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Communists Say Avatar Director 'Robbed' Soviet Science Fiction

Dusty Ayres

Dusty Ayres

Commodore
Yet another bash of Avatar, this time by Russian Communists from St. Petersburg:

As already reported by Komsomolskaya Pravda, Boris Strugatsky himself announced on his Web site that he has no claims against James Cameron and doesn't accuse him of plagiarism. Nevertheless, the communists of St. Petersburg/Leningrad have decided not to believe him. Moreover, they've decided to demand an extradition warrant.

Indignant party members say that Cameron, prepared to do anything to execute the command of the White House, surreptitiously entered the mysterious and romantic world of Soviet science fiction, and transferred all the action to his primitive propaganda film and to the Strugatsky-created world of planet Pandora. Completely devoid of imagination, Cameron plundered Strugatskys' novels, and books by Yefremov, Bulychev and Snegov, naively believing that no one would notice the theft. You were mistaken, mister! St. Petersburg Communists accuse you and your masters of robbing Soviet science fiction!

Scandalized communists not only demand that Russia ban all films by James Cameron, they want a special parliamentary commission created to screen foreign films to be shown in Russia. Their other request: "fire the leaders of Ruskino, which procures films created through the theft of Russia's intellectual property for Russian screening."
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Communists Say Avatar Director 'Robbed' Soviet Science Fiction

(Here's the original statement by the supposedly aggrieved author: Boris Strugatsky's statement [in Russian])
 
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Here's my translation of the statement, in case anyone cares:
Lately there have been a posts on the Internet claiming that I, B. Strugatsky, am accusing the creators of "Avatar" in conscious plagiarism, using the materials from brothers Strugatsky's works about the planet Pandora and the various adventures on it.
I claim the following:
1. Nowhere and never have I accused the creators of Avatar of plagiarism and I don't intend to.
2. I haven't seen Avatar and don't know anything about it, except that it takes place on the "planet of the monsters Pandora".
3. All the supposedly my statements about this film on the Internet are shameless lies (the goal of which is unclear to me).
Long live the Internet, the source of true news,
B. Strugatsky.
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Those accusations sound either like ramblings of a crazy people or someone doing it for the lulz. It's probably the latter, but with modern Russian communists you never know ...
 
Shurik said:
Here's my translation of the statement, in case anyone cares:
Lately there have been a posts on the Internet claiming that I, B. Strugatsky, am accusing the creators of "Avatar" in conscious plagiarism, using the materials from brothers Strugatsky's works about the planet Pandora and the various adventures on it.
I claim the following:
1. Nowhere and never have I accused the creators of Avatar of plagiarism and I don't intend to.
2. I haven't seen Avatar and don't know anything about it, except that it takes place on the "planet of the monsters Pandora".
3. All the supposedly my statements about this film on the Internet are shameless lies (the goal of which is unclear to me).
Long live the Internet, the source of true news,
B. Strugatsky.
Click to expand...
Those accusations sound either like ramblings of a crazy people or someone doing it for the lulz. It's probably the latter, but with modern Russian communists you never know ...
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Thanks for the translation.
 
"Wolves Say Avatar Director 'Robbed' Sacred Dances"

"Centenarian Willows Say Avatar Director 'Robbed' Young Girl's Love Story"

"Sludge Monsters Say Avatar Director 'Robbed' Rain Forest Fairy Tales"
 
Cameron probably could have avoided most if not all of these accusations if he had actually created a somewhat unique story. It really is just a mish-mash of a few random stories slung together, and not in even the most remotely original or unique way.

E.T. and Star Wars, two other massive hits of a similar (but much larger) scale, certainly didn't receive that much vitriol because (despite having elements from countless other stories) they actually were largely unique and richly told tales. Avatar is nothing of the sort. It's little more than a commercial for special effects as far as I'm concerned.
 
It's too bad Cameron stole the film because we know if they had made it they would have surely distributed the profits amongst the people.
 
It does sound like there are some superficial similarities with the Strugatskys' stories. But if Mr. Strugatsky isn't worried about it then neither am I.

I am curious to read those books, though.
 
Indignant party members say that Cameron, prepared to do anything to execute the command of the White House,
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There's a movie premise right there! :rommie:
Cameron probably could have avoided most if not all of these accusations if he had actually created a somewhat unique story.
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Plenty of filmmakers make that mistake. They don't make a billion dollars.

Avatar works because it's a mish-mash of creaky old crowd-pleasing cliches. I'm sure Cameron knows exactly what he's doing. Anything as unoriginal as his movie is immune to charges of plagiarism because the "offended parties" haven't created anything that's been original for the past century or two, either, so they have nothing to complain about.
 
Checkmate said:
E.T. and Star Wars, two other massive hits of a similar (but much larger) scale, certainly didn't receive that much vitriol because (despite having elements from countless other stories) they actually were largely unique and richly told tales.
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Clearly you were not paying any attention to what was written about Star Wars during its initial release in 1977 or you couldn't post that and believe it.

Nor is there anything unique, original or "richly told" about the story of Star Wars. Lucas filed the serial numbers off of parts swiped from a number of movies, and wasn't even shy about it. It was a thrill ride and a visual extravaganza. Next.
 
I'll say this for Avatar: the Star Wars comparisons have not improved my opinion of Cameron's work so much as they have damaged my esteem for what was formerly one of my favorite films. Because, yeah, Wars is trite and cliché. What the hell was I thinking?
 
Well, clearly you lacked the collective wisdom of the Internet to explain to you then why Star Wars was unworthy.

We are enlightened now, and as a result Avatar has failed to capture an audience. :lol:
 
Checkmate said:
E.T. and Star Wars, two other massive hits of a similar (but much larger) scale, certainly didn't receive that much vitriol because (despite having elements from countless other stories) they actually were largely unique and richly told tales. Avatar is nothing of the sort. It's little more than a commercial for special effects as far as I'm concerned.
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You do know that the trench run in Star Wars actually stole dialogue wholesale from "The Dam Busters," right?

Gibson: How many guns do you think there are, Trevor?
Trevor: I'd say there are about ten guns - some in the field, and some in the tower.
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That has a familiar ring, now doesn't it?
 
^ Please. We all know that the Trench Run scene was just a ripoff of "Charge of the Light Brigade." As per the original Tennyson (before he went and made all those changes in the Special Edition):

Turbocannons to the right of them
Turbocannons to the left of them
Vader behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd
Tore through hull and shield
While Biggs and Porkins fell

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman
 
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