What makes good entertainment? If it was easy to know, then I would be… Well, the fact is, it’s not easy to know. But, if anyone would know, it would be James Cameron. The chap directed two consecutive films that made both film-making and financial history worldwide. Worldwide. I’ve heard that music transcends culture, but the reception of film is based, largely on the cultural context for entertainment. I saw the film in the U.A. E. and it wasn’t opening night, but the theatres were packed! The Emirati who didn’t speak English had to read the subtitles in Arabic at the bottom of the screen, which, in my opinion limited their experience. But, Avatar broke records in the United Arab Emirates, and in other non-Western countries like Bahrain, Qatar, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, the Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Latvia, and the list goes on…
I didn’t come early, but there were only a few seats remaining in the front row. It was the first time I was seeing a film in 3-D. Throughout the movie, was fascinated by the visuals and I couldn’t believe how time passed y so fast. After it was all over, my sister said it was the best film she’d ever seen, but all I could think was that I’d seen—or at least read about this in real life—I mean, it drew almost practical parallelisms to colonialism, with a slightly better ending.
I read that 20th Century Fox (South) Korea modified and released Avatar in 4-D version. Their version included "moving seats, smells of explosives, sprinkling water, laser lights and wind." It would have been interesting to study the cross-cultural reception to the film. Cameron has confirmed that a sequel of one or two parts will follow Avatar. It took over ten years to develop the technology for Cameron’s vision (the script was actually written since 1994), and I hope the next one or ones, if anything, will live up to their predecessor. It would be sad to see an excellent filmmaker put out rubbish only because of the reception to the first one... but then again, it's Cameron.
Anyway, considering how our class received the movie, I wanted to let the class know about their response to the film. Names weren’t included in my paper, so I’ll simply let everyone know what audience they fell into, if they care to know.
Factor 1- “Film made me reflect on life” Abhay, Benson, Morgan (PS 101), and 2 unidentified females. Led by: Unidentified Female & Benson.
Factor 2- “Eye candy” Justin, Abi, Sondra (PS 101).Led by: Abi
Factor 3- “Only good part is 3-D imaging” D.T, Joe & unidentified male. Led by: D.T
Now, if you’re going to see the sequel to Avatar, you know who to go with J
P.S: I had fun doing this. Thanks, D.T!
This was an interesting study. I'm not surprised that I was on the "critical" factor--partly because of the extraordinary expectations and hype surrounding the movie, partly because I was far more impressed with the "Hurt Locker," directed by Cameron's former wife, a movie that didn't get all the hype or sales of tickets that Avatar did. It is an interesting phenomenon: I find myself "instinctively" upset by what I see as a huge disparity between the "market value" of something and it's "true value" -- as a movie, as a book, as a product (you get the idea). It's a major reason for my suspicions about markets as alternatives to government in allocating rewards and scarce values. A weird but real affirmation for sure!
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