Portrait of The Na'vi People of Hometree Wisconsin

February 17, 2010 6:12 AM

LARP (Live Avatar Role Playing) (SLYT)
posted by fearfulsymmetry (60 comments total)

Needs more air, water, fire and earth bending.
posted by DU at 6:15 AM on February 17, 2010 [16 favorites]

Those blue folks better get out of the park by 4pm because those Live Action Twilight people are hella punctual. The last thing we need is a blue vs sparkle war!

Wait, what am I saying? A Blue vs Sparkle War is EXACTLY WHAT WE NEED!
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:23 AM on February 17, 2010 [15 favorites]

"It's almost like what I've seen Japanese people do."

Some of this is really funny. I was skeptical but they get some good jabs in.
posted by mediareport at 6:26 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

where's gargamel when you need him?
posted by ouke at 6:30 AM on February 17, 2010

I do hope this is a joke.
posted by odinsdream at 6:35 AM on February 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

They made me chuckle.

Yes, this is a joke.
posted by Malice at 6:40 AM on February 17, 2010

what
posted by xbonesgt at 6:50 AM on February 17, 2010

joke?!
posted by stbalbach at 6:59 AM on February 17, 2010

I do hope this is a joke.

I think we should be more tolerant of people's lifestyle choices.
posted by empath at 7:06 AM on February 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

Avatar Blue. (There, someone needed to say it)
posted by milnak at 7:08 AM on February 17, 2010

contrived and not very funny.
posted by Shike at 7:16 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I thought it was pretty funny, the joke timing and editing was better than major network sitcoms I've seen.
posted by haveanicesummer at 7:20 AM on February 17, 2010

I think we should be more tolerant of people's lifestyle choices.

Affording people the right to do weird things, and standing up for their continued rights to do weird things, doesn't mean that we automatically need to approve of their weird things, or stop labeling them as weird.

That, and some people specifically enjoy being labeled weird and transgressive. Half the fun for them is being called a weirdo, and if no one stopped to gawk or question them, they'd probably pack it up and call it a day.
posted by explosion at 7:23 AM on February 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!
posted by shakespeherian at 7:26 AM on February 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

It's interesting how widespread "The Office" aesthetic has become.
posted by Omon Ra at 7:27 AM on February 17, 2010 [3 favorites]

Would have been better in 3D. The browns of Wisconsin winter have been rendered poorly.

/I have an improv troupe
posted by zerobyproxy at 7:30 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

FUCK YOU SKY BITCH
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:51 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I am somewhat sad that this is a joke.
posted by scrutiny at 7:52 AM on February 17, 2010

Daily YouTube comment gold medal goes to "Bratcipheo":

but jake didnt die, or made a sarcrifice for other peoples sin; he just went into a cooler body out of own desires, because his current sucked.If anything, he showed us that our body sucks and we should strive to become something different and use plastic surgery etc. for bigger boobs, facelifts and shit.
posted by the painkiller at 7:53 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wait till Comic-Con later this year. Then you'll see how much of a joke this isn't.
posted by PenDevil at 7:54 AM on February 17, 2010 [7 favorites]

I liked the makeup, so I followed some links.
It seems this has something to do with a movie.

PS- I wonder what the criteria are for 'Related Videos' on YouTube.
posted by MtDewd at 7:55 AM on February 17, 2010

Wait till Comic-Con later this year. Then you'll see how much of a joke this isn't.

Oh my god, I didn't even think - so much hastly applied body paint and thongs.
posted by The Whelk at 7:59 AM on February 17, 2010

Are we really at the point where so many cannot recognize parody and satire?
posted by humboldt32 at 8:14 AM on February 17, 2010

but jake didnt die, or made a sarcrifice for other peoples sin; he just went into a cooler body out of own desires, because his current sucked

Omigod I just realized that Avatar is a fully-realized adaptation of The Dark Tower.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:14 AM on February 17, 2010

I want to schedule an Avatar LARP and an SCA event at the same time.

I'm a bad man.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 8:20 AM on February 17, 2010

There are already Na'vi otherkin on the internet, so I was worried this would be earnest and sincere and not a joke at all. But no!
posted by bewilderbeast at 8:23 AM on February 17, 2010

Time to Update the Ol' LARP Résumé (NSFAnyone)
posted by rusty at 8:24 AM on February 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Yes, it's like a Christmas-card goof by "The Office" crew. But funnier than most youtube links posted to MeFi. Thumbs-up for free entertainment.
posted by turducken at 8:49 AM on February 17, 2010

It's interesting how widespread "The Office" aesthetic has become.

Yeah it only took about 26 years to catch on.

(No offense.)
posted by Telf at 8:51 AM on February 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

And coming soon: Secret Wars Re-Enactment Society.
posted by PenDevil at 8:53 AM on February 17, 2010

Those blue folks better get out of the park by 4pm because those Live Action Twilight people are hella punctual. The last thing we need is a blue vs sparkle war!

If they get out of line we'll just send the Jedi in to enforce the peace.
posted by homunculus at 8:59 AM on February 17, 2010

I guess you could argue the mocumentary format is not exactly as the office aesthetic, but you'd have to at least acknowledge the British office which has been kicking around since 2001, so almost 10 years is not so fast.

Not to mention, this has been a mainstay of improv sketches for a while. This '98 Mr Show Sketch is obviously more of a Ken Burns riff, but some of the interview styles are similar. (Some similar jokes to the LARP link of this thread, wait til 3:41)

I guess anything that's a parody of reality TV would be more Officey.
posted by Telf at 9:01 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

For the briefest of moments, I thought this was real.

Then I laughed.

Then I read PenDevil's comment, and now I am a'feared.
posted by Relay at 9:07 AM on February 17, 2010

Yeah, we've now reached that moment in human history where mockumentaries are just predictions of the future.
posted by Astro Zombie at 9:12 AM on February 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

For the briefest of moments, I thought this was real.

Those people are waaaay too attractive to be real LARPers.
posted by Telf at 9:12 AM on February 17, 2010

Yeah, we've now reached that moment in human history where mockumentaries are just predictions of the future.

The Historical Preenactment Society!
posted by The Whelk at 9:14 AM on February 17, 2010

I dunno, seems straight out of the Spinal Tap (1984) genre to me. And it's always a fine line between shooting fish in a barrel -- crudely crafted fish that you made, straw men and women for ridicule -- and genuine satire.

That line for me, is capturing something noble or sweet in the people you're mocking -- or at least something true. If the people you are mocking would enjoy the portrait instead of getting mad -- even appreciate nuances that most wouldn't - then this genre rocks.

This one? Not really, not for me.
posted by msalt at 9:16 AM on February 17, 2010

So I'm watching a video of people who are taking time out of their lives to dress up as and play-act fictional people who take time out of their lives to dress up and play-act fictional aliens. The message seeming to be that fictional alien play-actors are ridiculous because they find some admirable quality in what they pretend to be, while the people who made this video are funny and clever because they engage in their play-acting in order to express their contempt for their fictional targets.
posted by nanojath at 9:18 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I really think it needed a guy in a mech suit made out of cardboard boxes coming in and kicking ass.
posted by digsrus at 9:19 AM on February 17, 2010 [10 favorites]

A joke?

I just spent $550 on a ticket to Wisconsin!

shit.
posted by orme at 9:19 AM on February 17, 2010

There are already Na'vi otherkin on the internet

I think that at least some people in that community are joking, too:

I cannot wait to teach our child about Eywa and the beauty of living as one with nature. My partner did put her foot down at the dressing our child in blue clothes and turning down the heating so that their skin has a light blue tinge, however, and on reflection I agree that this was not a good idea.

Less funny, though "Current Location: Pandora" is pretty amusing, especially given that the linked Google Map goes to Pandora, Texas.
posted by breath at 9:23 AM on February 17, 2010

Christ, is this really down to me...? Okay then...

"Is this something I'd have to have visited a movie theatre to understand?"

I think I'm the only person left who hasn't seen this film...
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 9:29 AM on February 17, 2010

I resisted but then got a free ticket for a midday showing - around the midway point when the glasses started giving me a headache it finally hit me why the movie was bugging me , It's written like fan fiction about Gary Stu who gets to be the most awesome blue gargantuan ever and have hair sex with Zoe Saldana.
posted by The Whelk at 9:36 AM on February 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

I think I'm the only person left who hasn't seen this film...

Not quite. But we are vanishingly few.

Not that I have anything against it. I just don't see the import of it.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:42 AM on February 17, 2010

I LARP. I'm transgendered (as referenced near the end...)

I like this video? I think? Ugh. I think I am supposed to be offended, but it is _so_ hard to tell these days.

/sarcasm
posted by andreaazure at 9:50 AM on February 17, 2010

Argh! Unsee! Unsee!
posted by e.e. coli at 10:01 AM on February 17, 2010

I haven't seen it either. Rejectors, untie!
posted by rusty at 10:51 AM on February 17, 2010

Thanks to that 4 minutes, I guess I can say now that I have seen it. Free, too. No 3D though... But i did cross my eyes a couple of times.
posted by njohnson23 at 10:54 AM on February 17, 2010

I think I'm the only person left who hasn't seen this film...

First of all, AVATAR is well worth seeing (in 3D, of course); certainly if you have any affinity for sci-fi action adventure stuff set in beautifully realized other-worlds.

Second, LARP does a goodish job of skewering the worst part of AVATAR (ie: the whole DUMB cliche-laden noble savagery of the Navi), although I wish they'd taken the Tree Of Souls bit way further, had it turn into a sloppy new-age-orgy at the foot of that pathetic looking toilet paper ensconced tree ... maybe with something like this playing on a ghetto blaster.
posted by philip-random at 11:02 AM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Telf, I actually did think of Spinal Tap, but I think the comparison with The Office (the british one) is slightly more apt. The Tap guys were not "ordinary" people and had less uncomfortable silences and deer-in-the-headlights look.
posted by Omon Ra at 11:04 AM on February 17, 2010

Omonra,

Fair enough. I think that's a good distinction. The Offices certainly use awkward silence to a much great degree.
posted by Telf at 11:13 AM on February 17, 2010

Would have been much funnier if real.

I think I'm the only person left who hasn't seen this film...

Hardly. There were 76,421,000 tickets sold through January. Even assuming single viewings and another 10,000,000 tickets in February, that's at least ~6,700,000,000 people on earth who haven't seen it.
posted by mrgrimm at 11:13 AM on February 17, 2010

The Tap guys were not "ordinary" people and had less uncomfortable silences and deer-in-the-headlights look.

Except for Nigel (in general) and the one of the greatest pauses of all time.

Bonus: "Duncan was his name"
posted by mrgrimm at 11:22 AM on February 17, 2010

Haven't seen it? For the love of all that is good, don't.
And I am a huge SF (or sci-fi or whatever you're supposed to call it this week) fan and I found it to be about 2 hours too long.
Nice scenery, though.
I suggest one partakes in ones favorite vice to make the time pass quicker.


This, however, is magic.
posted by Seamus at 11:51 AM on February 17, 2010

I suggest one partakes in ones favorite vice to make the time pass quicker.

Hmmm. What if one's favorite vice makes time go by "really, really, really, really slow"?
posted by mrgrimm at 12:09 PM on February 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I have it on good authority that bright shiny colors are awesome.
posted by The Whelk at 12:11 PM on February 17, 2010

A preview to Dragoncon 2010. Great.
posted by stormpooper at 12:51 PM on February 17, 2010

It's too bad they didn't audition for Avatar. Instead, they just blue themselves.
posted by nosila at 3:21 PM on February 17, 2010

Can we discuss how people are able to run around Wisconsin half naked in the dead of winter? There is no way this could have been filmed in MD in the last two months, unless they wore blue sweatsuits. My husband pointed this out to me. He's also been quoting the video non-stop since seeing it, and he wants to make sahaylu this weekend.
posted by frecklefaerie at 4:39 AM on February 19, 2010

although I wish they'd taken the Tree Of Souls bit way further, had it turn into a sloppy new-age-orgy at the foot of that pathetic looking toilet paper ensconced tree ...

I think they should have just cut this into the video
Cameron lifted the scene whole hog anyway.
posted by P.o.B. at 3:51 PM on February 19, 2010