I am sure if you are reading this you have seen the movie Avatar because if you are reading this, you are alive, and I am fairly certain that every living soul has seen it!
(Although there are other issues involved with this movie, at this point I am not even going to address the complex topics of depression and suicide this Utopian monolith has generated. See below
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242409/The-Avatar-effect-Movie-goers-feel-depressed-suicidal-able-visit-utopian-alien-planet.html)
I am not trying to pick on Avatar, I am merely using it as an example.
-However, I am going to see if I can put the Tony Robbins-Shallow Hal blessing upon you. Basically the self-help guru puts a special trance upon Jack Black in the movie whereby 'Hal's visual perception of people is based upon the content of their character rather than physical beauty. It is worth mentioning here that men are racist when they judge another man "by the color of their skin" and not "by the content of their character (Martin Luther King Jr).
Yet I propose to you that we employ this blatantly racist value system when it comes to pop culture, media, music, movies, books, philosophy etc. We need the Shallow Hal Goggles...
-We find it is wrong to judge a man based upon external appearance only, yet we are quite content to do this as we evaluate other things that we embrace in our life.
-Essentially Hal sees inner beauty only. His friend sees this a curse, but Hal realizes in the end that is is far more reliable a tool when assessing the value of a person. (Sorry to spoil- this is a great film, and a borderline miracle that is was ever made in Hollywood)
Nevertheless, I challenge you to don your Shallow Hal Goggles when you are participating in pop-culture entertainment, or any media for that matter. Upon further investigation through lenses tuned to see through the external to the heart of the subject much of what has deceptively dazzled our eyes looks quite ugly under the microscope that exposes the content of its character.
-When you focus on Avatar in this new way, you will find that it does not look nearly the same as it did during previous viewing. You might come to find that what you once viewed as stunningly beautiful has a character hidden beneath that exposes ugly propaganda, recycled cliches, and it should be insulting to you that the makers don't consider you perceptive enough to see through the chicanery. They have rightly estimated that if they dress up something devoid of any real character or moral value in pretty enough clothing, breathtaking CGI, and 3D imagery you will be so distracted by the visual presentation that you will toss your Shallow Hal Goggles aside, grab those 3D glasses and sit back and be hoodwinked by "something shiny"! You should be angered at the insult to your intelligence, and you should be diligent to ensure you are never again lulled to sleep through the subtle guile of visually stimulating propaganda.
-Do not forget that Adolf Hitler pulled this trick upon the German people prior to WWII with Cabarets; these were exquisite song/dance clubs intended to slip sleeping pills into the minds of the people through visually stimulating entertainment.
Beware of who and what you are allowing to power down your mind while they entertain you!
I am not saying that Avatar is Nazi material, or that is it racist, what I am saying is that everything has an agenda, however subtly or overtly it is conveyed. Aesop has been right all along... there is a moral to every story and we need to figure out what that is before we can dismiss it as harmless or merely entertainment.
After each of Aesops stories he adds an italicized quote revealing the true nature and moral of the story.
Try this the next time you hear a song, read a book, or watch a movie. After you finish write down the moral of the story... you will be surprised at the outcome!
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