Do you get "invested" in movies?

[bananda]

i just saw this article and it got me thinking, do people usually get so heavily invested in movies?

Thousands of Avatar fans have reported feeling depressed and even suicidal at the prospect of never being able to visit the mystical planet depicted in the movie.

One of the biggest internet forums for the hit film has received more than a thousand posts on a thread entitled 'Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible', CNN reports.

The forum has shown a marked comedown from experiencing the computer-generated utopia depicted in the film to the real world for many Avatar fans.

The fictional planet of Pandora is shown as a beautiful fantasy world where the native inhabitants, the Na'vi, have a close bond with nature.

"After I watched Avatar at the first time, I trully felt depressed as I 'wake' up in this world again," one forum user wrote.

Another commenter said the film gave him "a physical dependency to see Pandora and live there, and if you don't see it you get uber depressed."

Meanwhile, the movie is attracting accusations of being racist by critics in the US by portraying a white man coming in to lead a community of primitive, non-white people.

"It rests on the stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic," New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote.

"It rests on the assumption that non-whites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades."

But director James Cameron denied the film had an racist undertones, saying Avatar "asks us to open our eyes and truly see others, respecting them even though they are different, in the hope that we may find a way to prevent conflict and live more harmoniously on this world". "I hardly think that is a racist message," he added.

Already taking in more than $1.5 billion in ticket sales since its release last month, Avatar is well on track to become the biggest selling movie of all time.

Directed by James Cameron of Titanic and Terminator fame, the sci-fi blockbuster stars Australian actor Sam Worthington.

The film is also considered a heavy favourite to scoop the pool in the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

 

[Sparx]

... people are "sucidial" because they can't go to a FICTIONAL setting? that is frightening.

why didn't this happen with harry potter fans? why didn't this happen with lord of the rings fans? mordor and hogwarts are fictional too. no one killed themselves when they didn't get a hogwarts letter.

 

[broadwayariel]

... people are "sucidial" because they can't go to a FICTIONAL setting? that is frightening.

why didn't this happen with harry potter fans? why didn't this happen with lord of the rings fans? mordor and hogwarts are fictional too. no one killed themselves when they didn't get a hogwarts letter.

It's super messed up, but sadly this seems to be our world today. People were killing themselves over Michael Jackson. Some people would probably kill for Twilight. It's so sad.

 

[WDWtraveler27]

Lol weirdos...

 

[MuskratSusie]

That's pretty pathetic.

 

[GoofysOnlyGirl]

That is really sad. I mean I love harry potter, am a huge fan. But I am not suicidal or depressed with the fact that I can never visit hogwarts or anything of that matter. Its a book (movie now) and people need to wrap there heads around the fact that it is fictional.

 

[chisnpeke]

I was on IMDb's message boards and some people were going gaga over this place. They wanted to be the Na'vi. These are GROWN people! Isn't that what maybe a 10 year old would want, not adults.

Seriously, if you are prone to being that invested in a movie that you would be suicidal over not being able to visit Pandora, you should just not be going to the movies at all.

 

[aquarhapsody]

I was on IMDb's message boards and some people were going gaga over this place. They wanted to be the Na'vi. These are GROWN people! Isn't that what maybe a 10 year old would want, not adults.

Seriously, if you are prone to being that invested in a movie that you would be suicidal over not being able to visit Pandora, you should just not be going to the movies at all.

Agreed. I think some people, because of the economy, political, and home problems, people tend to want a different world to reside in, and can;t cope witht he fact that this is reality.

Suicidal because of a movie....that's creepy.

 

[pandapants77]

That is just to unreal that people would be depressed about a fictional film

 

[imabrat]

Invested as in watching the movie over and over again? Yep, it's happenening with Inglorious Basterds right now.

Invested as in depressed or mental over something fictional? NO!

Yeah, I'd love to go into the 20s/30s/40s for a day, be a student in Hogwarts, or cruise on the Enterprise - but THAT AINT GONNA HAPPEN.

 

[m!ssemmx0]

wow, that's just insane. i mean, i get kind of into movies when i watch them (the notebook, harry potter, etc.) but just because noah isn't a real person, and i'll never get to go to hogwarts doesn't mean i'm going to kill myself. these people need to get a grip.

 

[broadwayariel]

Avatar was a really good movie...but there is no reason - other than an issue with those people's mental health - that would cause you to get suicidal feelings.

 

[WDWtraveler27]

I would like to be one of them and live on pandora too....but see the difference between them and me is I know that will never ever happen and that fact does not bother me.

 

[I Am What I Am]

wow.

If they're having such a hard time distinguishing between reality and a fictional setting, they really need some professional help.

We've all gotten lost in a book and movie, fantasized about being there. Heck, I do it every time I watch or read Harry Potter. But at the end of the book or the movie, we know that it's NOT real. We can't go to Hogwarts or Endor or Middle Earth. At the end of the day, we're in reality.

 

[MusicalDisneyDreams]

That's pathetic and slightly disturbing.
I do occasionally get wrapped up in a movie, want to help the characters make the right decisions, and think for a time it might be real. Key word: MIGHT.
I know it isn't real. It's someone from some guy's imagination being portrayed by an actor. It's special effects and make-up and a movie. FAKE.
I would NEVER get so wrapped up in fiction that I'd go suicidl over something like that... that's just...

 

[BabyPiglet]

Wow, that's not healthy! They obviously professional help.

I don't know. I mean, whenever I watch movies a part of me cares what happens to the characters and such, but it's not THAT big of a deal.