Depressed After Watching *Avatar*? Pandora Awaits You in Second Life! (Unofficially, at Least)

CNN reports that many people have become so besotted by the beauty of the planet Pandora in Avatar, they're leaving theaters depressed, noting "[s]uggestions for battling feelings of depression after seeing the movie include things like playing 'Avatar' video games." Or perhaps explore a virtual world made to look like the planet, for as it happens, there's an island in Second Life dubbed Pandora Magic, and as you might expect, it's already inhabited by Na'vi-like avatars, and offers a pretty good facsimile of the place depicted by the movie (at many many times less its production budget):

See for yourself: Direct SLurl teleport to Pandora Magic here. On a brief visit of my own, I noticed a role-playing combat system, bi-lingual support in English and German... and no official connection whatsoever to the movie or its corporate backers. Rather, the lobby entrance was crowded with richly detailed Na'vi avatars busily chatting in German and furiously dancing to Mexican hiphop:

(Not sure what part of the movie that's from.) Curiously, Pandora and Avatar are not represented in Multiverse, a 3D virtual world that's been in development for many years, which counts Avatar creator James Cameron himself as an investor. (There is, however, a web-based Multiverse Avatar casual game tie-in promoting McDonald's and Coca Cola.) As with the Second Life roleplaying area inspired by the Dune novels (which was shut down by Frank Herbert's legal executors) Pandora Magic seems to be another example of a general rule with user-generated content: If you don't build it, your fans will build it themselves. Especially if many people are pining for the planet already.

Comments

[John Branch]

This may be tempting enough to get me back into Second Life, which I haven't visited in a while owing to unexpected demands on my time. On the other hand, I might just go to the movie again.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

Enjoy it quickly, before the corporate sharks smell blood in the water.

[Tateru Nino]

Hasn't some content related to the film already been taken down inworld? I've been sent a couple notes about that.

[Flo2]

Interesting CNN report, partly echoing my own feelings after watching the movie. As a Second Life resident, my interpretation of Cameron's work is that this movie encourages us to choose a virtual life instead of the "real one". Votes for the beauty, battles and difficulties of a virtual world, and votes against the disillusioned and corrupted world of RL. And that's why I like Avatar.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

"...choose a virtual life instead of the "real one"."

I haven't seen the movie yet, but my impression from the reviews and interviews is pretty much the opposite; yes, there is a freedom and exhileration in escaping the confines of reality in a virtual experience, but its true, most important power is to allow us to learn and grow so that we can change our reality for the better.

[Flo2]

:) That's the difference between our interpretations - and wait till you can see the movie and its ending scenes; in my interpret, the movie Avatar says that the idea "we can change our reality for the better" is hopeless. Brutally hopeless.

[Opensource Obscure]

HAHAHA http://dwellonit-comic.taterunino.net/archive/86

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