Avatar Canadian style

I was reading the paper earlier this week and I stumbled across an article about Avatar (shocking, I know) and how director James Cameron was the only director who could pull something like Avatar off. Not referring to the obscene budget that really could have done a lot for development in any charity you could possibly think of, nor the sheer madness of being the man who has TWICE now broken the record for the most profitable movie of all time - no. It was about the seemingly anti-american sentiment underlying the american military being the ones to cause some new form of genocide against these... things...

Forgive me, I haven't actually seen the movie. I don't have that long of an attention span. And big budget movies usually disappoint me.

Anyway, the reason why he was the only one who could "pull it off"?

He's Canadian.

Because no American in their right mind would consider portraying the great nation in such a negative light and live to tell the tale.

You know, for a country that prides itself on constitutional rights and democracy and being the "leader of the free world" (I believe this to be self-appointed), I find it rather stifling. Just ask the Dixie Chicks.

Why couldn't an American point out some shortcomings of a largely militarized country waging a seemingly pointless battle against someone simply to create a new "other" to fear? (Again, haven't seen the movie, if this isn't what people got out of it - I apologize. I'm just going by what the journalist seemed to get out of the movie) Why is that like committing some terrible form of treason, and death by black-balling is the only way to deal with it? Isn't the gloriousness of democracy and being a "free" country having the ability to critique government, military, and your next door neighbours if you want to? Without fear of hideous repercussions? I mean, is the right to freedom of speech in the States only applicable to those who are fully supporting the hegemonic ideals of the current society?

How is that the right of free speech? Why couldn't some American director point out the silliness and, let's face it, costly military operations that are marginalizing a group (albeit fictional)? Why is that anti-American?

Land of the free, indeed.