Reflection

The following is on the knowledge I gained attending the talk

When we look into the history of our world where do we really begin? It is totally arbitrary. Anyone could just draw a line in the sand and say “History begins here.” In order to to find out where life on Earth came from and even the Earth itself, we must zoom out into space, zoom out to the universe, and investigate the origin of everything. Finding the origin of everything is a daunting task, it is just so broad. It would be difficult to pinpoint the exact beginnings of stars, the moon, the sun, and our planet Earth. Existence. How and when did all these start to exist?

So what was before space existed? What was before time? Theoretical physicists would say that space and time are not two different things., rather they are two ways to express one thing which is space-time, which was created by the big bang, thus time did not exist before the big bang. This being said time did not exist before the big bang. The big bang was the moment both time and space were created. The universe was the one produced by the bang. It expanded unimaginably quickly, turning from the tiniest thing to the largest. The inflation theory is what this is called. The moment the universe expanded into what it is, and what it continues to become, atomic forces, gravity, electromagnetism, and all the rules of the universe were created. Anti matter and matter combined, annihilated themselves leaving leftover matter created in the big bang.

The first law of thermodynamics is that matter nor energy cannot be destroyed. Everything present now was present then 13.8 billion years ago when everything was created. At the beginning the universe was extremely hot and there were formations of the simplest atoms hydrogen and helium. The cooling of the universe allowed matter to separate from radiation. Matter being a form of concealed energy. All of this leads up to Cosmic Background Radiation, the fingerprint of the universe, a piece of evidence from the big bang. The static you hear on you radio devices is part of this cosmic background radiation.

Lessons Learned About Ethics from Avatar

6. How would you describe the key roles that women play in the film? what portrayals struck you?

The women in this film and the roles they took on were crucial, and their impact on the movie cannot be understated.

The woman I could think of first is Dr. Augustine. Her love for her research work was very uplifting. I could really sense the passion she put into her sample collecting samples for her research. This was evident when she was dying, and being brought to the Tree of Souls with the hope of her life being saved, she said something like “I need to collect samples” just as she was dying. This type of dedication to work and science reminds me of what I see in all my science professors who are female, and I wonder if being female has something to do with it. As a male I am inspired by people like Dr. Augustine and many of my professors who dedicate their lives for pursuit of higher knowledge, greater science, and excellence in their craft. The most important feature of Dr. Augustine though, that I witnessed, was her persistence to use diplomacy, even though Parker and his men so willingly wanted to strong arm the Omaticaya to get to the unobtanium sitting under Hometree. I see this trait mostly in women, the ability to use their intellectual finesse to win over the argument. Unlike most men who love the pride in battle and with their never back down attitudes, most of the time the more subtle approach to arguments seems to be the better choice.

Trudy, the female pilot, who saw an opportunity to right the wrongs of the humans, or so called “Sky People” by the Na’vi who are the natives of Pandora. Trudy did not play a big role in the film, but she still managed to get my attention. Trudy’s decision making struck me with the utmost bravery. This is especially seen in the part of the movie where the Hometree was being attacked by the forces of Colonel Quaritch, Trudy has enough of the destruction she had seen and made the choice of opting out of the mission. In my opinion the attack on the Hometree was very cowardly, and the decision of disobeying a command especially in an military based environment takes incredible bravery. This ability to make brave decisions is not something most people would see in women, but this is something I see. The ability of women (at least the women I know) to be completely independent in making hard decisions baffles me all the time. How do they do it, time and time again? It seems to me like they can do whatever they want, and get what they want through these choices they make in life.

Mo’at being the spiritual leader of the tribe, has a sort of motherly approach to the choices she makes in the film and also her role in the Omaticaya clan. When see made the decision to free Jake and Dr. Augustine from the binds during the attack on Hometree, was something only a mother would do. The scene felt like a mother who had forgiven a son who had wronged her, and immediately trusted again this disloyal son of hers. Only a mother could do such a thing, and it turned out to be a good decision. Mothers are so good at this, they can bare so much pain, and just forgive and keep on forgiving. It is true when they say a mother’s love is unconditional. It doesn’t matter what the situation is, a true mother would always love her own children.

Neytiri, of course could not have player a bigger role in this film. She embodied to me what a true amazonian woman stood for. She was a warrior, hunter, and she was one with the forrest. She was a true woman with her strong character, independence, and shrewd thought process. Her role in changing and reforming of Jake Sully’s perspective in life was vital. Neytiri symbolizes a modern day woman, who could stand on her own an make an impact on the world we live in. She reminds me of powerful women in today’s society like Christine Lagarde, or even Beyonce Knowles. Neytiri should be a woman to look up to literally and figuratively.

2. Describe the transformation that takes place in Jake from the beginning of the movie until the end. What are some of the key turning points that you can identify in his encounter with the Na’vi people?

Jake, Jakesully, who I would consider as the main character in this film, precisely because this was his journey of transformation. From being called a “jarhead” and “marine” who’d love to shoot at anything perceived as a threat, according to Dr. Augustine. Jake turned into the one who, not just the Omaticaya people, but the locals of Pandora looked up to in the their time of desperation. How did this happen? I asked myself the same question. You see, you have to understand Jake’s mind coming into this whole operation. Jake being the paralyzed marine who couldn’t walk was no good for the combat, but he was good for something. He was send to Pandora to replace his brother who was a researcher in Dr. Augustine’s team. Jake felt like he was reborn into this new life, this avatar of his. It felt like a second chance at life. At first he saw this just as some awesome science project that he could be part of, but then he realized that there was more to this science project than he might’ve first thought. Being a marine and a researcher at the same time, he had to make tough decisions. These decisions were real easy for him at first, although this would all change when his emotions got involved. Living with the Omaticaya people, learning from Neytiri, made him feel part of their community, he felt like he finally belonged again to something. (After having been feeling useless as a marine) It was this opportunity that I think spark change in Jake. This along with new found romance with Neytiri, which in my opinion was pretty cool because they are complete opposites.

3. One interesting paradox in the film is the way in which the alien Na’vi people actually display far more human tendencies than the humans in the story. They appear more highly evolved than the humans in their respect of the life and the energy surrounding them. How do you see evidence of this throughout the film?

The way I think of this is we humans, in the movie, have become so attracted to material gain that we forget to respect life. This loss of respect for the living was detrimental to our downfall, to our becoming less human. This cannot be seen more in Parker, who’s want for unobtanium exceeded his respect for the living. The Na’vi on the other hand we’re the exact opposite to humans in the movie. They showed in their native culture and practices, their utmost respect for life. They reminded me a lot about the Japanese Shintoism with their care for nature and life. Humans have changed so much in the future of the movie that we forget what we came from. We came from the ground, and to the ground we must return. Our earth is sacred and we must give it the respect it needs, so too any other planet like Pandora. Parker and Colonel Quaritch were savages in the way that they decimated entire parts of Pandora. The Na’vi were a more refined people in this film compared to the savage practices the humans exemplified.