Hello,
Below are 3 different articles that were sent to me today about Avatar. As we probably all know, Avatar is the biggest box office hit in history.
Yet I have a few VERY BIG QUESTIONS.
The first article is from CNN and says that the movie is making many people depressed and even suicidal. Then there are the articles following saying that the movie is a beautiful insight into higher consciousness and James Cameron must have been inspired by Earth Angels or Star people or the like to make such an incredible movie.
Now I shouldn’t make any judgment because I have not seen the film – nor do I intend to see the movie.
Initially, when I saw the trailers and promotions for it, I had no intentions of seeing it. The trailers and the promotional material was, for me, the biggest turn-off possible. Obviously the rest of the world thought differently.
Then I read these articles and began to think, well maybe there’s another side that I missed in the publicity.
So this afternoon, I went onto the Avatar official website and I was so depressed and angry YET AGAIN just by watching the trailers and reading the promotional material.
So I’m interested in your opinion.
HERE’S HOW I SEE IT – even though I haven’t see it at all
Again, keeping in mind that I’ve not seen the movie.
BUT from the trailers, I see it as arrogant, greedy Earth humans out to exploit – AGAIN – a beautiful sensitive race on Pandora purely for the greed and money they can make out of Pandora’s resources. Not enough that we rape and exploit our own resources here on Earth. And these horrid Earth humans in the movie don’t care what they do or who they hurt just for the almighty dollar.
I have nothing whatsoever against money or becoming financially rich. IT ALL DEPENDS ON HOW YOU DO IT and it must be done without hurting or exploiting others!
I can sure understand why people might come away depressed. As I said, I get angry and depressed just by watching the trailer. I also get so angry and upset by that sort of thing each day here on Earth when I watch the evening news. I don’t need to pay to go and see it in a very big way at the movies.
Having Said That – Let me Say this …
My training as a Philosopher taught me to always look for other perspectives.
And so, apart from the cinematography and incredible filming techniques which I’m sure that I’d love, I can see that there could be another perspective to the movie that is also very positive. And that’s why I’d love your opinion.
Now, I don’t really know , but I could put forward the possibility that James Cameron wanted to present to us the incredibly negative and despicable attitudes that all too many people here on Earth have.
And he did it by contrasting the arrogant, greedy Earth humans – the badies; with the beautiful Spiritual 5th Dimension people on Pandora - the goodies.
If this is the case, and it well could be, then my question still is “has it succeeded in doing what it’s meant to do and that is to give a heck of a lot of greedy humans on this planet a kick up their 3D back-side?”
Yet Again,
As Richard Boylan highlights in the 3rd piece below. This is an opportunity to see what living in a beautiful, harmonic, and loving world could be like.
Therefore, if so many people are getting depressed by watching the movie and getting a REAL EYE-FULL reminder of what a lot of our Earth world attitudes here are really like.
THEN what about if we all start to make Pandora here on Earth.
It really is possible to do. And my current research indicates that this is the time that we can do it.
If you’ve seen the movie, let me know what you think about it all.
Love
Kashonia
******************************************
ARTICLE #1
Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ blues
By Jo Piazza, Special to CNN
January 11, 2010 8:06 a.m. EST
CNN) — James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.
On the fan forum site “Avatar Forums,” a topic thread entitled “Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible,” has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.
“I wasn’t depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy ,” Baghdassarian said. “But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don’t have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed.”
A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.
“That’s all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about ‘Avatar.’ I guess that helps. It’s so hard I can’t force myself to think that it’s just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na’vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie,” Elequin posted.
A user named Mike wrote on the fan Web site “Naviblue” that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie.
“Ever since I went to see ‘Avatar’ I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it,” Mike posted. “I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in ‘Avatar.’ ”
Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality.
Cameron’s movie, which has pulled in more than $1.4 billion in worldwide box office sales and could be on track to be the highest grossing film of all time, is set in the future when the Earth’s resources have been pillaged by the human race. A greedy corporation is trying to mine the rare mineral unobtainium from the planet Pandora, which is inhabited by a peace-loving race of 10-foot tall, blue-skinned natives called the Na’vi.
In their race to mine for Pandora’s resources, the humans clash with the Na’vi, leading to casualties on both sides. The world of Pandora is reminiscent of a prehistoric fantasyland, filled with dinosaur-like creatures mixed with the kinds of fauna you may find in the deep reaches of the ocean. Compared with life on Earth, Pandora is a beautiful, glowing utopia.
Ivar Hill posts to the “Avatar” forum page under the name Eltu. He wrote about his post-”Avatar” depression after he first saw the film earlier this month.
“When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed … gray. It was like my whole life, everything I’ve done and worked for, lost its meaning,” Hill wrote on the forum. “It just seems so … meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep … doing things at all. I live in a dying world.”
Reached via e-mail in Sweden where he is studying game design, Hill, 17, explained that his feelings of despair made him desperately want to escape reality.
“One can say my depression was twofold: I was depressed because I really wanted to live in Pandora, which seemed like such a perfect place, but I was also depressed and disgusted with the sight of our world, what we have done to Earth. I so much wanted to escape reality,” Hill said.
Cameron’s special effects masterpiece is very lifelike, and the 3-D performance capture and CGI effects essentially allow the viewer to enter the alien world of Pandora for the movie’s 2?-hour running time, which only lends to the separation anxiety some individuals experience when they depart the movie theater.
“Virtual life is not real life and it never will be, but this is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far,” said Dr. Stephan Quentzel, psychiatrist and Medical Director for the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. “It has taken the best of our technology to create this virtual world and real life will never be as utopian as it seems onscreen. It makes real life seem more imperfect.”
Fans of the movie may find actor Stephen Lang, who plays the villainous Col. Miles Quaritch in the film, an enemy of the Na’vi people and their sacred ground, an unlikely sympathizer. But Lang says he can understand the connection people are feeling with the movie.
“Pandora is a pristine world and there is the synergy between all of the creatures of the planet and I think that strikes a deep chord within people that has a wishfulness and a wistfulness to it,” Lang said. “James Cameron had the technical resources to go along with this incredibly fertile imagination of his and his dream is built out of the same things that other peoples’ dreams are made of.”
The bright side is that for Hill and others like him — who became dissatisfied with their own lives and with our imperfect world after enjoying the fictional creation of James Cameron — becoming a part of a community of like-minded people on an online forum has helped them emerge from the darkness.
“After discussing on the forums for a while now, my depression is beginning to fade away. Having taken a part in many discussions concerning all this has really, really helped me,” Hill said. “Before, I had lost the reason to keep on living — but now it feels like these feelings are gradually being replaced with others.”
Quentzel said creating relationships with others is one of the keys to human happiness, and that even if those connections are occurring online they are better than nothing.
“Obviously there is community building in these forums,” Quentzel said. “It may be technologically different from other community building, but it serves the same purpose.”
Within the fan community, suggestions for battling feelings of depression after seeing the movie include things like playing “Avatar” video games or downloading the movie soundtrack, in addition to encouraging members to relate to other people outside the virtual realm and to seek out positive and constructive activities.
- – - – - –
ARTICLE # 2
Since I’m in the medical field as a NP, I’ve been hearing about people
becoming depressed after seeing the movie Avatar. Here’s an article on
this:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html
What I’m wondering is if this is part of an awakening of the general
population?
This seems like an incredible opportunity since so many people are seeing Avatar to let people know that we can live in harmony with our own Earth/planet being and that there are places here that are amazing and beautiful. And that the joy they feel comes from being hooked into a system that recognizes them as a valued and loved member.
I think what people are sad about is feeling the harmony and communication and interdependence depicted in the movie, then returning home and turning on TV to one of the deadening offerings they have.
Despite all the social networks, we are really not “connected” to people in general.
Read the comments in the article – it seems like this is a real opportunity for more education. I recognized the feelings of depression as those I’ve had when returning to the “default” world from a gathering that focuses on creativity, communication and kindness (for example, returning from the StarSeed conference in TN a few years ago). It’s
hard to get back to the uncaring, cookie-cutter world.
And just as an interesting side note – I saw an interview with James Cameron who, when asked how he came up with the idea for the world of Pandora, stated that he didn’t come up with it — he wasn’t that creative. He was taken there many years ago and he had been trying to figure out how to convey what he saw and learned there!! Pretty
interesting, huh!?
In Light,
Kat Fasnacht
ARTICLE # 3 – in response to the above
From: UFOFacts@yahoogroups.com [mailto:UFOFacts@yahoogroups.com]
On Behalf Of Kat Fasnacht
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 3:59 PM
Subject: [UFOFacts] More preparation for Disclosure and move into 5th world??
Kat, I’m assuming that NP stands for Nurse Practitioner, and not Neurolinguistic Practitioner.
Your final remarks about the director of the film Avatar, James Cameron, are astounding. James Cameron is of course a Star Seed. But then you go on to describe an “interview with James Cameron who, when asked how he came up with the idea for the world of Pandora, stated that he didn’t come up with it — he wasn’t that creative. He was taken there many years ago and he had been trying to figure out how to convey what he saw and learned there!!”
Did Cameron go on to say how he was taken to the equivalent of the lovely forest moon Pandora? Was it physical travel in a starcraft or out-of-body travel, perhaps accompanied by a Star Visitor Guide?
And who took him there? Was it the Zeta? Or some other Star People?
Since Avatar just broke the box-office records of all time and is now the highest grossing film in the world, meaning that many tens of millions of viewers world-wide are getting their consciousness altered and uplifted by this depiction of what Fifth World society might look like on some worlds.
Could it be that the Star Visitors provided this vision to James Cameron’s mind so that this inspiring film could come out now to help people see tangibly a bit of what a reformed and transformed Earth society might function somewhat like?
While some viewers may have felt depressed coming out of Avatar back out into our polluted, power-and-money-hungry world, many more came out touched and inspired about what a society in total harmony with nature and each other might look like.
In the light,
Richard Boylan, Ph.D.
www.drboylan.com/
President, Star Kids Project, Ltd







{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello Kashonia,
I’ve jumped right on to make this comment before reading your opinion explanation ( which I will do ), because I Totally Agree with You about NOT seeing Avatar. My intuition let me know its nature pretty much the minute I first heard even a murmur about this film. I am VERY selective about what I expose myself to and about what I give the energy of money to support ( always have been – probably since the movie Cinderella scared me ‘thru the roof”at age five!).
Alright, now to reading the articles and what you wrote….
Joyful Blessings,
Alisa Rose
http://www.greenfengshuimakeover.com
Wow, ok, now I’ve gotten as far as the top pf Article #3, and agree SO with what’s been expressed !
Here’re the notes I wrote halfway into the first article :
While I haven’t seen this movie, from these descriptions,
1. It must have a lot of violence & mass destruction, which is probably why my intuition immediately said “don’t go there no matter who’s raving about it”
2. The described images of the humans’ actions are What Has ALREADY been HAPPENING HERE,
3. For those unaware of the above who are into seeing typical “blockbuster” movies, perhaps THIS film has given an awakening jolt – from the “non-chalant” way “we” in the western world have been living. And forums about this film could be one of the heart-sharing, heart-opening places for some beautiful human community to blossom,
4. As a born treehugging, environmental ( and otherwise) sensitive, I not only can understand the peoples’ excruciating angst/depression/overwhelm, I have been there myself!
5. HOWEVER, This, our Earthly Home, is an AWESOMELY Magnificently BEAUTIFUL Planet/Place herself, and there are many, many people of course already living from and thru exquisitely beautiful hearts Right Here RIGHT NOW,
6. So, I chose to believe that the depicted Pandora world IS where we’re headed on Earth. ( and if I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t know why I am here).
7. Why else would so many people care?!
Thank You, Kashonia, for your beautiful openness and for this place of expression.
With Gratitude,
Alisa Rose
http://www.greenfengshuimakeover.com
You can watch it here http://www.XXXXXXXXX for free … and it works
Wow … I am absolutely blown away that people have had this negative reaction to Avatar. I have seen the movie twice and both times have come away feeling touched and inspired at how the people of Pandora live. Yes there was a fair amount of violence and destruction depicted but the spiritual connection the Pandora people had with each other, their planet and their ancestors was a very strong theme throughout the movie and it helped them win the fight with the baddies. The animation and cinematography was out of this world (pardon the pun!!) and I would highly recommend you watch the movie. Of course you are entitled to your own opinions … but at least be well informed and see the movie … don’t judge it from just seeing the trailer or listening to other people’s negative opinions.
Blessings to you all,
Julie
How fascinating to see these comments. Thank you so much for your time in writing them.
The thing that amazed me about the trailer is that that is the movie’s #1 promotional piece. And yet that alone has left some of us with a negative reaction.
The trailer is obviously aimed at a totally different target audience that us.
Julie, if you’ve seen it twice then there must be something very special about it.
As I mentioned, I can understand that there could be a very positive side to the movie too. And Julie obviously that’s what touched your heart. Which clearly shows the sort of person that you are.
I hope that others who’ve seen the movie will add their perspective.
Actually, I just had a thought. Had the movie just focused on the beautiful Pandora side of things, the people who MOST need to see the film would never go to it.
And so from that perspective alone – it would be a very important film to have out in the public arena.
On the other hand, for those who are well aware of what a Pandora existence could be like and who are at the stage of not wanting to be subjected to violence, even though there is a positive aspect too. Then they have no need to see the film.
Food for thought?
As I said, I’d love to read more comments
Love
Kashonia
http://www.RaisingLoveConsciousness.com
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the suggestion.
But if I post it they’ll probably put me in jail.
And whilst the website might work – it certainly wouldn’t have the same atmosphere as the full sound, size and quality cinema : – )
I’ve made the decision – I will definitely go down and see Avatar.
Just not sure when, because the nearest movie cinema to me is a 5 hour return drive.
So I really have to work up to it.
But I’ve been giving it all a lot of thought, and yes I think it could have some GREAT merit by enducing people to see it who NEED to see it. And then showing them what a different world can really be like.
We live in a dualistic reality so of course people are going to perceive a movie like this in the light that they live. In my opinion the movie was made to give ‘us’ a glimpse into what is to come – creating little seeds all over our world!! With those seeds people start to question our reality & this is how change takes hold!! Those that have found themselves in a depressive state maybe people that have a subconscious yearning to ‘go home’ & energetically connect to how the alien planet co-creates & exists. Often these feelings can be used to create positive change (with support & love). I wonder how many ‘wake up’ to who we really are (light beings) & start seeking from this experience. As one post (Ivar Hill) said, “I live in a dying world.” yes exactly but death always precedes re-birth/creation of a new awareness. One of the things that I find interesting is that no one has commented on the subtle message in the film of the main character who is paralysed in our reality but has freedom from his affliction in the alien world – another subconscious message. From a higher perspective I also liked the rythum that flowed with the movie 2012 & Avatar. 2012 has been definately advertised as a doomsday message created to evoke fear – hot on the heels of this movie Avatar came out – not really giving 2012 enough time to soak in!! Showing the potential of a new world if we will only wake up to the old patterns that no longer serve us. Just as a side note: When the movie ‘The Secret’ came out I noticed a lot of spiritually awake people shun the movie for it’s strong theme of material abundance. I often argued that this movie was fantastic to open the eyes of ‘normal’ people out there who were unaware of their role in creating their reality. Last week at the bank the young bankteller that was serving me asked if I had seen the movie. He then went on to explain that he has noticed that when he is aware of creating, his life flows more smoothly than when he is unconscious & just living!! I smiled – he was the very reason that the movie was created!! Let’s all wake up!!
Avitar was not a film I thought I would see. My daughter took me to see it and it was like I came home.
Personally, I think the director and producers are amazing for having the courage to put this message out through a childrens film. What a message! For Hollywood to finally understand that everyone and everything is connected, awesome! It may be set on a ficticious planet but it relates to us on earth, the solar system, the universe, the multi universes…to every part of energy…we are one.
With all due respect, Kashonia, I believe if you are going to offer a critique of something – a book , a movie, piece of music, a show, a law or political view, etc. – that it is MANDATORY to FIRST see it, listen to it, read it, etc. It is not very responsible to offer your opinion about something you are not completely familiar with. Taking a trailer and using it to generalize to the entire movie is not the proper way to handle this. How can you offer an opinion that will influence others when you have not actually seen the movie?
This occurs all the time in politics and in the media – someone hears someone else say something about what they see or hear, then it’s “whisper down the lane” and things get out of context and totally distorted. Next thing you know, people are condemning something they have absolutely no first-hand knowledge about. People have boycotted things, criticized and ridiculed based on someone else’s opinion and judgment and not their own.
We need MORE PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY THINK FOR THEMSELVES IN THIS WORLD. I respect much of what you write about Kashonia, but, must disagree with you on this whole concept about offering opinions of something you don’t have first-hand knowledge about after only viewing a promotional piece.
I encourage you to please see the movie – I believe you will leave the theater with a better idea of it’s TRUE MEANING… THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE that people will open their minds and hearts to something beyond the superficial desires and greed that have
held so much power over people in the past. We are SHIFTING NOW, and I sincerely believe that movies like Avatar help raise awareness and consciousness to a HIGHER level – UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS and UPLIFTING the HUMAN SPIRIT is what we ALL need to be concerned with at this time of revolutionary change.
Avoiding is simply another way to deny reality – it serves no one. Please encourage your readers to ALWAYS form their own ideas and opinions based on REAL FACTS AND FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE – not what someone else has to say about it.
Thank you.
All the best to you,
Nancy
Hello Nancy,
I do appreciate the time you’ve taken to write up your comment.
And I would normally agree that one shouldn’t make a judgement without all of the facts. However, all I did was to offer an opinion BASED on what I’d seen – which was the trailer and promotional material.
And you’re right, it would have been extremely irresponsible and totally unethical to have not disclosed that I had not seen the film.
But I do have a right to an opinion based on the limited knowledge that I had.
And it was because of that limited knowledge that I asked several times throughout my post for people to give me their perspective. Especially if they had actually seen the film. Which you have done.
And I do so appreciate all of the comments from everyone.
This is exactly what we need to do more of – discuss what’s going on.
And based on the positive comments, I will definitely go and see it if i can get there before it finishes. As I mentioned in a previous post it’s a 5 hour return drive to get to a cinema from here. And I have been told of what must be pirated copies on the web. But if I’m going to see the film I want the best viewing experience possible.
The most exciting thing in hearing these positive comments is that I had my AH-HA moment a few comments ago. I asked why would James Cameron have what I consider to be a negative trailer? As so often happens, when we ask a specific question we often get an immediate answer from within – which I did.
And it is such a beautiful thing – which I’m sure was done intentially. To have the sort of trailer he ran will attract the EXACT SORT of people who really need to see this wonderful world of Pandora. And it’s more than likely that they are the people leaving the movie so depressed – which is great because they have been able to see what could be.
I wish I could attract – and keep – those sorts of people that Cameron was targeting, to http://www.RaisingLoveConsciousness.com
But I find that a little too hard to do at this stage. Maybe a little later.
Nevertheless, as I say in the post Header – it’s “Time to make Pandora Here On Earth”. And that’s exactly what I see my mission to be – in my own small way.
And sometime second hand knowledge is good enough to stimulate discussion. And discussion is far more important than just straight opinions. It’s discussion that opens us up to take a multi-perspective view of things – whatever those things might be at the time. And that is a BIG KEY to consciousness raising – to be open enough, and flexible enough, to change your might and look at ever bigger possibilities.
This discussion has led me to change my original view and now I really want to see the film.
Thanks so much Nancy for your comment,
love
Kashonia
Elizabeth and Edel,
It’s also good to read your comments too.
And especially to hear Edel, that you, like me, didn’t think that you’d like the film either. But on seeing it all that changed.
I am so trilled to get all of these comments, and beautiful insights, like the ones that you offered Elizabeth.
Thank you again to everyone.
I do hope to see many more comments coming through. As I indicated above – the more we comment and discuss things the more we open up and grow.
Love
Kashonia
i saw the movie and i really loved to see so much colour and a nature and environment so beautiful and rich. i believe that its not possible to find out what a movie like this does with the believes and understanding of the people which go to see it, because every person is unique and takes its development from so many sides and impressions, so that we cannot find out what something does to us or others. so i only want to share what it did to me.
“its all about connection” i took with me. and because of that, i say to myself: angelika, take your time to take good care for the connections who are important to you. right before i came over twitter on your page kashonia, i had a bad situation with my youngest daughter – she is a real hard teacher to me sometimes – and your comment to the film reminded me at that for me essential thing in my life: its all about connection.
so, thanks to all, who gave their pieces, to remind me. angelika, austria.
Hello Angelika,
How wonderful of you to join us from Austria.
And thank you so much for your comments about Avatar. All being well, I am planning to see it myself tomorrow.
It really does seem as though everyone who has seen it have had a wonderful ‘life-experience’ as a result.
And there can be no more important lesson for us to learn than about the importance of connection and loving relationships.
Please visit again Angelika
Love
Kashonia