Ick Director Joseph Kahn Shades Avatar Films, Says They Have Zero Impact & Gays Shouldn't Give A F**k

Music video director Joseph Kahn has shared his opinion on why “Avatar has no cultural impact even though they are the biggest selling films of all time”

via: Queerty

This holiday season, record-breaking numbers of moviegoers will flock to cinemas and be transported to another world, filled with colorful creatures, gripping love stories, and special effects that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to create.

But we’re not talking about Wicked: For Good. It’s the third chapter in director James Cameron’s little epic saga called Avatar — ever heard of it?

And more importantly, do we, as gays, even care?

According to a recent incendiary tweet from filmmaker Joseph Kahn, the answer is basically no, and we’ve got to admit, he makes some points.

Of course, the Avatar films are among the highest-grossing of all time; the 2009 original holds the No. 1 spot in history, raking in over $2.9 billion, while its 2022 sequel landed at $2.3 billion.

With Avatar: Fire and Ash hitting theaters on December 19, you’d expect pop culture to be rearing up for another grandiose adventure in the lush, sci-fi world of Pandora as Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) continues his fight to protect the Na’vi people.

Miley Cyrus even dropped a snooze of a new song in hopes that the general population would care.

But it doesn’t seem to be picking up any traction, because, as Kahn wrote: “Gays cannot give a f*ck about Avatar.” Oop!

To be fair, Kahn does not identify as homosexual, although the prolific music video director has made a lot of things for the gays.

(Britney Spears’ “Toxic,” “Womanizer,” and “Stronger” visuals, “LoveGame” by Lady Gaga, Kylie Minogue’s “All the Lovers” video, and “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift. Just to name a few.)

So, he certainly understands how to capture the zeitgeist, and blamed Avatar‘s lack of “cultural impact” on its failure to “tap into the gay industrial complex,” including critics, editors, and “bon vivants.”

Oh yeah, and because “no one aspires to be or have sex with a giant cat alien.” Which, fair.

“Avatar is a boomer cruise, a solid Hawaiian boomer vacation with nice sunsets and all you can eat chicken satays,” he wrote.

“There’s no reciprocation from the cool people, so these movies quietly scoop up all the uneventful dollars with minimal fuss, controversy, and cultural impact.”

Perhaps, it’s not that simple. As some dissenters argued, Cameron’s saga has a handful of legitimate LGBTQ+ fans, too many gay dudes have gone Na’vi for Halloween, and, yes, there are people who aspire to “have sex with a giant cat alien.” LOL.

But parts of Kahn’s theory make sense, especially when you take into account the Avatar franchise’s lack of appeal to heterosexual female viewers, as well.

And that’s not to say he’s arguing that the LGBTQ+ community can’t rally behind a big blockbuster IP film. (Top Gun: Maverick, anyone?)

In fact, Kahn pointed out that some of the most successful and culturally relevant releases of the past few decades are gayer than we even realized.

“John Wick is homoerotic man grappling,” he explained. “Terminator is a muscular man in biker leather. Star Wars is light saber dick tapping. Fast & Furious? Gay.”

No lies detected.

At the end of the day, it’s just a tweet from a director designed to stir up discourse on the hellhole that is Twitter.

Gay appeal or not, Avatar: Fire and Ash will certainly make a big splash at the box office this year. Even if, as Kahn wrote, that makes it “the richest but most boring person at the party [who needs] Epstein to get laid.” LOL.

Still, there’s something to be said for the fact that a cursory search for “avatar gays” on social media mostly stirs up posts about Avatar: The Last Airbender.

And, of course, that posts like this one — which proclaims The Devil Wears Prada 2 is “like Avatar for all the girls and gays” — exist.