From 2001: Space Odyssey to Avatar: Reflections on Cultural Impact and Academic Research

No Stanley Kubrick film has exerted a greater influence on mainstream cinema than 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), mainly by convincing filmmakers, studio executives and cinemagoers of the artistic and commercial potential of Science Fiction movies. Such movies have arguably dominated the global box office since 1977 (the year of Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind), none more so than James Cameron’s Avatar (2009), Cameron being one of the many young people who were deeply impressed upon first encountering 2001, later reporting that it made him want to become a filmmaker. This essay examines a range of primary sources suggesting that 2001 was an important reference point in the story development and the marketing of Avatar, and it does so by critically reflecting on the research process itself – its personal as well as academic motivations and circumstances, its wider historical context, and its specific pitfalls and opportunities.