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

[sixteenbynine.livejournal.com]

To you I recommend this brilliant bit of satire (if it is indeed that): http://web.me.com/pascalboogaert/Site/foto3.html

A friend of mine shared this with me and another friend, the latter of which promptly replied that there are no original stories anyway, etc., etc. My reply to him was: Yes, but there *are* also stories which are not shameless ripoffs of others.

[blixie.livejournal.com]

Heh, I've see all three movies and IMO yeah it's plot is much more identical to in characters, plot, themes to Ferngully than it is to Dances with Wolves, thus my focusing on that as a comparison point of *merit*. Avatar's approach is also much more simplistic and childlike (and I mean that not in a bad way) and much more focused on eco elements than tribal adaptation/adoption. Basically I'm not convinced Avatar is a movie aimed at adults, and Ferngully is both smarter and yeah darker than it's kiddie origins.

[mlamprey.livejournal.com]

Our eldest watched Ferngully a lot when she was little, so I absorbed quite a bit of it without wanting to. And yes, when I sat through the IMAX 3D preview a few months back, Ferngully came immediately (and naturally) to mind. I was still dying to see Avatar after that sneak peek (the 2D trailers looked like shit to me but the 3D experience was a completely different thing). And I still haven't seen it.

[kmarkhoover.livejournal.com]

You're not alone. I don't know what the F "Ferngully" is, either.