Catsidhe

They hired some biologists for this, didn't they.

They also hired some linguists.

What does it say that I can watch this, and come out with grammar. (Na'Vi means "The People", and one of the first things I hear is Na'Vi'a, which is obviously the vocative case, and I wonder if Na' is the definite article.)

And yet... maybe they did too good a job. Because I notice patterns. The Na'Vi language is human... it can be pronounced by a human throat, it contains no alien sounds, no alien combinations, from the sounds of it a fairly normal human grammar. (It doesn't seem as alien as Klingon, or even Sindarin, for that matter.)

And then there are the Na'Vi themselves. There is a pattern with the body pattern: they are hexapedal, quad-ocular, their nostril analogues are where the chest and neck meet. And this is regular. Even the flying creatures have two sets of wings and a pair of legs.

Except the Na'Vi.

Are they mammals? The women have breasts. Or at least fleshy bumps in the right place. They have nostrils in the Earth-normal place. They have four limbs, and no signs of an even vestigial third pair. They gesture with their hands. They cover their groins. They smile and laugh like apes. And they have human teeth when they do.

They're tall blue monkeys.

And yet they have that neural connection tail thing. All I can wonder is if they are ret-connable as genetic constructs in the first place.

Because all the efforts they went to to make it biologically plausible combine with the necessities of making protagonists humanoid enough to empathise with to almost make it worse than if they hadn't gone to all that trouble.


That's not even going into all the "Corporations would burn the world for a profit", "Savage natives can only be saved by the Great White Hero" competing plots, pissing off the Left and the Right in almost equal measure.


But all that aside, it sure is very, very pretty.

Took the girls to see Up today. Both were very excited, both were well-behaved, both liked the movie. So did mimdancer and I. It's bittersweet, though. The start of the movie is the story of a life together... and how those childhood dreams got put off and put off... until it was too late. The kids were sad. The adults were quietly weeping.

But it's a Pixar movie, and therefore absolutely brilliant. Kevin the bird is not a human in a feathery suit: she's a bird. Doug the Dog is a dog, albeit one who can talk. But even being able to talk emphasised how much he is a dog. “I've just met you, and I love you— SQUIRREL!...”

Susi was quiet, laughing at all the right places, concerned at others. Abi was more actively involved in the story, leaping to her feet, standing in concern, occasionally shouting “No! Don't do that!”.




Earlier in the day Abi came in while I was putting my boots on and had a snuggle. She is looking forward to Father's day, as if it were Christmas day or my birthday or something. (She even woke this morning with a cry of “Susi! Tomorrow is Father's day!”)
As she was snuggling, she said “Daddy, you're the best father I've ever had.”
“I'm also the worst father you've ever had,” I pointed out.
She looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yeah,” she said matter-of-factly, “sometimes.”

Mouths of Babes.

Well, I've just come home from V for Vendetta

You must see this film.

( More thoughts -- spoiler free )

But beyond that, it helped crystallise some thoughts for me.

( What I realised... )