[Milsurplus] Throat mics in movie 'Avatar'

[Hubert Miller]

I went and saw the movie 'Avatar 2' last Saturday. I could say it was a chilling experience, but that was only because the heat had failed in the theater No.2
Why am I posting this here? Only because 'throat microphones' were seen in the movie. There didn't seem to be any gizmo for communicating connected
to the throat mics, so they must operate on their own magic. The elastic band holding the mics was seen closer up later in the movie. The fastener or take-up
thing, whatever you call it, and the band actually reminded me of an Ericsson throat mic which somehow ended up in Germany after WW2. It's entirely
possible, I think, that neutral Sweden sold Germany some communications accessories as well as raw materials, iron ore. Anyway in the movie, when the
character wanted to use the throat mic, the character with one hand press the microphone elements against the throat more. I don't know if this is SOP
with ordinary throat mics or not. The German tank radio throat mics kind of look like walkman headphones in a way and their design always has the
elements in contact with the throat, so that move isn't necessary to get audio. Ditto for German flak crew headset assemblies. I don't know about US
throat mics or aviation types. In the movie, the actual mic element is about half-dollar size and is a white disk with maybe a metal center. Makes me wonder
now if that's an actual commercial product they bought or if they made it for the movie.
The movie: I cannot recommend it if you're outside the ages of 12 to 16. I don't care for this genre and I conclude, pretty ho-hum, a comic book in motion.
No bad language, one obscene hand gesture, lots of explosions. However ! I don't really think my fellow human species is quite that bad. We have some
plunderers but overall I don't think we're really the worst lot in the universe. I did not at all appreciate the contempt the movie revealed for the U.S.
military. I am particularly incensed over a scene where the human - created avatars burn some Nav'i village. The commander says, "Burn the hooches!"
The kids and uninformed adults who see this movie no doubt won't pick up the allusion to 'Nam. There are other examples I can cite plus some just
really, really dumb dialog. I mean really dumb, but if you're say 14 years old, you're not going to know that.

I looked at a review on National Review website just to see if I was imagining my take and I see they make some similar points. I only read one review, in
the New York Times, and they only mentioned that the water scenes seemed to remind many viewers that they should visit the restroom. I did not find that
to be true. But I wish the mainstream reviewers had dealt head-on honestly with the anti-human anti-American subliminal subtext in this movie.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/12/avatar-or-art-a-contest-for-your-mind/
My overall: if you really like fantasy comic books, you might like this movie. So now I know what the buzz is about, at least. My date said the movie was a
big, big seller. I could not sit through another like it. Forgive me the taking time to post all this largely off topic content. However the subject of 'throat mics'
continues to interest me and I thought I'd post about them. We had a discussion some months back about the subject. So there is some mil radio content
here.
Probably if you have comment more on this film than throat mics, you should address me privately, not on the group.
-Hue Miller, K7HUE
Newport Oregon

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