Despite not wanting to see the movie (still), I feel bizarre watching the pervasive influence of Avatar on popular culture. For some reason, this whole Na'vi thing is a BIG DEAL to people, and it's all over Youtube and blogs and is just insane to me. When I saw the "Celebrities turned into Na'vi" advertisement, it was clear to me just how much of a cultural movement this thing is.
And in some way, I feel like Donnie in The Big Lebowski. I have (and want) no frame of reference for this fad, so watching it is slightly amusing, slightly confounding to the Cap'n. When Avatar eclipsed Titanic as "Best Movie EVAR OMG" (no picture this time, but let me tell you: Mr. Budweiser with Clamato would very much echo that sentiment) I didn't really think too much about it. Let's look at it this way: James Cameron fans are mostly nerds. It's not an insult in any way, but if I have to prove my case, by all means -
Piranha 2, The Terminator, Aliens, Terminator 2, The Abyss, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar. One of these things is not like the other. One of these things doesn't belong. Ironically, the one that "doesn't belong" was the ultimate chick flick of all time, and despite a 3-hour running time, people flocked to see Titanic. I was not one of them, but only two things came out of the movie that I'd call "pop culture" landmarks: "I'm the King of the World!" and the Celine Dion song. Nerds bristled. Their beloved director had been claimed by the Kleenex crowd.
(I left out the documentaries, but they actually just help the "nerd" case, because Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep are about Cameron indulging his inner geek and doing deep sea exploration on camera)
So yeah, Avatar comes out, and they see their opportunity to reclaim James Cameron for their own. It didn't shock me that it made (and is making) mega bucks. On the other hand, I guess that I just thought the Na'vi would be a quick and cheap joke for the late-night shows and then go away. But it's not. It's worse than Klingons or Jedis or whatever the hell it is Battlestar Galactica fans dress up as. I fully expect that Na'vi costumes will finally overtake people dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow and The Joker at the next ComiCon. That, to me, is nutty. I can kinda understand why nerds would identify with blue cat aliens, but not why they'd dress like them. Or pretend to be them.
The easy answer is that I could watch Avatar and find out, but as I've made clear, nothing whatsoever about the film is interesting to me. Nada. I just don't want to watch it. It must be like how 99% of you feel about Tron: Legacy when I bring it up. That does it for me; Avatar does not. As a dispassionate observer, I can totally understand that I "just don't get" the Na'vi phenomenon, but if someone could explain to me in a tangible way what it is that's so alluring about blue aliens, I'd love to hear it.
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Your video Daily Double for the day includes: 2 parts "Mirror Scares", and 1 part commercial that figured prominently during "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer".
The following features Lawrence Welk in a surprise cameo!
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