Kanye West Has Lost It

Its always sad to watch a star fall (evidenced by people such as Lindsey Lohan, Brittney Spears, and Michael Vick) but most of the time there are outside factors acting on the person that lead to their untimely and/or unfortunate demise in the case of Lindsey Lohan and Brittney Spears... itwas probably drugs.  In the case of Michal Vick it was the people he surrounded himself with and the notions he had that dog fighting was not ALL that bad. 
Sometimes, however, some stars fall into obscurity (or are well on their way) and their situation makes you wonder "what happened? they were doing so well". There is always a logical explanation.  Kanye West used to be one of the biggest star in hip-hop, music, and the entertainment industry as a whole.  However something happened gradually through time that has made him... lose his mind (for more information google (Kanye interrupts Taylor Swift at 2009 VMAs).  Many people may think that it is his mother's death or some other factor beyond the view of the public eye.  I think, however, that the reason is right in from of us. 
The reason that Kanye West is no longer appealing beyond his die-hard fans (bless their souls) is Kanye West.  He loves himself too much and this  is evident in any song that he has made in the past two years and all of his actions.  We should have seen this coming.  He went from making music that spoke to millions to music that spoke to the mirror.  He went from talking about the blood diamond business in Africa and the ambition (or lack thereof) of black women to "Love Lockdown".  Kanye West now loves himself too much to be able to make music anyone can relate to but well... Kanye West.  This is unfortunate but it seems to be too late. It was painful to watch him perform at the VMAs because it was a microcosm of his life since he discovered what an 808 and auto-tune was. 

Encore for Avatar

Avatar, the most successful movie of all time, was full of innovative technology, groundbreaking collaborations, and history making ticket sales (a record $2.7 billion worldwide). Much of the movie was filmed with the use of “green screens” similar to the ones used by meteorologists on the news and although the main characters were ten foot tall blue aliens for much of the movie, the essence of the characters’ facial characteristics were still maintained, a feat that made the movie very aesthetically pleasing throughout. With all of these aspects of the making of the film that make it unique, there’s no surprise that it did very well in terms of how many people went to see it; especially due to the fact that James Cameron (director, producer, and writer) was behind it and is also the previous record holder for the most successful movie ever: Titanic.

With all of this in consideration, however, it was much to my dismay that the movie is going to be shown in theaters once again; this time strictly in 3-D. This re-release is after the DVD has been released and millions of people have already seen the film; some more than once or several times. So why do James Cameron and the company that produced Avatar (20th Century Fox) think that after all the accumulated success from many different mediums that the movie can do even better shatter more records?

Whatever the reason may be, I encountered the trailer for the re-release and was immediate grabbed by the fact that it was so convincing. I have seen Avatar three times in theaters and once on DVD. Even so, I still found myself planning a day to go see it in theaters for the fifth time (because everything is better in 3-D).

There were many facets of the ad that I found creative and clearly effective in persuading people to go watch the movie again (or for the first time in many cases). In the ad, the movie was referred to as “the most revolutionary film of all time”, giving quotes and reviews from many reputable reviewers such as columnists from The New York Times and Ebert and Roper. This appeal to authority made the claims being made more credible to the viewers.

The trailer also showed some of the most breathtaking excerpts of the movie, panoramic views of the fictional wilderness and close ups of the blue skin on the Avatars. If I had not seen the movie several times already I would definitely want to see it for the first time after seeing the trailer. The trailer was also effective in that it did not show negatively emotional scenes; the only ones shown portrayed the characters as jubilant and happy. There were sad points in the movie, but I think the showing of the positive scenes is more gravitating in terms of getting someone to want to see the movie than showing scenes of anguish and despair.

All in all, the trailer accomplished a fantastic feat, effectively convincing me and countless others to see the movie; whether it be the first time, or the fifth.  With this re-release, it is quite possible that "Avatar" could surpass Star Wars as the best selling theater movie of all time regardless off monetary constrainsts such as inflation.  This is an amazing feat by it is cheating (in my opinion) seeing that although Star Wars was sucessful George Lucas didn't choose to put it backin theaters after it shattered numerous records.