. If Avatar is spawning video games,its not merely for its form and making. This is vintage openendedness. Avatar,or what you will.