Is Avatar Un-Original??? James Cameron Accused Of Plagiarism!

Filed under: Film Flickers

avatar_joe.jpg

Did blockbuster director James Cameron steal the story line of Avatar from a 1957 sci-fi novella?????

Sources are saying that the plot from the Poul Anderson novella Call Me Joe is shockingly similar to Cameron's upcoming sci-fi flick!

Call Me Joe "centers on a paraplegic… who telepathically connects with an artificially created life form in order to explore a harsh planet."

The main character "revels in the freedom and strength of his artificial created body, battles predators on the surface of Jupiter, and gradually goes native as he spends more time connected to his artificial body."

And the plot of Cameron's Avatar???

The story of a wounded former marine who was "paralyzed from the waist down in combat… [He's] selected to participate in the Avatar program, which will enable him to walk."

The marine travels to Pandora, a "lush jungle-covered extraterrestrial moon" where he goes to battle with the native people of Pandora and begins to integrate himself into the native culture.

Hmmm!

Sounds familiar!

This wouldn't be the first time Cameron has lifted an idea from an outside source, either - the director was sued for plagiarism years ago when a man accused Cameron of stealing the plot of The Terminator from two episodes of The Outer Limits the man penned decades earlier.

What do U think???

    Posted: Oct 28, 2009 at 6:15 pm / Email this  »

    25 comments to “Is Avatar Un-Original??? James Cameron Accused Of Plagiarism!”



    1. 1

      can we said TYPICAL HOLLYWOOD



    2. 2

      YEAYYYYY! KING OF THE WORLD!



    3. 3

      If it's the case, it's at least worth it. Poul Anderson has several great books which were made into terrible movies. "The High Crusade" had all the potential to be a great movie but was made into a german "spoof" vehicle instead of a serious adventure film. "Call Me Joe" is a good pulp scifi book. And, thinking about what I've seen of avatar, the two are pretty stunningly similar.



    4. 4

      Those plots are IDENTICAL!!! Too similar to be coincidental.



    5. 5

      I think it's a medical marvel that your hands don't detach themselves from your body and crawl off in disgust that you can actually type about others alleged plagiarism. You've never had an original thought in your oversized head.



    6. 6

      I don't think this is plagiarism. As you may know, take some ideas to create your own project doesn't mean you're stealing the concept. In videogames and books is the same.

      Dontcha remember when Sthepen King told he was inspired by the Lord of the Rings to create his very own (and his best novel ever) The Dark Tower?

      Duh.



    7. 7

      I feel like a lot of these lawsuits are really hard to win. This is some obscure story from a 50 year old novella. The author has to prove that someone in the writing process even read the damn story before writing the screenplay.



    8. 8

      How can it be plagiarism when it's based on a Cartoon series from the Nickelodeon Network?!!!



    9. 9

      Re: NoVaDJ – lol wow.



    10. 10

      Re: NoVaDJ – Dude, WTF? This is a different movie, LMAO



    11. 11

      **Marine



    12. 12

      i'm pretty sure he plaguried titanic too.



    13. 13

      Re: BlueberryMint
      oops! My bad! I had the movies mixed up……



    14. 14

      The "man" you mention above is Harlan Ellison. He prevailed in court. There was a sealed settlement. Part of that settlement is visible in every telecast and current home video release of TERMINATOR. Mr. Ellison's name is now in the credits as:
      "acknowledgment to the works of Harlan Ellison".

      The relevant episodes of OUTER LIMITS bear a striking resemblance to TERMINATOR.



    15. 15

      Re: freethinker – I am embarrased….the cartoon series is called Avatar too…..sorry….



    16. 16

      the avatar poster looks like an ad for a seafood restaurant (you have to look into it)

    17. ap076 says – reply to this


      17

      You mention Cameron was sued for previous plagiarism but don't mention a verdict or settlement, but you state this isn't the first time he has lifted an idea from an outside source. Shouldn't you have mentioned the words ACCUSED OF to describe the prior case.
      The similarities are there and worth pursuing a law suit but wouldn't this be better if both parties could settle this out of court.



    18. 18

      THE IDEA OF SOMEONE WHO IS PARALYZED, OR IS OTHERWISE LIMITED IN THEIR ABILITY TO FULLY ENJOY WHAT IS TYPICALLY DEFINED AS A FULL LIFE, BEING ABLE TO CREATE A PERSONA ON THE INTERNET THAT ALLOWS THEM TO BE SUPERHUMAN IS HARDLY AN IDEA SO UNIQUE AS TO BE COPYRIGHTED.
      .
      ITS LIKE SOMEONE UNATTRACTIVE DEVELOPING A RELATIONSHIP ON THE INTERNET, OVER THE PHONE, OR BY WRITING LETTERS.
      .
      MANY MOVIES HAVE THAT PLOT LINE AND MANY OF THOSE ARE ENTERTAINING.



    19. 19

      THE COPYRIGHT ISSUE SHOULD BE THAT THE CHARACTER ON THE POSTER LOOKS LIKE REBECCA ROMJIN'C CHARACTER FROM X-MEN.



    20. 20

      Same thing as Vanilla Sky. Quasi original.



    21. 21

      #17, James Cameron lost in the Terminator case so it isn't "zccused" and all releases of the movie since have created Harlan Ellison for the story.

    22. ap076 says – reply to this


      22

      Re: LookAround – Thanks for the info, Perez only posts half the story as usual.



    23. 23

      It's called artistic coincidence.



    24. 24

      …This movie is supposed to be based off the Nick TV show, which has nothing to do with wounded marines… The Avatar isn't a program, he's a person. and based of the previews for the movie that doesn't sound like the plot at ALL.



    25. 25

      so in the future they can keep aliens alive and talk to them via telepathy but they can't fix spinal cord injuries??