What a piece of work is man...

The past couple of weeks have given me the opportunity to relax and enjoy a little Science Fiction. A lifelong "Sci-Fi" devotee, I am understandably choosy about my entertainment. Good Sci-Fi needs to have three things:

1) An internally consistent and plausible (if not accurate) technological background.
2) Interesting characters propelled through an engaging story.
3) The exploration of a moral or philosophical dilemma.

This last point is especially important.

Like millions of other people, I went to see James Cameron's "Avatar," which I had been eagerly awaiting for months. Also like millions of people, I was blown away by the amazing visual effects, and the sheer beauty of the world Cameron created. Through the first two "acts" of the story, I was completely absorbed in the film - it seemed to be smashing 'em out of the park left and right on all three points...

...and then, quite unlike millions of others, I found myself leaving the theatre rather sullen and disappointed. But, before I go into that, let me talk about my other meaningful Sci-Fi experience this holiday.

The other treat I caught over the holidays was, on the surface, quite a different animal: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Okay, admittedly, this one is just a bit campy (maybe more than bit), and although the SFX were nominated for an Academy Award in 1986, they don't hold up too well 24 years later (especially when seen in HD on a 1080p HDTV).

But - and just hear me out on this - I enjoyed the old Star Trek film MORE. A LOT more, in fact.

Here's why: Both movies dealt with the important moral/philosophical dilemma of the environment, but one left me feeling hopeless and uncomfortable, and the other felt uplifting and hopeful.

In Avatar, as we rounded the third act of the story, I realized that nearly every Human Being in the story is thoroughly corrupt and dispicable. The villain is a one-dimensional character (Col. Miles Quarich) who's sole purpose in the story is to be evil. There is nothing to like about him. He's not misguided or redeemable in any way - he just likes killing things and blowing stuff up. And worst of all, he wears an American military uniform.

Yes, I know - there are no flags on it, and the story makes a vague reference to a private security force, but it LOOKS like one of our uniforms. And so do the uniforms of all of the other men and women under him. And as the story progresses, the "heroes" begin to slaughter the men and women in uniform left and right. And we're supposed to cheer.

I suddenly felt uncomfortable. At a time when young men and women are dying in wars in Iraq and Afganistan fighting so-called "holy warriors" such as the religious extremist Taliban (who believe they are defending Allah), James Cameron has created a film where the audience is supposed to rejoice when young men and women in similar uniforms are killed by the "Na'vi" (defending their god "Eywa").

As unsettling (and somewhat offensive) as this was, it wasn't my biggest problem with the movie. My biggest issue was this: What's the message?

Step back to Star Trek for a minute. What was "The Voyage Home's" meaning? Well, it's not subtle: we're destroying the environment and in doing so, endangering our own existence.

But there's a deeper message here. Our protagonists are humans (yes, and one half-Vulcan). Our antagonists are also human - but they're not evil, nihilistic monsters. They're us - ignorant, unenlightened ordinary human beings. The message is simple: we can be more than we are. We can learn to save ourselves. Humanity is worth saving, because one day we will be a peaceful species who explore the universe responsibly.

What's Star Trek's proposed solution to our environmental ills? Educate and enlighten yourself. Be responsible.

What's the message of Avatar? Humans are evil - especially those "first world," westerners, who, in their greed and lust to obtain power and wealth (in the film, represented by the groan-inducing name, "Unobtainium") are destroying the environment and other species. There is a special irony in this message - created by a Western Millionaire, costing around $300 MILLION to produce, with zillions of plastic toys and video games being sold to promote it.

What's Avatar's solution to the planet's ills? Kill the humans. Forget education and advancement. Let's go back to living in caves and trees and worshipping primative earth-goddesses (although, admittedly, Avatar has a neat twist- the goddess Eywa is actually real - a vast colleciton of living tree/neurons). And make no mistake about it, Avatar says it's PERFECTLY OK to kill anyone who doesn't believe the same way you do.

Star Trek says that through science and peaceful exploration, the human race will become better than it is, and will find solutions to our problems. There's some objective reason to believe this is true, if you just look back at about 50-year intervals. For example:

1810 - It's perfectly legal to own another human being - particularly one from Africa.
1860 - Conflict between abolitionist states and slave states rises to the point that war seems likely.
1910 - Slavery is no more, but the "Separate but Equal" segregation doctrine has been upheld by the Supreme Court (Plessy v. Ferguson - 1896)
1960 - Brown v. Board of Education has overturned "Plessy," but the Civil Rights movement is troubled, and conflict abounds.
2010 - Though racism is by no means over, a black man of African descent is President of the United States - the result of a peaceful election, not a military coup.

There's none of that namby-pamby peace talk in Avatar. There's no way to reach an environmentally responsible agreement between the humans and Na'vi. The soldiers under Quarich don't refuse their immoral orders and arrest their commander because they realize they are basically good people. Nope - kill the nonbelievers! Destroy modern technology! Praise Eywa!

James Cameron says he has planned two sequels to Avatar. Here's hoping he decides to spend some time watching some cheesy old Star Trek before he puts anything on film. Otherwise, I'll pass....

Praise Roddenberry - "The Great Bird of the Galaxy."