What is Post-Avatar Depression Syndrome? Here's why James Cameron masterpiece leaves fans dispirited
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Hollywood ace director James Cameron is all set to repeat history with the release of his magnum opus ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ on Friday, December 16. After a long 13 years, the sequel of 2009’s blockbuster will once again unleash the ethereal world of Pandora and will give a look into the life of Na'vi, a blue humanoid race.
While the trailers of the movie have already set up the anticipation in motion, Cameron is hoping the movie to be as magnificent and successful as his first one. But there is one thing that neither Cameron nor the audience wants to experience again. And that is an unusual phenomenon known as ‘Post Avatar Depression Syndrome’.
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The syndrome was first reported after the release of the original ‘Avatar’ back in 2009 when the audience first experienced the unearthly world of Pandora. Credits to ace-level VFX skills that went into the making of ‘Avatar’, viewers were taken into the breathtaking vistas of a glittering and heavenly world that had been undisturbed by human influences. But in the weeks following the release of the movie, CNN reported that some viewers were experiencing “depression and suicidal thoughts.”
The viewers started posting on a fan site, Avatar Forums, that they were feeling miserable and unsatisfied with their lives after seeing Cameron’s film. "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," the fansite outlined. In no time the site garnered more than 1000 posts from people around the world experiencing similar feelings. "That's all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about 'Avatar.' I guess that helps." one fan wrote on the site "It's so hard I can't force myself to think that it's just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na'vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie."
On another thread, one fan even said they had experienced suicidal feelings, writing: "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 can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it. I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and everything is the same as in Avatar."
It was picked up by the media in 2010, and eventually labeled post-Avatar depression syndrome (PADS). While closely examining the fan site, CNN also found out that most of the people posting on the site are young men, who would also write about feeling lonely at school, or unsupported at home. “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,” Dr Stephan Quentzel, a New York psychiatrist, told CNN in 2010 as a way of explanation.