Avatar Is So Beautiful, It Makes People Suicidal
By James Brady RyanJanuary 12th, 2010, 1:45 pmComments (13)
I can relate, because this is exactly how I felt after seeing Hotel for Dogs. The fact that I would never get to stay in, drop by, or run an actual hotel exclusively for dogs made me wonder what the point of it all was. And maybe, if I took that step into the unknown, I would wake up with Andi and Bruce working the doggie spa, while Heather, Dave, and even good ol' Bernie Wilkins operate the doggie coat check and make sure only the best doggie champagne and doggie hookers are delivered to the doggie CEO in the presidential suite. (It should go without saying that I have no idea what is going on right now.)
If you think that sounds depressing, check out the real version:
"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.' "
Anyone else?
"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," [Ivar] 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."
That's even more depressing when you find out he's seventeen!
It's unnecessary to point this out, really, but: NO PLEASE STOP THAT NOW. I get the desire to escape into fantasy. I once built a scale model of a secret room that would allow me to travel into the worlds of Redwall, X-Men comics, or Greek myths based on which magical door I went through. (You should be able to get a pretty clear picture of what my elementary/middle school experience was like from that.) So maybe I don't understand why someone would want to flee to a world of seven-foot-tall sexy cat aliens, or hackneyed noble savage narratives, or Giovanni Ribisi, but the overall impulse: sure thing.
Here is my prescription for anyone suffering post-Avatar death thoughts: splash some cold water on your face, pop in a DVD of Planet Earth, and then please talk to someone besides/in addition to other people in your state, because this is bleak.
Via Videogum.
Commentarium (13 Comments)
This is like when I said, jokingly, to a friend - "wouldn't it be cool if they would invent 3-D glasses that worked not just when you were watching Avatar, but all the time?" And he was like, "That'd make life so much better!" But, but, the real world IS in the three dimensions....
Granted, I haven't seen Avatar. But I envision it to be beautiful, ethereal, and sparkly, much like many worlds that have been created on the big screen before. People get caught up in videogames, movies, etc. I guess we need to just start living out our own lives instead of wishing for a sexy blue version of it. Just remember: it's fantsay, fantasy, fantasy, fantasy....
"beautiful, ethereal, and sparkly".. It is. Go see it if you like beautiful, ethereal, sparkly things. He does it better than anyone has so far.
Earth would be better if everything had glow sticks built in...
@FT Haha! I was totally thinking that while watching the movie. Mother nature should get right on that.
If we live in a dying world, maybe we should get up off our asses and do something about it? Maybe the underlying story was meant to kick us in the butt a little? I think these kids should start listening to themselves, make the connections and move on in the right direction.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's a poor movie. But what I want to actually do is give a hearty yay to JBR's suggestion to spend some QT with "Planet Earth" and then whine about how boring our planet is. (Oh, also: medication.)