Avatar causing separation anxiety in viewers? (Poss. spoilers)

[23skidoo]

I have yet to see Avatar, but I know a lot of people love the film.

But I think some viewers need to stop going to movies if they're going to react like this. According to CNN the film is causing depression and even suicidal thoughts in some viewers who evidently can't or won't handle the real world after seeing the movie.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html

I mean, OK, people do come away from movies feeling they wish their lives were like that. That's normal. Many people who went to see the original Star Wars film, or who watched Star Trek (definitely on the big screen), or even Titanic, often found themselves looking back with fondness on the world created for the screen. And of course every SF convention has at least a few attendees who have clearly rejected real life in favor of whatever SF franchise they've adopted as their own personal religion. There are also movies in which a particular storyline has been known to depress viewers because it hits close to home or highlights personal failings in the viewer. That's normal.

But there comes a point where you really need to take some people and take them by the hand to the nearest shrink. Does this mean when the BR for Avatar gets released in the spring we're going to have a subculture created of people who will spend their entire lives doing nothing but watching and rewatching the movie? Is Red Dwarf's "Better Than Life" about to come true?

If this ends up being an actual bona fide side-effect of immersive entertainment (as opposed to a few people just going nuts) the folks waiting in the wings with their completely immersive virtual reality products might want to start thinking twice...

So here's the question for the masses - has anyone here who has seen Avatar actually come away from it wanting to off themselves? Or have flashbacks (not daydreams, flashbacks) to Pandora?

Or is this just the 2010 equivalent of all those poor schmucks who had epileptic fits a decade or so ago because of the flashing lights on Pokemon?

Alex

EDIT: T'Baio started a thread on this same topic at the same time as me. If a moderator wishes to merge these two threads together, I have no argument.

 

[Sheep]

Or is this just the 2010 equivalent of all those poor schmucks who had epileptic fits a decade or so ago because of the flashing lights on Pokemon?

If I'm not mistaken, the epileptic fits from Pokemon had a physiological basis.

The people you described are just fucked in the head and need help.

 

[bigdaddy]

I loved the world and I wish we had glow in the dark plants, but we don't and I'll live. These people need help.

It's like who think the movie will be remembered for the message that it has, that we are all connected to the Earth and we are destroying our mother and blah blah. It's a movie, that storyline has been done 1,000 times, it will be remembered for the awesome 3D! You can't believe that the movie's storyline is a rehash of old movies and then think the movie will be rememebred for that message.

Like everything, some fans are just stupid.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Yeah, this isn't comparable to the people who had epileptic fits. Rapidly-flashing lights at specific frequencies can cause seizures in a large segment of the population.

This? This is just pathetic. Grow up, people!

 

[Kegg]

It definitely shows there's potential for an Avatar MMO, I'll say that much.

Or is this just the 2010 equivalent of all those poor schmucks who had epileptic fits a decade or so ago because of the flashing lights on Pokemon?

It's more the equivalent of people wanting to live in the Pokemon-world.

 

[Starbreaker]

I found myself thinking about the movie constantly and wishing I could see a sequel immediately, but nothing this drastic. It all seems silly. I expect lawsuits though...