Who here saw the movie "Avatar?" Not the pathetic adaptation of the Nickelodeon series "Avatar: The Last Airbender," but the one with the blue people; the one directed by James Cameron, the one that is the highest-grossing film of all time.
Obviously, we all saw the movie.
Despite the fact that this movie took over everyone’s lives for the last bit of 2009 and most of 2010, nobody - and I mean nobody - talks about it. Until "The Force Awakens" came out a few months back, "Avatar" was easily the biggest cultural phenomenon of this century. I mean, after it came out, I couldn’t have a conversation with anyone without the movie coming up at least once. There were action figures, t-shirts, a video game for the Playstation. Yet, the movie is gone without a trace.
Personally, I saw the movie seven times. I honestly don’t know why I saw the movie seven times (probably because my 12-year-old brain couldn’t process a three-hour long movie in one sitting) because I remember not liking it that much. However, I don’t know why I didn’t like it. I felt like I should like it, since everyone around me was seemingly loving the movie and I didn’t want to be an outsider, but the movie left a small impression on me. A part of me blames it on the fact that I didn’t see it in IMAX 3D, but just in a shoddy, run-of-the-mill theater. “Maybe,” I rationed with myself, “I didn’t get the full experience of the film because Dad didn’t want to pay $15 to see it in all its glory.” So, I gathered up all the change I could find around the house, grabbed my one friend at the time (Hey, Kayla, how are you? Also, what’s your last name?) and went to see the film, ready to take it all in.
As I sat down in the scratchy red velvet theater seats, I gazed up at the behemoth screen that stood in front of me, my tubby 12-year-old body quivering at the giant before me. I was so excited, I was shaking. Somehow, I believed that if I saw this movie and actually truly enjoyed it, maybe more people would like me.
Whoa. Heavy, I know.
That’s a lot of pressure to put on one movie, but the fact of the matter is that I was a lonely and desperate 12-year-old girl who never really fit in and in my inane 12-year-old girl mind, "Avatar" was my ticket into social stardom. Which, I realize now with my slightly less crazy 18-year-old girl mind, is a lot of weight to put on a movie that I didn’t even like the first time around. And, I didn’t like the second, third, or seventh time.
Over the years, I’ve realized that not a lot of people actually like "Avatar." Although I saw the movie seven times, I can’t recall a single name, quote, or plot line to the fill. Honestly, all I really know about the film is there’s a bunch of blue people who like to get freaky with their tails. Yeah, the movie was pretty to look at, but there was nothing really notable of the film other than the fact that it somehow managed to gross $2.7 billion during its initial release and subsequent, and highly unnecessary, re-release. When Sony announced the three sequels set to come out sometime in the near future, the news was met with an overwhelming “who cares?” response. Remember, this is the highest-grossing film of all time and nobody cares about it.
If I learned anything from the movie Avatar, it’s this: don’t worry, kid. People might not like you now, but soon enough you’ll have a great group of friends that lets you talk about the movie "Avatar" way too much.
