Okay, I admit it; I have seen Avatar more than once. In fact, I have contributed twice to the billions of dollars Avatar has grossed worldwide. Obviously, I enjoyed the movie if I went back to view it for a second time. Avatar, with its stunning visual effects, is a movie you have to attend at the theatre to experience it on the big screen.
After my first viewing, I left the movie both joyful and contemplative. I was joyful because I had just spent the night out with my wonderful wife. I was contemplative because I couldn’t help but notice the worldview being communicated in Avatar. It definitely portrayed the people of earth (mainly Americans) as greedy, selfish, divisive, deceptive and arrogant. It also displayed a combination of pantheism, Hinduism, New Age and Indian worship rituals as the way to create a utopian society. Christianity was completely left out.
A week after my first viewing of Avatar, I had a friend tell me about the “Avatar Blues” that people were experiencing after the movie. James Cameron's completely immersive spectacle "Avatar" may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.
So, after hearing about this phenomena, I went back to see the movie again wondering if I would experience the “Avatar Blues”. I did not, but I did get better insight into what is causing the “Avatar Blues”.
In their race to mine for Pandora's resources, the humans clash with the Na'vi, leading to casualties on both sides. The world of Pandora is reminiscent of a prehistoric fantasyland, filled with dinosaur-like creatures mixed with the kinds of fauna you may find in the deep reaches of the ocean. Compared with life on Earth, Pandora is a beautiful, glowing utopia.
According to a CNN report by Jo Piazza, a person named Mike wrote on the fan Web site "Naviblue" that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie. 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," Mike posted. "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.' "
Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality. Ivar Hill posts to the "Avatar" forum page under the name Eltu. He wrote about his post-"Avatar" depression after he first saw the film earlier this month.
"When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning," Hill wrote on the forum. "It just seems so ... meaningless. I still don't really see any reason to keep ... doing things at all. I live in a dying world."
Did you experience the Avatar Blues?
Stayed tuned for part 2 of “I Missed the Avatar Blues”.
No comments:
Post a Comment