Hey guys! Sorry for my blog overlord post being a little late here. I have (much like everyone else at Bowdoin) had tons of work that I have lost myself in.

I was struggling to come up with a topic to write about for the majority of the semester. I’m a huge star wars fan so I knew I would want to include that but I wasn’t sure how I would tie it into my post. That was all until a debate I recently had with a group of friends about movie relevance and cultural impact.

I am a much bigger fan of the original trilogy of Star Wars: IV, V, and VI. Kind of rare for someone my age. Most of my friends enjoy the prequels more because it was what they grew up with, but I was fortunately shown the original series first and have become far more attached. For the time at which they were made, the cinematography is revolutionary, and the impact it has had on the sci-fi genre to me is immeasurable.

As for the movie Avatar, I am not the biggest fan. I understand its message and the movie’s importance to cinema as well, but sometimes I wonder how it is the highest-grossing movie of all time. That said, I haven’t re-watched the movie in quite some time, so maybe there is something that I’m missing. But for the aforementioned debate I had, I was firm on my opinions based on my most recent viewing (I didn’t have time to go rewatch it while arguing at a Thorne lunch table).

This debate centered mostly around the movie Avatar, and how in my opinion it had little cultural relevance in comparison to Star Wars. I am in no way denying that the movie was revolutionary for CGI use, or that the message of the movie is unclear. I am just saying that in my opinion, the highest-grossing movie of all time should maybe have some quotable lines, a super memorable scene, or at least character names that I remember. All of those criteria are of course subjective to me and I’m sure that someone can rattle off a few lines, but I challenge you to comment on the main character’s name without looking it up. The counterargument proposed was that if James Cameron wanted to build a cinematic universe and market it like Star Wars did (with action figures and video games) he could have, but he didn’t because that wasn’t the point of the franchise.

Now, there is no real correct answer I guess. Both are relevant movies and impactful in their own way. I think it is just really interesting to see how two very different movies, within similar genres, can have an effect on American culture in such different ways. Yes, Avatar is higher grossing and yes it was revolutionary to the  CGI and movie industry in general. But on the other hand, Star Wars did things that had never been done before way before Avatar, AND the original movies look less outdated now than the late nineties and early two thousand prequels do now.

This is all to say that there is no correct answer to the question which is more impactful (unless you ask me in which case it’s Star Wars). More interestingly, this is a commentary on how two of the most grossing movies and biggest budget franchises are from the world of science fiction. Most of my favorite movies can fit under the umbrella of science fiction, and I think it is a great thing that they can spark so much debate and conoversation.

Let me know the name of the main guy from avatar if you know it (i had to look it up for the record). Also, drop some other movies you think are overrated or underrated and why!