In case you haven't heard enough about this film, it's a visually stunning, very well executed epic about a technologically primitive but environmentally advanced people living in harmony with their home, Pandora, a moon orbiting a gas giant in a distant star system.
Their only sin was to stand between belicose, technically savy, and environmentally primitive humans, and the object of their greed: a valuable substance with the comically foreshadowing name of "unobtanium". The story has been told before: western/transnational powers steamrolling the innocent natives for King or quarterly reports. Watching this film, I found myself wishing I could live a simple and full life in this beautiful quasi-magical land among these free-spiritited people and their tropical paradise, in perfect synergy with their surroundings, free of materialistic concerns, lacking nothing.
Then I realized they lacked a very important something: the keys to the Universe.
It is true that the natives of Pandora, like many native peoples on Earth, have an enviable lifestyle, a harmonious, compassionate society. But the "greed" that causes more developed cultures to do evil deeds is just one side of the coin. On the other side there is the drive to know more, to do more, to be more. Devastating weapons and environmental tragedies, but also medicine, and starships, and new frontiers. This drive is what will enable us someday to be both masters, and nurturing stewards of our biosphere(s).
The people of Pandora are happy with what they have and want nothing more; but we do, we always want more -and I wouldn't have it any other way.
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