Fun fact: APTN, Canada's Indigenous broadcasting service, literally plays Avatar on their national TV channel every single week. Why? Because Avatar is the most potent anti-colonial call to revolution in modern cinematic history. Seriously though, the movie's message of resistance and Indigenous sovereignty is incredibly powerful. I fucking love Avatar.

“You can’t be a cog in the machine and feel bad about it and that’s enough”

Listening to this right after seeing the second movie, and I feel like this nailed the whole direction of the franchise. James Cameron was like "okay, time to make a sequel that'll be about a blended human-Na'vi family accepting their roles as revolutionaries and community members instead of running away from collective action like 21st-century American society conditions us to do", and so much of it aligns with everything this episode brings up

“ITS ABOUT LOVE” YEAH, YEAH IT IS YOURE RIGHT FELIX’S DAD!

Bill Hicks pretty much nailed it: We can take care of each other, and THEN explore the universe together. Forever.

This might be lame, but when this and the couple episodes before came out I was in a really shitty hopeless place. And those episodes really helped me get through it. It felt like the chapo before Bernie lost, the chapo that opened my eyes to politics and made me care about shit. Anyways thanks :)

"If you want a simple explanation of what's happening in America, watch Avatar again." -Marianne Williamson

"We will see if his insanity can be cured." Probably the best line in the whole damn movie. Perfectly captures how an outsider would view our military-industrial complex: An insane system that is spreading through our species.

your description of the friendzoned navi jumping into the back of the helicopt er scene made me cry like i was watchin it all over again in all its glory

Ok but they never got into the design of the mech.

This is one of the GOAT Chapo episodes.

Col Miles Quaritch, pinned under the wreckage of his mech: “You traitorous son of a bitch! You sided with these alien savages over your own species!” Jake Sully: “Sorry, Colonel...but Blue Lives Matter.”

This episode is my comfort Chapo

Sincerity is the new irony.

I keep listening to this episode, which makes sense, because I was the psycho that went in 6 times when it was in theatres. It always feels like opening a septic wound in hopes of healing it. Since hope is scarce rn I'll take it where I can find it

I just watched the theatrical re-release, and the Chapo guys are absolutely right about this movie. It’s a masterpiece.

GOATed episode holy shit

You should watch the extended edition of the film. It has extra scenes like an abortive attempt at a school for the navi that eventually got shot up by the soldiers, and a scene at the beginning where jake is slumming it in a Blade Runner city on earth.

This was a wild ride lmao, it's always such a cool feeling when you hear someone point out things you couldn't yourself back then... call me a loser but this was probably the second time i felt hopeful about the future after Bernie crushing Nevada lmao...

Come back to this every few months, great episode

The directors cut of the movie is a must. It starts on earth and is even more anti imperialist imo. Also on your guys point of having to die for the revolution, every one of our main human characters dies in someway in service to the Na'vi. Grace dies for real, Michelle Rodriguez dies for real, the scientists guys avatar dies meaning he will never really be one of the people, and can due to the rebellion he can also not go home, jakes human body dies.

Listening to this after watching the remaster in theaters, so great

"The left of this country wants beautiful defeat." Just a heads up that I'm going to print that on a T-shirt.

I like how they keep mispronouncing the Marvel movies. You know they do that on purpose.

Hearing Felix, one of the most irony-poisoned, least-genuine-while-broadcasting people I've ever listened to earnestly say "I'm not kidding. I'm not kidding" is some fantastic advertising for this movie.

For my money, The Dark Crystal spoke to me even deeper. The splitting has caused the pain and destruction. The rejoining will heal the crystal.

Fuck I love Felix popping off at the end. We are them. Destroy the empire. Destroy the frontier. We are them.

"The world is nearly all parcelled out, and what there is left of it is being divided up, conquered and colonised. To think of these stars that you see overhead at night, these vast worlds which we can never reach. I would annex the planets if I could; I often think of that. It makes me sad to see them so clear and yet so far." - Cecil Rhodes, shithead

Frankly my dear, I love you, lets remarry,.. Moleman: Didn't that movie use to have a war in it?

Aww. Thanks guys. As a mother I definitely don't get the recognition I need to keep feeling like it's a worthwhile endeavor. But you n James Cameron have helped me on this day. It's a nice change from Bill Burr's jokes. Idky that still irks me but it does.

I can’t believe you guys are making me reevaluate avatar and it’s working

Just rewatched in Imax 3D and you were 100% right about every word.

This is the best Chapo episode

For context, Avatar is likely an unacknowledged adaptation of the influential 1912 novel A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

This ep is the absolute pinnacle of the irony/sincerity dialectic. I don’t know it was possible to be both 100% ironic and 100% sincere at the same time until listening to this.

I knew there was a reason I liked this movie. I'm baby and, finally, I feel seen.

Watching the troops die in this movie was awesome.

The spore tree is a collective unconscious Mushrooms will clearly solve all of our problems make them legal

Never listened to Chapo before or watched Avatar, but this was very interesting

Jake Sully is the Avatar of us. That is why dudes got irritated with him. This wasn’t the droid they were looking for.

It took me 2 listens to realize that Felix is not saying "Adventures" but "Avengers".

Excellent episode. Would love an episode on District 9, as well!

talk about snowpiercer

I had never considered Avatar to be a revolutionary text before. I might consider watching it now…

This was great. I actually felt exhilarated listening to this episode, and you were absolutely convincing. I'm ready to preach your gospel, and I too believe James Cameron will come back to save cinema and engineer us yet another cultural reset

Listening to Felix straining against the bit for an hour and a half is the best part of re-listening this so many times. One can almost see him physically restraining himself, fidgeting, waiting to start jumping up and down like a (revolutionary) child at the climax. “Yes. Yes! YES!”

Lol, yall should look up the home tree destruction scene and read the comments underneath. . .

People should listen to Marianne Williamson’s interview with James Cameron from March ‘21. It should be titled “Felix was right”.

Thank you for validating my love for this movie

I did not watch avatar, and never will. This was a great review!

I don't know if I buy the idea that Avatar never entered the cultural consciousness because it was somehow too subversive to be absorbed. The system can absorb anything and commodify it. For gods sake, George Lucas explicitly said that the Empire was inspired by the US and the Rebels were the Viet Cong

The Navi need to wage war on Weyland Yutani next and face down xenomorphs. I want an Aliens Avatar crossover make it happen.

pandora go to the polls

Also happy to announce that accounting for inflation and the re-releases this past year that Avatar is once again the highest grossing film of all time.

“He is not a white savior, he is a 12 foot tall Blue man”

must listen before the sequel

Excellent review and analysis. I need to watch this film again.

Never saw the movie first time around. Now you've got me intrigued.

Still love the reaper couch better. Good episode.

You know this kind of why I like Far Cry 3 as a Story ( I know old game but the best Far Cry for a reason). Jason isn't a Savior, he doesn't help anyone who isn't in his circle of Family/Friends, you the player can kill your own allies and face no real consequences, and the typical native love interest is just as crazy as the bad guys and the game's good ending has you leave the island with your friends and go home. Also Jason is some dopey trust fund baby who can only fight because he's hoped up on all kinds of drugs allowing him to hunt and kill without hesitation or remorse. And yet people called that game a white savior narrative. If anything its a deconstruction of a white savior narrative. I know unrelated to the vid but that's immediately where my mind went when discussing Avatar as Subversive.

best episode ever, of any podcast

I unironically loved this film when it came out. I had no idea that was an uncommon opinion.

Gotta search thrift stores for an Avatar DVD now I guess

This is the only movie I've seen where I've adored the themes this much while also thinking the script is dogshit. If this one movie had a good screenplay then we'd have achieved socialism by now, I'm seeing the sequel tomorrow.

"we'll see if his insanity can be cured" 🔥✏📖🔥🔥

I hate Amazon. So much.

Did this ep get taken down or something? I don't see it on the patreon or the rss feed.

I pray the recent booing of Elon Musk presages something a little less non-French-Revolution-esque to come.

The problem with the white savior narrative in the movie is that he becomes a leader. It would have been fine (and perhaps even a little subversive) if he had just become an advisor or a tactician, but he ends up in some kind of chieftain role which is a bit annoying.

Best episode on the best movie

1:06:41 I stole this (paraphrased) line for an overarching "mastermind" villain in a D&D game I was running for some friends and they still quote it back to me fondly to this day

This episode rules

a really obvious thing they either missed or forgot to mention is that all of the Na'vi are played by Black / Native American people

The thing about Amazon editing the film is not true. The Chapo guys actually are mis-remembering. The original/theatrical version of the film has a shortened sex scene that does not show them connecting their braids, the full sex scene is included in one of the extended versions, and you can see it if you have the blu-ray set which includes 3 different cuts of the film. Or, if the braid connecting actually was shown in the original theatrical run and was subsequently edited out, it was done by Cameron himself and/or 20th Century Fox, because it now isn't shown in the theatrical edition on any platform, including blu-ray. Either way, it wasn't Amazon/Bezos that edited it, the was done by Cameron/Fox.

The Bee scene in Wicker Man was never part of the theatrical cut of the movie btw, its from the unrated DVD edition

Thanks

You guys like movies way too much

I want Cameron to comment on this episode.

I don’t think the “Not the Bees” scene from Wicker Man was even in the theatrical release, I’m pretty sure that was always just a deleted scene.

They should do a terminator review

I don't think you can compare Avatar to the Avengers. Avengers is a milk toast movie aimed at everyone, while Avatar is aimed at older audiences. Not to say you can't sh*t on Dinsey the Boys do it all the time.

Uh...how about his ex wife winning the Oscar against Avatar for Hurt Locker?

Like a baby

52:25 According to the book i got my kid from 2010 the navi have an anatomy similar to humans in that they have genitals between their legs. Joining neural tendrils is just an added layer of intimacy. Navi girls don't have to fake it.

i never know if theyre serious or doing a bit.

I wish they would have pointed out that these peoples bones had the gold in inside of them which is hilarious

Trippy light tree thingies!!! 🤩🤩🤩 I don't want to revolution against the war machine distracted by the pretty colors! -Average Avatar Enjoyer

This is very interesting im enjoying this!

I used to just think of avatar as grown up Ferngully, buuuuuuut I see what they’re saying, it’s very anti colonial and there isn’t enough of that in our culture

Can you please do an episode on the hurt locker? That movie is straight up bullshit propaganda and pathetically unrealistic

I literally only saw this movie because my friend was raving to me about how cool the 3D effects in it were. Not to take anything away from the film or its message, but I don't think we can overlook how many other simpletons like me just wanted to see the cool alien planet in the nifty 3D film.

Will is at peak nasal here

One thing to point out, the scene in wicker man with the bees is an alternate ending included in its dvd release. The version of wicker man on Amazon is most likely the theatrical release unless they fucked w/ it further

I liked Avatar a lot more when it was called "Dune".

So it sounds like the bois call for duel power building; I do it, more are doing it; meanwhile, wtching and depending on the system and national political news, followed by the remaining PNC (which include friends and family) can make you fall into the failing left. I feel pretty powerless right now, only up against the totality I guess. not the small things, but the problems are growing bigger...

i love this fucking background

District 9 too

51:15 I had tuned out for the most part but they deleted the hair-sex??? Noooo! The monsters! I did not sign up for this etc

is Avatar like Dune - these stories seem very similar to me, though i havent read the Dune books, just so far the lynch film though i wonder if the books are different at all also i find it hard to believe that the capitalist drives pushing the pillage of Pandora would wait 6 years for someone else to use to the clone, - would they just be going in guns blazing from the start, they could be like the nazis put in charge of running Poland, being allowed free reign to carry out all their sadistic extra-judicial fantasies

why does literally everyone on youtube use the same 80s neon palm tree miami tron retrowave aesthetic?