82nd ACADEMY AWARD Nominations

[Khev]

Ask a random person to name any three characters from Star Wars. Then ask them to name any three characters from Avatar.

Not necessarily a fair measure of cultural impact. Millions of people were afraid to go swimming in the ocean in 1975 and many diving shops had a huge plummet in business. Even today a certain score and maneating shark are still in the back of people's minds when they enter the water, but how many random people can actually can name the characters from Jaws?

 

[The Ween]

Ask a random person to name any three characters from Star Wars. Then ask them to name any three characters from Avatar.

The real test will be to ask them 20 years from now.

 

[BadMoon]

It's true.

I didn't say gay. I said ghey. LOL! I know your gay so I would never personally assault your preference either way when it comes to that. However, your choice in film I will and that is pretty damn Ghey.

 

[D. Martin]

But they both are. They are both good movies and overrated. There are a lot of movies I love, but will definitely acknowledge as being overrated. The Dark Knight is one.

Agreed. Thing is, if you can articulate what it is about a film, your personal opinion trumps overrated movies.

What makes a movie overrated is a large group of people that follow critical acclaim and reiterate what they read in the newspaper without being able to articulate what they personally enjoy about the film.

Hurt Locker, Avatar, The Dark Knight, Godfather, Star Wars, and hundreds of other films all are guilty of it, and that is why I challenge people to state what they like about popular movies. If someone can't break it down to anything other than the critic's opinions, I quickly lose interest in their opinion and grow tired of the conversation. There's no point in stating someone else's opinion...

 

[Khev]

That was a joke Khev.

Actually I thought you were asking a fair question given the obviously broad range of the genre.

 

[CelticPredator]

Agreed. Thing is, if you can articulate what it is about a film, your personal opinion trumps overrated movies.

What makes a movie overrated is a large group of people that follow critical acclaim and reiterate what they read in the newspaper without being able to articulate what they personally enjoy about the film.

Hurt Locker, Avatar, The Dark Knight, Godfather, Star Wars, and hundreds of other films all are guilty of it, and that is why I challenge people to state what they like about popular movies. If someone can't break it down to anything other than the critic's opinions, I quickly lose interest in their opinion and grow tired of the conversation. There's no point in stating someone else's opinion...

The Hurt Locker was amazing because it is a fantastic character study into the mind of one IED person. He comes across as badass, and "cool" at first, but once you get deeper in his head, he stops being badass, and becomes nothing more then a person with a serious problem. He needs the rush more then he needs his family.

Suck it Trebeck!

 

[D. Martin]

Ask a random person to name any three characters from Star Wars. Then ask them to name any three characters from Avatar.

Give Avatar thirty years to catch up.

In the same sense, give Star Wars another 1977 years and see what people think...

 

[CelticPredator]

Avatar wont last. Titanic didnt last, TDK didnt last....so yeah.

No one talks about any of those movies now.

 

[LChinoz]

Ask a random person to name any three characters from Star Wars. Then ask them to name any three characters from Avatar.

And what are we supposed to learn from this? Most people couldn't name three characters from LOTR...

 

[The Josh]

Avatar wont last. Titanic didnt last, TDK didnt last....so yeah.

No one talks about any of those movies now.

I disagree. People still talk about Titanic and TDK. I'm sure Avatar will still be discussed by folks. To what level well that remains to be seen. IMO SW, Avatar, Indy, LOTR, TDK, Iron Man, etc are all films or type of film that will always be discussed by US as far as the general audience well that usually stays for films like Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump, Gone With the Wind, etc.

 

[karamazov80]

I simply don't even see how this is a debate. Avatar has had a cultural impact...

I tend to agree that this is not a debate, but for a completely different reason. No one has given me any real examples apart from a few isolated nut-jobs and some jokes made on late night television. Again, that does not represent "cultural impact" to me. To reiterate, I don't think there is enough evidence one way or the other yet, because you can't know the impact of something when it just came out a few months ago. However, if you want to suggest that this is the case, you're gonna need to present more evidence than some loonies dressed up like buffoons protesting issue X.

You say "the jokes, spoofs, and everyone knowing what it is." Well, that simply shows that people know about something. So what? Everyone knew about Elian Gonzales and made jokes about him at one point, but what type of broad cultural impact did that have? Or Terri Shiavo? Or the guy who Oprah embarrassed for lying? Or that British actor who was caught with a transvestite prostitute? Just events that come and go, and that's that.

 

[IrishJedi]

I disagree. People still talk about Titanic and TDK.

But not as cultural touchstones. Now, these movies come and go quite rapidly.

And today when TITANIC is brought up in a discussion 9 times out of ten it's due to mocking its box office and critical success.

Also, there is a difference between being a current pop culture topic of discussion (AVATAR) and a film having a true cultural impact (STAR WARS, which literally inspired a large portion of a generation all on its own).

 

[Khev]

There had never been a movie before Star Wars that impacted audiences the way that it did, and there will never be another.

 

[The Ringer]

There had never been a movie before Star Wars that impacted audiences the way that it did, and there will never be another.

What about Avatar 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.........................................

 

[Khev]

What about Avatar 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.........................................

I know you're joking but even as one of the bigger Avatar fans on this board I can't imagine a sequel doing anything but diminishing the original. Move on to Battle Angel, Jim, you closed out Jake's tale perfectly.

 

[agen_kolar]

I didn't say gay. I said ghey. LOL! I know your gay so I would never personally assault your preference either way when it comes to that. However, your choice in film I will and that is pretty damn Ghey.

I know - I was twisting what you said to make it what I wanted it to say.

 

[BadMoon]

I know - I was twisting what you said to make it what I wanted it to say.

Gottcha!

 

[agen_kolar]

Actually he drives onto the Moon at one point.

Spoiler

And goes down stairs.

Oh yeah, so I should've said it all happens on one moon.

 

[IrishJedi]

There had never been a movie before Star Wars that impacted audiences the way that it did, and there will never be another.

Agreed. That's why people need to stop using AVATAR as a comparison in that context.

 

[Something Sexy]

Agreed. That's why people need to stop using AVATAR as a comparison in that context.

Double agreed. The only other franchise that came close was LotR and that pretty much just fizzled out. The hobbit will bring it back for a bit but it will just die again except for the extreme loyalists.