Alderman Balcer Hates Avatar

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Jan 8, 2010 5:00PM

A few of us finally hopped on the bandwagon and saw the current blockbuster film Avatar. And while we found it visually stunning, we also found it a poorly written mash-up of the Pocahontas legend and Return of the Jedi. We're not the only ones who weren't impressed. Ald. James Balcer (11th) is adding a local flavor to a national outcry, railing against the film for what he says are anti-American sentiments. Balcer, a decorated Vietnam War vet (Marines), tells CBS 2 that the movie, "makes Marines 'look like lunatics...We are a good, generous country that helps people.'" Balcer pointed to the film's representation of the American military: "Well, they never mentioned America but when you have the eagle, globe and anchor -- the Marine Corps emblem -- it has to be America." Balcer's a bit off, but not completely: the film's antagonist is actually a large private corporation. But the company's use of power-hungry, blood-thirsty ex-marines is pretty transparent and over-the-top; James Cameron may as well have called them Halli-water. But the important question to Ald. Balcer seems to have gone unasked: what did he think of the 3D?