The Not-So Star-Spangled Backdrop
Avatar shattered Titanic’s long-held record for grossing the most money, even though the plot was totally unoriginal (city guy goes to village, learns their ways, prefers village life over city life). Now, we’ll admit that the movie is entertaining, but for a film that overtook Titanic in terms of ticket sales, it’s not as ingrained in modern pop culture as one would expect.
Anyway, in the scene where Colonel Quaritch delivers his some-of-you-are-going-to-die speech, he and his senior officers are standing with their backs against a window, subtly creating an image of the American flag without the stars, which some people took to mean that Quaritch’s America was repeating history.