This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Tongpu: Just a question Re: "Pointed Ears... or it could be done to up the Ho Yay factor" I don't get it. What do pointed ears have to do with homosexuality?
Earnest: It's because character who have pointed ears are either an elf or an anime character. Of course, since both are slight, always beautiful and frequently very pretty even if they're men, the stereotype is that they're gay/bi. The "boys love" aspect of anime certainly doesn't help.
Sylvia Sybil: I removed the Avatar example since, like it says, there was never any attempt to fool anyone as to the avatars' true identities or natures.
- In Avatar, after the all the effort and technology the humans went through to create remote-controlled alien clones, the Na'Vi are never actually fooled for a second. (at least not durin the events of the film) Possibly because all the real Na'Vi all know each-other, or because they've seen Avatars before, or because he was acting like an idiot. It does beg the question however; if they were making Avatars so that they could interact with and/or form diplomatic ties with the Na'Vi, why the hell did they dress the Avatars in human military clothing? why even make cargo shorts, jackets, boots and T-Shirts that tall?
- The Avatars were never intended to fool the Na'vi - there's no way that humans could get all their social cues correct without aid, and they have distinct physical differences, most notably five fingers instead of four. Their main purpose is to have a higher survival rate for the scientific expeditions in the highly dangerous Pandoran jungles, and make interaction with the natives more comfortable. It makes sense for them to wear human clothes, since the diplomatic association with the Na'vi was intended to gently impose human cultural values on them, rather than to assume their values.
