Each of the characters in Avatar can be defined by a couple of words. Jake is strong and protective, Neytiri is fierce and loyal, Quaritch is headstrong and cruel, Kiri is rebellious and curious, etc. This simplicity helps viewers keep track of the characters while being immersed in amazing worlds, as do Cameron’s simple and timeless themes about the power of family, welcoming the outsider, caring for the environment, and so on.
However, the same familairity that keeps us from being overwhelmed also prevents us from caring about the characters after we leave the theater. No one clammers for a Jake Sully T-shirt because there have already been countless other guys who have a heroic moral turn, often in stories that emphasize that moral complexity more than they do the fantastic world in which the change of heart takes place.
It’s telling that the only parts of Avatar to really become internet memes are Payakan the Tulkun, who gets a plot in Fire and Ash that feels shoehorned in to please the web, and the movie’s papyrus font.
A Cinematic Amusement
To be clear, none of this means that Avatar movies are bad. They are incredible spectacles and demonstrations of pure cinematic prowess. In each of the three films, Cameron combines meat-and-potatoes filmmaking fundamentals with audacious visual flourishes, resulting in films that are both exhilarating and legible.
Moreover, in a time when Netflix and other companies want to destroy the cinema experience, the Avatar movies are celebrations of the theater. They absolutely deserve to be seen in 3D and on the biggest possible screen, as Cameron uses the technology as not just a gimmick to earn an up charge, but to build out the world and reinforce the film’s themes. Each and every Avatar film turns the theater into an amusement park in a manner unique to cinemas.
But, ultimately, the joy of Avatar stays entirely within the movie theater. As soon as you walk out and you deposit your glasses in the recycling bin, your adventures on Pandora slip away just as easily. That’s not a bad thing, but it is certainly a thing with the Avatar franchise, movies that belong on the screen and not in the culture.
