Post-Avatar Depression - Why Am I Not Surprised
Posted: Wednesday, January 13, 2010
by Roschelle Nelson
The longer I live the less likely it is that I'll be surprised by anything I see, read, hear....or smell!
Blame it on sensory overload, growing pessimism or accepting the reality that we all are some how scarred in one way or another from life's adversities and therefore the fairy tale about the perfect person, the perfect mate, the perfect life, at some point, cease to exist.
Forums for Avatar fans are popping up all over the net offering support for movie-goers suffering from this crippling disease.
Depression is a disease, you know?
Here are some excerpts courtesy of a CNN report about the growing problem-
"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.. 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.' "
- Mike
"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 meaningIt just seems so meaningless. I still don't really see any reason to keep doing things at all. I live in a dying world."
- Ivar Hill, 17, Sweden
Let me preface what I'm about to say by making it clear that I'm one of the most sensitive people you will ever meet.
After being a nurse for over 16 years, I still cry every time I participate in the birth of a child. I cry with family members of patients who didn't make it.
I cry when I'm happy. I cry when I not so happy. Heck, I even cried watching Up (great Disney movie) when the old man was reminiscing about his life!
However, this my friends I cannot shed a tear nor muster up any sympathy about.
These folks need to be taken outside and flogged within an inch of their lives (the lives they seem to feel have lost all meaning since watching a bunch of blue people run around on a planet called Pandora).
If your existence is that trivial to you, perhaps there was a problem going on prior to your viewing what I hear is one of the best movies ever.
Don't stain Cameron's masterpiece by blaming the movie, the planet Pandora or the cute little blue people by your actions.
You've got to be able to separate fantasy from reality people.
I'm sure Pandora would be a great place to visit. Just like I would love to have been a student at Hogwarts, or the Bionic woman and man's love child, or a citizen of Narnia, or been the kid riding E.T. around in a basket on my bike; even being the owner of one of those cute little Gremlins is a cool thought.
But that's all they are p-e-o-p-l-e, THOUGHTS!
Snap out of it and if you don't feel you can, at least have the decency not to blame the movie.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)True, true. Fantasy is a great temporary escape; but, I was only depress for a little while when Dumbldore died. Old Yeller was different. That's reality we all experience.Please log in to respond to this comment.Can so relate...I had a melt down over Old Yeller as well. Thanks for commentingPlease log in to respond to this comment.
Brilliantly written but consider thisHow grey are their lives that they feel this way after seeing a film? We don't know what it feels like to walk in another man's shoes etc.The other possibility is some of kind of subliminal message encoded into the film. The film is afterall very 'blue' literally re colour. I personally cannot abide watching anything where the colour is mainly blue such Star Trek Enterprise. I find it induces a feeling of gloom.Colours do have impact on 'visual' people so maybe that is a third alternative theory.Either way, it is indeed odd!Please log in to respond to this comment.Hi Leah. Thanks for an awesome comment. Of course, we could never know what it feels like to walk in someone else's shoes. So, I do empathize with people suffering from whatever this affliction actually is.Obviously, as you stated, something else is most likely going on with them and perhaps the movie, the colors (really good point), etc.....had an impact.I guess that's the point I was trying to make. Don't blame the movie for something that was already going on in your life.BTW...I don't really want anyone to be "flogged" :-)Please log in to respond to this comment.
Another problem is the growing trend of a decrease in religion. Europe has been moving away from organized religion for a while, but the US is experiencing a new trend. Sure, the polls will say a vast majority of Americans "consider" themselves religious, but the majority really just consider themselves "spiritual" rather than involved with any of the organized religions.I can't help but wonder if this decrease in religion and faith in something larger than themselves has a major role in the depression people are experiencing. We live in a society which continually becomes more and more confined and isolated on a day to day basis - gaming sites like WarCraft, social media, email - many people don't have to leave home anymore to work. Lack of interaction plays a huge role in depression, I would imagine.As a Christian myself, all I think when I see Avatar is, "Wow! If humans created Avatar, and our imagination is only an small portion of God's, imagine what Heaven is going to look like!" :)Please log in to respond to this comment.Isolation is a major symptom or result (maybe both) of depression. I like your point about our imaginations. And yes, if the mind can conjure up something as beautiful as the planet Pandora it.....just imagine.Please log in to respond to this comment.
People need to be focusing on changing this world, instead of fantasizing about other planets. Fantasy is just a distraction.Please log in to respond to this comment.Great point Lily. Thanks for reading and commenting :)Please log in to respond to this comment.
I haven't seen Avatar...thanks for writing this - now I am not really likely to go either GRIN. MarijoPlease log in to respond to this comment.I haven't seen it yet either. My son and I are planning to venture to the planet Pandora...lol...this weekend!Please log in to respond to this comment.
WOW! I believe it would have this kind of effect on people. So many people are miserable and I must say that this is the best movie I have ever seen! I myself was a little sad to walk out of that movie theater. But instead of getting depressed look at this movie as wake up call to our own reality. We are destroying our planet. This movie has a great message. We humans are the parasite and our Earth is dying because of us. Dive deep inside yourself and begin appreciating the life you have! This is a beautiful planet, I'm sorry to inform you that you are not blue and there are no floating mountains. But this is it! your life! and you should be so thankful to be alive today! take care of this planet, its the only you'll get in this lifetime. and stop killingunnecessarily! let the even the ants and spiders live! stop being a human parasite to this planet!Please log in to respond to this comment.Thanks for commenting Mathew. All I have to say is......Ditto!Please log in to respond to this comment.
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