So James Cameron was on Charlie Rose a little while back. He was there to talk about, what else, Avatar. He "addressed" a lot of the complaints about the film, including the exploitation of the noble savage archetype, the simplistic storyline, and the horrendously cliched everything.
But most importantly, right at the beginning of the interview, he makes it very clear that the environmental message of the movie (which I have written about quite a bit on this blog) was the reason he wanted to make it in the first place.
Especially interesting is that he claims that the omnipresent force of evil that any filmmaker will name drop when they want to sound victimized, "The Studio," attempted to interfere with the film, and get him to downplay its environmental message.
Apparently, such a thematic element can cost a major commercial film half of its profit. If that is the case, then I suppose you can just tack on at least another 2 billion to Avatar's gross.
At this point, Cameron surely told "The Studio" something along the lines of, "BITCH, I'M JAMES MAFUCKIN' CAMERON! I MADE TITANIC! STEP OFF!" And the film's theme stayed unabridged.
But check it out, he actually talks a lot about the inherent failings of industrialized societies, our collective denial as a civilization, and a lot of other sustainable themes. He even comes off remotely knowledgeable. But he still kinda seems like a douche.
It's a great interview, as one's conducted by Charlie Rose usually are.
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