A friend tipped me off about this post at Arthur, which likens the successful uprising of the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) against two governments, (Papua New Guinea, and Australia) a division of mercenaries, and a giant mining corporation to the story of Avatar. It's a great parallel, and for this you don't need $20 or 3-D glasses or any of that shit.

Here's the first five minutes or so of The Coconut Revolution, which documents the BRA and the Bougavillians. It's not on Netfilx, and Scarecrow doesn't have it, but you can watch the whole thing here. You can also apparently buy it here. Not to take away from the first five minutes, but you should watch further in to get to some amazing-type stuff. Maybe wait until your boss takes his two-hour lunch or something. These dudes started out fighting helicopters and guns with bows and arrows, then got trapped with a gunboat blockade around the island, and they still came out on top. Look at how they make fuel. Look at how the leader carries two machine guns even though one of his arms is all fucked up. Look at the shot of a kid carrying a rifle past a long-ago sabotaged earth mover. I want to join these people.

Here is some text quoted from somewhere:

This is an incredible modern-day story of a native people’s victory over Western globalization. Sick of seeing their environment ruined and their people exploited by the Panguna Mine, the Pacific island of Bougainville rose up against the giant mining corporation, Rio Tinto Zinc. The newly formed Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) began fighting with bows and arrows and sticks and stones against a heavily armed adversary. In an attempt to put down the rebellion the Papua New Guinean Army swiftly established a gunboat blockade around the island, backed by Australian Military personnel and equipment. With no shipments allowed in or out of the island, the People of Bougainville learned to become self-dependent and self-sustained.

Take that, Cameron!

h/t: Danny Noonan