Audiences experience 'Avatar' blues

reply to post by December_Rain


Wow. That last guy is really sick and needs help. He is no longer interested in his wife and is now in love with an alien woman character from a move. He would also have no problem ripping his young son to shreds to be on a fake alien planet in a movie.

The man needs to seek help before he hurts someone.

There is plenty of wonderful and beautiful things right here on our planet. Everyone just needs to stop and look for it. Get away from the day to day grind and escape to the mountains or forrest and leave all the technology behind.

Now this seems like case of clinical depression. They even have name for it Pandora Symptom.

Default I think I might be suffering from the pandora effect
So I've been married to my wife for a while now. Its been 6 years since our marriage and I had been dating her for 4 years prior to that. So its been quite a while. My life hasnt been that bad. I mean I have a good job working at Safeway bagging groceries, and my wife is a psychologist so she's the real breadwinner in the family.

We may not be rich but we usually don't want for much. I never thought myself the type to have an addictive personality but ever since we saw Avatar in theaters I have been having problems.

The past 7 nights in a row my wife has asked me to have sex with her, and I just havent been in the mood. Scratch that. I'm incredibly horny most of the time, but I dont feel attracted to her anymore. The sight of her naked literally does nothing for me, and I'm frightened by that. Instead I imagine Neytiri. Her majestic grace and boundless beauty as well as the alien mystery about her. I want to fly off to pandora and live with her, to be with her always. I would worship her as she deserves. I'd do anything to just to touch her, to smell her.

She's the perfect woman, and i feel like this life here has lost its spark. Where is the magic in humanity. Just a few days ago, my son asked me some question about what happened in Avatar. I dont even remember what it was, but after I told him, I started crying. Right in front of him. All I can think about is how depressing it is that I will never reach pandora. I almost vomited while I cried. It was the most pathetic thing I have ever done. Im in my 30's for god's sake. I have to remain strong for my son. Right?

I want to tell my wife but she's a psychologist. She'll think I'm sick. I know it. I probably am sick. But what can I do. Its a little early to tink about divorce, but the thought of her disgusts me. The thought of me disgusts me. How could I compare to the beauty and grace of a Na'vi. I want to leave, to just leave and sort things out, but I dont want to leave my wife and son alone. I dont know what to do with myself, with my life. I dont want to see another psychologist and get treated like a specimen. I just want to be a Na'vi. I've never wanted anything more in my life.

At this point I would rip my son to shreds for an hour on pandora. I would too. And that thought frightens me. Can anyone somehow offer me assistance. Christ what ami going to do with myself?

reply to post by TheOracle


Don't forget this film is man made.
Reading your post it seems like you watched a documentary and compared Pandora to a real place.

reply to post by DeathTribble


You just described what the reality of being a true Witch is all about ... even down to natures cathedrals.

We don't get many giant Redwoods up on the moors but you can get the same sense of majestic splendour and calming reverence in the Beech Woods near me.

It's all about connecting back with the simple things ... the real things.

Biggest buzz of your life ... sure you agree.

Woody

reply to post by Erasurehead


Agree with you there man. Seems his wife later caught him crying and got him signed up with a therapist.

I get it, some people went to see this movie for escapism, what they got instead is a rude awakening, that humanity can and is evil at times for the sake of greed.
Perhaps whereas the real news and historical facts could not get this point home to them, this movie did.
Which I find very interesting.
Perception is different for every person.

Jake's comment to the Tree of Souls and Eywa at the end, referring to earth "We killed our mother, there is no green there" is very depressing comment for the direction our planet is headed.

But I have another idea, in these particular people it has activated a certain part of there conscience as to the environmental stewardship of our planet and how we treat our fellow man. Something perhaps they never cared about before. Now it disturbs them, and this is new to them and it's depressing.

This goes way deeper than people realize, Two bible verses come to mind here.

Psalms 119:136

Streams of water run down my eyes, because men do not keep Your law [they hear it not, nor receive it, love it, or obey it].

2 Peter 2: 7b&8

Lot, greatly worn out and distressed by the wanton ways of the ungodly and lawless--
8For that just man, living [there] among them, tortured his righteous soul every day with what he saw and heard of [their] unlawful and wicked deeds--

I went to this movie and LOVED it.
What a beautiful movie filled with surreal visual effects.
Who wouldn't want to live in a world like Pandora where harmony and beauty is in everything.
I noticed a strong Native American theme in the whole movie and wondered how many people would actually realize this type of history has already happened.
Maybe some people do realize this... and that's why they are so depressed.

Maybe this movie will help people wake up to the realization that certain governments just take what they want... no matter what the cost is...even if it's a population of a certain race or species.
Maybe people will cherish what they have and not covet what they don't have.
Maybe they will respect nature and honor the Creator for the life it holds.
Maybe this movie exposes the true hearts and desires of people.
People generally want to be happy. People want true family.
They want to be connected and feel loved.

Maybe if people could bring their real desires of love and compassion into the real world, maybe our world would be a little better.

MAYBE.....

reply to post by MikeNice81


Umm, no, nor would I CARE to. I heard enough disgusting propaganda of war and "heros" during my high school "history" courses to make me want to vomit.

I HAVE however, listened to my own family pass down stories of how their tribes lived, and it WASN'T like the western indoctrination of endless destruction and war and how everybody needs to carry on these violations and bloodshed because "it's human nature"...Yes, these things have taken place, for sure, but not EVERYBODY has chosen to live that way. Some chose the path of peaceful coexistence with their brothers and sisters. And if the public can detach from this endless programming being handed down by the very same powers and controllers over history, then we MIGHT just have a chance to live as at least SOME chose to do in the past.

Originally posted by SuperSlovak
That's just sad. it's like watching pokemon and wanting to live in happy pokemon land. These people need to get a life.

[edit on 11-1-2010 by SuperSlovak]

Perhaps they didn't see the part in the movie where the atmosphere of Pandora was toxic and you had to wear masks all the time.

reply to post by Titen-Sxull


I DO agree with you on that, great post on that issue which is real. It may be a reason why people relate to the movie so much.

I had a powerful reaction to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy when I read them as a young teenager in the early 1970’s.

I had realized before reading them that in many ways life was all about a great battle between the forces for darkness and evil and the forces for good and light.

A battle that blurred the lines sometimes between evil people sometimes doing good things, even for good reasons and good people sometimes doing bad things even for bad reasons, that sometimes makes it hard for us to tell what is truly good and evil in an often confusing world were emotional reactions are much more likely to result from the weight of circumstance than intellectual responses are.

In time I came to realize that the battle without is the same as the battle within. We live in a world where good tries to conquer evil and evil tries to conquer good, and live in a state where inside us the same war constantly wages.

Yet the truth is most of us are eternally preoccupied with that inner battle so much so that we don’t often really understand the nature of the outer battle that determines so much of what we will then struggle with eternally.

I think movies like Avatar make people more aware of that outer battle in the world and to see it more clearly for what it is.

I think that then leads to people understanding that inner battle within themselves and how that must first be won through mastery of one’s self before you can become more effective at that outer battle.

I think that is what really leads to some people’s depression is they can’t see themselves winning that inner battle to the point that they can ever make a difference or impact on the outer battle. That disappoints and discourages them supremely.

The truth is though that we can all make a difference when it comes to that outer battle if we but first concentrate winning that inner battle and then focus on fighting the good fight in all things.

Obama won an election on the powerful promise of hope, but sadly for many people hope is a commodity that remains in very short supply.

Many people voted for Obama because they are in fact desperate for hope. That desperation shows in stories like this.

The World could probably use things like Save the Hope Foundation, and the United Hope College Fund, and stores like Hope R’ Us, more than it can the sheer fantasy of a movie, but then again fantasy is where hope is born!

Don’t loose yours!

Misplaced post, sorry

[edit on 12-1-2010 by The_Archangel]

reply to post by SuperSlovak


Indeed, getting a life is sometimes harder then you think..

I still find the amusement of that statement.. no one ever has defined what it is to "get a life".

I'm sure there are those who are quite trapped in their daily grind of waking up, racing to work, sitting in a cube, and then going home, and watching some of the control-box, and then sleeping.

Sadly, most do it just to Exist.. having a life isn't an option due to the need for money.

Then one say, a friend offers to take them to a movie on a day off, and low and behold. They see something fantastic, something like Pandora, and it's mass diversity and awesom technicolor enviroment with unlimited possibilities.

If your life was as is stated as above, it would leave you with quite a quandry. Wouldn't it?

Such thoughts as "Gee, what I wouldn't give to live in such a place, and time".

Granted the Creater of Pandora, did quite a wonderful job of creating something so vibrant, and catching as Pandora.. (Oddly reminds me of Diney's Pocahontas).

Anyways. food for thought..

-Cygnis

Personally I thought the film was somewhere between "Battlefield Earth" and the last Star Trek movie with Capt. Crunch Picard. The effects were great, the story so predictable. The idea though that there would be people depressed because they wanted to live on Pandora is a bit much...remember everyone this is just a movie, not real...

Originally posted by Knoen
reply to post by TheOracle

 

Don't forget this film is man made.
Reading your post it seems like you watched a documentary and compared Pandora to a real place.

Really? darn.. no wonder the travel agent gave me that look!
Oh, by the way, where can I contact the blue actress? I really 'd like to congratulate her on her performance!

Originally posted by InertiaZero
You know, our own planet is pretty beautiful if you go outside.

Just sayin'.

sorry..wasn't able to read all the pages..at work and skimming through; but this..thank you, really didn't need to keep reading..we live in an amazing world, one just has to look around and its there...if you want a fantasy world, there are plenty of those to (mmo's)...I'm sure there will be an Avatar MMO soon lol

Did people have "pocahontas blues"?

www.youtube.com...

Not sold yet?

web.me.com...



My Tip: GET A LIFE!

Well here is reality folks.

Getting depressed about how much our civilization sucks = great thing.

The question is now, what are you going to do about it?

You gonna sit around a cry all day like a coward?

Or you gonna get off your rears and get into gear CHANGING THIS SYSTEM??

Mr Cameron created this for a reason. You exist for a reason. Cannot you add 1+1 and see that this is your time to restore our civilization and our ecosystem to a more acceptable format??

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


It's normal. People seek life. We are in our Babel tower, so high, so disconnected, we can't see anything. Nothing makes sense anymore. People struggle to find a motivation. Then - a movie like that comes out. Of course people feel that way. It's good they feel the movie, and have not become cynical about the world. Now they must seek that Pandora world in reality. It can be created if it does not exist. I am sure of that. (I'm not talking about the planet itself )



[edit on 12-1-2010 by pai mei]

I watched it in 3D recently so I'll comment while memories are fresh .

I've read this thread as the movie caused stronger emotions to me than most others in past several years! I think only because of a strong bond with every aspect of the film and human fantasy. Some magic very similar to Tarantino movies.

I've read two Jack London's books, which make some people seriously depressed and some even stop reading. They have deeper messages, especially since the author himself had experience with nature and, well, he did "have a life".

I've watched Mononoke Hime too, which is also much deeper and revolves around human inner conflict and animal external conflict in a nutshell.

This Cameron's fantastic movie though, references all of that - absolutely nothing original, but pure art. After all, good artists copy, great artists steal . I think that's obvious from the start, with intentional puns in the film.

I like not reading hearing nor seeing absolutely nothing about the move before I go see it, for the full effect - I just knew it will be good, it's Cameron.
So at first I thought Pandora's a hell hole, full of creepy bugs wanting to get into your ears and dig into your brains until you die in worst agony . Only to later see it as a paradise all with glowing flora and fauna. So that was a nice twist to me. Of course, it would be predictable if I knew anything about the plot or even genre beforehand. Sweet fantasy.

Therefore, like a very good book - it made emotional impact to me, eg. the part where the blue lady says something like "perhaps we can cure the insanity in you". On this very boards I see many who would need a cure for their insanity.

I believe many in the audience simply felt like the handicapped semi-retarded marine. So they see "getting a life" as hard as getting your legs, sanity and whatnot back - the depression is something like an alert bell.