There are two further senses in which we can see Avatar as a conservative film. As Socialism and/or Barbarism puts it, "Avatar is possible the most staggering display of pure plenitude ever committed to the American screen." But this fantasy of plenitude is nonetheless a nostalgic fantasy. As Jake Sully says to the Na'vi from the perspective of "our" future (2154), "Look at the world we come from. There's no green there. They've killed their mother." When the young marine goes to sleep he dreams of a lost paradise of infinite verdancy, an Edenic prelapsarian state of harmony with nature in which the Na'vi people represent a sort of archaic heritage. In his increasingly Mosaic delusions he imagines himself leading these noble savages to the promised land.
Now that Avatar has won its Oscars for cinematography and special effects, and predictably, perhaps even deservedly so, for there are some truly amazing moments, it is nonetheless all the more necessary to point out the degree to which even here, at the very heart of its appeal, Avatar remains ultimately conservative. For there is a sense throughout, here and there, poking through, that they have not quite got the hang of 3D yet. Certain cinematic standbys such as shooting dialogue by short-reverse-shot, simply don't work, come across as odd and jarring. Yet the film consistently falls back on them as if unable to get out of a 2D mindset - except for certain spectacular set-pieces. Thee first Avatar came to the UK was a series of short clips shown to journalists and perhaps Avatar would have been better staying as just a series of short clips, perhaps drawn out somewhat. More like a demonstration tape, or a novelty record. Imagine Avatar playing in your room while you were having a party, filling the whole room with the overflowing plenitude of Pandora ...
