Psychology

The Psychology of Hollywood's All-Time Blockbuster

Avatar and the stone-age brain.

Posted November 15, 2022 | Reviewed by Lybi Ma

Key points

Great movies often focus on fundamental human motives.
Fundamental human motives include survival, self-protection, affiliation, status, mate acquisition, mate retention, and kin care.
The film Avatar, due for a sequel shortly, masterfully pitted several fundamental human motives motives against one another.

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living, which I think might be an exaggeration. I would certainly say, however, that the examined life is a richer one. It enriches our experiences to reflect on why one type of wine, or one Italian dish, tastes better than another, or why one book or movie really captivated you while another left you snoring. And it’s not just an intellectual exercise. By understanding why some experiences are more satisfying than others, you might make a more informed choice about your next meal, movie, monograph, or malbec.

My son Dave and I have examined why we like some movies and hate others. Dave studied film production at New York University, a program that produced luminaries including Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, and Sofia Coppola. Dave also works as creative director for Arizona State University’s psychology media outreach.

In other previous posts, I've discussed a renovation of the classic pyramid of human needs from an evolutionary perspective (see Rebuilding Maslow's Hierarchy on an Evolutionary Foundation). These fundamental, evolved motives show up as central themes in great movies—where the heroes struggle with conflicts involving staying alive, fighting the bad guys, making and keeping friends, getting ahead, getting the guy (or the girl), hanging onto that lover, and caring for their families. All those issues show up in vivid technicolor and exquisite detail in movies like The Godfather, Harry Potter, and the Hunger Games.

A favorite film to analyze in this light is James Cameron’s Avatar. Around the time Avatar first came out, we talked here about how Avatar masterfully taps into the themes of getting along, getting ahead, getting the girl (and guy), and getting the bad guys (see Avatar 3D: Evolutionary Psychology Goes to Hollywood).

Because Avatar 2 will be released in the next few weeks, here is a video podcast called "Is Avatar the Perfect Movie?" about how the characters in this film struggle with all seven of the steps in the new motivational pyramid. ]Avatar was the highest-grossing film of all time. Why? We argue that examining Avatar in light of modern evolutionary theory can help answer that question.