Why James Cameron Is Still Defending ‘Avatar’

Look, when James Cameron gets salty about something, it’s usually a good idea to pay attention. The man doesn't just make movies; he bends technology, physics, and studio budgets to his will to get what’s in his head onto the screen. He’s earned the right to be a little ticked off.

And right now, he’s ticked off about something that should be obvious, but somehow, sixteen years after Avatar blew our collective minds, still isn’t.

Let's dive in.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

It’s Performance, Not Just Playtime

In a recent interview with Empire, Cameron let his frustration show about how people, even professional journalists, still misunderstand performance capture in his Avatar movies.

He said:

"The number of times in newspapers they talk about Sigourney Weaver and Kate Winslet voicing their characters ... It's like, yeah, and Russell Crowe voiced a character in 'Gladiator.' He also showed up for 12 months of photography!"

He added:

"But I think there's a point where the good work of the actors is not being acknowledged. It's seen as a second-tier approach to acting, when I think it's a more pure form than photographic acting. There's nothing sacred about a camera and a lens and a piece of film, you know? But they act like it is."

Let’s be brutally honest. A lot of people still think of performance capture—or "mo-cap"—as a fancy version of cartoons. They picture Sigourney Weaver in a comfy booth reading her lines into a microphone, while a bunch of tech wizards in another room make a blue cat-person puppet mimic her words.

But that's so far from the truth.

And I think it probably is so frustrating for Cameron, who is forcing his butt off on these sound stages, getting real performances out of actors, and collaborating with them to do something so very revolutionary.

In reality, people are giving their all on set.

It's hard work acting in fake environments while hooked up to a ton of equipment.

Kate Winslet even learned to hold her breath for seven minutes and fifteen seconds for the movie!

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Sure, these people are in suits, but every gesture, every twitch, every tear, every ounce of subtext conveyed through body language… was all captured and wound up on screen.

I genuinely think some people outside of Hollywood think this stuff is animated or not real people, and that's a shame, because I think it is erasing some of our best actors and their best work.

With the third installment of Avatar coming out this Christmas, I'm wondering if audiences catch up and we see James Cameron in the Best Director race at the Oscars again. And maybe we'll see an actor nominated as well.

Let me know what you think about all of this in the comments.