Avatar And The Fall Of Rome Poem by gershon hepner

Avatar And The Fall Of Rome



As offensive as expensive,
“Avatar” expounds the myth
in which belief is still extensive,
that in the west we’re living with-
out spirit which comes from the east,
awaiting heroes with a false “messiah
complex.” That’s why Romans ceased
to be so glorious, and our dire
prognosis echoes theirs. Our fall,
just like the Fall of Rome, will come
when we, divided more than Gaul,
to eastern shibboleths succumb,
believing we can make the planet
pristine, and healthy, and as pure
as eastern false messiahs plan it,
with their somewhat violent cure.

The only way for us to save
our culture is: remain imperial.
Don’t like movie makers rave
about what’s culturally ethereal,
espousing views that undermine
civilization as we know it,
identifying as benign
the terrorists who want to blow it
up like those twin towers which
once ruled Manhattan skies, and made
destroyers from the orient itch
to fell them, dark-v-light brigade.

The savages we fight aren’t noble,
but their messiah complex fools
most people living in a global
community. The west still rules,
but I’m afraid the avatars
of nonsense may cause it to fall
like Rome, seduced by movie stars
who hear messiahs’ siren calls.

Inspired by David Brooks’ Op-Ed in the NYT, January 8,2010 (“The Messiah Complex”) . He writes:

Every age produces its own sort of fables, and our age seems to have produced the White Messiah Fable. This is the oft-repeated story about a manly young adventurer who goes into the wilderness in search of thrills and profit. But, once there, he meets the native people and finds that they are noble and spiritual and pure. And so he emerges as their Messiah, leading them on a righteous crusade against his own rotten civilization…Yet of all directors who have used versions of the White Messiah formula over the years, no one has done so with as much exuberance as James Cameron in “Avatar.” Avatar is a racial fantasy par excellence. The hero is a white former Marine who is adrift in his civilization. He ends up working with a giant corporation and flies through space to help plunder the environment of a pristine planet and displace its peace-loving natives….The natives have perfect bodies and perfect ecological sensibiliti4es, but they are natural creatures, not history making ones. When the military-industrial complex comes in to strip mine their homes, they need a White Messiah to lead and inspire the defense. Our hero leaps in, with the help of a pack of dinosaurs summoned by Mother Earth. As he and his fellow freedom fighters kill wave afer wave of Marines or former Marines or whatever they are, he achieves the ultimate prize. He is accepted by the natives and can spend the rest of his life in their excellent culture…It’s just escapism, obviously, but benevolent romanticism can be just as condescending as the malevolent kind––even when you surround it with pop-up ferns and floating mountains.



1/8/10

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