I think I must have been the last person in the world to see Avatar. Sunday, a week ago, Tom and I went with a large group of our friends (all of whom were seeing it for the second time) to see this movie. Everyone I knew who had seen it, raved about it (which seemed to be everyone I know) and I was so excited about seeing it that I even brought my own 3D glasses!
About an hour into the movie I turned to Tom, and after yanking the popcorn away from him, whispered, “If this doesn’t get Best Picture I’ll be shocked.” I loved the movie.
Last night, I watched the Academy Awards and was indeed shocked when Hurt Locker won Best Picture. In all fairness I never saw Hurt Locker and will have to add it to my list. Until then my vote is still Avatar. Not only was it entertaining, Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can learn several lessons from director, James Cameron. The lessons all stem from an opinion I feel strongly about after growing my successful legal nurse consulting business for 28 years – the experts are often wrong and you shouldn’t always listen to them!
Think about it. Hollywood experts said audiences won’t go see an intelligent movie; that they only want gross-out, teen-style comedies or star-driven vehicles where the star walks through his role in his sleep. Cameron ignored them and penned a movie that required your full attention and one that put its leading characters into unrecognizable avatars.
The experts say the attention span of audiences cap out after 80-90 minutes and that audiences won’t sit for a movie that runs 162 minutes caption-to-credit. Cameron ignored that line of thinking and cut the movie he wanted audiences to see. Again, the experts were wrong to the tune of over $2.5 billion worldwide!
Experts also believed that audiences weren’t ready for full-length 3D movies other than horror, children’s or the occasional IMAX® film. Instead of following that thinking, Cameron went out on a limb and filmed the movie in 3D applying it tastefully, without cheap shock effects. This has turned out to be one of the most popular methods to see Avatar.
Like I’ve always told CLNC® consultants, you can’t always listen to the experts because they’re often wrong. Like James Cameron you have to make your own decisions and follow your own dreams. Like James Cameron, your CLNC® business may not win a coveted Academy Award, but there’s nothing holding you back from trying, except the experts.
See you in the theaters!
| P.S. | I’d love to hear what you thought of Avatar – click here to comment! |
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