How to bridge the gap between fantasy and reality

During the discussion about Avatar in class, Robin repeatedly stated that he wished he could be one of “the blue guys.” These discussions lead up to the discussion of Post-Avatar Depression and the way people wanted to bridge the gap between the Avatar fantasy and reality. This immediately reminded me of things I had seen after Avatar first came out. I remember being baffled by the impact the movie was making on society, because I was not so impressed by the film. I wanted to find exactly how far people have gone to bridge the gap between this fantasy and reality. Sexuality was the biggest phenomenon that I have found when it comes to bridging that gap. I have found a demand and production of sexual videos and toys directly related to Avatar. I was taken aback by this reaction to the film. I could not understand how people took the blue people movie and turned it into a sexual phenomenon.

By looking at the film the way we have in class, I can start to understand this phenomenon. Any scene displaying the bodies of the Na’vi people make the viewer want to be them somehow. One scene in particular that comes to mind is the scene called Learn Fast or Die, where Neytiri is teaching Jake how to be one of the people. She shows him how to get around the beautiful forest, how to hunt, how to speak, and even the values of the people. This scene gives the viewer a look into the world that evokes a feeling of inspiration. The way in which the images of the forest combined with the way Neytiri and Jake move through the forest create an awe inspiring reaction. What really makes these images evoke this reaction is the music. The dramatic rise and fall of the music combined with the images create the right kind of drama to make one feel inspired. Another piece from this scene that makes the viewer want to be in this world is the way Jake, the human eyes we see through, is reacting to this world. He does not want to stay in the real world, he wants to be with these people and experiencing this world of Pandora. This combination of devices used in the film give the viewer a similar reaction as Jake. We want to be a part of the world we are given a peak into. We see beautiful people with perfect bodies, doing things many of us could never do, with a dramatic backdrop to top it all off. This is where I begin to understand the sexual take on this film. This feeling of wanting to be in this world that the entire film, specifically this Learn Fast or Die scene, has to manifest itself in some way. The viewer is given a desire to be in the world, a desire to be the people, and ultimately the desire to feel what they feel. The best feeling a human can experience is typically sexually related, so it only makes sense to want to connect what you fantasize being, with what you fantasize about sexually. This sexual phenomenon surrounding Avatar is simply a way for people to bridge the gap between what they fantasize about and reality.