Playing Avatar: The Hilarious Na’vi Reenactors, From the Dairy State

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I grew up in Wisconsin, and so I know well what a curious, creative lot hails from such counties as Milwaukee, Waukesha, Dade and Eau Claire. There’s a big portion of the state where humor is in short supply. And then there are areas like Madison, where The Onion was founded, where you get some wacky characters who come up with thoroughly ingenious ideas, and then make them work.

Case in point:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk2vR8w2sjc&feature=player_embedded]

I love the whole concept between these LARPers (Live Avatar Role Players), mocking the fanboys who turn a little too serious in mimicking their favorite sci-fi franchises. Here, that consists of getting back to nature in a full suit of blue paint, uniting with hometree (a leafless tree coated in toilet paper) and making the “bond” with everything from fellow role players to wild flowers.

Now this is clearly a parody, but there’s still something creepy about putting this video into the larger context of those mental health reports I’ve seen, about movie fans walking out of Avatar depressed, wanting to live on Pandora rather than Earth.

These LARPers get a good chuckle, but buried within the joke is a small streak of seriousness. How long until we start seeing Na’vi conventions spring up around the world?