James Cameron Was Visiting the Titanic on One of the Worst Days in US History

I think James Cameron nailed something in that Avatar film that resonates with people in a very strange way. Not just that it was an awesome movie, and it was a fucking awesome movie, but that he nailed something that made people want to live like that. You know, there was a thing that we're talking about after that movie called Avatar Depression where people were leaving the film and they were depressed that their life was nothing like Avatar, like Pandora, like living like the Navi. Pandora, that's it. Yeah, Pandora. There was something about what he nailed. He nailed something in that movie, where it's like this spiritual connection. It was very ayahuasca-like, too. This connection to Mother Earth and the nature and spirits and the connection of all of them. There's something about that film. He hit some nerve with people. I've never heard of another film generating depression that ... There's no Star Wars depression. You leave Star Wars ... Other than when you see some of the ones that have recently come out. Yeah, that's depressing. That's what happens when the executives get a hold of it and they go, hey, you got to go to Cuba and grab the people and put them in the boat. That's right. Then they listen. That's right. That's exactly right. That's exactly what happened. But James Cameron's such a force of nature. You can't really do that to him. He figured something out in those movies. He figured out how to tap into some sort of elemental area of the psyche that it just resonated with people. Sort of the same way, I think. People that talk about folks that live a subsistence life, people that have gone to the woods and they just live off the land. They talk about this deep connection to nature that they get from that and how it makes them feel fulfilled. They don't feel depressed. They feel very engaged. There's a guy named Hymo. He lives in the Arctic and Vice did this whole series on him called the Hymo's Arctic Adventure. One of the things that he was saying is he came out there in the 1970s to work for the forestry department and then just live there for the rest of his life. He's up there right now with his family. He's married to this indigenous woman and they live off the land. He eats caribou and fish. His whole life is like hunting and gathering. But he's like, this is how people are supposed to live. He's a very intelligent man, very articulate. When you hear him talk, he's not some weirdo that lives in the woods. He's a guy who recognizes there's something about this that resonates with humans, this life, this being ... You're connected in the way that you're supposed to be. He thinks that what we've done by creating cities and electricity and electronics and social media and all the bullshit that we deal with today, that we've disconnected ourselves from the things that really make us human. I believe that. His life is more connected to it. But there's even a deeper connection and that's how the Na'vi lived. If you read about ... There's many stories about Native Americans where they would, especially the Comanche, would kidnap people. They would kidnap young children. Oh, that great book. Which one? Under the Harvest Moon. Oh, okay. Do yourself a favor. Well, Empire of the Summer Moon was the one that I'm talking about. Sorry. That's the one, sorry. Oh, okay. Yeah, same one. Yeah, about ... Yeah, Cynthia Ann Parker. Yeah. That's the photo of her out there in the lobby. That's who that is. That's Cynthia Ann Parker. I knew it from somewhere. Yeah. That's Quana Parker. That's her son. That guy over there, the one that's made out of bullet shells. That's one of my favorite books ever. It's fucking amazing book. Amazing book. It's amazing. And that's one of the things they said was that she did not want to go back to Western civilization. She's like, you guys live like idiots. This is a bullshit way to live. There's something about that movie that tapped into that but also tapped into this spiritual realm that exists in psychedelics. Cameron fucking nailed it, man. He nailed it. A lot of people like, oh, that movie was just ... Have you ever had him on? No. No, I'd love to. He's the great ... First of all, he's the most humble. I've never worked with him, but my dear, dear, dear, dear friend who passed away a few years ago, Bill Paxton. I love that guy. He's the best. He was one of my best friends. Oh, that's so good. And he and Jim were in Roger Corman's production mill together. They were both stand-by painters. He's been in every Jim Cameron movie ever, ever made. He introduced me to Jim. There was a minute where I was going to play the Billy Zane part in Titanic. Jim is like ... There's no one like him. There's literally no one like him. The fucking guy went to the bottom of the ocean. Bill and he went to ... Bill's like, goddamn, Jim's taking me down to the Titanic. I'm going next Thursday. They went down to the Titanic. They had lunch on the deck at a fucking Titanic. What? Yeah. Oh my God. That's insane. And then Bill came up and everybody was like ashen-faced and freaking out, and 9-11 had happened. Whoa. Bill Paxton was on the deck of the Titanic with 9-11 half. Holy shit. With Jim Cameron. Is that crazy? Oh my God. That's insane. Insane. That's insane. That's insane. That's insane.