In today’s blog we are straying away from Urology in order to discuss PNS. No, not PMS but PNS - that is Persistent Nausea Syndrome. If you are not the type of person that likes sarcasm, I would suggest you stop reading this weeks blog and wait for the next iteration in which we will again be discussing prostate cancer. But political correctness be damned and hopefully my bosses at the Jewish Times won’t mind. After watching Avatar on DVD the other night, my blood was boiling and I was nauseous for hours. Being an ardent science fiction and fantasy fan I went past disappointment into utter disgust. And now I’m going to take a few minutes to tell you why.

I realize that Hollywood is a bastion of liberalism. I understand that they truly believe they are smarter than the rest of us. They believe that if given the chance, we cretins down in the swamps would embrace their value system if only we heard enough about it and if it were explained to the masses of great unwashed, of which I count myself. The arrogance and hubris displayed by our movie industry is not so different than the stuff we get foisted upon us by our current government which seems to believe that the American people are not smart enough to make decisions for themselves and that all decision making should rest in the hands of the privileged few. I understand that there are a number of anti-war people who live in Hollyweird. I get it that they believe in green causes while living in their 15,000 square foot homes with carbon foot prints bigger than some small countries. And for those of you that might think I just don’t like environmentalists, I recycle rain water, grow at least 2/3 of our vegetable intake from the spring through the fall in large organic gardens, compost my organics and plan to retire to a place that is literally “off the grid.”

But Avatar took all of this to a totally new level. And it is time someone called out the moguls in Hollyweird and berated them for treating the American public like a bunch of idiots that need to be taught how to think. The one thing that I will say I enjoyed about Avatar was the outstanding video animation. The rest of the movie caused me dyspepsia and GERD. I had to double my Nexium dose and add in Tums and Zantac. Thus, I have dubbed Avatar the leading cause of PNS in movie history.

The main characters in the movie are one dimensional stereotypes par excellence. You start with the short, Caucasian, nebbish (Jewish?) obviously American unbridled super-capitalist businessman. His whole focus in life is to mine “unobtainium,” which is a valuable mineral below the surface of the planet where the indigenous population lives.  He does not care about demolishing the environment or the humanoids in the area which bear striking resemblance to a combination of Native and African Americans. You have the Caucasian testosterone laden military commander complete with southern accent who cares not one whit about the civilians that “have to die” in order for him to complete the mission and enhance the power of his country. You have Sigourney Weaver playing the bleeding heart liberal scientist whose focus is the relationship between the native peoples and the land.  You have the paraplegic Army guy who quickly becomes jaded as he incorporates himself into the native culture falling in love with the “kick butt” warrior princess. You have the noble native peoples with their pantheistic religion masquerading as monotheism in an “mother earth centered” culture. In short you have as many overdone cliche ridden plot lines as could possibly be squeezed into a 2 + hour movie. It was so nauseating, I honestly thought that I wasn’t going to make it through to the end of the movie.

So Hollyweird, how do you really feel about our value system in America? How do you really feel about capitalism as you are raking in millions of dollars pushing a movie which so roundly criticizes the economic system which makes you disgustingly rich?How do you really feel about our military who serve, protect and defend your right to make this kind of garbage?

Having spent a decade in the Army and having been sent to war as an officer, I can tell you that I have NEVER met an officer that doesn’t bear a heavy burden for the orders that he carries out. Are there some out there? Sure, but the majority take their jobs seriously and carry a heavy weight on their souls when civilians are caught in the crossfire of war. Having owned a business, albeit as a doctor, I don’t spend my life trying to figure out how to wring every last penny out of the system at the detriment of the people I care for and the environment in which I live.  And having been born in, fought for, and been proud of our country, which is still what most other country’s aspire to, I am offended at the arrogance, hubris, and disloyalty displayed by the Hollywood community that happily takes our money and then tells us what a lousy place we have to live in.

I apologize to my regular readers for this diatribe. But the JT didn’t limit my choice of topics. Today it was gastroenterology. That movie and these people made me nauseous enough to lose my dinner. Next time we will get back to Urology.