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‘Everybody’s at each other’s throats’: James Cameron says he has left the US permanently
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2026
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As far as rich douches go, James Cameron is probably one of the cleaner ones.
He’s still rich off the exploitation of other laborers though
Who got exploited in his case?
3D animators at least
So if he hadn't made Avatar, they would have been better off?
No, if he hadn't been allowed to take billions of dollars in profits off the movies and intead the rewards had been more equitably distributed, they would have been better off.
I don't get what's so difficult about this concept. One guy doesn't do much work, gets most of the money. Bunch of people do most of the work, get very little money. Way too many people with no money, "this is the best possible system and I will defend it with my dying breath."
You're describing a valid criticism of Capitalism, which I share 100%.
I just don't think that translates well to a direct guilt for Cameron.
He couldn't have brought his movies to the screen if he didn't work within this system.
Of course now that he's been successful, he could definitely donate his wealth.
On the other hand, I could also donate all $50k of my life savings without starving, while others are currently starving.
And I'm not going to do it. I carry the same type of guilt, only with lower numbers.
Solidarity is working within the system. If he has the ability to negotiate that compensation for himself he can negotiate it for the other people working on the project instead, he just didn't.
I think Keanu Reeves and the Matrix is a good example of being in the system and sharing within it.
:|
I think the opinion of those that have worked with him would be most relevant to that.
That's probably the one area where he comes off most as a douche. He's notoriously demanding to work with
He also, earlier on, had a history of less safe practices
But I'd put him as one of the few wealthy people that actually created something others can't. His movies are a creation of his own. Not the result of inevitable scientific advancement
OpenAI/ChatGPT was the result inevitable scientific advancement. The game changer was a publicly published academic paper (by a Google researcher), not anything Sam Altman or OpenAI did. Same can be said about a lot of modern products that created our wealthiest billionaires
Are you seriously claiming that Cameron made his movies without scientific advancements? Cameron used the result of hundreds of technical advancements and patents in order to make his movies. He didn't invent movie-making.
He’s profiting from a system that exploits workers, opinions are irrelevant
Every one of us profits from a system that exploits workers. There are workers who can't even get online, they're suffering more than you, and what little you have is partly due to their underpaid efforts.
Don't let imperfection be the enemy of good. We're all a part of a system that exploits others, so that can't be any useful metric as it paints everyone.
eye roll