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Again with the Titanic reference! A little later in the post I posed this query:

"I don't what's going on with [Cameron] lately. He hasn't directed a narrative film since Titanic. Instead he's been making underwater IMAX movies with titles that contain titles of his previous films, Ghosts of the Abyss and Aliens of the Deep. I wonder if Secrets of the Piranha 2: The Spawning is next. See, now I'm ripping on him again. James Cameron's sense of entitlement is so unlikeable even when being praised he gets made fun of. Perhaps Avatar, his 3D extravaganza coming out this December, will ‘right the ship.'"

Remember what I said about the jokes? So, even though I admitted to not just enjoying but unabashedly loving three of his films, I still wouldn't show James Cameron respect as a filmmaker, ripping on him every time his name is mentioned like he's George Lucas. The only real bone I had to pick was Titanic, which is VERY ironic considering what happened several months later.

On October 15th, now writing Selling Out, I wrote a column again inspired by a film I randomly came across while flipping channels on a Sunday. Honestly, how much is Cameron paying the programmers of TNT anyway? Turns out the ship truly is unsinkable after all. Perhaps you remember this estrogen-stuffed article. If not, here's the most telling part:

"Horner cues the slow electric percussion as his theme swells. She runs into Jack's arms sobbing as he asks, ‘Why did you do that, Rose? You're so stupid!' She replies, ‘You jump, I jump, right?' My eyes instantly welled. What was happening? I actually said out loud, alone in my apartment, ‘What the hell?' "

Actually, my language was a little more colorful than that. So where did this come from? My position on Titanic, the only apparent cause for my disdain towards James Cameron, is completely reversed. True, I may have been in an emotional place at the time, but regardless, I can't ignore the fact that in a span of seven months I, unprompted, praised four of Cameron's films. So why was I still reluctant to greet James Cameron's first film in over a decade with any kind of real excitement?

The week before Avatar, Monday Morning Quarterback asked what our thoughts were on the films impending release:

"The odds seem to be stacked against him. The buzz isn't exactly deafening and the response to trailers seems to have been fairly tepid, considering the hype." At least I gave him this much credit: "But this is the same place we were back in December 1997, so doubters beware." But then I still had to add, "Of course, I don't expect a Titanic-like outcome. I don't think blue-humanoid-sea monkeys are as mesmerizing to 14-year-old girls as a 22-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio. I just found out the girl I'm seeing now saw Titanic seven times when it came out. Good lord." I am such a damn hypocrite, especially considering she was the girl I wrote that article for.

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