‘Avatar’ may have enthralled worldwide audiences with it’s imagery of an utopian alien world but movie-goers have complained of depression and even suicidal thoughts after watching the sci-fi hit.
Fans of James Cameron’s 3D magnum opus are seemingly finding it hard to separate fact from fiction and Internet forums have been flooded with posts by movie-goers plagued with suicidal thoughts about not being able to visit the planet Pandora, reported CNN online.
North American fan site ‘Avatar Forums’ has received 2,000 posts under a thread entitled ‘Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible’
Forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian said, “The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don’t have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed.”
The blockbuster movie, which has already taken more than USD 1 billion at the box office, tells the story of a disabled marine sent on a mission to a planet called Pandora, home to a race of giant blue aliens.
Humans are intent on exploiting the planet for its resources but clash with the native Na’vi, who inhabit their world in perfect harmony with nature.
Forum user ‘Okoi’ writes, “After I watched Avatar at the first time, I truly felt depressed as I ‘wake’ up in this world again.”
Another user Mike wrote on another fan site ‘Naviblue’ that he considered suicide after watching the film.
“Ever since I went to see “Avatar” I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be reborn in a world similar to Pandora,” wrote Mike.
The incredible visual realism of the film means viewers become particularly attached, say psychiatrists.
“The film is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far. It has taken the best of our technology to create this virtual world and real life will never be as utopian as it seems onscreen. It makes real life seem more imperfect,” said Dr. Stephan Quentzel, psychiatrist and Medical Director for the Louis Armstrong Centre for Music and Medicine.
The film also failed to impress the Vatican, which has slammed the sci-fi movie as “sentimental hokum.”
