I'm really proud of this post I made in the thread about popular movies that we don't like. Decided to make it a blog post to give it more exposure, and to possibly spark a bit of conversation on the film's merits.

 

I see that Avatar isn't exactly an original choice. Good to see we agree that that movie is utter shit.

 

But I'm gonna go a bit further than that. Not only is Avatar a terrible movie, but Dances with Wolves (the movie James Cameron shamelessly ripped off) is an even worse movie.

 

It tries to be a "DURR SOOOOOO DEEP DECUNSTRUKSHUN DUUUUUUURRRRRRR" without even knowing the first thing about the genre it's critiquing. Its premise of "civilized man living among savages" is so insipidly asinine that it itself had already been deconstructed numerous times before the film even came out.

 

You ever hear of Heart of Darkness? You may know the story better by its film adaptation, Apocalypse Now. The story of Heart of Darkness is about a white man of wealthy background going to live among the native people of Africa in hopes of teaching them about civilization. Sound familiar? The difference is that the guy in Heart of Darkness ended up going insane and being brought home in a body bag.

 

Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now intelligently explored themes of imperialism, including the exploitation of a native populace, and the futility of spreading western society to all corners of the globe. Apocalypse Now even included a well done anti-war message. Dances with Wolves actually comes off as being very pro-war, and has all the staples of a poorly-made propaganda film.

 

Retarded over-simplification of a conflict? Check!

 

Portraying the "other side" as Lovecraftian monsters who exist only to eat babies and bulldoze community centers? Check!

 

Portraying "the good guys" as kindhearted and noble people, who love to dance and frolic and would never hurt a soul without good reason? Check!

 

The main character being a "defector" who joins the good guys after seeing the "error of his ways"? Check!

 

And the only solution to this conflict is to go to war and put people into graves? Check!

 

On top of that, It's loaded with plotholes and inconsistencies, the characterization is non-existent, it's boring, it's patronizing, it doesn't even try to explore its subject matter meaningfully, and it's (ironically) racist. It's pretty much every bad thing you could ever say about a film, all rolled into one.

 

If you want an idea of just how badly it missed the mark, less than two years after the movie's release, Unforgiven took a crack at deconstructing the traditional western, and hit every right note. Unlike DWW, Unforgiven understood the tropes it was critiquing, and put forth a compelling argument that we shouldn't be romanticizing violence. It's a far smarter, better movie than DWW could ever dream of being, and one that I really need to rewatch.

Source: Movies Everybody Loves That You Don't Like?