The Highest Grossing Movie Ever Is About Blue Kitty-Cat People

[parallax23]

I saw the movie Avatar last weekend and it reminded me of an homage to several of James Cameron's failed cinematic endeavors (Aliens of the Deep, Dark Angel, Terminator 3, etc).  It was also the post-colonial white guilt story that an article I read pointed out.  Cliche would be an understatement for the storyline, but I knew going in there it was all about the special effects.  And the blue kitty-cat people from another planet.

Seriously, what I mostly thought about after seeing the movie was that the most famous movies are about aliens and monsters and mutants, but when you're that kid that says 'I'm writing a story about aliens' or the poor dork caught reading novels with weird space adventure covers, everyone and their brother thinks you're a freak.  Tell someone you're writing about blue kitty-cat people whose home planet is being invaded by aliens and that it's a social commentary on colonialism and mercantilism and corporate greed, well, you'll be eating alone at lunch. A lot.

I don't understand the taboo of sci-fi/fantasy in society.  Growing up, I was definitely not in an atmosphere conducive to writing sci-fi and fantasy, let alone reading it.  There was always this stigma of 'normal people don't like that sort of thing' attached to my reading tastes, so I've often found it puzzling that a lot of cultural icons come from the speculative genre -- everyone knows who the X-Men are, the third highest grossing movie was about Batman, Superman is the epitome of truth, justice and the American way and all that crock.  Heck, everyone is in love with Twilight and True Blood and stories about vampires!  It doesn't quite make sense that the genre be taboo, does it?  But I digress.

Speaking of sci-fi writing and James Cameron, I haven't updated my DA fics in a while because I'm having a bit of the ever dreaded writer's block.  Last time I pushed out a chapter in spite of my blockage, it was Chapter 3 of Wake Me Up... and that remains the worst received chapter of all so far.  It was strange, I had someone review all the chapters except that one!  So, I've since decided it's better to wait for when my heart is in it to put out more chapters.  Sorry to anyone who's reading and waiting for updates, I just want the story to be its best and pushing out chapters is not going to work for me or the stories.

Comments

[pat-san.livejournal.com]

I've seen the movie two days ago myself, I'm going to make a post about it as soon as I can, but I agree with your point of view. And I couldn't agree more on this:

saw the movie Avatar last weekend and it reminded me of an homage to several of James Cameron's failed cinematic endeavors (Aliens of the Deep, Dark Angel, Terminator 3, etc).

Watching it I couldn't not think about Terminator and DA. Especially the female character, Neytiri, reminded me of Max, mostly beacuse of her way to move around and even for her look - I know she's been played by an actress who was not Jessica Alba, but she reminded me of her Max nonetheless.
But maybe it's just me and my fangirlness with this show :P

[heavengurl899.livejournal.com]

:) since nobody has defended Avatar I guess I will. I don't think the plot was actually meant to be that "deep" although it was a sociopolitical movie that has a message which is hard not to agree with.
And didn't you just define how sci-fi/fantasy was taboo (although it's becoming much less so) when you said
"Tell someone you're writing about blue kitty-cat people whose home planet is being invaded by aliens and that it's a social commentary on colonialism and mercantilism and corporate greed, well, you'll be eating alone at lunch. A lot."
Something that is shunned by society is taboo.
I don't really see the "white guilt" idea but I'm not white...so maybe that's why? Wasn't it more of humans vs aliens than white vs anything else?
But a story about colonialism and the dangers of it aren't necessarily bad are they?
I mean I get if you didn't like Avatar because you're not into sci-fi/fantasy. But the movie was well done and the graphics were what made it particularly famous.
I don't know. I thought the movie was good. I understand it's not deep but movies are meant to entertain and Avatar did precisely that.
heehee yes an update would be AMAZING :D

[alliekiwi.livejournal.com]

I've not seen Avatar, yet. We have trouble getting a baby sitter and then there's the fact that we live an hour from a cinema...

One thing that interests me is that my hubby is dying</> to see it. This is the man who lived through the 70s yet didn't see Star Wars. (Still hasn't, despite me owning all the DVDs.) He's definitely not a fan of sci-fi fantasy, and in fact doesn't read fiction of any sort. So why is he so keen? I think it's because of the environmental/conservation issues the film supposedly contains.

I agree about people thinking you're odd for reading/writing sci-fi fantasy. I've absolutely loved anything of that sort, ever since reading 'The Girl With the Silver Eyes' when I was about 8. My whole family think I'm odd.

It's the same with TV programmes, actually. My mother expects me to remember not to ring during Coronation Street or the weekly Masterpiece Theatre. So I make certain not to phone during those times unless it's an absolute emergency. Yet she thinks it's perfectly acceptable to ring during whatever it is I'm watching. I've tried saying 'Mum, I'm watching a programme, could you ring back after 8.30?' She asks what the programme is and scoffs upon hearing Roswell/Dark Angel/Firefly/Dr Who/Supernatural (etc)... and keeps ringing right when they're on.

*rolleyes*