Marine veteran condemns 'Avatar'

Image courtesy: IGN/20th Century Fox

Is "Avatar" portraying the U.S. military in a negative light? A prominent Vietnam veteran thinks so, and is speaking out to WBBM-TV in Chicago. James Balcer, now an Alderman in the city's Eleventh Ward, said the military force repeatedly shown slaughtering the Na'vi population in the hit film is clearly meant to be United States Marines.

"Well, they never mentioned America but when you have the eagle, globe and anchor -- the Marine Corps emblem -- it has to be America."

"And that's the Hollywood view of us," Roeser complained. "We are the exploiters, we are pre-emptive attackers."

Why waste time talking about a Hollywood movie while our troops are in harm's way? I thought about that same question, which is valid. But "Avatar" has made a staggering $430,000,000 at the American box office, so its influence in popular culture and the media will be relevant for years to come.

Balcer says the film makes Marines "look like lunatics." In reality, he said, "We are a good, generous country that helps people."

As a fan of James Cameron's work on "The Terminator," "True Lies," and "Terminator 2," I saw "Avatar" the day of its release. The special effects are undoubtedly groundbreaking and the 3-D experience was one I'll never forget. However, the portrayal of Col. Miles Quaritch by Cameron and actor Stephen Lang, pictured above, immediately struck me as ridiculous and over-the-top. The character is a bloodthirsty borderline psychotic who clearly enjoys killing innocent civilians under the banner of freedom. So to me, it is perfectly understandable that a current or former Marine would be upset by this, especially since that is exactly the opposite of what we are doing in Afghanistan and Iraq. But I am not going to call for a boycott or anything similar; see the film and make up your own mind.


Official Avatar Movie