Avatar (film)/YMMV: Difference between revisions

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*** Not to mention the medium itself, where themes like the beauty of nature, simplicity, and forsaking technology are being presented to us in an enormous budget film whose marketing was largely centered around a technical gimmick.
** In the "no, it's NOT anti-technology" corner, there's the fact that the scientists in the film are portrayed in a positive light, that bit about Trudy aiding the protagonists by using some of the military's advanced technology against them, and the general [[Technology Porn]] nature of numerous scenes. To this camp, the general consensus seems to be that the film is less a critique of technologically advanced lifestyles than it is of militarism, imperialism, and out-of-control capitalism.
* [[Complaining About Shows You Don't Like]]: Let's just say that Avatar's usage of tropes has polarized [[This Wiki]] quite a bit to say the least. Not as much as ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]]'', [[Justin Bieber]], and [[Michael Bay]], but still plenty.
* [[Dancing Bear]]: The whole fuss about the technological achievements necessary to pull this movie off: 3D digital film cameras, motion capture refinements, etc. Arguably the never-fully-disclosed but definitely astronomical budget and the marketing-induced hype.
* [[Ensemble Darkhorse]]:
** Quaritch is not the main character of this movie. He is, in fact, a villain. The villain. Yet his is the longest and first section on [[Avatar (Filmfilm)/Characters|the character sheet]]. Not to mention the only character to get his own listing. All the other characters are grouped together.
** Grace, the compassionate doctor who taught the Na'vi English, played by Sigourney Weaver. Probably the movie's most genuinely sympathetic and noble character. Her avatar has got to be the single most incredible achievement in CGI technology ever. {{spoiler|Sadly, she's also [[Sacrificial Lion|the designated casualty meant to pull at our heartstrings]]. But at least she [[Ascend to Aa Higher Plane of Existence|becomes one with Eywa]], a truly worthy final fate for her.}}
* [[Evil Is Cool]]: Quaritch. Has a large fandom who admire him for being such an ultimate [[Colonel Badass]].
* [[Fan Dumb]]:
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** There's someone who wants to form an actual Na'vi tribe in Florida (he has nominated himself ''Tsahik'' already), speaking of things like future government structure, organization of councils with other tribes, [[Completely Missing the Point|having "an identity card with photo, signature, barcode, hologram and other features"]], ''seeking international recognition as a new ethnic group''... Oh, and to go and speak at Native Americans events.
** "Avatar Depression Syndrome:" Suicidal thoughts brought on by a hope of being reincarnated as a Na'vi. Despair brought on because they will never get to experience the glory of the beautiful utopian world that is Pandora. Good thing about this one, it's self-correcting.
** Most recent example is the rage of rabid fans after the Oscars. Many did a 180° turn from "Avatar will rake the Awards" to "[[Academy AwardsAward]]s are meaningless", and they use the movie's [[Quality Byby Popular Vote|stellar box office numbers as their only argument about its quality]]. Some called to go and watch the movie ''any single day'' (or buy tickets for it even if they have no time to actually watch it) to further increase its earnings and "teach the Academy a lesson". But the absolute worst are people calling to ''destroy DVDs of [[The Hurt Locker]] if they see them in any shop''.
* [[Gannon Banned]]: [[I Am Not Shazam|Calling anyone in the film "Avatar", or calling the Na'vi "Avatars".]]
* [[Growing the Beard]]: For the [[3D Movie]] trend; this movie may mark the turning point where 3D versions are no longer just a gimmick to charge movie-goers extra.
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* [[Hilarious in Hindsight]]: One of Stephen Lang's (Quaritch) earlier roles was in ''[[Tall Tale]]'', where he played a farmer standing-up to a mining company from developing a fertile valley.
** Before the [[Memetic Badass]] Quaritch became Lang's most notable role, his previous famous role was [[Tombstone|Ike Clanton]], who is the flipside of Quaritch as a completely cowardly villain.
* [[Internet Backdraft]]: A discussion on if Avatar was snubbed for the Best Picture award by the [[Academy Award|Oscars]] in favor of ''[[The Hurt Locker]]'' will spark a big one. Also, arguing that this movie has any depth at all will spark a flame war in some quarters ([[This Very Wiki]] included), and don't try to say that the Na'vi might've been right after all, or make any comparisons to real life events. ''Especially'' [[The War Onon Terror]].
* [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks]]: See the trope entry in that page for more <ref>[[Captain Obvious|It's in the James Cameron section in the Film folder on]] [[It's Popular, Now It Sucks|that page]]</ref>. Considering that this is the highest grossing film of all time, its flaws have been emphasized much more than most other titles. <ref>Heck, even the flaws of [[The Hurt Locker]] were largely ignored until after the 2010 Oscars.</ref>
* [[Misaimed Fandom]]: Quaritch is understandably subject to this, being an example of both [[Evil Is Cool]] and [[Colonel Badass]]. It is when people try to defend destroying the Na'vi home and killing several Na'vi in the process that the extent of said fandom gets disturbing.
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** People would accuse ''Avatar'' of being a ripoff of something fairly recent when James Cameron had publicly stated that he had been inspired by something far older. Oddly enough, no one would have said ''John Carter of Mars.'' Though it does not contain the environmentalism aspects Avatar has. (Cameron also reportedly said the film was sort of a sci-fi [[King Lear]].) The script also predates '''many''' of the stories that people complain are 'too similar'.
** [[Strugatsky Brothers]]' ''Noon Universe'' had a similar planet, complete with wildlife and the native tribes. The planet's name was... '''[http://www.google.com/url?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_planets_of_Noon_Universe%23Pandora&rct=j&q=noon+universe+pandora&usg=AFQjCNFB5ih7dJTqtWCz1M6M53cqDHTsGg&sa=X&ei=Ii8jTbfTDceK4gaJir2QCQ&ved=0CB0QygQ Pandora]'''! Russian readers have drawn much attention to this, and Boris eventually commented: "The americans have borrowed our idea. That's quite unpleasant, but we wouldn't sue them for that, now would we?"
* [[Rooting for Thethe Empire]]: Being that the villains are humanity, a number of viewers found themselves rooting for the RDA.
* [[Tainted Byby the Preview]]: The anticipation, to date, went something like this: "A new movie by James Cameron? The guy who directed ''Aliens''? All very hush-hush? [[Noodle Incident|It could be anyth]]--oh the teaser trailer's out? It's [[Space Marine|Space Marines]] vs. [[Fantasy Counterpart Culture|Native American alien]] [[Catgirl|cat people]]? That's ''it''? Screw you, James Cameron, screw you." When some people have seen the ads on [[Cartoon Network]], they're convinced that it'll be [[What Do You Mean It's Not for Kids?|too kiddish for them]]. Then the movie came out, and the preview turned out to be a fairly complete ''[[Trailers Always Spoil|plot summary]]''.
* [[Uncanny Valley]]: Many say Cameron has averted this by making the Na'vi look human and likeable, but just shy of creeping into uncomfortable territory. Specifically their eyes. Cameron noted that CGI humanoids tended to have "dead eyes" so he took extra care in filming the actors' eyes during motion-capture filming. He may have gone too far in the other direction.
* [[Wall Banger]]: Enough for [[{{TOPLEVELPAGE}}/Wall Banger|a page of their own]].
 
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[[Category:Avatar]]
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