There will be another Avatar movie coming out this year and regardless of the quality of it, you can be assured of two things - it will make a fucking shitload of money, and there will be much sneering about how it hasn't made a big cultural impact.
I fully understand why the first thing happens - James Cameron knows how to make movies that lots of people want to see, because he offers up sights they've never seen on a movie screen before, while also having an innate grasp on tension and pacing that makes his stories feel very satisfying.
But I remain completely baffled by the sneering. That the Avatar films are basically worthless, because it hasn't made an impact on culture. There aren't a thousand rip-offs, and we're not all dressing up like giant smurfs. So fucking what?
It is a basically true statement. I can't remember the names of more than three characters, I've never seen any real fan fiction about it, and there aren't a thousand articles on the geek sites breathlessly going over any detail that leaks out.
These are all facts, but I don't get why it's such a bad thing. Who gives a shit if it doesn't leave a heavy footprint on wider pop culture in the same way the Marvel or Star Wars films have had? So what?
Sometimes you don't want a whole mythology pumped into your skull when you go to the movies, sometimes you just want to have a good time for a couple of hours, and that's it. You don't want to be deluged in content, you just want to dive into a fantasy world for a couple of hours, and then dive right out again, and just having a good time.
That's what I'll be looking for when I go to the next avatar - not just escapism from the wider world, but from the bruising weight of backstory and continuity and all the extremely boring context about the creation of a modern movie blockbuster. I'll be there for a good time, and that's more than enough.
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