Avatar

I had a date with the BFFFLF today. We were going to watch a movie we had both seen before.

Same same, but different. Avatar. In 3D this time.

Seeing Avatar in 3D was as good as watching a new movie. Though my eyes were droopy the rest of the day, it was money and time well spent.

My favourite character is an unlikely candidate though. Michelle Rodriguez plays a pilot with a name so strange no one I know remembers it. Samantha could remember the alien's names better than hers. But her character is my favourite. *spoiler alert*

Unlike all the other human good guys, this little girl doesn't fight in a remotely controlled body. Even the hero Jake Sully goes to war piloting an alien body while his real body is safety hidden in a base, so even if his Avatar gets killed, he just gets up from the machine unharmed.

This little girl doesn't have that luxury. She flies into the battle in person and brings her machine guns to bare. She risks her life and valiantly fights for what she believes in right till the end. She's not your usual hero because she doesn't live to tell the tale, but her martyrdom makes her my hero.

One more thing. The biggest criticism one would have of Jake Sully is that he slept with the chief's daughter before his true intentions for joining the tribe were made known, which broke her heart and makes him a problematic character. Michelle's character on the other hand had no such flaws, and she also did something totally worthy of respect.

When all the aircraft were firing upon the home tree, Michelle chose not to. This to me was awesome. She was not on the side of the alien race when she made this decision. In other words, she stood up against evil even when that meant she was the only one doing so.

That, to me, is a character worthy of respect.

So though she went down in flames, she did it fighting for what she believed in and died with an untainted character.

If only I could have such courage.