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Avatar causing depression and inciting racism?

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And causing death by 3D over-excitement apparently.

Taiwan man dies after watching 'Avatar'

TAIPEI, Jan 19, 2010 (AFP) - A 42-year-old Taiwanese man with a history of high blood pressure has died of a stroke likely triggered by over-excitement from watching the blockbuster "Avatar" in 3D, a doctor said Tuesday.

The man, identified only by his surname Kuo, started to feel unwell during the screening earlier this month in the northern city of Hsinchu and was taken to hospital.

Kuo, who suffered from hypertension, was unconscious when he arrived at the Nan Men General Hospital and a scan showed that his brain was haemorrhaging, emergency room doctor Peng Chin-chih said.

"It's likely that the over-excitement from watching the movie triggered his symptoms," he told AFP.

Kuo died 11 day later from the brain haemorrhage, and the China Times newspaper said it was the first death linked to watching James Cameron's science-fiction epic "Avatar".

Film blogging sites have reported complaints of headaches, dizziness, nausea and blurry eyesight from viewers of "Avatar" and other movies rich in 3D imagery.
 

Fluffywolf

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This is absolutely ludicrous, but there was an article in the free newspaper Metro here in the UK that claims people are becoming depressed from watching Avatar and realising a utopian dream is impossible in this day and age. And the almost entirely white Earth force doiminating Pandora leaves eerie thoughts of colonialism in people's minds...

Has anyone heard of that? Does anyone feel adversely affected by the movie?

I think it's pure nonsense myself. I loved the movie, but I don't feel like a utopian world is impossible. Though as capitalism would be a difficult thing to defeat. The aggressive-dominant nature of our species drives us towards capitalism. The utopian Human society portrayed in shows like Star Trek would only likely arise from a near-apocolyptic end to the world.

I did however get an un-easy feeling at the nigh-complete white opressor, and the way the Na'vi were dressed in similar styles to African native tribes.

A brief on-line version of the article can be read on the Metro.co.uk site:
Avatar fans struck with depression, amid racist message claims | Metro.co.uk

I've not seen the movie but if it pulls peoples heads out of their asses it's a good thing! A better world needs to be worked for, it doesn't just show up eventually.

As for inciting rascist. I don't think anyone can justify their actions based on fiction. If they do, it didn't incite rascism, it just gave inherently rascist people one more bogus arguement to work from.
 

Totenkindly

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1/ David Brooks is a very smart sociologist (even if he's a conservative one).

"Avatar is a racial fantasy par excellence…."

"It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic.

"It rests on the assumption that non-whites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades. It rests on the assumption that illiteracy is the path to grace.

"It also creates a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism. Natives can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration"


So when he writes this, as usual, he's spot on.

This movie is a total crap. Not only because it is aesthetically questionable, not only because a 8 years old kid could have written a better scenario, and designed more convincing aliens...
It is a total crap, because it lays entirely on DEMAGOGY. (Demagogy: telling people what they want to hear, not what they need to hear)

After having seen it, I'm not angry against the public audience who appreciate this crap, but against those who created that elaborate trap. James Cameron is obviously a very smart person. Writing this lousy scenario surely was a deliberate act, because his primary goal was to make money, and nothing else. He wanted to seduce the masses, and to sell his product in the most efficient way he could possibly find.

I'm angry against Cameron and his team, because "Avatar" flatters the ego of the uneducated audience; because it flatters it in the worst possible way: in making them dumber than they previously were.
And unfortunately, the subliminal messages are perfectly clear. And I'm sure that James Cameron is aware of them, and must be laughing at how stupid people are, how easy it is to take their money away, and make billion of dollars out of their mediocre existences.

"There's a sucker born every minute".

I find the way this product despises human intelligence to be deeply offensive.
It's not their fault if masses are illiterate and stupid: it always went this way, it's part of the human condition. But to exploit that weakness rather than trying to (temporarily) lessen it is the sign of an incredible cynism.


$$$$$ Money, money, money, money, money... $$$$$

IMO here's yet another case where people read far too much into a creative endeavor.

Sometimes a movie is just a movie.

And money is only a primary consideration because it enables the movie to get made in the first place. (How else to pay for the $240 million budget?)

Cameron already had his ass bitten on earlier projects because of the need to win studio support and recoup their investment.

The whole thing is rather less complicated than people seem to want to make it.
 
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