A black-and-white photo of a person mid-air in a Superman-style body suspension pose, supported by multiple hooks in their back and legs, smiling joyfully toward the camera. They are suspended horizontally in a large indoor space with high ceilings and visible rigging. A group of onlookers—some seated, some standing—watch with expressions of admiration, amusement, and support. The atmosphere is lively and communal, capturing a moment of shared experience and transformation.

Avatar (The movie)

I recently wrote about how the Saddle Ranch Chop House abuses their “Anti Gang Tattoo” Policy to keep out heavily tattooed “gang members” like myself and my tattooer friends but the real reason that we were at City Walk was to see the newly released movie Avatar.

Now anyone who knows me knows that I’m not a huge movie buff. Most of the time the biggest response you’ll get from me is “it was okay.” which generally means just that. When asked about Avatar, I said I liked it which means a lot coming from me. One of the things I liked was the integration of mods into the characters. It was so seemless and natural that is it wasn’t for the fact that some characters had stretched lobes and some didn’t, I would have assumed it was just the way they were “born”.

The movie’s male lead is a “jar head” and has stereotypical tribal tattoos.  I couldn’t find anything better so I’m using the images from the movie’s website. He’s got a tribal half sleeve on one arm which you can see a smidge of and a tribal armband on the other arm.

screen-shot-2009-12-20-at-125942-am

I’d be interested to know if these are Sam Worthington’s real tattoos or if they were fakes used for the movie. Google was about as helpful as ever in directing me to celebrity tattoo sites that had the typical Angelina Jolie tattoos and not much else.  This stuff isn’t as interesting, click through to see some more shots from the movie.

screen-shot-2009-12-20-at-125922-am

Nothing like scantily clad tiger/cat people to make your night more enjoyable. The female lead in the movie, Neytiri, has what look like 1/2″ stretched lobes, as did several of the other planets indigenous population. Coupled in with natural “stripes”, which remind me of Katzen, they flowed extremely well. I know it’s only a movie and these are just characters but that’s one beautiful looking cat lady.

screen-shot-2009-12-20-at-125907-am

The last “modification” though not a consensual one, is a mod that we’ve featured here on Modblog many times. We’ve seen all sorts of facial scarification like this one done on bouncers, bounty hunters and other people who want to look like they’ve either been stabbed or attacked by bears. Either way, I think the makeup department did a great job on this one because it looked really realistic on screen.

All of that being said, I definitely would recommend the movie. We saw it in 3D but I think it would be exceptional without the added special effects.

If I had more time, I’d make an IMDB style database of all the mods in movies, just for fun.

**Images are courtesy and property of Fox. Visit their website for more information on the movie.

Comments

200 responses to “Avatar (The movie)”

  1. Zephyr Avatar

    Tribe’s leader’s?

    Speaking the good english tonight >_< /headdesk

  2. Zephyr Avatar

    Tribe’s leader’s?

    Speaking the good english tonight >_< /headdesk

  3. Zephyr Avatar

    Tribe’s leader’s?

    Speaking the good english tonight >_< /headdesk

  4. Zephyr Avatar

    Tribe’s leader’s?

    Speaking the good english tonight >_< /headdesk

  5. Zephyr Avatar

    Tribe’s leader’s?

    Speaking the good english tonight >_< /headdesk

  6. Osiris Brackhaus Avatar
    Osiris Brackhaus

    Read your post and thought of another picture of my future husband with those tattoos.

    Look here.

    And yes, the stretched lobes and cuttings were cool to see.

  7. Osiris Brackhaus Avatar
    Osiris Brackhaus

    Read your post and thought of another picture of my future husband with those tattoos.

    Look here.

    And yes, the stretched lobes and cuttings were cool to see.

  8. Osiris Brackhaus Avatar
    Osiris Brackhaus

    Read your post and thought of another picture of my future husband with those tattoos.

    Look here.

    And yes, the stretched lobes and cuttings were cool to see.

  9. Osiris Brackhaus Avatar
    Osiris Brackhaus

    Read your post and thought of another picture of my future husband with those tattoos.

    Look here.

    And yes, the stretched lobes and cuttings were cool to see.

  10. Osiris Brackhaus Avatar
    Osiris Brackhaus

    Read your post and thought of another picture of my future husband with those tattoos.

    Look here.

    And yes, the stretched lobes and cuttings were cool to see.

  11. kelly Avatar
    kelly

    as a sci fi buff I can say Avatar was a great visual movie, but my attention was distratced away from the mods in the movie by one tired though well-placed question:

    http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

    aaaaaaaand GO!

  12. kelly Avatar
    kelly

    as a sci fi buff I can say Avatar was a great visual movie, but my attention was distratced away from the mods in the movie by one tired though well-placed question:

    http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

    aaaaaaaand GO!

  13. kelly Avatar
    kelly

    as a sci fi buff I can say Avatar was a great visual movie, but my attention was distratced away from the mods in the movie by one tired though well-placed question:

    http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

    aaaaaaaand GO!

  14. kelly Avatar
    kelly

    as a sci fi buff I can say Avatar was a great visual movie, but my attention was distratced away from the mods in the movie by one tired though well-placed question:

    http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

    aaaaaaaand GO!

  15. kelly Avatar
    kelly

    as a sci fi buff I can say Avatar was a great visual movie, but my attention was distratced away from the mods in the movie by one tired though well-placed question:

    http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

    aaaaaaaand GO!

  16. Tranque Avatar
    Tranque

    I work at Micky D’s, and was thrilled when I realized that the female character on the giant promotional card board cut-out had stretched lobes.
    It makes me warm and fuzzy inside every time I walk by it.

  17. Tranque Avatar
    Tranque

    I work at Micky D’s, and was thrilled when I realized that the female character on the giant promotional card board cut-out had stretched lobes.
    It makes me warm and fuzzy inside every time I walk by it.

  18. Tranque Avatar
    Tranque

    I work at Micky D’s, and was thrilled when I realized that the female character on the giant promotional card board cut-out had stretched lobes.
    It makes me warm and fuzzy inside every time I walk by it.

  19. Tranque Avatar
    Tranque

    I work at Micky D’s, and was thrilled when I realized that the female character on the giant promotional card board cut-out had stretched lobes.
    It makes me warm and fuzzy inside every time I walk by it.

  20. Tranque Avatar
    Tranque

    I work at Micky D’s, and was thrilled when I realized that the female character on the giant promotional card board cut-out had stretched lobes.
    It makes me warm and fuzzy inside every time I walk by it.

  21. Aaron Avatar

    Meh, I watched it for fre3 on WikiBlast (.) net and the begining of the movies wasnt bad but the end was too predictible.

  22. Aaron Avatar

    Meh, I watched it for fre3 on WikiBlast (.) net and the begining of the movies wasnt bad but the end was too predictible.

  23. Aaron Avatar

    Meh, I watched it for fre3 on WikiBlast (.) net and the begining of the movies wasnt bad but the end was too predictible.

  24. Aaron Avatar

    Meh, I watched it for fre3 on WikiBlast (.) net and the begining of the movies wasnt bad but the end was too predictible.

  25. Aaron Avatar

    Meh, I watched it for fre3 on WikiBlast (.) net and the begining of the movies wasnt bad but the end was too predictible.

  26. Kris G Avatar
    Kris G

    I couldn’t help buy smile when I saw Neytiri’s (female lead) stretched lobe. There’s also a chieftain of a horse riding clan later in the movie who had a sort of nose piercing, one going straight through the nose horizontally . I know it has a name but I dont know what it is.
    The movie was wonderful though. Rarely do I see such a great balance of elements; action, romance, good visuals, character development, characters to hate and to love, a decent yet not too complex plot, and scenes that grab your attention or bring tears to the eye. Outside of the fun body mods here and there Avatar was a fantastic movie.

  27. Kris G Avatar
    Kris G

    I couldn’t help buy smile when I saw Neytiri’s (female lead) stretched lobe. There’s also a chieftain of a horse riding clan later in the movie who had a sort of nose piercing, one going straight through the nose horizontally . I know it has a name but I dont know what it is.
    The movie was wonderful though. Rarely do I see such a great balance of elements; action, romance, good visuals, character development, characters to hate and to love, a decent yet not too complex plot, and scenes that grab your attention or bring tears to the eye. Outside of the fun body mods here and there Avatar was a fantastic movie.

  28. Kris G Avatar
    Kris G

    I couldn’t help buy smile when I saw Neytiri’s (female lead) stretched lobe. There’s also a chieftain of a horse riding clan later in the movie who had a sort of nose piercing, one going straight through the nose horizontally . I know it has a name but I dont know what it is.
    The movie was wonderful though. Rarely do I see such a great balance of elements; action, romance, good visuals, character development, characters to hate and to love, a decent yet not too complex plot, and scenes that grab your attention or bring tears to the eye. Outside of the fun body mods here and there Avatar was a fantastic movie.

  29. Kris G Avatar
    Kris G

    I couldn’t help buy smile when I saw Neytiri’s (female lead) stretched lobe. There’s also a chieftain of a horse riding clan later in the movie who had a sort of nose piercing, one going straight through the nose horizontally . I know it has a name but I dont know what it is.
    The movie was wonderful though. Rarely do I see such a great balance of elements; action, romance, good visuals, character development, characters to hate and to love, a decent yet not too complex plot, and scenes that grab your attention or bring tears to the eye. Outside of the fun body mods here and there Avatar was a fantastic movie.

  30. Kris G Avatar
    Kris G

    I couldn’t help buy smile when I saw Neytiri’s (female lead) stretched lobe. There’s also a chieftain of a horse riding clan later in the movie who had a sort of nose piercing, one going straight through the nose horizontally . I know it has a name but I dont know what it is.
    The movie was wonderful though. Rarely do I see such a great balance of elements; action, romance, good visuals, character development, characters to hate and to love, a decent yet not too complex plot, and scenes that grab your attention or bring tears to the eye. Outside of the fun body mods here and there Avatar was a fantastic movie.

  31. avatar movie wallpapers Avatar

    great movie i have to say but dont understand why some people see this movie as racist do you?

  32. avatar movie wallpapers Avatar

    great movie i have to say but dont understand why some people see this movie as racist do you?

  33. avatar movie wallpapers Avatar

    great movie i have to say but dont understand why some people see this movie as racist do you?

  34. avatar movie wallpapers Avatar

    great movie i have to say but dont understand why some people see this movie as racist do you?

  35. avatar movie wallpapers Avatar

    great movie i have to say but dont understand why some people see this movie as racist do you?

  36. Becky Avatar
    Becky

    It looks like Sam does have a real tattoo – 5 stars in a circle under his right shoulder

    http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/AINMWMEEPMm/Sam+Worthington+Named+GQ+Man+Year/6ThzYVXE4rn/Sam+Worthington

  37. Becky Avatar
    Becky

    It looks like Sam does have a real tattoo – 5 stars in a circle under his right shoulder

    http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/AINMWMEEPMm/Sam+Worthington+Named+GQ+Man+Year/6ThzYVXE4rn/Sam+Worthington

  38. Becky Avatar
    Becky

    It looks like Sam does have a real tattoo – 5 stars in a circle under his right shoulder

    http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/AINMWMEEPMm/Sam+Worthington+Named+GQ+Man+Year/6ThzYVXE4rn/Sam+Worthington

  39. Becky Avatar
    Becky

    It looks like Sam does have a real tattoo – 5 stars in a circle under his right shoulder

    http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/AINMWMEEPMm/Sam+Worthington+Named+GQ+Man+Year/6ThzYVXE4rn/Sam+Worthington

  40. Becky Avatar
    Becky

    It looks like Sam does have a real tattoo – 5 stars in a circle under his right shoulder

    http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/AINMWMEEPMm/Sam+Worthington+Named+GQ+Man+Year/6ThzYVXE4rn/Sam+Worthington

  41. Fumiko Sanchez Avatar

    I love the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a very new feelings but inspiring thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to see it again…!

  42. Fumiko Sanchez Avatar

    I love the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a very new feelings but inspiring thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to see it again…!

  43. Fumiko Sanchez Avatar

    I love the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a very new feelings but inspiring thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to see it again…!

  44. Fumiko Sanchez Avatar

    I love the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a very new feelings but inspiring thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to see it again…!

  45. Fumiko Sanchez Avatar

    I love the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a very new feelings but inspiring thoughts of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to see it again…!

  46. Fausto Aguila Avatar

    I really like the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a totally new sensation but eye opening ideas of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, can’t wait to see it again…!

  47. Fausto Aguila Avatar

    I really like the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a totally new sensation but eye opening ideas of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, can’t wait to see it again…!

  48. Fausto Aguila Avatar

    I really like the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a totally new sensation but eye opening ideas of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, can’t wait to see it again…!

  49. Fausto Aguila Avatar

    I really like the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a totally new sensation but eye opening ideas of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, can’t wait to see it again…!

  50. Fausto Aguila Avatar

    I really like the Avatar 3D film, particularly the story line, not only it brings a totally new sensation but eye opening ideas of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, can’t wait to see it again…!

Latest Tattoo, Piercing, and Body Modification News

  • Twelve Points to the Sky
    There’s a particular kind of magic that happens at your first big suspension gathering when you arrive with nerves, an open heart, and the quiet hope of flight. Guided by the encouragement of mentor Lynn Loheide and driven by the quiet confidence of belonging, Alex… Read more: Twelve Points to the Sky
  • Ontario SusCon 2025
    In March 2025, BME attended the Ontario Suspension Convention in Hamilton, hosted by the Kevin Donaghy and the Ontario Suspension Collective. We had the pleasure to take part and help document the event, but also run a booth to sell a bunch of old (but… Read more: Ontario SusCon 2025
  • Welcome Back to Body Modification Ezine
    Dear BME Community, We’ve been gone far too long, but BME is back to give people a voice, a space, a community. With time everything evolves, and BME may be different than you remember. Our goal is to stay true to Shannon and Rachel’s values… Read more: Welcome Back to Body Modification Ezine
  • BME Social Media
    Word of mouth has been our method of reuniting the community, and it has brought a substantial amount of us together. I am inspired by your loyalty and I want to remind more people of BME’s existence. In 2020 we gained control over @bmezine on… Read more: BME Social Media
  • BMEShop
    Despite the hurricanes in 2015 which destroyed almost all of what Rachel owned, she managed to save the original inventory from BME. We have relisted some of the stock on BMEShop.com with the hopes you may be interested.  Our first drop includes a selection of… Read more: BMEShop
  • Rachel Larratt 1980-2022
    Unfortunately, when we lost some of the ModBlog content, it included the post about Rachel’s passing. (Original Post) Rachel passed away on June 22, 2022. She died in her sleep. Even now, it’s extremely difficult to write this post. Rachel meant so much to so… Read more: Rachel Larratt 1980-2022