Why does my MacBook Air give me a blank screen?

I recently updated my MacBook Air (11-inch, Late 2010) operating system with Mountain Lion (version 10.8.2), each time I open the lid, the screen shows up briefly for about a second or two, then it goes virtually blank except for the very faint image of the log in area. I don't believe the screen light is on, it's just the ambiant light making this visible.  I can't move the cursor to go to it to sign in. The only way to clear this is to hold down the power button until it shuts off. Then reboot. The computer tells me that it was improperly shut down (duh), and asks me to send a report to Apple. This never happened before the most recent update.
Anyone know of a fix?

Anyone? Anyone? Help?

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