Avatar, Germany, and Me.

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head.  If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart. - Nelson Mandela

Yesterday afternoon, I went to go see the much hyped, much anticipated movie Avatar.   I had been planning on seeing this movie since Christmas day, and I finally made the time.   I promise I will not spoil the movie for you if you haven't seen it yet. 

I have a bad habit in movies like this of becoming "part of the movie."   I catch myself holding my breath, grinding my teeth, directing my tension where I have learned to direct my tension when I sing. (Yep, my left knee was sore when I walked out of the theater.)  The movie itself was thrilling.  There is no other way to put it...it was complete eye candy.   The few that complain about the "originality of the plot," are the same that would complain that the "perfect diamond" was "too perfect."   We may very well look back at this movie in 10-20 years and compare it to Star Wars in the ways that it may very well change film making.  So, if you have the chance, spend the extra couple of bucks and see Avatar in IMAX 3D.

One idea that stuck with me in Avatar was this idea of assimilating one's self into a culture or place that is foreign to you.   There are so many different ways that I could take this, but for the sake of this blog I want to talk just briefly about how this affects my move to Germany. I will let others play out the "politics of the movie."  One general theme of Avatar is how much you can gain from, and even become one with, a culture that is different than your own, especially if you allow yourself to be an empty canvas.

In Avatar, the scientists have said that they want to know about the Na'vi tribe.  The scientists have learned and know the language, they study these "humanoids" as if they were lab rats or actually some sort of Anthropology project, but they basically approach them as if they (for lack of a better way of putting it) were a bunch of know-it-alls.   The Na'vi refuse to trust them, because their brains are "already full." The acceptance of Jake Sully by the indigenous people only occurs after he shows that he is in fact a clean slate, and allows him to be completely immersed in their life and culture.

I was reading on a website yesterday that laid out some generalizations that Germans and Americans make about each other, and about how foreigners could be perceived.

Racism in everyday life is less prevalent in the US than in Germany, and it is discussed more. Americans do not (and cannot) assume that someone who cannot speak proper English or has brown skin must be a foreigner. In Germany, slight grammatical errors as well as foreign features are usually cause for scorn and different treatment. Foreign-looking people are constantly asked to show their papers by police. While some right-wing politicians ride the anti-immigrant wave in the US, the general population's view of immigrants is much more positive than that in Germany, where it is not at all uncommon to overhear a comment like "all they do is steal and take our jobs".  Axel Boldt

I think that part of the problem with German's (or any culture for that matter) acceptance of "outsiders" is partially the "outsider's" fault. People, even though they may "learn the language," do not actually allow themselves to become "one with the culture."   The old "if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck" is not good enough.   This, as Mandela says will only go to "his head."   Now, if you really put yourself in the duck's webbed-feet, listen, and allow yourself to be open to the possibility of not knowing everything, or perhaps anything, you may actually be accepted by the ducks as one of them, as you learn and grow from them.

I know that I have so much to learn from being in a new culture.  I think that my appreciation for the music, the art, the language, and the people can only be enhanced, by being there and living in it.  The great common language here is music.   I also realize that I have so much to learn about music that has been written in a language to be understood and heard by performers and audiences where German is their native language.  I know I can't begin to learn or experience this getting my doctorate or from reading a bunch of books.  I can only learn this by going in with no assumptions and an open mind and heart.