In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary named “post-truth” its word of the year.
The hyphened unit of language rose in popularity due to misinformation spread in and around the 2016 U.S.
Presidential Election and Brexit reform, but “post-truth” was already the state of many film Reddits and message boards.
That’s what fan theories are — post-truth.That isn’t meant judgmentally.
Engaging with art means piquing your curiosity as a viewer, and the desire to unpack a movie beyond its offered pale is valid.
That said, it’s also often an exercise in labyrinthine overthinking and self-projection.
People want to see themselves in the art they love.
So often, that’s one reason they do love it.
But the fan theories surrounding many films, including James Cameron’s massive blockbuster “Avatar,” contradict the movie itself.
It’s worth debunking the fan theories that fly in the face of the artists that made it, to get back
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