Avatar: James Cameron’s Ode to Lord Krishna – Day, Ukraine
Mar 14th, 2010 | 9 responses
There have been a slew of charges over recent months that James Cameron lifted the plot of Avatar from previous writers, most memorably by the St. Petersburg Communist Party, who called for Cameron’s arrest for plagiarizing the work of Soviet-era science fiction writers.
But this article from Ukraine’s Day newspaper makes the most convincing case of all. Columnist Maxim Chaikovsky writes that there is far more than a passing similarity between the movie Avatar and the ancient Hindu story of Lord Krishna’s avatar – which is blue, descends from the sky, takes the side of a native tribe against his kin, and falls in love with the native king’s daughter. Luckily for Cameron, the author and copyright holder died about 3,000 years ago.
For Day, Maxim Chaikovsky writes in part:
It turns out that the sensational plot of Avatar, which now has columnists and bloggers of every kind wearing out their keyboards, was committed to palm leaves thousands of years ago in elegant Sanskrit lettering. There, the blue-skinned avatar of Krishna flies the giant Garuda to the noble tribe of Vrajah, which lives in the forest of Vrindavan amid precious ore of “cintamani” stone. There, the sacred Govardhan Hill hovers above the ground where the Trees of Wishes grow, under which Krishna’s new tribe hides from an “air attack” by his sky brethren. That is where beautiful native girl Radha lives – whose love of Krishna fills the ancient legend with life and meaning.
But James Cameron need not fret. In contrast to modern playwrights and science fiction writers, Vyasa is hardly likely to sue for plagiarism and seek redress for copyright infringement. Besides, to his credit, Cameron openly admitted to borrowing the name of the film and the blue color of the Na’vi from sacred Hindu texts. It was only due to the regrettable delay with the invention of 3D-cameras that the ancient epic’s conceptual semi-twin became reality only millennia after.
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9 Responses to “Avatar: James Cameron’s Ode to Lord Krishna – Day, Ukraine”
must be a reallllll slow news day. Most ALL films, books, theatre, sci fi, etc., is based on old archetypal stories. Go back to school man. Your ignorance is boring.
Interesting in light of the hyperventilating on the right that Cameron's story was really about the bad American capitalists destroying the earth and defenseless nature loving treehuggers. But also, “regrettable” invention of the 3D camera? LOL
Yeah, like the “regrettable” invention of color photography. It will surely destroy the art of film making.
Actually Krishna is an Avatar of Vishnu. In Hinduism Vishnu has nine principle Avatars. Then other text say there are 22 more minor Avatars.
” Ancient sacred texts of the Hindu tradition say that Vishnu has incarnated himself to the earth many times. He is said to come down to earth time after time in animal and human form to rid earth of evil and establish dharma or righteousness.”
“Many texts speak of Vishnu as having ten incarnations, also referred to as avatars. Nine of these are said to have already occurred. Followers of Vishnu expect him to return to earth a final time in this eon.”
In Indian religious art many of the nine Avatars are shown in the color Blue. One meaning of Blue with the Avatars is they descended from the sky which means they came from above, the spiritual realms, with no karma.
In Hinduism there are three major male dieties; Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva; Creator, Sustainer, and Destroyer. Not only is Vishnu and the Avatars blue but also Shiva is often often shown as blue in Indian art. There he drank poison so others would not die and it turned his throat blue. It is not uncommon for there to be different aspects within any single of the gods and goddesses, so the hues and colors will often change. Example Shiva will often change from light blue to dark blue, indicating either the peaceful or more violent destroyer of evil. Also the female Goddesses are often shown as blue, such as Ma Kali and various devi(s).
My point is in Hindu religion many of the deities/avatars are shown as blue in Indian art. When one hears the word “Avatar” in general it is safe to think Blue.
Communist Hindu science fiction writers from St Petersberg!! Now there's an inspiration for a mega-budget surrealistic 3D film if I ever heard one.
So all those previous writers who people claimed had their works lifted by Cameron were really plagiarists too.
Oh and who says it was a weak story? It seems to have endured longer than Christianity.
GreenDreams, it's a translator's blunder. In the original article it says “it was only due to the regrettable ***delay*** in the invention of 3D-cameras.” Makes a lot of difference, huh? I know because I wrote the article in Russian, and would have never called Cameron's film “regrettable ode”. I actually admire it.
Worldmeets.us, you did a great job translating my article, but you've got to be more careful too — devil is in the details. I hope you will correct both the mistake and the title. And, yes, Krishna was a cowherd, not a shepherd.
Thank you Mr. Chaikovsky.
We'll make the needed changes.
Much obliged, William. Again, thank you for your attention to the topic and to the article.