Dressing up like a blue-skinned alien is cool and all, but the time has come when I can finally put the blue body paint away, if only for a little while (hey — don’t look at me like that). It’s been far too long since ‘Avatar’ was in theaters, but the Pandora vacation is over.

James Cameron’s record-breaking blockbuster goliath, ‘Avatar,’ was re-released Friday in 3-D, giving audiences one last chance to see the cinematographic gem. Except no one seemed interested. Despite boasting an additional nine minutes of new footage, the re-release only made $4 million. That’s less than the ‘Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squekquel’ debut.

To be fair, ‘Avatar’ has been available on DVD and Blu-ray since April 22, giving fans ample time to get their Navi fill. That, and the film initially released in 3,452 3-D theaters, which is a far cry from the 812 3-D theaters for the re-release.

However, its recent flop at the box office has pointed to an interesting fact: ‘Avatar’ was a fad. Just when geeks could rally behind a popular science fiction movie as the highest grossing film of all time, we’re starting to realize that maybe audiences weren’t as interested in the sci-fi elements as they were in the pretty pictures.

True, watching ‘Avatar’ on the couch at home without the 3-D glasses isn’t the same as the big screen experience. The reception is little stronger than, ‘That was a cool movie.’ No more praise, no proclamations that it was the greatest film of all time. In fact, all that could really be mentioned is the characters’ crappy dialogue. Granted, it’s the No. 1 selling Blu-ray disc of all time, but a certain spark is missing.

As the scant $4 million re-release profit shows, even the nerd-inducing power of the movie’s special effects has a temporary shelf life. People have gotten their fixes, and it’s time to move on to the next great film. Not that I minded the extra company — it’s merely sad to know that the worldwide geekdom sparked by ‘Avatar’ was only part of a fad.

It’s exactly like being a bandwagon fan, though I assume there are less girls involved. Once something is hot, everyone is suddenly the world’s biggest fan, claiming he or she has always loved and supported that certain group. In sports, people will claim to be lifelong fans of a fledgling team that suddenly finds itself with a postseason winning streak. In the case of ‘Avatar’ geeks, the posers say they saw every ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Star Trek’ movie in theaters.

Once the hubbub dies and the suddenly popular unit slinks back into obscurity, the bandwagon fans jump ship and cut all relations. Being a true geek requires dedication and discipline. Want to know how many times I’ve watched ‘The Dark Knight’ since it’s been on Blu-ray? I’ll give a hint: more than you.

There’s nothing wrong with being a bandwagon geek, though. Thanks to the masses’ flirtations with the culturally obscure, geeks can gain some national attention every once in a while. Yeah, we’re going to mock you for not knowing the density of Pandora’s atmosphere, but we still need you.

Since the theatrical re-release was a flop, I’m nervous for the film’s DVD and Blu-ray special edition re-release, complete with an extended version and an even lengthier ‘definitive’ edition later this year. Sure, most people will grab it for the fabled raunchy Navi sex scene, but if you can still appreciate the film’s sci-fi elements without the special effects to distract you, you just might deserve the blue body paint.

Flash Steinbeiser is the feature editor and a junior communications and rhetorical studies and writing major. Consider this his encore, as the new pop culture columnist will debut next week. For one last chance to flog and berate his columns, he can be reached at ansteinb@syr.edu.

 

Published on August 30, 2010 at 12:00 pm