Inside The Mind Of James Cameron During The Filming Of Avatar

James Cameron is a curmudgeonly old sod. He made parts of “Titanic” in the northern wastes of Canada here where I live and tales are still told of his, ah, uneven nature. Such a thing is confidence. It’s my belief that no great art is ever made, in any medium, if you listen to anyone elses opinion. It has to come free and unfiltered.

Now this is all good as long as the art is good. Michelangelo didn’t have to listen to Pope Julius the Second if he didn’t feel like it.  If the art is bad, you can continue not to listen to other people’s opinions on the strength and character of your muse while you write poetry just for your cat or whatever your thing might be. In James Cameron’s world, he is right because he has always been right. He is therefore able to let his vision flow freely and without restraint. So far so good.

But I don’t have to work with him. The New Yorker magazine was given awesome inside rights to watch the proceeding during the making of “Avatar” from the get go. They discover that he is a man of extremes, a guy that the crew calls “Mij” or Jim spelled backwards, during the times he skips on over to the dark side. The New Yorker article is a good read, nice and long and full of juicy inside bits from “Avatar” and memories and testimonials from Jim’s other productions. Thanks to my friend Dave for the scoop. Read the whole article, magically contained right….here.