The Movie Avatar??? What the heyl is going on?
on 1/13/10 4:15 am, edited 1/13/10 4:16 am - Sweet Dreams lives in , PA
First there depressed folks wanting to kill themselves over it and then you have a debate about racial overtones going on???
http://news.yahoo.com/s/huffpost/20100112/en_huffpost/420605
Avatar-Induced Depression: Coping With The Intangibility Of Pandora (VIDEO)
AP – FILE - In this file film publicity image released by 20th Century Fox, the character Neytiri, voiced …
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Play Video Video:'Avatar' continues to soar in theaters AP -
Play Video Video:"Avatar" No. 1 again. Reuters
The beautiful alien planet Pandora depicted in James Cameron's 'Avatar' is so captivating that some audience members are becoming depressed and even suicidal when they fail to find meaning in real life after the film is over.
Writes Jo Piazza for CNN.com:
On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.
Here are just a few of the ways people are coping on Avatar-Forums.com :
"I jus****ched avatar a few weeks ago and I'm feeling depressed and sad. It's like I want to reach out and be in Pandora. I'd do anything to be in Pandora. I've tried so hard to dream about me being on Pandora but it hasn't worked."
"Ever since I went to see 'Avatar' I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na'vi made me want to be one of them. I can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it. I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in 'Avatar.'"
"Because, at this point, there isn't pretty much anything else that can be done. Until the release of DVD/BluRay. But even that won't take away all of the depression. Because you know you can never actually go to Pandora, as it exists only in our imagination... sigh... :("
Whether or not these posts are for real there is reason to believe the affliction is rooted in legitimate despair.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/6968020/Avatar-hit-by-claims-of-racism.html
Avatar hit by accusations of racism
James Cameron's $1 billion sci-fi epic Avatar has been hit by accusations of racism.
By Anita Singh, Showbusiness Editor
Published: 6:31PM GMT 11 Jan 2010
Avatar is set on a distant planet populated by the Na'vi, an eco-conscious, blue-skinned alien tribe with no understanding of modern technology. A disabled Marine, played by the Australian actor Sam Worthington, is sent to infiltrate the tribe but soon "goes native" and leads them in a defence of their homeland against the white invaders.
He also falls in love with an alien woman, *****jects a Na'vi suitor and becomes his wife. The main Na'vi characters are played by black actors, including Zoe Saldana and Laz Alonso.
David Brooks, a columnist writing in the New York Times, said: "Avatar is a racial fantasy par excellence ... It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic. It rests on the assumption that non-whites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace.
"It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration."
The ruthless treatment of the Na'vi has been interpreted as a metaphor for the plight of American Indians. Brooks said Avatar followed a long tradition of "white Messiah" movies which began in the 1970s with A Man Called Horse, starring Richard Harris as an English aristocrat who is captured by a Sioux Indian tribe and becomes their leader, and whi*****ludes Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves and the Tom Cruise film, The Last Samurai.
Robinne Lee, a black actress who appeared opposite Will Smith in the film Seven Pounds, is also among Avatar's detractors.
Likening the film to Pocahontas – "the Indian woman leads the white man into the wilderness, and he learns the way of the people and becomes the saviour" – she said: "It's really upsetting in many ways. It would be nice if we could save ourselves."
Annalee Newitz, editor-in-chief of io9.com, a sci-fi website, said: "The main white characters realise that they are complicit in a system which is destroying aliens, aka people of colour ... then go beyond assimilation and become leaders of the people they once oppressed. When will whites stop making these movies and start thinking about race in a new way?" Cameron strongly denied any racist intent. He said that his film "asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world. I hardly think that is a racist message."
The controversy has done little to dent Avatar's remarkable run at the box office. It took just 17 days to pass $1 billion in ticket sales – a new record – and to become the second highest grossing film of all time behind Titanic, also directed by Cameron.
on 1/13/10 5:34 am, edited 1/13/10 5:34 am - Sweet Dreams lives in , PA
She says it a little long but that it kept her interest.
Yes, there are some racial issues implied... but it can be any race implied.. you got to see it .. to get what I mean
But everything about the movie is so pretty..it is a grea****ch..and the theaters are still packed a month after opening
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on 1/13/10 6:19 am, edited 1/13/10 6:38 am - Sweet Dreams lives in , PA
I had it in my mind to see it...and when looking for reviews came across all this mess. I am going to try to fit it in my plans for the weekend!
ETA: I am loving your new avie too Wonkad....you have some serious guns going on....I want mine to look like that one day.
TRUE LOVE DOES NOT COME BY FINDING THE PERFECT PERSON BUT BY LEARNING TO SEE AN IMPERFECT PERSON PERFECTLY
"If you want to go forward, you put the car in D. If you want to go backward, you put the car in R." ~ President B. Obama
TRUE LOVE DOES NOT COME BY FINDING THE PERFECT PERSON BUT BY LEARNING TO SEE AN IMPERFECT PERSON PERFECTLY
"If you want to go forward, you put the car in D. If you want to go backward, you put the car in R." ~ President B. Obama
