So Here's A Real "Get Off My Lawn" Moment

[handful_ofdust]

As somebody who's still not very interested in Avatar (the Cameron movie), I've been getting more and more annoyed by the whole "Oh, this is just Ferngully: The Last Rainforest with blue people! In space! Rippy rippy ripoff, yah boo sucks neener!" meme. Because that title means literally nothing to me--I keep looking at these references and going: "Am I supposed to know what this is? Does everybody know what this is except me? What's wrong with them? What's wrong with me?"

Well, today I looked it up...and discovered that it came out in 1992. When I was either 24 or 26, on the verge of moving/freshly moved out of my mother's house, just starting my career as a film reviewer, very self-identified as an adult, and highly unlikely to go see animated kids' films on my own recognizance. Which I suppose should make me feel sheepish, but--yeah, not so much. Not so much AT ALL. Because applying the templates of films aimed at children to films aimed at adults is...specious at best, ridiculous at worst, in this former critic's eyes. At least the whole Dances with Wolves comparison has actual merit, and--better yet--a chance of being a reference people beyond your personal age-range might recognize. Not everyone has the same set of childhood touchstones, ladies 'n' whoever; who'd'a thunk?

But then again, I guess it's true what they say about geeks, after all: We really do never grow up. And--as keeps getting ably proven and re-proven, in oh so many ways/areas--we continue to have amazing trouble understanding the idea that everyone on Earth isn't just an endless reiteration of ourselves.

This morning's rant brought to you by yet another Tuesday of run-run-running, and no coffee yet.;)

Comments

[handful-ofdust.livejournal.com]

Point taken, in that you've seen both and I've seen neither, so thus am talking out my virtual ass. But I gotta say, I'm not going to rush out and rent Ferngully just to snag a seat on the bandwagon if I ever do decide to see Avatar, either.

[blixie.livejournal.com]

Oh, I totally wasn't supporting the meme that it's a rip off and sucks just because it's plot structure is like a previous film, I'm just sayin' for me when I heard about it/saw it all I could think about was how similar it was to this other movie that I also loved, and looked forward to it based on that perception. It's actually part of drama/film and cinema that I love, the sense that we all draw on the same stories/tropes, and that when done well, can add to the overall lexicon.

Not that I'm not guilty of doing a rip off rant now and then, because hello to Buffy's Hush/Dark City.