Some see racist theme in ‘Avatar’
HOLLYWOOD: Near the end of the hit film “Avatar,” the villain snarls at the hero, “How does it feel to betray your own race?” Both men are white — although the hero is inhabiting a blue-skinned, 9-foot-tall, long-tailed alien. Strange as it may seem for a film that pits greedy, immoral humans against noble denizens of a faraway moon, “Avatar” is being criticized by a small but vocal group of people who allege it contains racist themes — the white hero once again saving the primitive natives. Since the film opened to widespread critical acclaim three weeks ago, hundreds of blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have made claims such as that the film is “a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people” and reinforces “the white Messiah fable.” The film’s writer and director, James Cameron, says the real theme is about respecting others’ differences.
China rewards student for porn-surfing
BEIJING: A college student in China who said his studies suffered after he discovered Internet porn has been awarded 10,000 yuan ($1,466) for helping the government crack down on sexual content online. The unidentified student at an unnamed college in northern Shanxi province reported 32 websites that contained pornography, winning a nationwide contest that has encouraged Web-surfers to hunt down porn, state media said Monday. “In the past, when I was in middle school, I used to get grades that were good enough to enter a really good university,” the Beijing News quoted the young man as saying. “It is because of the influence of pornography on the Internet that I was only able to go to junior college,” said the student. The nation maintains strict censorship of the Internet to curb what the government deems to be unhealthy content including porn and violence — a system known as the “Great Firewall of China.”
Newspapers a step ahead in local news
SAN FRANCISCO: Most local news still flows from newspapers even as an Internet-driven upheaval diminishes the depth of their coverage, according to a study released Monday. The findings are based on an analysis of how local news stories evolved in Baltimore during one week last summer. The review by Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism monitored 53 media outlets — newspapers, television and radio stations and Web-only operations. Newspapers and their websites provided 61 percent of the original reporting or fresh information on six major news stories that unfolded during the week of July 19-25, the study found. Local television stations and their websites accounted for 28 percent of the new information, followed by radio stations and their sites at 7 percent and Internet-only “new media” at 4 percent. The conclusions bolster the arguments of newspaper publishers and editors who trumpet their publications as indispensable sources of information about their communities.
Sailor stung by jellyfish in freak mishap
SYDNEY: A sailor had an unlucky encounter with a deadly irukandji jellyfish, 25 meters above the sea. The bizarre incident occurred in Australia’s northern waters as the man fished off a bulk carrier, officials said Monday. The Central Queensland Helicopter Rescue Service said it was not known whether the man reeled in the tiny marine animal, which is the size of a small fingernail, or whether it was splashed on to him by a freak wave. “He was splashed in the face but I don’t know that it was in that water,” a spokeswoman for the rescue service told AFP. “It could have been something he reeled in.” The man was an hour’s flight away from the Queensland coast when he was stung, was fishing from the deck of the carrier about 25 meters above the water level when he was stung by the extremely venomous creature. “Realistically, what are the chances of being stung by a jellyfish when you are safely on board a bulk carrier 25 meters above the water. It’s really incredible,” said Geoff Abrahams, an air crewman on the rescue.
— Compiled from agencies
