When I can’t sleep, my mind goes to strange places. Last night it was about the movie Avatar. The original movie was groundbreaking, hugely popular and completely different from anything that had gone before. James Cameron had to wait years for technology to catch up with his ideas before he could make the movie. It broke multiple box office records
Yet, when you look back, the lasting cultural impact of this movie seems minimal. Other top-grossing are eminently quotable
I could add:
I wish I knew how to quit you (Brokeback Mountain)
No, I am your father (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back)
You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off! (The Italian Job)
No one puts baby in the corner (Dirty Dancing)
It also has not become meme-worthy like the ones below from Titanic, Lord of the Rings, and Princess Bride
Other movies have influenced fashion, art, and culture in lasting ways. Yet Avatar, for all its success, did not do that. And it did not lead to an explosion of copycat movies of a similar genre in the way other movies have. I wonder why that is? How is it that budget movies like Princess Bride and Dirty Dancing ended up more memorable decades later than one of the most expensive, groundbreaking and successful films of all time.
