Avatar
This was a passion project that spanned fifteen years. It was a truly collaborative effort involving designers and artists, linguists and professors; <PERSON> even helped develop his own camera system to shoot the movie. 529
All for a big, silly sci-fi film about blue aliens; all while the film's future during development constantly hung in the balance.
So no, I don't think this film should be taken so seriously. I'm not talking about the trope-y narrative or the uninspired [human] characters (<PERSON> drew inspiration from sci-fi books he read as a child, what else could we have expected?).
I'm talking about the film as a film.
Can't we just accept Avatar as something simple that looks really cool? That its story was never trying to move any needles; that it was digestible enough to bring so many different kinds of people into theatres? Hell, my parents and grandparents went to see it. And even though much greater films of the genre have released in the last ten years, I could never convince them to give those a chance.
Its "lack of presence in pop culture" is such a bizarre criticism to me, and I feel it's viewed as a valid critique only because of its financial success.
Avatar's biggest cultural impact? Having flocks of people repeat that it has no cultural impact, then grossing almost $3 billion at the box office.
And its sequel will undoubtedly cross the billion dollar mark as well. 952