That big blue cat people are hot. No, really. They are.

By now, pretty much everybody I know (and thanks to the last post I made, so does the whole Internet) is aware that I am utterly obsessed with Avatar. Utterly.

So I want to set some things straight, mostly because I get all defensive about reviews calling it shallow, or derivative, or a white man’s fantasy. Which it is. But that’s not why I like it.

Why do I like it?

Because the economy is crap, I am frustrated, having reached that age when you sort of realize how everything works and are disillusioned by this realization. And for almost three hours, in glorious 3D, I am in a completely different place, where a white guy can be something else, and can win, and everybody wins who you want to win, and science wins (I wanted it to) and pretty much everything happens they way you hope it might.

I read a comparison between Avatar and Project 880, Cameron’s original scriptment, [SPOILERS; read at your own risk] and I understand the quality and potential that was lost in translating the script to film (the original, uncut, would likely have made a 5 hour movie). It helped explain some of the holes in the film, so much that I really don’t mind them. Anybody have a copy of that script? I’d really like to read it.

Personally, I hated Pocahontas. I hated how cheesy it was. Even though this movie is roughly the same film (there’s a great side-by-side comparison out there), I didn’t hate it.

Quite the opposite. I read a blog post today that sheds some light on why I may have liked it so much, given my other film preferences (and the fact that I follow SRK on Twitter). Bollywood! Makes perfect sense!

Well, and sometimes it’s nice to have something be simple, elementary, and a complete fairy tale. I had forgotten how nice those are.

(But Mr. Cameron, I’m expecting more from you in those sequels you are going to make because you’ve grossed $1billion on the film so far)