Critics are now saying the James Cameron's movie, Avatar, may have been too realistic. Fan forum sites for the movie have recently experienced an overwhelming amount of posts by users stating that they have felt depressed since seeing the movie. They have found it difficult to cope ever since seeing the movie and realizing that they may never get to live in a world as "beautiful" as the one that exists in the movie. Users have been saying that they found the world "gray" after seeing the movie, with some even saying that they wanted to "escape reality" and others contemplating suicide.
I personally find all of this absolutely ridiculous. While I have not seen the movie as of yet, I find it extremely difficult to imagine that seeing a nonexistent world would have enough of an impact to make me depressed or even suicidal. I think the people who have experienced these feelings need to realize that there are such beautiful places right on Earth; they're called rain forests, and they're being destroyed as we speak. So to the people who have seen the movie, what's your opinion? Should I risk seeing this potential life threatening movie?
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17 comments:
I'm sure that the people effected by this were already depressed in some way shape or form
I think that we can all agree that it'd be pretty bomb.com to mate in front of Aywah but the movie definitely did NOT make me depressed. After I saw it with about 13 fellow Hebrews after enjoying Dim-Sum, we all agreed that the movie was sensational and beautifully done. The weakest part of the film was the plot in my opinion; maybe people were depressed from the redundancy of that.
Ha,ha,ha, most people can't survive a day without their i-pods and cell phones, and they want to live in a world without electronics? They obviously have little appreciation for the trade-off that was made to live society the way we do now. In fact, if they do not go to watch the movie in the first place, they would not be sobbing over an imaginary place called Pandora. The irony of all this kills me.
No offense to anyone.
And Pandora has deadly wildlife that are even immune to small arms fire. Why these people forgot how vicious life in the wild is beyond me.
I think I've reached my limit of 2 comments per week.
Avatar was an amazing movie but it did have some weird plot parallels as has been pointed out. But then again, it was taking a look at the ultimate test of human nature from a familiar perspective so such similarities are to be expected.
The failblog item is in reference to the narrative and its cliche line of condescension and paternalism towards native peoples.
David Brooks recently wrote about this in the New York Times. Here's a taste:
"Every age produces its own sort of fables, and our age seems to have produced The White Messiah fable.
This is the oft-repeated story about a manly young adventurer who goes into the wilderness in search of thrills and profit. But, once there, he meets the native people and finds that they are noble and spiritual and pure. And so he emerges as their Messiah, leading them on a righteous crusade against his own rotten civilization...
The formula also gives movies a little socially conscious allure. Audiences like it because it is so environmentally sensitive. Academy Award voters like it because it is so multiculturally aware. Critics like it because the formula inevitably involves the loincloth-clad good guys sticking it to the military-industrial complex.
Yet of all the directors who have used versions of the White Messiah formula over the years, no one has done so with as much exuberance as James Cameron in “Avatar.”
“Avatar” is a racial fantasy par excellence. The hero is a white former Marine who is adrift in his civilization. He ends up working with a giant corporation and flies through space to help plunder the environment of a pristine planet and displace its peace-loving natives.
The peace-loving natives — compiled from a mélange of Native American, African, Vietnamese, Iraqi and other cultural fragments — are like the peace-loving natives you’ve seen in a hundred other movies. They’re tall, muscular and admirably slender. They walk around nearly naked. They are phenomenal athletes and pretty good singers and dancers.
The white guy notices that the peace-loving natives are much cooler than the greedy corporate tools and the bloodthirsty U.S. military types he came over with. He goes to live with the natives, and, in short order, he’s the most awesome member of their tribe. He has sex with their hottest babe. He learns to jump through the jungle and ride horses. It turns out that he’s even got more guts and athletic prowess than they do. He flies the big red bird that no one in generations has been able to master."
I agree wholeheartedly.
The people that are depressed about modernity after a neat trip to Pandora are probably unaware that they are buying into a racialist trope and will be appalled when they encounter Brooks' column.
I also have to agree with Kevin. Some people who romanticize primitive life have a very simplistic view of the world. However, I find most people of this type to be endearingly idealistic as well.
It wasn't the Garden of Eden that we ruined with our exploitative greed, folks. But we did ruin it. And to atone, we make and consume _Avatar_.
Hm.
Here's a link to the David Brooks column quoted above.
I tried to use html to blockquote (indent) the part that I quoted, but it didn't work, and I didn't want to use redundant quotation marks. Given today's warnings about your term paper, I had to delete that comment, and put in the actual " " marks.
This movie left me a little depressed, but not for any of the aforementioned reasons, but because one aspect this movie was entirely original, and, whether intended or not, left a firm reminder that the existentialists were right, perfect communion with another being, not being alone, does not exist for us.
For the Na'vi, with their "bond", this is possible. You can truly commune with other souls. You can link yourself with animals, with the "Tree of Souls", and for all we know, other Na'vi.
So in me this left a longing for that ability, a wish that perhaps we had developed in such a way. A wish that we could actually know each other, and actually experience other people, not just our perceptions of them.
I was not depressed after watching Avatar, but the strong anti-war and pro-environment defiently left an impression on me. The failblog thing was pretty funny and I defiently see the resemblance between the two movies, however Avatar did had many unique qualities
This sort of reminds me of the many people that fall in love with Edward Cullen and Jacob Black, and become depressed and mourn over the fact that these vampires and werewolfs don't exist in reality. People can get very attached to the fantasy world which sets high standards that reality can't always reach.
Jebsen, I must agree with you here. This is absolutely pathetic. Committing suicide over MJ's death. Now it's committing suicide over Avatar. How sad can people get? It's a MOVIE! It illustrated a point, and it deliberated it in a typical, cheesy, intuitive manner that was easily understandable. I mean, I think the upcoming "The Book of Eli" is going to be FANTASTIC! Am I going to commit suicide because the world doesn't respond to proper principles of ethics and morality that can change man's fate? Sad ... people are just flat out pathetic.
You would have to been pretty messed up before seeing that movie because i find it strange for a person to go as far as to kill himself just because of a movie.
Andrew, you mentioned the movie "The Book of Elie" in accordance with "proper principles of ethics and morality". Perhaps I misunderstood, but after watching the trailers for the movie, I have not discerned any great ethical message. But it does look like an exciting movie, and I'd like to know more about it. But all the same, what are these "proper principles of ethics and morality"?
And isn't it a little unfair to call people pathetic for feeling depressed or committing suicide? I had not suicidal implications after watching Avatar, but it did remind me of the existential principle of being permanently alone. And those who seriously considered or committed suicide after seeing this movie were probably depressed, and it doesn't seem fair to poke fun of people with such a serious affliction.
Why on Earth shouldn't a movie be thought provoking? Being mournful after seeing a tragedy is what I would consider natural. Movies can contain thought provoking questions that may end up depressing someone for a period of time. We don't look down on people that read a thought provoking book and become temporarily depressed, why should we do so for a movie? Because it's shorter? Less archaic? Neither of these means it can't contain some kind of message, whether correct or not.
I haven't seen the movie yet as well, but I have to agree. There are some strange people in the world (gun violence with Grand Theft Auto video games as an excuse, may I add?)
"...that there are such beautiful places right on Earth; they're called rain forests, and they're being destroyed as we speak."
I love that line. Well said. :)
-Katie Jensen
That. Is. Ridiculous. While watching the movie, I did in fact tear up and felt sad, afterwards, I felt no such depression. Of course, that is just me, but, like Kevin, I can't understand why anyone living in the modern world would think that they could survive in a world like Pandora. While Pandora is beautiful in it's own respect, most of what's shown in Pandora can be seen as something based off of real life plants and animals and what's currently being destroyed in our rain forests and ecosystems today. Personally, I think if they want to live in a place like Pandora, more people should practice recycling and preserving the beauty being destroyed in our world rather than chasing after an illusion based off of what used to be in abundance on Earth.
-Annie Yang
Yep rainforests are little pieces of our once beautiful world that we can still experience today. But they will eventually be destroyed to. U say recycle? Hello!! No matter how many of us recycle the world I'd f*#^ed and no amount of recycling or good deeds is going to save the rainforests. Yes there was an abundance of beauty on this planet but the way we have evolved and continue to evolve is destroying it. So maybe people who are more in tune with nature feel the effects of that loss more. This world would have been our own pandora once upon a time and I believe the ones who feel depressed after seein it are the ones who aren't happy living in this concrete jungle an I for one am one of them. Anyone who doesn't feel some sort of sadness after watching this film is the one who is truly out of touch with the REAL world
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