Casey Johnson, herself thirty when she died, lay for what appears to be at least three days, unmissed. I’m not sure this says a great deal in favour of her fiance, a person I shall avoid naming or referring to ever again. Casey Johnson didn’t answer her phone and she stopped twittering. But no one called by. No one else was inside her home for one reason or another until an unfortunate maid dicovered her body in a bedroom. On a side note here, two members of my family have been or are police officers. Both of them have discovered bodies in varying degrees of death. Both report that it is a deeply unpleasant experience. Both insist that death, once properly encountered, is not forgotten. Because of them I appreciate my naieveté. In short, I feel for that maid. I presume of course that she is not in the habit, so to speak.

Many, some themselves socialites or famous, have expressed their electronic condolences to Miss Johnson and her family. I have something of an issue with electronic condolences. You see, electronic sentiments mean very little, save those which are hand delivered. Hand delivery is also meaningless (we call it the post, unless the hand is itself known. Empathy for loss doesn’t come cheap. You certainly can’t register for it. I’m not sure empathy works en masse either. Quite unlike advertising, which works best en masse. I’ll let you decide which this is. To be crystal clear about this, I don’t think these individuals are expressing faith in life after death when they tell a person they are missed, I think they are taking advanage of an aquaintance even when they are dead.

Told you it was morbid. Reading the article led me to the obvious question. My answer? If it happened right now, then I would guess a couple of hours. My wife likes to check on me when I stay up to use the computer, it’s a practice of hers I encourage. I suppose there are times when I might go unnoticed for a while. The more I think about it, I think that considering it carefully would encourage anyone to be a better person. I don’t mean idealogically, I mean selfishly. The ultimate selfishness in this sense would be to serve others wholeheartedly and without reservation, then you would be missed. Think about it.

How long would it be?

Word of the day: Denouement
-noun
1 – the final resolution of the intricacies of a plot, as of a drama or novel.
2 – the place in the plot at which this occurs.
3 – the outcome or resolution of a doubtful series of occurrences.

Avatar Movie Poster

Wow.

Ok, first, the gripe. 3d glasses make your eyes swim. After about fifteen minutes I felt pretty uncomfortable wearing them. It’s a testament to the movie that I stuck with it for another 168 minutes! I should also admit at this stage that the 3D is very immersive and doesn’t detract from the core functions of the movie. It’s just there, rather like it usually is.

Back to the flick itself. Wow. The plot is really simple. You know roughly what’s going to happen from the very start. I suppose Avatar is broadly allegorical and references on multiple occassions the caucasian exploitation of indigenous peoples through the last few centuries. The most powerful allusions here are with the European and then American exploitation of North American natural resources at the expense of the native american indians. The (evil?) corporation in Avatar is digging for a funky metal whose value is never clearly explained. It’s not important. The simplicity of the plot is the secret to Avatar’s greatness. This is a flight of fancy. You sit back, relax and let someone tell you a great story with a few major characters and a lot of amazing imagery and cultural experiences. Predictable it is, boring it is not.

Let me say a word here about colour. Avatar is beautiful. The near universal use of phosphorescence in the jungle and forest landscapes is awe inspiring. You want to go there yourself. The humans in Avatar make extensive use of choppers and some of the in flight scenes set up some fantastic vistas which support the sense of scale and grandeur throughout. The detailing is tremendous. Even when you are staring at something as utterly ridiculous as say, millions of tonnes of floating rocks held down by tree roots, you can’t help but believe what you are seeing. Something about it just seems right. The closest I can think of is the image of a mountain in the waters of a still loch. You know it’s a reflection but still think you would enjoy climbing those slopes.

Avatar makes extremely extensive use of generated imagery and it works well enough that you forget about it most of the time. There are some slightly cartoony elements which weaken the realism but overall it’s very immersive. This impressed me as very few movies pull this off anywhere near as well.

I knew I was in for a treat when Avatar opens with a man flying for six years away from the Earth to start a new life. His brother is dead and he is shipping out to replace him. The subliminal message is clear. Let go. Let your presumptions and attitudes die, if only for three hours, and leave hold of your sense of what is real and come away with us. Come away to a world populated by ten foot tall betailed humanoids. If you are interested in my advice. Do it. Let go of your life for three hours and just enjoy. After all, as the man says, the pay is good, really good. Any movie smart enough to pitch itself as a form of entertainment which will take you away from the limitations of your real life and let you explore a fantasy is bound to be good in my book!

Finally the trademark moment. When my father and I came away from the cinema we had a life conversation. You know the ones, where you talk about big serious topics in a very general manner. To me, that’s the confirmation that shows that a movie has ticked the two most important boxes in the home (and cinema) entertainment field. 1 – It’s total escapism, 2 – When it’s done it leads you to think seriously about your life in a constructive manner. Now, I am not assuring you that you will come away life affirmed. I am sure some people will pick holes. But if you are looking for an enjoyable jaunt several light years away, take the trip to Pandora. You won’t regret it. It’s nothing like the box.

Now, where’s that book on Custer?