Avatar's Bigger Picture

I actually just walked in the door from seeing the incredible new movie Avatar. (The James Cameron film, not the whole "last airbender" thing). I won't deny that throughout the entire movie, I thought of maybe three or four blog posts I could write about it, one part (or one line, rather) really stuck out to me.

In a scene near the climactic battle sequence of the film, the primary antagonist, Chief of Security Colonel Miles Quaritch, outlines his battle strategy to his military followers; "Our only security lies in preventative attack," he says, "we will fight terror with terror."

Immediately after hearing this line in the film, I gained a new hatred for Colonel Quaritch (not that I didn't hate him enough before it...) Call me emotionally attached to this film, but the Na'vi race could under no circumstances be considered terrorists. Their home was being invaded, their innocent people killed and their resources exploited...wait, sound familiar?

Hearing the Na'vi people's displays of rebellion described as "terror" made me think of the broad connotation of the word "terror" in the current war we're fighting on it. If the innocent Na'vi could be considered terrorists, anyone dissenting against the government could. I know we've moved out of our Perilous Times unit, but I personally thought that this movie touched on a lot of the themes we covered in our War on Terror Presentation.

Gay Genocide?

Two years ago, I did a pretty huge project for world history about Ugandan genocide and child soldiers. I researched the conflicts, the victims, and the foundations working to stop it. The genocide taking over Uganda is a violent conflict between the Lords Resistance Army (LRA), a guerilla group spearheaded by a man named Joseph Kony, and the Ugandan government under President Yoweri Museveni. The LRA has been known for their inhumane warfare tactics, including the use of trained child soldiers.

It seems today, however, that there is a new kind of genocide arising in Uganda. Very recently, President Museveni has issued pending bills that actually criminalize being gay. Ugandan gays and lesbians accused of partaking in gay sex can be sentenced to such extremes as a life sentence or even the death penalty. Those who test positive for HIV can also be executed. As one Ugandan women named Elizabeth Mataka pointed out, "Who will go to HIV testing if he knows he will suffer the death sentence?" For the HIV positive, choices end only with death.

We think that California's Proposition 8 is so unjust, think about this. In a world that most of us like to deem progressive, how can civil rights be so greatly limited, especially in a nation in war against "inhumane" guerillas in the first place? Do the perilous times in this genocide-stricken country call for these drastic measures?

Join the Facebook Group: People Against the Pending Gay & Lesbian Genocide in Uganda

56%??

While browsing around CNN's website for a blog topic, I noticed a little poll in the bottom corner of the screen; "Do you believe global warming is a proven fact caused by man?" I quickly voted 'yes' and viewed the voting tally. I didn't expect it to be 100%, of course, but the results shocked me. Only 56% voted 'yes,' while the remaining 44% didn't believe that global warming exists. I don't mean to sound conceited because I don't know what these people's reasonings were behind voting the way they did, but it seems like a lot of people are pretty ignorant about the incredible issue of global warming.

Even after Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" shocked Americans three years ago, and the mass confusion and anger set in about the causes and effects of global warming, only 56% of our country believes it's even a manmade problem. It has been said that "global warming is no longer a political issue but rather, the biggest moral challenge facing our civilization today" (ClimateCrisis.net). Americans need to take notice of what's going on our planet, and try to mobilize to stop it.

One step that has been taken that I find really great is the Copenhagen Climate Conference, taking place right now in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Our own President Obama is scheduled to attend next week). However, just this week has America's Environmental Protection Agency formally released a statement declaring that greenhouse gases are harmful to human health. This has raised hopes nation-wide that President Obama will harness the ability he has to put laws in order to limit the amount of carbon emissions we put out. While many republicans and even some democrats believe that cutting out great quantities of carbon emissions will be very bad for the nation's industry, President Obama has thankfully placed it high on his list of priorities.

All of this seems to raise the question; what is more important in American right now- the economy, or the climate crisis? It seems to be a win-lose situation either way, but it's time for us to stop thinking selfishly and embrace our power as a world leader to help the world as a whole. Solving the climate crisis will not only help our nation prosper ultimately by allowing ourselves and our children to live on a safe planet, but we will also be helping nations worldwide.

This isn't only about us- I can't believe that in the most powerful nation in the world, we can't take enough initiative to help the planet we lead. When only 56% of the nation is willing to accept the existence problem, how can we expect a solution to be reached? Hopefully President Obama will make some good decisions at the Copenhagen conference, and I'll be a little bit more proud to call myself an American.

Freedom of Speech Motherf***er!!

Yes, that is the first line of Immortal Technique's song "Freedom of Speech" (you have no idea how much I wanted to use it for our Perilous Animoto...it ended up being a little bit too explicit for the group's taste though.)

Anyway, take a listen to the song. It's pretty good! I love it. After downloading the song (thanks to Sarah Goomar), I went on to research the rapper Immortal Technique a little bit more. I already had a song by him ("Dance with the Devil"- it's pretty scary but also an amazing song, I'd recommend a listen if you've never heard it), but I never really knew who Immortal Technique was. From his wikipedia article, I learned that the rapper's real name is Felipe Andres Coronel, he is 31 years old, he was born in Lima, Peru, and he is not, nor has he ever been signed to a record label.

That last part is the part that really shocked me- how is it possible that an artist as truly talented as Immortal Technique (by my standards) isn't signed when all of those crappy rappers out there like Asher Roth are??

And then it occurred to me- the whole point of the song "Freedom of Speech" was that being signed to a label was a limit of the first amendment in itself. Immortal Technique doesn't want to be signed to a label because what he raps about is important to him- he doesn't want corporate sponsors and record label executives telling him how to express himself and when to tone down his message.

I never really thought of having corporate sponsors as a limit of freedom of speech, but I guess that's the compromise many artists will make for fame and the ability to have their music heard. In what other ways is freedom of speech limited by mainstreamed American culture?

(Another thing to ponder is what effect Immortal Technique's country of birth may have had on his political views- having not been born in the United States, how could his outlook be different than those of us who are American-born citizens?)