The Cure for AVATAR Blues

Did you find yourself in a funk after watching AVATAR? It might not just have been a side effect of wearing 3-D goggles—CNN has been reporting that some viewers “experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.” Film Junk calls the entire concept “either really sad or really good marketing.” John Graham-Cumming believes that the idea is “stunningly ridiculous,” mostly because CNN reported a front-page story based on a thread in which “50% [of posts] are the work of 10 people.” And the story was actually already reported—on a blog not cited by CNN, says The Sly Oyster: “CNN just about whole sale ripped off the story without attribution from a Cynical-C post six days ago.” Hmmm. Real or not, James Cameron has some advice for those who yearn for a world more beautiful than their own: "Take a walk in the woods. Reacquaint with the nature we have right here."

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Have you felt the AVATAR blues or do you find the movie inspiring?

Comments

[Captain Jackle (nathan)]

By far a defiantly inspiring movie, i can see where people get sad and maybe even depressed, but the vibes i got from this movie were hope, dreaming again, and just seeing how far the mind can go with making a wonderful story that totally takes you in. James you did one great job and this movie changed me for the better, i want to do more with my life, i almost just want to go on adventure. The inspiration in this movie is beyond me, and i must disagree with these tv networks who are trying to bring it down, they should do their job and report real news and not twist it to their appeal.

[Steve]

Taking James' suggestion one step futher, if any of you are feeling down after seeing Avatar because you think Earth just can't stand up. Go here and run this HD video full screen and see what you think:

[Steve]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G06r7eKKjkI

[NicK]

http://avatar.typepad.com/entry/6a0128769d7c95970c0120a79ec6e1970b?fbid=hOglUbbi030

Just read the last section if you don't want to go through the whole mess.. I love this forum! ;D

[Account Deleted]

Ya....i too felt these things somewhat in the beginning:(, but after watchin it the third time it kinda felt that "this is the real world that we live in, Pandora isn't, its just a thoughtful world where we can get into when we get to our beds...n close our eyes"....seriously guys "just go to your bed and try to think all about the movie and think that u were in the place of Jake or any other person on Pandora and try to live their life, i bet you won't think all these anymore"....;)

[neytiri21]

I can understand that seeing the beauty of the world Pandora is sometimes so overwhelming - you cannot get rid of all these pictures in your head - that indeed you feel a bit sad when steping out into the real world after having seen AVATAR, but on the other hand one should be grateful to still be able to have these feelings, to feel such an enthusiasm and then make the best of it. A cure might be to watch the movie again :-))

[Rodriquez]

Suicide thoughts are a bit extreme, but i also had this adventerous feeling that i WANT to be there and explore the world of Pandora! Imo this effect is, because the world is so mysterious, it's something new and you just want to explore this interesting world. This feeling was very strong for me especially the week after the movie, i listened to Avatar soundtrack almost exculusively to preserv this feeling. As Cameron pointed out we also have a beautiful nature, we just need to grab some friends and go camping somewhere or a trip into nature, whereever you wish to go. Appreciate what we have here and enjoy the life we have here on earth.

[Joshua]

kind of pathetic...

[Account Deleted]

I'm really glad I stumbled upon that CNN article, because it meant I wasn't the only one who felt that way after the movie. Though my reaction wasn't as extreme as the fourm members'.

James Cameron's advice of getting outdoors is good, but for people living in the city it can be difficult to try.

I recommend you watch this. One of the best, greatest, inspiring, most beautiful nature documentaries I have EVER seen (And I've seen 'em all) is the movie HOME. It's on Youtube and completely free.
Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

After watching this, I think the Na'Vi should be jealous of us! You will be impressed! Go watch it. Now.
And tell me what you think.

[Radharc]

Nice post, neytiri21!

I have seen AVATAR twice now (3D) and I too have felt a bit sad when the credits start to roll... but moreso because one of the ideas in the film (the bond that the Na'vi have with the native fauna; and the pain felt when the bond is broken) reflects something that I will have to face in the near future with one of my beloved feline companions, diagnosed with a terminal illness. Couple that with the simple fact that seeing AVATAR is like taking a vacation - except we cannot really go there... at least, not yet!

[Account Deleted]

I feel quite sad the first time i saw it, but i knew that with time i could find the reason of why i was feeling that way, and talking here an telling to the others and discussing how i and all felt help me just a lot! helped me to find some answers and to see things much clearly...and so many things...
Those people how are willing to suicide i think that they dont even understood how precious is life! and if they love so much Avatar as we so they would also understand that from the Na´vi. I just hope that those people just realized that and that we can make this world as beatiful as Pandora

[Zac]

I will admit I did feel sad the first time I walked out of the theaters after seeing that movie, just longing to be in that world until I saw it again and finally understood one thing after I saw it a second time. If we want to get our planet looking like Pandora, we need our whole race to help, (like the Na'vi needed theirs to keep it like that.)

[NAVi Jakesully]

I understand it.....I had a little depression,nothing serious though,but that was because
I knew I wouldn't be alive to live the moments of all that happening and that I wouldn't be able to
speak or see anyone as beautiful and intelligent as neytiri,after my first time watching the film
in 3D I felt as if I was touched were Ive never felt anything in the empty space before...Ok,
I havent told anybody about this but please what Im about to tell you.don't be a jerk and say
some asshole comment but....I have dreams,Dreams of being a Na'Vi on Pandora and
I am apart of the race.like I was there,interacting with the creatures and other Na'Vis that were
on the planet,I know...its just a movie but I wasnt affected as if it was just a movie.but its like
every night I close my eyes and its like an automatic thing that happens,I wake up were I had
left my Avatar in the first place...is so realistic...if anyone else has the same experience that
i have been having then please tell me.

[G_everett_king]

This movie is amazing! I understand why some ppl are going through depression cycles and toughts of suicide. I dont think their is one person on this earth that wouldn't want to expierence the energy and emotion through the eyes of a Na'vi that the movie gave us. Ever since I saw the movie I have been talking about it non-stop! The night i saw it, and others too, I have fallen asleep in the postion Jake Sully did as he transfered from the real world to the amazing life of his avatar body just hoping that i would wake up as a Na'vi. Of corse this didnt happen but I soooo wish it would. But what im trying to get at is that James Cameron has brought to us a world of infinant beauty and 10000% pure emotion but it doesnt mean we can go to it. Maybe someday many years from now we will venture into space and find such a planet, but for now Pandora will only come from the dreams of a director and house itself in the hearts of those who have fallen in love with it as Jake Sully did.

[I<3Avatar]

People need to look at this differently in a more positive manner. They should look at it as inspiration to push science and technology to its limits so that one day we can all visit a world like Pandora. It is going to happen much sooner than you think. So instead of being depressed why not take positive action for a better future?

[Account Deleted]

The movie is amazing. Enjoy it, but learn from it as well!

# lan agree 100% with you

Take a walk in the woods, is one of the best ways to clear your thoughts and reacquaint with the nature :)

James Cameron's advice is a good one ;)

* Think more of our nature
* Respect other cultures

is a good advice to :)

[Marc]

In the 1990s I liven in Borneo for 6 years working for a charity doing sustainable village development. Most of my time I was amongst the Penan people (recently displaced from their hunter gatherer lifestyle by logging and government resettlement schemes). I spent months at a time with them sometimes in what remained of the primary rain forest in the hills of Sarawak. The logging and wholesale destruction of the forest as well as the systematic destruction of cultures due to development and resource theft affected me profoundly (but not so much as it does the Penan and other indigenous people there, obviously).
So when I took my son to see Avatar it touched me very very deeply! I am not ashamed to say that I shed tears, especially when the bulldozers moved in.
This Fantasy film has a profound message that I hope touches the hearts and minds of people all over the world. I hope that the sentiment is not lost and that it motivates people to be passionate and actively care for our own beautifull planet before we bulldoze the lot.
WELL DONE, To everyone who was involved in this film it truly is from so many perspectives THE BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME TO DATE....

[Ellhnas]

It's pathetic indeed to fill such a great disappointment for no reason!
Our planet is beutiful and some times in some places,it feels just like Pandora.Just open your eyes and protect the damn enviroment.

[zentdayn]

I have been reading about some people getting sad after the movie...
I got sad after it...and i belive its normal....And i made a conclusion
People shoukd see the movie has an inpiration to PROTECT THE EARTH...and .CHANGE OUR LIFESTYLE.............
We could have blue aliens on Earth ..... if all the time till today wasnt spent killing Earth...
And now for those of got sad
EVEN if a Na'vi population exists....they would never acept someone who helped killing and entire planet's enviroment....
If they exist on Earth,they will probably die suffocated in today's atmosfere....
To End i have one more thing to say......We will never see Alien life,like Na'vi(if they exist) if Earth dies,remember this YOU ARE INSIDE EARTH so...to make sure aliens can pass by...and to make sure you live enough to see them or for you to go into a ship to a New world....
SAVE EARTH!
______________
Other members defined what i just said
@ Ellhnas-Just open your eyes and protect the damn enviroment.
@sevuz -The movie is amazing. Enjoy it, but learn from it as well!
@lan-
People need to look at this differently in a more positive manner. They should look at it as inspiration to push science and technology to its limits so that one day we can all visit a world like Pandora. It is going to happen much sooner than you think. So instead of being depressed why not take positive action for a better future?
@NoMss-Ya....i too felt these things somewhat in the beginning:(, but after watchin it the third time it kinda felt that "this is the real world that we live in, Pandora isn't, its just a thoughtful world where we can get into when we get to our beds.

Think about your all this...

[JKpolarbear]

I'm not going to lie, I did yearn to live on Pandora and be a Na'vi for quite a few days after having watched Avatar for the first time (Christmas Eve for me). Saying that though' I never felt suicidal as such; It's a matter of opening your eyes and realising that Earth does have its incredibly beautiful aspects.

Although I was perhaps a little gutted that Pandora isn't actually real (although you never know, there may be a similar moon out there somewhere), I think going into the whole psychological effects upon viewing the film is going a bit too far into it.

[Account Deleted]

This entry relieves me a lot, you have no idea!
I thought I was the only one that was invaded by the feeling of sadness and the desire to know even more Pandora and its people. I feel much better now, seeing that I am not the only one who loves this movie (I've seen it 4 times), although I always leave the movie very thoughtful and kind of sad.

But despite all this, I also have great hope in the future, especially when i see the things that are written in this forum. There's so many good things written, which makes me feel better, like some of these posts above. But unfortunately this does not prevent feelings like sadness and disappointment arise. This is my point of view.

Another thing that makes me sad is the fact that I study engineering, which is considered by many to be responsible for the evil that affects the Earth. This took all my will to study and develop technology, unnecessary from the standpoint of Na'vi. It seems that my study takes exactly the opposite way that the film advocates ... what do you think?

thanks for the posts!

[Na'viGrunt527]

I felt completly depressed after AVATAR. Pandora was just such a perfect, beautiful, and clean world. I think I might be getting over it. I spent an entire night just thinking about ways to somehow get into Pandora. I tried to dream, I tried to write. The real only way right now is to either play the game or see the movie (3D). I want more than anything for a virtual reality video game about AVATAR to come out. I hope it isn't too far in the future. One thing is for sure, this is only the beggining for the world of Pandora. Starwars had its run, now it is time for a fresh, and dare I say better franchise to take root, and thrive. I just hope James plays his cards right. This could rock the video game industry to its core.

[RHINO168]

I felt like my life was so boring... I really wanted to do some really cool things! So three weeks later, I've ridden a dirt bike on a frozen lake, went drag racing at a track, tried to learn Na'vi... and managed to get three tickets :( (maybe I'm trying to hard...)

Either way this movie has altered my life... no matter what I do, Avatar runs through my mind. It's sick that a movie can do that, but thats why I am majoring in film... so I can get bloggers and fans to support and talk about my movies on the same level as this... though after seeing Avatar 6 times, I don't think any movie can top it, nor do I have the desire to see another movie...

Oei ngati Kameie

[Aardvark]

I can well understand people feeling a longing to be in that world. I was amazed by the film's 3D environment (though I did find myself thinking of the cover of a 'Yes' album with all those floating rocks), but it occured to me that having a tangible link between creatures and plants was the chief difference between that world and this one.
While I agree with Cameron's advice to take a walk in the woods, it requires an act of imagination and faith to make such a connection in this world. Our trees show no such electrical impulses connecting them, and while we can communicate at various levels with our horses, dogs and sometimes wildlife we have neither the degree of control or interaction that he Na'vi are able to take for granted.
It seems that the yearning for that sense of connectedness is a vital element of the human psyche, and this is reflected in many of our world's religions and folk stories, where our present condition is conceived as being a diminshed state of some previously harmonious existence and we are trying (to quote Joni Mitchell) "...to get ourselves back to the Garden."

It is not depression some people are feeling, it is an awakening. A film or story can only stir us if we already have something in us to be stirred.

[[AUS]Navi191]

This movie inspired me to change my lifestyle in a great way, now I keep myself fit and look for adventure in places like my home country. And yes at first I felt depressed but that soon changed. I am now more active than before.

Perhaps one day humankind will advance technology to the point of casual and public space travel and yes maybe we might discover a planet similar to Pandora but that is all fiction for now...

My advice is, if you feel depressed why not try going to your Local Park or better yet national park, go for plenty of walks and runs whatever suits you. Or even better why not try and go on an expedition, mountain climbing (If you are feeling very adventurous) and etc...

Just typing my thoughts :)