Comments on: Avatar, Gaia, & the Unified Field http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/ Shalom Ormsby's Blog Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:15:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 By: Sonja Drakulich http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/comment-page-1/#comment-1977 Sonja Drakulich Wed, 20 Jan 2010 01:29:19 +0000 http://shalomimages.com/?p=1633#comment-1977 Great responses from all of you. I did not want to take away from the magic of the movie with my concerns about the evil corporate sponsorship. It is a challenge to not be cynical these days, and I wanted to share my appreciation of how Shalom manages to write so eloquently in his blog without a cynical or 'know it all' flare that I sense from many other bloggers and journalists. I am guilty of the cynicism in my post for sure (as well as in my previous statement). We were just sent this article from our friend, Serena, written by another local blogger about Avatar, and it ties right in to what we have been discussing here. [I think this author may be Shalom's long lost brother.] http://www.techgnosis.com/chunks.php?cat=watching&sec=journal&file=chunkfrom-2010-01-06-2204-0.txt Great responses from all of you. I did not want to take away from the magic of the movie with my concerns about the evil corporate sponsorship. It is a challenge to not be cynical these days, and I wanted to share my appreciation of how Shalom manages to write so eloquently in his blog without a cynical or ‘know it all’ flare that I sense from many other bloggers and journalists. I am guilty of the cynicism in my post for sure (as well as in my previous statement). We were just sent this article from our friend, Serena, written by another local blogger about Avatar, and it ties right in to what we have been discussing here. [I think this author may be Shalom's long lost brother.]
http://www.techgnosis.com/chunks.php?cat=watching&sec=journal&file=chunkfrom-2010-01-06-2204-0.txt

]]> By: Trinette Reed http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/comment-page-1/#comment-1967 Trinette Reed Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:07:06 +0000 http://shalomimages.com/?p=1633#comment-1967 Really well said and written Shalom. You articulated much of what I felt after seeing the movie. I felt a sadness of having to leave the world of Pandora and return to our world when the movie was over. I agree it was the best movie since the Matrix and had a similar message. I am grateful it was made and is doing so well. I agree with Sonja that I have a hard time with the McDonalds sponsorship, which seems to represent much of the greed and disregard for animals that the film depicted. I also felt disappointed to see them having one of the main "good" characters smoking throughout the movie. What is the point of that? I wonder if they received money for that. I don't feel that it added to the story in any way, I actually found it distracting. Anyway, I don't want to take away from the beauty of the movie and the message. It was an AMAZING movie, utterly transporting. I look forward to learning more about the mushroom guy too, that sounds fascinating. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings:) Really well said and written Shalom. You articulated much of what I felt after seeing the movie. I felt a sadness of having to leave the world of Pandora and return to our world when the movie was over. I agree it was the best movie since the Matrix and had a similar message. I am grateful it was made and is doing so well. I agree with Sonja that I have a hard time with the McDonalds sponsorship, which seems to represent much of the greed and disregard for animals that the film depicted. I also felt disappointed to see them having one of the main “good” characters smoking throughout the movie. What is the point of that? I wonder if they received money for that. I don’t feel that it added to the story in any way, I actually found it distracting. Anyway, I don’t want to take away from the beauty of the movie and the message. It was an AMAZING movie, utterly transporting. I look forward to learning more about the mushroom guy too, that sounds fascinating. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings:)

]]> By: Shalom http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/comment-page-1/#comment-1949 Shalom Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:33:58 +0000 http://shalomimages.com/?p=1633#comment-1949 Sonja, you make a great point about the McDonald's endorsements and their obvious attempt at corporate green-washing. It just doesn't make any sense. There are few companies on the planet that are more destructive to our ecosystem, to human health, and to animal welfare than McDonald's. How this unfortunate pairing happened perplexes me, and I feel that it does diminish the film and the integrity of its underlying message. I hope that James Cameron and company will reflect more deeply whom they partner with for the sequels, and that they will strive to align themselves that follow Google's basic edict: "Don't be evil." Jeff, I agree completely. Overcoming this perceived disconnection (emphasis on perceived) from Gaia is medicine for the soul, and is one of the most important things I feel we can do in this modern, tech-driven, so-called Information Age. Pamela, thanks for the love. Surprisingly, "Iron Man" delivered a strongly anti-military message, which I thoroughly enjoyed, although I felt it lacked the depth of "Avatar." If you have the time, be sure to check out the TED video of Paul Stamets's talk. [He's become one of my new heroes.] It's truly amazing, the power of mushrooms for bioremediation, healing, and ecological health. Sonja, you make a great point about the McDonald’s endorsements and their obvious attempt at corporate green-washing. It just doesn’t make any sense. There are few companies on the planet that are more destructive to our ecosystem, to human health, and to animal welfare than McDonald’s. How this unfortunate pairing happened perplexes me, and I feel that it does diminish the film and the integrity of its underlying message. I hope that James Cameron and company will reflect more deeply whom they partner with for the sequels, and that they will strive to align themselves that follow Google’s basic edict: “Don’t be evil.”

Jeff, I agree completely. Overcoming this perceived disconnection (emphasis on perceived) from Gaia is medicine for the soul, and is one of the most important things I feel we can do in this modern, tech-driven, so-called Information Age.

Pamela, thanks for the love. Surprisingly, “Iron Man” delivered a strongly anti-military message, which I thoroughly enjoyed, although I felt it lacked the depth of “Avatar.”

If you have the time, be sure to check out the TED video of Paul Stamets’s talk. [He's become one of my new heroes.] It’s truly amazing, the power of mushrooms for bioremediation, healing, and ecological health.

]]> By: Pamela Polland http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/comment-page-1/#comment-1948 Pamela Polland Sun, 17 Jan 2010 08:19:22 +0000 http://shalomimages.com/?p=1633#comment-1948 ooo, right on, Sonja. I forgot about that (McDonald‘s sponsorship/connection) - probably blocked it out of my awareness just because it IS so disturbing. You‘ve made an excellent point. At least the message of inter-connectedness is a strong counter-balance to the message of (non green) corporate connectedness. Clearly, we still have a long ways to go. Thank you for your wakefullness and willingness to speak out about what you see. Aloha, p ooo, right on, Sonja. I forgot about that (McDonald‘s sponsorship/connection) – probably blocked it out of my awareness just because it IS so disturbing. You‘ve made an excellent point. At least the message of inter-connectedness is a strong counter-balance to the message of (non green) corporate connectedness. Clearly, we still have a long ways to go. Thank you for your wakefullness and willingness to speak out about what you see. Aloha, p

]]> By: Pamela Polland http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/comment-page-1/#comment-1946 Pamela Polland Sun, 17 Jan 2010 07:21:17 +0000 http://shalomimages.com/?p=1633#comment-1946 Thank you so much for connecting all the dots in your eloquent Avatar inspired post. I couldn‘t agree more, and I‘ll add one more mundane, but to me important, point. When is the last time we‘ve seen a blockbuster movie where the military was the "bad guy"?? I thought that was an amazingly bold step by Cameron. I have many "environmentalist type" friends, being as I fall firmly in that category myself, and one of them came kicking and screaming to see the movie with me the first time, because she was so incensed about the 500-750 million dollar cost of the movie. But when we walked out, she said, "I can now forgive Cameron the bloated cost, because the message is so vitally important, and so deftly delivered." Not since The Matrix has there been a film so groundbreaking and significant for ANY generation. As usual, we are One, Shalom. Your devoted Fairy Godmother, p. Thank you so much for connecting all the dots in your eloquent Avatar inspired post. I couldn‘t agree more, and I‘ll add one more mundane, but to me important, point. When is the last time we‘ve seen a blockbuster movie where the military was the “bad guy”?? I thought that was an amazingly bold step by Cameron.

I have many “environmentalist type” friends, being as I fall firmly in that category myself, and one of them came kicking and screaming to see the movie with me the first time, because she was so incensed about the 500-750 million dollar cost of the movie. But when we walked out, she said, “I can now forgive Cameron the bloated cost, because the message is so vitally important, and so deftly delivered.” Not since The Matrix has there been a film so groundbreaking and significant for ANY generation. As usual, we are One, Shalom. Your devoted Fairy Godmother, p.

]]> By: Jeff Leaver http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/comment-page-1/#comment-1944 Jeff Leaver Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:45:58 +0000 http://shalomimages.com/?p=1633#comment-1944 Beautifully written Shalom. I suspect that our ever-increasing drive to consume is a misguided attempt to fill the void created by our perceived disconnection from Gaia. Like you, I'm super grateful for any reminders that life presents us with to return our attention to our ever-present Mother. Peace, Jeff Beautifully written Shalom.

I suspect that our ever-increasing drive to consume is a misguided attempt to fill the void created by our perceived disconnection from Gaia. Like you, I’m super grateful for any reminders that life presents us with to return our attention to our ever-present Mother.

Peace,
Jeff

]]> By: Sonja Drakulich http://blog.shalomormsby.com/2010/01/avatar-gaia-and-the-unified-field/comment-page-1/#comment-1943 Sonja Drakulich Sun, 17 Jan 2010 03:28:37 +0000 http://shalomimages.com/?p=1633#comment-1943 Absolutely Shalom. Thank you for taking the time to so eloquently and passionately write all of this. As you know, I too was moved in all of those ways very deeply. I only want to add my disappointment that Avatar partnered with the McDonald’s corporation and fast food chain (who is synonymous with the enemy in this movie) for their merchandizing and video games. This was very disheartening to me. Did they have to do this to make their $500 million back? I don’t think it was necessary. It would have been a very practical, tangible statement for them to deny McDonald’s of this privilege and to instead partner with a truly green company. In effect, they could have created some positive change, more than they have in inspiration through watching the film. I just have a difficult time getting past this and how McDonald’s in turn has this opportunity to use this as a green-washing effect for their company. That being said, I am greatly inspired by the movie’s message itself and the stunning visuals. Ultimately, I am grateful for the massive inspiration this movie has created and the messages (especially to children) of the connection between all life and our inter-dependance with all of nature. Absolutely Shalom. Thank you for taking the time to so eloquently and passionately write all of this. As you know, I too was moved in all of those ways very deeply. I only want to add my disappointment that Avatar partnered with the McDonald’s corporation and fast food chain (who is synonymous with the enemy in this movie) for their merchandizing and video games. This was very disheartening to me. Did they have to do this to make their $500 million back? I don’t think it was necessary. It would have been a very practical, tangible statement for them to deny McDonald’s of this privilege and to instead partner with a truly green company. In effect, they could have created some positive change, more than they have in inspiration through watching the film. I just have a difficult time getting past this and how McDonald’s in turn has this opportunity to use this as a green-washing effect for their company. That being said, I am greatly inspired by the movie’s message itself and the stunning visuals. Ultimately, I am grateful for the massive inspiration this movie has created and the messages (especially to children) of the connection between all life and our inter-dependance with all of nature.

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