I maintain that Avatar wasn't actually a movie, but a 178 minute long digital painting. You can get rid of the sound, or sub in music for most of the movie, and I would be equally entertained. There is an audience now, small but growing, who have read so much, interacted with, and thoughtfully consumed so many stories, that good storytelling is no longer so much about the story, as it is about the telling, if you understand what I'm trying to say.
I don't understand what you are trying to say but I've read your comment several times now. Willing to expand a bit? I've been thinking about Avatar a since I read this post and might have a few more things to say about it after I finish some Christmas baking and package wrapping. Love to hear some more perspectives on the film.
Avatar is a visual treat. Every other frame could be made into a half-decent poster or mural. The color palette is vibrant, evocative, and the art style juuuuuust close enough to 'real-life' as to be convincing, but not so close as to be accused of 'realistic.' Yes, the story is essentially just Dances with Wolves, but I'm not watching Avatar for the riveting plot, or detailed, captivating characters. I watch it because it's GORGEOUS.
I wonder if that was by accident. George Lucas was the first and last person to control merchandising rights for his movies. Which also means he was the first and last person that didn't have to listen to Hasbro about what the fucking Batmobile looks like. We sat through the 2nd Hobbit movie last night. It's Tolkien fanfic. It includes many characters that weren't in the books, shouldn't be in the movies, and are entirely designed to sell action figures. Ang Lee's Hulk was the first studio film where the actual theatrical release was considered a loss leader for the merchandising; that was 2003. Burger King merchandising tie-ins more than paid for the budget. You can buy Avatar action figures... but it's not a line where Hasbro can run off and do its own shit and make you have to incorporate some fuckin' playset into the next movie. See, that's the thing: James Cameron makes money from movies, not toys, not costumes, not pencils. I know the guys that turned Pirates of the Caribbean into a movie. They don't get dime one from anything but the movies. James Cameron is the kinda guy who, when all the American critics spend a year talking about how much Titanic is going to suck, releases it in Japan six weeks before North America just to stick it to the critics. He's the kinda guy who makes movies when he gets bored exploring the Marianas Trench. He's the kinda guy who will fucking finish Avatar at his house when the studio starts getting uppity and insisting he put up or shut up (friend was the DIT on Avatar; the last 6 weeks were in James Cameron's spacious garage). James Cameron gives a shit about your "pop culture footprint." He's here to make movies.
I get the sense they've met him. I really don't think he gives much of a fuck about Avatar toys. He made Terminator and it made him famous; he made Terminator 2 and it made him wealthy and powerful. Terminator 3? What's the point? Sure, he'll take the check; he's got a submarine to build. But when Avatar happens, it will reflect the things he wants, not the things you want because fuck you and your action figures. James Cameron made that the year Mork'n'Mindy and Battlestar Galactica came out. It's cool to compare the concept art to what he actually shot - dude has always dreamed bigger.
Okay, I'll buy all of that but if the first Star Wars film sold zero action figures, I would wager we'd all still be talking about it. It was a compelling story with characters you couldn't forget. Chewbacca, C3PO, R2.... list goes on. Avatar? Not so much. edit: There's more to a pulp culture footprint than action figures. I own zero Big Lebowski action figures, zero Anchorman action figures, but damn if I haven't heard those films referenced a million times..
Star Wars was a different era. GI Joe didn't have a show, movie, or any other tie-in because that shit was illegal. We can all reference Rocky Horror, too, and it was also a commercial failure. You don't get to be an indie cult hit when you clear 2.7 billion at the box office. Fox pulled the trailer. They were actually stumped, the marketing department, God bless 'em, because they'd never come across a film that had so many genres in it. Was it a comedy? Was it an adventure film? Was it a kids film? Was it a fairy tale? Was it an adult movie? And of course, it was all of these things, you see. And they didn't know how to pitch it. The film came and did some modest business — respectable, modest, but not the kind of money that they hoped.
It wasn't until about almost a decade later when VHS came out that the film found its legs again — from a film that had been mostly dead, it was suddenly alive again. And then it became this huge hit.
I don't like sitting in a theater for three hours of weak storytelling about characters I don't give a shit about. I found it somewhat disappointing but I didn't go into it with any grand expectations.The characters are simple but primal, and the storytelling is lean and efficient even while running nearly three hours.
I just now had a difficult time remembering what the story was about. I do recall walking out of the movie thinking that it was visually stunning, but the characters were not especially compelling. It was basically Dances with Wolves but with blue people and dragons. I now remember thinking something like that as I walked out of the theater. I saw Avatar because I had heard that it was an amazing 3D movie that was unlike any previous. Visually, it was. I'm not sure why people saw it multiple times, perhaps to go take people that hadn't yet seen it.
I'm trying to remember a lot of details about the plot and character development; I can't remember much. I don't remember the details, so I don't know if I'm talking about a corporate or governmental interest, but I do remember the display of how far people were willing to go to advance their power in some way (read: genocide fo' $$$). Even if I don't remember anything about the characters or plot details, this was still a really great thing about the film.
It's true, and actually I was just thinking about this. As I mentioned to you, I have been telling my daughter stories about how she comes from a family of Jedi. I add in bits from all the films/books that influenced me as a kid. It would not be unusual for Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins and Mr. Myagi to all be hanging out together in one of my stories. Anyways, I was looking at the highest grossing films and saw Avatar at the top and thought, yeah, there's no character whose name I even remember. Was I entertained? Yes, I really and truly was. It was a pretty amazing world that Cameron created, but I couldn't tell you a single characters name. That's telling. They're set to release Avatar 2 in 2016. My guess is that they've learned from this and will attempt to make a bigger impact, culturally. But how do you do that? The harder you try, the less likely you are imo.