James Cameron rejects claims Avatar epic borrows from Russians' sci-fi novels (1/13/10)

[Hannah Bell]

Cinema audiences in Russia have been quick to point out that Avatar has elements in common with The World of Noon, or Noon Universe, a cycle of 10 bestselling science fiction novels written by the Strugatskys in the mid-1960s.

It was the Strugatskys who came up with the planet Pandora – the same name chosen by Cameron for the similarly green and lushly forested planet used as the spectacular backdrop to Avatar. The Noon Universe takes place in the 22nd century. So does Avatar, critics have noticed.

And while there are clear differences between the two Pandoras, both are home to a similarly named bunch of humanoids – the Na'vi in Cameron's epic, and the Nave in Strugatskys' novels, read by generations of Soviet teenagers and space-loving scientists and intellectuals...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/jan/13/james-cameron-avatar-plagarism-claim

[Codeine]

1. Russian SF is some amazing stuff. nt

[begin_within]

2. Or Pocahontas

[RaleighNCDUer]

8. Cute.

Completely dishonest, but cute.

[elehhhhna]

20. and everything else but F Troop

[jobycom]

3. I suspect that if James Cameron were going to rip off another work, he'd at least

change the names. Pandora isn't a very unusual name in fiction, especially sci-fi. Most plots follow that age-old "Hero of a Thousand Faces" arc, so there are always similarities amongst movies with similar themes.

The Hurt Locker is being accused of plagerism, too. Seems pretty standard these days--a song or movie makes money, someone claims they wrote it first.

[amborin]

4. actually, there's a lot of plagiarism these days

and some people are pretty blatant about it;

[jobycom]

6. There are also communists in high places in our government

and I have their names on a sheet of paper... :rofl:

C'mon, explain. Don't just assert. Give examples. :)

[amborin]

7. try

reading the past year's worth of ny times....lots of plagiarism in some very prominent places

by the way: it's 'plagiarism'

[jobycom]

9. Ah, okay.

Life's too short to research other people's points. :shrug: Mine was only that the accusation of plagiarism is not uncommon even when it's false.

[Withywindle]

5. One of the funniest, meanest things I ever read in a movie review...

it was about 'Eragon' The reviewer wrote something to the effect of "...and this is the point in the review where I would usually advise those who want to avoid spoilers to stop reading. But if you've seen 'Star Wars' or 'The Lord of the Rings,' there aren't any spoilers."

[Brickbat]

21. Oh em gee did I think "Eragon" (the book) was crap. The comparisons to Tolkein were staggering, IMO,

unless it was to compare how one was awesome and the other was a poorly executed rip-off.

[Codeine]

13. Cameron has stolen in the past.

The brilliant and brash Harlan Ellison successfully sued him for ripping off one of his stories for the first Terminator film.

[jobycom]

17. That's not an accurate representation.

Cameron claimed he was influenced by a couple of episodes of "The Outer Limit" for the idea for The Terminator. Ellison wrote those episodes, and threatened to sue, and Cameron gave him acknowledgements in the credits as well as money.

There was no suit, and Cameron was the one who first mentioned the similarities.

[OnyxCollie]

10. I thought it copied Princess Mononoke.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[MissMarple]

11. Sci Fi ...Science Fiction has human themes.It is cross cultural,it is an exercise in sociology...

...at its best, and even when it's mediocre. When reading, always keep tongue firmly in cheek, maintain a sense of humor, or at least a perspective, and see the humanity that seeps between the lines. We are always there.

;)

No single country owns its themes. EOM

[Itchinjim]

12. How about "Dances with Wolves"?

He did some "borrowing" from that flick.

[MrScorpio]

14. It's perfectly feasible that 2 different writers can come up with similar story ideas independently

However, that doesn't explain why Avatar is Pocahontas with space aliens.

[Echo In Light]

15. Author Harlan Ellison sued Cameron for lifting material re The Terminator (settled out of court)

[cbdo2007]

16. There is a difference.....between borrowing from a story and claiming someone else's work...

as your own.

Who cares if he borrowed the name of the planet and even the time period and if he got the idea to use aliens because they used them.

Everyone story that is written "borrows" from stories that came before it and future stories will come along and "borrow" from that one as well. It's how art works. One thing inspires others which inspire others.

That's why you can't copyright a chord progression in music, because other musicians can use those same chords to make a different song.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

18. "Unobtainium" was straight out of 2003 sci fi flop "The Core"

I don't think he stole the idea of the blue aliens raping pterodactyls with their ponytails though. That mess was all his own.

[RaleighNCDUer]

19. You could as easily claim that he ripped off Harry Harrison's first Deathworld story:

"There's not a thing on this planet that doesn't want you DEAD!"

Once away from the human enclave, and in tune with the world, it was much less dangerous. The world only attacked the people it saw as a threat. The source of the planetary consciousness was what was directing the planet to attack the humans.

But he didn't.

There are many themes in science fiction which are set in similar settings. You could as easily say that John Ford was ripping off Zane Grey and Louis Lamour because his movies were set in the American west.