James Cameron’s “Avatar” has pulled in almost $2 billion in ticket sales worldwide, sending it well on its way to becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time. Even the mountain that inspired the floating mountains of Pandora, the Southern Sky Column in southern China, had its named changed to “Avatar Hallelujah Mountain” in hopes of cashing in on the movie’s success.

Avatar is set in the undeniably beautiful alien world of Pandora inhabited by the blue, 10-foot-tall indigenous called Na’vi. The Na’vi live in harmony with nature until, go figure, humans come and screw everything up to mine their sacred land for a precious mineral. Throw a love story into the mix, and voila, you have “Avatar.”

The movie was shown in traditional 2D as well as 3-D and IMAX. The effects were nothing short of amazing, pulling you into this breathtaking world.

Apparently the utopian fantasy was a little too real for some people because somewhere along the way, the line between fiction and reality got a bit fuzzy.

Depressed fans are using the Internet as a support group to talk about their feelings in a thread called “Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible,” on a fan forum site. Fans admitted to feeling depressed and even suicidal because they will never be able to live in the cinematic world of Pandora.

One fan discusses thoughts of suicide after seeing the movie.

“Ever since I went to see ‘Avatar,’ I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it,” the fan posted. “I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it, I will be re-birthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in ‘Avatar.’ “

Others share the same feelings and expressed disgust in the human race and our own world.

“It just seems so … meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep … doing things at all. I live in a dying world,” another fan said.

I went to see “Avatar” the day it came out, and I thought the effects were absolutely mind-blowing. James Cameron created a world full of creatures that looked so realistic, but it didn’t make me appreciate the beauty of our own world any less.

I mean, sure, Pandora was beautiful, and yeah, it would be awesome to pay the Na’vi a visit. I’d also love to be Willy Wonka and own a magical chocolate factory or go to Hogwarts, but the fact that I can’t doesn’t mean I lose my will to live.

The bottom line is people always want what they don’t have and forget to appreciate what is right in front of them. Sure, the world of Avatar is captivating, but so is Earth. There are so many beautiful things to see in our so-called “dying world.” I find it far more depressing that people can’t see that.

Rabab Al-Sharif is a sophomore magazine journalism major and columnist for the Daily Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].