Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
Lord of the Rings is a really odd counterexample here. College courses are taught just about those books. It shaped and solidified widespread popular conceptions of certain mythic creatures and stories the way Disney’s films did to classic fairy tales. Elements of the story and quotes from the films have entered the popular lexicon. Totally unrelated comic characters are named after figures from the story. The films launched several major acting careers. Lord of the Rings was heavily tied up in the 60s college counter-culture. Etc…I have no earthly idea why this myth continues. Avatar absolutely does have cultural relevance. I’ve been at UFC watch parties where the fight starts getting ignored because people start debating the strengths and faults of Avatar.
Every quantitative piece of data demonstrates it’s cultural relevancy (ticket sales, theme park attendance boost, etc), and only qualitative data describes otherwise. Personally, I’ve never been involved in an conversation regarding the strengths and fault of LotR, despite the fact that it has a book series, 6 movies, filming locations as tourist attractions, and an extremely high budget, highly advertised TV series.
That doesn’t mean it’s culturally insignificant, because whether something is or isn’t culturally significant is entirely arbitrary. For whatever reason, people just conclude that Avatar lacks cultural relevance without evidence.
What is Avatar’s iconic scene? Where is Sam Worthington’s superstar career? Where are the passionate and omnipresent fan communities debating every minutiae of canon? I’m sure some MUST exist, but they’re nowhere near as ubiquitous as SW, Marvel, or even (shudder) DC fans.
It’s not something that can be quantified, but I find it very hard to argue Avatar has the kind of cultural coattails it’s box office suggests. When Star Wars or The Matrix or LotR or Avengers came out, you couldn’t escape their cultural influence. Avatar is just sort of… there.