"I see you"

I'll admit it. I just saw Avatar. And I will be the first to call myself culturally illiterate. So I obviously didn't fall into the hype of the film, or even muster enough energy to make it to the theater in those first few weeks. But i did manage to make it there finally, by the fourth week of sold out shows. By this point, I was of course, itching in my skin to see this film that had become a source of cultural bonding. Everyone and their mother had seen and loved this movie and I had yet to see it. Soon, nearly all my viewing companions had run out and I began to panic. Avatar was quickly becoming the major reference point for contemporary pop culture.

So I did it, I bit the bullet, shelled out nearly twenty bucks to do it properly (IMAX 3D) and sat through the three hour run time and tedious and inevitable line forming outside theaters across the nation. Now, to preface my final thoughts on the film I'd like to point out the curious nature of this Blockbuster Blow Out. The thing about Avatar that baffled me before my initial viewing was the homogeneous response to the film; everyone enjoys it. Now, being a pessimistic film student, this response immediately made me put my guards up. It's just not that easy to please a crowd this diverse. I mean, all of America? Really, James Cameron? This not only peeved me but put me on the defensive; i was determined to find fault.

So about two hours into the mother-fucker, I realized that my list of faults was highlighted by the typical slew of eye rolls and cringes at horrible dialogue and that I could probably go on and on about the problems with this bombastic spectacle, masking itself as cinema. But then I thought to myself that the biggest problem was that I was sitting there, thinking and watching the film and ultimately coming to a conclusion of apathy. I just didn't really give a shit by the time the nearly three hour run time ran out. Sure, it was beautifully computer generated, created an animated piece ripping its script from the pages of Disney's Pocahontas. But who cares? I guess the thing is, I can't generate enough emotion for this film to actually try to argue with people about why it was bad. I mean, sitting there, with my 3D goggles irritating the bridge of my nose, Avatar managed to wow me with economically backed visual spectacle, bore me to pieces as the inevitable and slow-mo'ed war ensued, and make me gag as alien love with sync human sound played out the love of two entirely fabricated and simply unbelievable beings. I get that I was supposed to be sucked in, and I'm sure most were, but nothing about the movie made me want to escape, so much about it just pointed towards typical Hollywood.

Maybe I'm just mad at the film for not even really generating hatred. I happened, and that's about all I can say other than, fuck you, Cameron for making me sit through it and creating an impossible film to argue to the masses about. But at the same time, whatever, it was lavish, bombastic and incredibly self-indulgent. Continue to feed your ego, Cameron, as long as you stay away for another decade.