• SchizoDenji@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    It’s amazing how this meme/whinging was going on for a decade on the internet, only for James Cameron to make a second movie and even that made 2 billion dollars (and could have surpassed the first one had there not been an outbreak in China).

    And even after all of that, you guys actually think that people don’t care or remember about the films?

    • MrFunnyMoustache@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Yes, lots of people watched it, but it never made the cultural impact that The Last Airbender had on society at large. A lot of people remember the movie for it’s stunning visuals, and remember the general themes in the movie, but not the actual characters because they weren’t particularly memorable.

      The Last Airbender had a very compelling story, loveable characters with phenomenal development and it stuck with people.

      How many times have you heard someone make a reference to the movie other than talking about it’s visual mastery? People use The Last Airbender in everyday conversations.

      To demonstrate how many people engage with the fandoms: James Cameron’s Avatar has 5,127 fanfiction stories on AO3, and 1678 stories on FFN, and The Last Airbender has 41,627 fanfics on AO3, and 47,680 on FFN.

      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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        10 months ago

        Guarantee this dude responds saying that those are just your circles, and that among people that aren’t “terminally online,” blue man group avatar is sooo much more popular, source: trust me bro

    • NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone
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      10 months ago

      The films are super popular but again after the sequel it was like everyone immediately went back to literally never mentioning the Na’avi or Pantera.

      • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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        10 months ago

        It’s because they look incredible on the big screen so people go to see them at the theater but the story and characters aren’t anything we haven’t seen a dozen times before so there’s nothing to really talk about long term.

    • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      I think that people know and care about the films, but I’ve never seen anyone make a reference to it outside of discussions that are explicitly about it

      • SchizoDenji@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        Because it’s not a franchise that’s 50 years old like star wars or based off any existing material.

        Once you have a generation that grew up on these films, you’d see more of the references.

        • wolfshadowheart@slrpnk.net
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          10 months ago

          That’s his point though. We grew up with both Avatars and when talking about it by name, many people think of the animation.

          The very thing you are saying won’t happen for 50 years is happening with that show.

          • SchizoDenji@lemm.ee
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            10 months ago

            Yeah ATLA was primarily aimed at kids and teens, so obviously today it’d be talked by them more.

            Avatar is the antithesis to every “popular” movie. The hero isn’t a single man-child who quips all the time, he’s a crippled guy with a family, serious and sincere.

        • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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          10 months ago

          The same is true of John Wick, and by my estimate, that has had a significantly bigger impact on pop culture.

          Also, Avatar is only like 5 years newer than A:TLA, but even ten years ago the cultural impact of TLA was monumental compared to the impact of Cameron’s Avatar today

          • SchizoDenji@lemm.ee
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            10 months ago

            How do you measure it? Pandora theme park rides are insanely packed all the time. The first movie led to everyone getting 3DTVs, there were people who got depressed since they couldn’t live on Pandora.

            Sure the terminally online crowd doesn’t gush about it, but you’d be lying if it didn’t have any impact.

            • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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              10 months ago

              Another reminder that we all share the same internet, but we live in different universes. Ain’t no one I know wasted money on a 3DTV or regular theme park rides. I guess among the folk that can afford obscenely expensive toys and even more expensive vacations, it might have had a bigger impact, but of the 5 figure income folks I know, not one really cares about the movies. I don’t even know of anyone who bought a 3DTV, let alone bought one specifically for Avatar

                • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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                  10 months ago

                  I never said nobody watched it. The whole point of this discussion is that it’s surprising how little cultural impact it has despite the insane viewer numbers

                  • SchizoDenji@lemm.ee
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                    10 months ago

                    More that they don’t follow IN YOUR CIRCLE. Seriously, avatar chud meme is all over twitter and reddit regardless of fandoms.