82nd ACADEMY AWARD Nominations

[CelticPredator]

^ truth right here.

 

[barbelith]

I think your confusing cultural impact for longevity and/or relevance.

I think cultural impact necessarily has to have longevity and/or relevance by definition. We're three months from launch and Avatar is yesterday's news. That's not exactly encouraging for much more than "fad film."

 

[LChinoz]

You will concede that Tom Cruise jumping on Oprah's couch had a cultural impact, then? I mean, people were talking about it. They made funny youtube videos. People dressed up like the guy for Halloween. It will be completely forgotten in a few months, but for awhile it was the bees knees.

To a degree, but honestly with celebrity stories it varies. Stories about issues like medical intervention or immigration like the Shiavo and Gonzales stories are more culturally significant. Think of Xanga. It had a cultural impact, although almost no one uses it now.

 

[LChinoz]

I think cultural impact necessarily has to have longevity and/or relevance by definition. We're three months from launch and Avatar is yesterday's news. That's not exactly encouraging for much more than "fad film."

No it does not. Are you telling me Twilight is not a cultural phenomenon? That Titanic was not? Longevity is only an indication of how strong the initial impact was.

 

[barbelith]

No it does not. Are you telling me Twilight is not a cultural phenomenon? That Titanic was not? Longevity is only an indication of how strong the initial impact was.

Longevity is the impact. You're talking about fads. I disagree that's the same thing. A "cultural phenomenon" the culture shrugs off has no real impact.

Funny how nobody talks about The Matrix anymore.

 

[karamazov80]

To a degree, but honestly with celebrity stories it varies. Stories about issues like medical intervention or immigration like the Shiavo and Gonzales stories are more culturally significant. Think of Xanga. It had a cultural impact, although almost no one uses it now.

Fair enough. We obviously just have different ideas of what a cultural impact is, then. In both cases, we are really bastardizing the academic-type use of the terms as a broad way of classifying societies (e.g. Roman culture was impacted by the creation of aquaducts), so we're probably both equally wrong

 

[LChinoz]

Longevity is the impact. You're talking about fads. I disagree that's the same thing. A "cultural phenomenon" the culture shrugs off has no real impact.

Funny how nobody talks about The Matrix anymore.

We simply will not agree on this, and that's fine. I take impact and culture literally, and therefore, a "fad" impacts culture as well.

 

[Khev]

I think it has a lot to do with the topic at hand, because it shows how deeply audiences are connecting with a film. I don't really think Jurassic Park is a cultural touchstone (great example of a fad film fading, for a little alliteration).

I think JP forever changed how people see dinosaurs. Most people pictured them as slow lumbering beasts before all the running and jumping we saw in 1993. Plus dino terms like "T-Rex" and "velociraptor" are now common knowledge thanks to JP.

Whereas say Na'vi or Neyteri in mixed company and most people will just stare blankly. Your mom knows who Jaws is. She knows who Don Corleone is. I'm putting pretty good money on her furrowing her brow when you say Quaritch.

Oh I certainly agree. I just wanted to point out that naming characters from a movie isn't the end-all-be-all of a movie's "cultural impact."

Avatar has too many cliched elements for any one of them to get credit for really impacting society. Like Peter Jackson's King Kong it perfected many elements of its genre but it certainly didn't pioneer them.

 

[The ill Jedi]

...Reading comprehension is advised.

Nah, it's not that...
it just that some people here just like to flood threads trying to validate their point...

I've seen you do that...many times.

Just sayin'.

Luca M'fing Brasi FTW!

But he sleeps with the fishes.

 

[occulum]

this thread is

not reading it all, but Star Wars & Avatar have 1 thing in common. The debut of a leap forward in special effects advancement.

The difference IMO is that Star Wars felt like an original story for the most part, Avatar didnt. Star Wars for the huge win.

Titanic .... without chicks getting obsessed over multiple viewings, this wouldve been an average box office haul ...

 

[Ultimate Weapon]

When I was a kid, I got my hands on an old issue of Playboy from 1979 or so. One of the things I distinctly remember (among other things) was a comic strip within the pages. It was a typical kind of cartoon four panel strip, like Doonesbury or something. It went something like this:

A guy and girl were undressing on a bed, obviously getting ready to have sex.

Guy: "I can't believe you never have."
Girl: "Nope, never."

Guy: Really, not even once?"
Girl: "Nope."

Guy: "Just say it one more time for me."
Girl: "I've never seen Star Wars."
Guy: "Wow."

That's the difference in the impact that a cultural touchstone like the original Star Wars had. Sometime when it was first broadcast on tv during the breaks they had clips of people talking about how many times they had seen Star Wars. I remember a family saying 300 times - and this was before home video existed anywhere as it does today.

I'm not trying to compare Avatar and Star Wars,because there's little point, but those kind of things illustrate a cultural phenom from momentary popularity/notoriety.

 

[Maglor]

this thread is

It's also:

And:

And:

 

[LChinoz]

When I was a kid, I got my hands on an old issue of Playboy from 1979 or so. One of the things I distinctly remember (among other things) was a comic strip within the pages. It was a typical kind of cartoon four panel strip, like Doonesbury or something. It went something like this:

A guy and girl were undressing on a bed, obviously getting ready to have sex.

Guy: "I can't believe you never have."
Girl: "Nope, never."

Guy: Really, not even once?"
Girl: "Nope."

Guy: "Just say it one more time for me."
Girl: "I've never seen Star Wars."
Guy: "Wow."

That's the difference in the impact that a cultural touchstone like the original Star Wars had. Sometime when it was first broadcast on tv during the breaks they had clips of people talking about how many times they had seen Star Wars. I remember a family saying 300 times - and this was before home video existed anywhere as it does today.

I'm not trying to compare Avatar and Star Wars,because there's little point, but those kind of things illustrate a cultural phenom from momentary popularity/notoriety.

I would be that "Guy"

 

[Maglor]

I would be that "Guy"

I've been wondering: are you a dude or a chick?


(Not a joke.)

 

[Shai]

Jake Sully is small in the pants.

 

[LChinoz]

I've been wondering: are you a dude or a chick?


(Not a joke.)

I'm a guy. Everyone knows most of the girls on the forum, as they are few.

 

[Maglor]

Jake Sully is small in the pants.

I'm a guy.

To bad! The chick in your our profile picture is hot! (I don't mean your avatar... although she's hot too!)

Everyone knows most of the girls on the forum, as they are few.

Sigh, I know . Haven't totally figured out who's who yet.

 

[barbelith]

We simply will not agree on this, and that's fine. I take impact and culture literally, and therefore, a "fad" impacts culture as well.

Actually, you take impact figuratively.

I don't think "happening within the culture" and "impacting the culture" are the same thing. Your approach means pretty much everything ever has some kind of cultural impact, which renders the term meaningless.

 

[LChinoz]

Actually, you take impact figuratively.

I don't think "happening within the culture" and "impacting the culture" are the same thing. Your approach means pretty much everything ever has some kind of cultural impact, which renders the term meaningless.

I know we're going round and round but no, I take it literally. Like I said, culture can be impacted by something even if it doesn't last 20 years. Time is too relative in this case, like if people were to stop talking about Star Wars 20 years from now would that mean it had no impact? What is the timetable? This is too broad and therefore should be left out of the discussion. I believe something that affects culture, no matter how long it lasts, has impacted it.

I don't think Avatar is a cultural phenomenon at all. A ton of people have seen it, but the film itself has had almost no cultural impact whatsoever.

If longevity is key to cultural impact, why even bother saying the above? It has only been out 3 months, therefore, according to you, it's impact cannot be measured yet. Also, you state "almost no cultural impact whatsoever" which means you believe it has impacted culture, albeit minimally.

 

[barbelith]

Like I said, culture can be impacted by something even if it doesn't last 20 years.

I agree. But you seem to be using "impact" and "fad" interchangeably. That's where we disagree, because I don't think they're the same thing. Again, it renders the term meaningless. By your definition, pogs had cultural impact. Um, what?

If longevity is key to cultural impact, why even bother saying the above?

Avatar is fading after three months. We already know it has no longevity.

Also, you state "almost no cultural impact whatsoever" which means you believe it has impacted culture, albeit minimally.

I was thinking of the inflated ticket surcharge. That genie's not going back in the bottle. I can't remember if I paid a surcharge to see Coraline in 3D.