Avatar has its fans and it has its critics. And whatever your opinion of Avatar, or Avatar the Way of Water is, this article is not intended to change your mind or to even persuade you that your opinion of the film itself is wrong or has been directed by anything other than your own personal tastes and genuine reaction to the films.

This is about film discourse, memes and the bizarre way that internet movie culture can manufacture consensus opinion, or understanding of a film that can sometimes have little bearing on reality or what is happening in the movie business.

And how sometimes these consensus opinions originate from independent entertainment writers, influencers or even bad faith actors looking to score a cheap laugh or internet clout points at the expense of a highly visible or successful property… but… let’s not jump too far ahead of ourselves…


Let’s start at the beginning.


We all know the story of Avatar. Written and directed by James Cameron, the scifi adventure film was released on December, 18, 2009… it revolutionized 3D technology… ushered in a whole new era of 3D movies… and quickly became the highest grossing movie of all time.

I myself was a writer for a number of movie website at the time and I can tell you, hype in the blogosphere for Avatar prior to release was massive because Cameron was a geek culture icon and it was his first narrative film for more than 10 years after Titanic and everybody knew it was his dream project.

And when Avatar was finally released, it was met with mostly favourable reviews, but also minor criticism of its depiction of indigenous cultures with accusations of cultural appropriation which dog the film to this day.

So, that’s the history lesson. What happened next is where things start to get… weird.


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Recommended Release: AVATAR