'Avatar' Gets Mixed Praise From Paraplegics

[manouli]

'Avatar' Gets Mixed Praise From Paraplegics
Wheelchair Users Say Paraplegic Action Movie Character Inaccurate, but Uplifting
By LAUREN COX
ABC News Medical Unit
Jan. 8, 2010

Like others who flocked to see the blockbuster movie "Avatar," 26-year-old Santina Muha was thrilled by the visuals.
But unlike the majority of people in the theatre, she wasn't just imagining life on the distant moon Pandora. She was vicariously living the fantasy of regaining the use of her legs.

"The scene where the character goes from his wheelchair into his 'avatar,' where he's walking and playing basketball, it was really touching," said Muha, who had a spinal cord injury in a car accident at age 5.

"It gave me chills," she said. "I'm a wheelchair user for 20 years; I can't even remember what it was like…just stretching his legs out like that. He must have just felt like it was the ultimate stretch."

Audiences learn that the hero, Cpl. Jake Sully, lost the use of his legs while on duty as a Marine. Sully, played by able-bodied Sam Worthington, ends up on a mission to the lush moon of a distant planet where current technology gives his mind access to a cloned body of one of the local humanoid aliens, the Na'vi.

The human-Na'vi interactions on Pandora have drawn criticism and praise for what some see as political undertones about conquest, environmentalism and war.

But for Muha and others with spinal cord injuries, the movie's greatest statement was to feature a paraplegic lead character in an action movie.

more...

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Wellnes...ory?id=9505175

[lynnifer]

That's a great article to read - thanks for posting it!

I disagree with the statement about his transferring and lifting his legs ... the 'link' was quite a bit higher than his chair and I remember thinking that would be an awkward transfer because of the height difference, even for me.

I read on IMDB that the legs were prosthetics and he knelt in the chair ... I also disagree in that I *have* seen men with tiny legs like that ... not unusual.

Let's hope in the future that thick cushions aren't needed ... lol. Yes, I did notice there was no cushion on the chair as well .. no one ever notices the cushion anyway.

Otherwise, I agree with everything else said in the article ... it's refreshing to see 'us' portrayed this way. I totally agree that Million Dollar Baby was bad for us.

The only thing I disagreed with Ms New Jersey (isn't she here at CC - quite beautiful!) is that I *would* choose to stay in another world away from family and friends in order to walk - even if I had to be blue! lol Personal choice though.

[boda]

I think what was most disturbing was the fact that they were in the year 2154 and they still had not figured out an effective treatment for the masses.

[lunasicc42]

exactly

[Le Todd]

I think what was most disturbing was the fact that they were in the year 2154 and they still had not figured out an effective treatment for the masses.

It was fiction. I have great news for you: You won't be alive in 2154 and neither will I.

[Buttabean]

I was hoping to hear a donation from James Cameron with all those billions they're making off it but all well lol

[Tufelhunden]

I think what was most disturbing was the fact that they were in the year 2154 and they still had not figured out an effective treatment for the masses.

Maybe not for the "masses", but there was an effective treatment available if one could pay for it. In fact, the corporal's commanding officer promised that he would pay for a treatment that would get the "use of his legs...his real legs" back if he underwent a successful completion of his mission.

[Wise Young]

That's a great article to read - thanks for posting it!

I disagree with the statement about his transferring and lifting his legs ... the 'link' was quite a bit higher than his chair and I remember thinking that would be an awkward transfer because of the height difference, even for me.

I read on IMDB that the legs were prosthetics and he knelt in the chair ... I also disagree in that I *have* seen men with tiny legs like that ... not unusual.

Let's hope in the future that thick cushions aren't needed ... lol. Yes, I did notice there was no cushion on the chair as well .. no one ever notices the cushion anyway.

Otherwise, I agree with everything else said in the article ... it's refreshing to see 'us' portrayed this way. I totally agree that Million Dollar Baby was bad for us.

The only thing I disagreed with Ms New Jersey (isn't she here at CC - quite beautiful!) is that I *would* choose to stay in another world away from family and friends in order to walk - even if I had to be blue! lol Personal choice though.

Lynnifer,

Yes, Santina is on here, as well as facebook. She is wonderful.

I liked Avatar quite a lot. Despite all the technological advances, the human limitations are still very much present. It is interesting that the story would choose to emphasize a soldier who was injured in battle but could not afford the therapy to walk again. The concept of transferring minds into another body seems to be the ultimate cure.

Now that I have had some time to think about it, the concept of being able to see, feel, hear, and move another body is perhaps not so strange. After all, there is a whole generation of teenagers who have grown up on Nintendo WII and other games, spending many hours kicking, jumping, shooting, and otherwise smashing their way through armies of trolls.

Wise.

[0xSquidy]

Do you remember Minority Report (tom cruise)? There's a scene where he walks in some kinda store that offer you very special services.
They attach some wires to people so people can live any experience they want to i.e. i remember kill their boss and another guy who wanted to be in a room full of people praising him and clapping.
There's another reference, the Matrix movie.

It wouldn't be physically impossible to achieve that... We're missing the "how" again here.

Lynnifer,

Yes, Santina is on here, as well as facebook. She is wonderful.

I liked Avatar quite a lot. Despite all the technological advances, the human limitations are still very much present. It is interesting that the story would choose to emphasize a soldier who was injured in battle but could not afford the therapy to walk again. The concept of transferring minds into another body seems to be the ultimate cure.

Now that I have had some time to think about it, the concept of being able to see, feel, hear, and move another body is perhaps not so strange. After all, there is a whole generation of teenagers who have grown up on Nintendo WII and other games, spending many hours kicking, jumping, shooting, and otherwise smashing their way through armies of trolls.

Wise.

[chick]

... The concept of transferring minds into another body seems to be the ultimate cure.

Now that I have had some time to think about it, the concept of being able to see, feel, hear, and move another body is perhaps not so strange. After all, there is a whole generation of teenagers who have grown up on Nintendo WII and other games, spending many hours kicking, jumping, shooting, and otherwise smashing their way through armies of trolls.

The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1959)
A scientist's girlfriend is killed in a car crash. She is decapitated and he keeps her head alive while he hunts for a new body...

[Wise Young]

I wonder what it would be like to be transferred to the body of this creature

[KIM]

I want my body back. It´s mine.

[Shwetarose]

I think what was most disturbing was the fact that they were in the year 2154 and they still had not figured out an effective treatment for the masses.

lol...too good...nevamind..we are gonna have treatment soon...avatar still not watched.. planning in this week.

[Wise Young]

lol...too good...nevamind..we are gonna have treatment soon...avatar still not watched.. planning in this week.

The part that I liked was when he first got into the alien body and was standing there with his toes in the soil, he was curling them and feeling the direct between them. The part where he flies the banshees was also great.

Wise.

[lynnifer]

Curling the toes into the soil got me ... that's all I've wanted except I want it to be beach sand. Got a healed up foot now ... just waiting for the miraculous sensory return treatment ... just asking for a miracle, lol.