Avatar

So have you seen Avatar, released in December 2009 in time for the Holidays? It's about a world that goes a step beyond the world of The Matrix, in which, through the power of the mind, one can create a reality that otherwise wouldn't exist in the real world. The Avatar Advisory Opinion to which I refer above is Advisory Opinion 2009-04A. And Cameron's movie of the same name isn't bad, either.

Avatar - The Advisory Opinion

I give the DOL credit for dispensing with the Avatar request so efficiently, even with the change in administrations. The question essentially was whether the clear statutory rule that investment by a plan in a registered investment company does not cause the RIC's assets to be "plan assets" is somehow subject to question where the RIC involves asset-allocation techniques. Putting aside political questions, sometimes there really are straightforward answers manifest on the face of the statute. The DOL here easily declined to take existing wording and transport the wording into a world of alternative meanings. Well, the applicant got some news stories out of it, I guess.

Avatar - The Movie

More importantly, let's give James Cameron some credit for staying with his vision as technology evolved. Here, the question was whether clear technological impediments to the effectuation of his vision would ultimately stand in his way. Putting aside how much one does or does not like this movie, it is unquestionably a revolutionary and towering achievement. Cameron (unlike the proponents of the Advisory Opinion) was able successfully to create an entirely alternative world that previously existed only in his own mind. So now he has what look to be the two highest grossing movies of all time - quite an accomplishment (even if my beloved The Dark Knight looks to be heading to #3).

In Closing . . .

As can be seen, I'm pretty down on 2009-04A. I'm not sure much more need be said about it, other than to hope Congress doesn't do anything with any of the spurious reactions to it. See the 12/14/09 P&I story on certain post-Avatar (the Advisory Opinion) unfortunateness. Regarding the movie, just for the record, I think the accomplishment is as awesome as the buzz would lead you to believe. The story? I think it's not as bad as some of the critics would have you believe, nor as good as it would have needed to be to make the movie a pure classic. Compare Cameron's Avatar with Toy Story, which introduced brand new technology with a story that would have been spectacular if delivered by stick figures. And there were those whiz-bang moments (a la Happy Feet) where Cameron simply wanted you to see how cool he could be.

The Terminator, Aliens, Titanic, Avatar - wow. As for The Abyss? Let's just forget that one altogether, . . . or maybe just use the phrase to refer to the application that led to 2009-04A.