In what I have to assume is a small over zealous group of Hindus are apparently taking offense to James Cameron’s Avatar.
According to this group, they own the word Avatar and to taint its meaning for the purpose of fiction on screen could be offensive to Hindus.
Expressing concern at the forthcoming blockbuster Hollywood movie “Avatar”, Hindus have urged its famed director James Cameron to be careful when handling Hindu concepts and terminology.
Acclaimed Hindu and Indo-American statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that “avatar” was one of the central themes of Hinduism and insensitive handling of faith traditions sometimes results in pillaging serious spiritual doctrines and revered symbols and hurting the devotees.
So just how many Christians were damaged in their faith when a Buddy Jesus and two fallen angels who find a loophole in God’s logic graced the screen in Dogma? How many times have other world faiths been improperly depicted for the sake of fiction??
Its a FICTION film. Who gives a rats ass if it treads on similar Hindu themes. And to top it off, the word Avatar is not strictly a Hindu word and this film has nothing to do with Hindu faith. They are bickering over the use of a predominate word that their faith uses!
This is utterly ridiculous that a Hindu would be offended just because of the one word that offers a similarity to their faith. Besides, if something this vague has the ability to “hurt the devotees” I challenge that they are not all that devoted in the first place.
Gowhar welcome to feb 19th 2009 buddy
Since when did words acquire religions?
Jesus, dude, I’m Hindu, I’ve read enough of the Gita, and I’m eating chicken right now…..oh, and I slept with two different women this month (not boasting, just spilling facts), I drink alcohol when the mood strikes me and I scratch my balls in public.
I LOVE my religion, my culture and even though I’m not all that religious, I know my limits.
To me, just coz a film is called “Avatar”, doesn’t mean we need to beat on it…..what about every time a Westerner uses the word “bungalow” to describe his/her house? Should we start kicking him in the stomach, asking him to acknowledge that the word was taken directly from Hindi?
One more thing, Avatar does have a lot of similarities to Hinduism, you can see the influences, but then again it ‘borrows’ from many things. Everyone should just be happy such a cool film was made. end of story :)
I am a Hindu and I am also fairly acquainted with the Native American traditions and I have to agree that the movie borrows more from the native americans than they do from us… but they do borrow from hinduism… and rodney, u do have problems with Hindus… U cant bring yourself to accept that the movie draws quite a bit from Hinduism… I believe this topic is being senselessly dragged by rodney as he is not accepting the simple fact that the movie does borrow a lot from Hinduism…
“Avatar” (like “Yoga,” “Guru,” etc.) is a Sanskrit/Hindu word and an important aspect of Hinduism. Did the film give credit to these facts? If not, that is the problem. Denial is ignorance that can and has lead to all kinds of violence.
Who says they have to give “credit” to use the word?
The english language like ALL languages borrows references from other languages in creating its words. No language is absolute, and it doesn’t matter where the origin of the word comes from.
It is not exclusively a Hindu word. Get over it.
Violence? Over the use of a word. Now THAT is just ignorance.
To me fighting over this movie is a joke….
I am a Hindu and Hindus should NOT be fighting on every thing that is happening in the world. Respect of our culture is one thing, but telling others, that they have no right even to portray our culture with good meanings and INTENTIONS is another thing.
I firmly believe “ we can catch more flies through a spoonful of honey than a pale of Vinegar.”
When we present Hinduism in a very loving, compassionate, readable format, the whole world wants to study about it.
Fighting over a movie such as AVATAR is counter productive and silly.
I can understand fighting about portraying Ganpathi’s image on a toilet seat or making Hindu gods look silly in ZENA series . In fact I wrote a letter nicely explaining to ZENA productions, all about our beliefs and a lady producer sent me a beautiful reply back stating that she did not know all that I have written and they stopped showing HINDU GODS in their series.
We Hindus should NOT make a mockery of our culture by crying like a baby.
ONLY THING HINDUS HAVE TO FEAR IS FEAR ITSELF.
Hinduism withstood thousands of years of attacks and it does NOT need any one defending her. I firmly believe as I have written in my book — AM I A HINDU? [www.amiahindu.com],
‘IF ALL HINDU SCRIPTURES ARE BURNT TOMORROW AND ALL HINDUS ARE KILLED, THIS GREAT THOUGHT PROCESS WE CALL HINDUISM WILL BE TAKE BIRTH AGAIN, MAY BE WITH A DIFFERENT NAME. ‘
Hey,
I understand the concern that the Hindu individual has but we live in a ignorant world and instead of causing chaos, we should just educate. I am sure it was not James Cameron’s intention to offend anyone for that matter, therefore we should take that into consideration.
But at the same time, we should also take into consideration if the tables were turned? If this was an Indian movie perhaps, that stated a word that came from the Christian Bible, I am sure there would be some sort of havoc.
Therefore at the end of the day, instead of blowing such minor things out of proportion, lets educate and create harmony rather than distancing ourselves further.
Thank you!
Avatar or avatara means manifestations of God on earth… God taking on the body of earthly existence… Some consider Jesus as Avatar…..
hahaha….. yet to watch the movie.. i hope it brings out this significance…. else jammy boy is loose in using terms
What makes anyone think they have exclusive rights to a word, please get over yourselves.
It’s like Apple thinking they own completely an apple as a symbol, they don’t own the apple, they just own their version of the apple.
It’s like them bitching about Woolworths using a new logo in the shape of a “W” but also in the shape of an apple, please Apple Corp, get over yourselves, and these religious fruits (no pun intended) whining about the word Avatar, just shut up already.
They seem to be under the misconception that ‘Avatar’ is somehow a purely religious term, when actually it has a multitude of non-religious uses.
In video games, for example, the players character is often called the ‘avatar’, and on forums the image representing a person is called an ‘avatar’ also, i.e. a virtual representation of someone controlled by a real person.
Avatar uses the word in this context, not the religious one.
Don’t worry people, it’s just a few individuals trying to steal the lime light from a really fun movie. Avatar is not a reserved word. I am indian but not Hindu and we use that word too.
This is nuts just like the muslims trying to ban christians from using “Allah” in Malaysia which btw is also used in our holy book.
Bet you they haven’t even seen the movie and just want to get their 15mins of fame. Their people with the name Avatar and I knew one and his character was faarrrrrrr from an incarnation of god. Why don’t they go protest against him or something? :P
If these people seriously think the movie has tainted the word Avatar then I am sorry but they have truly not understood the depths of spirituality and god. They should go back to the drawing board instead of wasting time protesting against a hollywood movie.
Just spoke w/a Hindu friend here at work who love d the movie … wants to see it again. Said has never seen Hindu myth and spriritualism in popular culture. Found it fascinating and inspiring. There’s aparently much more pulled from Hinduism than use of the word Avatar. It’s really fascinating!
In my opinion, I think all of the mega religions are upset with James Cameron’s movie Avatar, because it is causing millions to be aware that we are all duped. Duped to believe that there is such a thing as God(s). Religions were good for our ancestors to keep them in line, but it is not working now. We are all one, all waves in an ocean. We are all connected affecting each other and every living/ nonliving thing on this earth. And I hope human kind realizes this before it is too late for us, our children, and our planet.
I think this is BS.
And Dogma is still one of the best comedies I’ve ever seen.
To start with I am Hindu and I DO believe in Hinduism. But I totally disagree that one name of the sci-fi movie can change any thing. I hate when people make big deal about small issues like this. But let me make it very clear that when small groups acts like this, it’s not just Hindus that are doing it. Muslims had huge (much larger thn this) over cartoon, or Christians when davinci code came out. That movie wasn’t released in many place. 12 states of India were one of them due to 13 million Catholic Christians.
Bottom line, I went to watch this movie and I must say that Lord of the ring was my all time favorite in graphics, now its on second slot. And as for those other small group of Hindus who got problem with this, “Screw you all”. I bet they went to see the movie.
guys 3 easy steps to get over this argument are :
step 1 ) visit http://www.dictionary.com
step 2) search for “AVATAR”
step 3) it gives following result :
that it is a “hindu/indian word”
Thank you,
See u all in some other discussion!
good night Rod !
g N CAMERON!
sESSION end !
And that is PRECISELY the point. The word has Hindu origins, and if you bothered to actually follow your own advice you would see that the word has meaning and application outside of Hindu faith.
It is not exclusively a Hindu word. It does not offend Hindi people to use it, nor does it slight the Hindu faith in its application.
Most of above comments looks like posted by people who do not know the values of religon including Rod.
And your comment is posted by someone who is just assuming you know anything at all about me.
Never once have I taken away from their faith, diminished their religion or devalued ANYTHING with their culture.
This small group claiming that no one is allowed to use the word Avatar without offending their religion are the ignorant ones. You just joined their fold trying to attack me with even MORE ignorance.
Congrats!
-Jake came to bring the next stage of progress and evolution to the peoples of Pandora. Thus, he not only did this through his Avatar, i.e. a substitute being in which he projected himself, but he became an Avatar in the spiritual sense; that is one who brings the next stage of progress to that civilization. (E.g. Jesus brought divine love to the world, a new progress; just as Buddha addressed the issue and cause of suffering on earth, something Indian spirituality had not addressed before.) Jake in essence not only rallied the various people’s of Pandora, but brought the outside world, its technologies, and ideals to this world, which could further enrich it in the times to come.
I am a practicing Hindu and like majority of us I don’t see any problem of generalizing hindu concepts. I don’t think that most of us are that immature.
‘Avatar’ doesnt related with hindu’s at all lol..
Na’vi people dont like ‘FIRE’ lol
i think, you made yourself look stupid there my friend. If Avatar is not Sanskrit word thn what is it? may be you getting it all mixed up with avtar on forum icons? I am guessing from your name, you are muslim so you should go and search Dr Zakir Naik’s view on the word AVATAR.
It is based on a Sanskrit word (avatara) but it has a broader meaning in other languages inspired by its origins. But it is not EXCLUSIVELY Sanskrit.
i saw the movie “avatar” & thats a nice movie.and also to thank camron for useing “avatar” word because by it whole word know about its meaning.and thank to those people who favour or against it because by it more things about hindusm & india are aware to others. and one day the next avatar will come on erth and thats called “KALKI AVATAR” then people understand about it & its specaility.
Avatar movie’s name is not the only one that has root of Hinduism. The characters also has strong replica of Hindu roots. You mix god Ram (signature of carrying archery, flying on giant eagle and having blue skin appearance) and it devoted servant Hanuman (half human and half monkey with muscular body and monkey tail, jumping is his signature move). Certainly living with nature and praying in group like chanting ‘slogans’ and imitating yoga style is clearly Mr. Cameron’s own idea?
So, the Hindus got all upset. When is Pandora going to sue?
“Pandora” can’t sue because its not an exclusive thing or person either.
Read a few of the comments and all I can see is Cultural Insensitivity.
Many of you don’t bother to see how someone else may be offended when their culture or faith is being seen as exploited or hijacked. You make your comments without once taking into consideration how someone from that “Exotic” ethnic group may feel.
At first I didn’t think anything about the movie or the word Avatar being used, I figured its no big deal and when you here white people saying the word, they can’t pronounce it properly anyways.
However, I recently saw a photo of the blue male character and he has a Vaishnava Tilak on his forward, pretty obvious for anyone who is a Hindu or is part of Asian Studies to notice.
I am not sure if the movie is offensive or not towards Hindusim, however, I have seen how insensitive Hollywood and Western audiences are towards Hindu sentiments and reading these comments further brings light to the cultural insensitivity of the west.
Your attitudes just add fuel to the fire.
I agree with you, Sumer, I saw the movie and thought that there was a minium level if negative reference, the movie indicated that ALL of us MUST respect out planet to help keep it healthy or WE will destroy it (as we are doing right now),reincarnation, we can all change our lif path, Hindus live in harmony with the Earth. Hollywood do so much to use Hindu cultur as a funny movie or as fashion, Cameron atleast used it in a postive way, Hindus, need to pick our fights and fuel the causes that will make a difference!
“Culture insensitivity” that is very true.
Westerners could not spell “Mumbai” when they went to India, so it stayed “Bombay” for a long time.
Could not spell “Thirukonamalai” so it became “Trincomale”
Could not spell “Avatheram” so it became “Avatar”
Many places and names that been changed for the convenient of spellings.
We do that to our friend and co workers too. Everything around us must evolve for our convenience and happiness. We are all going to hell for sure.
saw this movie today and was amazed …..had few observations …..
1. always aliens are shown as more powerful (in technology) than us (earth ppl), but this movie shows otherwise…. They are still using bow and arrows (in the yr 2154!)…. although it is Pandora it makes me feel like it is Earth many thousand years back….
2. the movie has a gr88 msg —- we should preserve the nature or else everything will get destroyed….. the whole movie shows how desperate Earth ppl are to sovle Earth’s energy crisis…..
3. “Avatar” in Hindu mythology is referred to as “incarnation of more powerful form (God) in less powerful form (human) for their goodwill and upliftment and save them from evil” ….It is believed that God has taken birth as human being,learnt customs of human and then made them aware of their power to save themselves from evil powers which wanted to destroy them …..
this movie shows more powerful Earth ppl take Avatar in form of Na’vi ppl…. although it was originally for their own good, but eventually it turns into goodwill for Na’vi ppl saving them from Earth ppl….
4. Hindus believe strongly in ‘Rebirth’. Whole movie is based on concept of rebirth. Avatar and the person cannot co-exist in movie.
5. Hindus consider trees as their God and they worship them…. even now these things are followed and they have some days (festivals) when they worship trees
6. A very good msg from the movie is “create a bond”…and you can take control of the uncontrollable ….
7. Also, mind power is the greatest power…. main character is disabled but still with his mind power (Avatar) he makes everything possible.
Hindus dont consider trees as their Gods you moron, before you coment get schooled, Hindus use the land as a referance to the purest of nature,
Dont look at Avataar in religious way.Every religion teaches the same ,as they are created by human.Film is quite technical and worth watching.
The word avatar is not a hindu word but rather a sanskrit word that means reincarnation. It can be used in any context so why do you (hindus) get so worked up on this issue!!!! I am a hindu and understand my religion so chill please don’t amke a fuss over nothing!!
This is getting so sick. All the Hindu group has said (that too in Feb 16, 2009) was not to handle the word or the theme (see, it was in Feb 16) in an insensitive manner.
As I see, the movie has very fine similarities to Hindu culture but then It doesn’t offend Hinduism in any way. FYI, Avatar == a higher being who descends in to a lower being to save them. “I see you” == a greeting in Hindu culture, called Namaste. And the blue colured people says it all. These are just subtle things which do not interfere in the story as a whole.
But I think most of Americans would identify the story theme to Native American culture.
I have yet to see the much awaited film “Avatar” a Sanskrit word (descent of a Hindu deity etc. to earth in bodily form). Only the name and the skin color resemble of the Hindu Diety and nothing else there in to burn the head. Enjoy the movie in a scientific way. Those who wish to make controversy please see the movie first.
Watched the movie yesterday. I was bemused with the animation. WOW!! And no negatives against Hindus. Infact there were subliminal things directly relating to Hinduism. And i heard that the language was partly ethiopian and newzealand’s tribal. This was the much awaited movie of the year and it didnt fail to satisfy. Worth the bucks. I Loved it. Bet you’d love.
To any hindu that has seen the film, Cameron intended to take not just the word but concept behind it. There are many references in the film that relates to hinduism. To hindus, may be a rediscovery when told from a western/alien viewpoint.
People from other faiths will now try to learn more about hinduism after watching the movie. There is something positive in all of this and there is no need to be outraged.
There is nothing wrong in hindus expressing concern over using a word from their texts and try not to distort its meaning (negatively) in the same way you are “reporting” outrage over their “ownership” of their word. You said what you wanted to say and they said what they did. Looks like you are taking more offense than the hindu group.
Wow! Bravo Krishna. That’s the most apt comment that I couldn’t think of lol :D You seem like a very level-headed guy. Would be nice to know more about you. Comment on my blog if you would like having a conversation :)
AGREED! … Just spoke w/a Hindu friend here at work who love d the movie … wants to see it again. Said has never seen Hindu myth and spriritualism in popular culture. Found it fascinating and inspiring. There’s aparently much more pulled from Hinduism than use of the word Avatar. It’s really fascinating!
avatar- similar to internet forum uses a virtual of seperate representation of ones self image.
it fits in. stop whining. same goes to you christians when a mexican low quality action flick has a coke dealing, ho pounding, meth using biker named (hey zeus or jesus) who winds up getting nailed to the letter T somehow.
As for you buddhists- well you just keep being still and not pissing on anyone or reacting to the world outside you. You guys don’t bother anyone cause no one can hear your quite careful steps from the screaming voices of the big religitards.
I watched this film today, I didn’t know what it was about before I watched it, I didn’t hear about the fuss a group of people had made over the name ‘Avatar’.
When I heard the name ‘Avatar’ I did not associate it with Hinduism but whilst I was watching the film within the 1st 30 min into it all I could think was this is based on ‘incarnation’ I thought to myself this is based on hinduism. I’m a christian but both my parents are hindus therefore I know alot about the culture and religion. I’m 99% sure that Cameron has been inspired by the Hindu religion and this has helped him to develope this successful movie, I enjoyed every minute of it, I feel that it is one of the best movies I have ever watched and I think it’s great that Cameron has used the most oldest existing religion on earth in a positive way to make a brillient movie, Cameron using the hindu religion as insparation in this movie is not a bad thing, I walked out of the cinema with many others feeling positive and thinking about being united and working together, I mean isn’t that the message we get from all the Hindu scriptures in the first place; stay united, love one another, love and respect all living things on earth…? that was the message in the movie, the ‘Blue People’ were the good guy’s remember???
The alien race has far more in common with Native American Indian cultures and beliefs than anything in Hindu religions.
The word is not an exclusive Hindu word, nor is Cameron’s work at all to be confused with Hindu beliefs.
Rodney – All your comments above are against the fact that that this movie has some similarity to Hindu relegion. I do not care if it has any similarity or it has not but we cannot deny the fact that word Avatar has Indian origin , There are thousands of other words,human values and culture which came from India and those are not meant for Indians only, It is for everyone to use.
But after reading all your comments, one thing is clear, you are not able to digest any good things being talked about hinduism or India and you hate Indians. You are worst than those hindus who worry about use of this word and thier religion for commercial purposes, yes I agree they are absolutely wrong and the reason you are far worst then them is because your thoughts are against whole Hinduism and India. Do understand that every culture , society has mix of good and bad people, so do not just generalize what you hear from a small sect of people. i think ignorant people like you are far more dangerous to human society than these group of hindus who were represented in original article.
Wow. Assume much?
Nothing against the Hindu religion, but the use of the word Avatar (not exclusively hindu) doesn’t mean its a Hindu themed movie. There is very little if anything at all that makes this even relatable to the Hindu faith, short of the common use of the word they claim is only theirs.
I don’t hate Indians, and I dont hate Hindus. I dont hate anyone. I have never said as much, and I have not even implied it.
That you jump to that conclusion is YOUR insecurity and shortcoming, not mine. You accuse me of being worse than the select Hindus making a stink about it and generalize my feelings about the faith as a whole. You sir are a hypocrite.
You are ignorant if you think that my observations are in anyway directed in hate at Hindu or Indian people. That is your problem. That this group is making a stink over nothing has nothing to do with their culture or faith. These select people are generalizing and refusing to see any good in the film because of ONE WORD that is not even exclusively theirs.
It may have origins in Hindu Sanskrit but the general english use of the word still respects the origins and the meaning of the word, but removes any religious exclusivity to it.
Me a danger to humanity? Hardly.
wanna know the funny thing about this movie? it completely has to do with hinduism and eastern religion. however, as a westerner who doesn’t know all that much about it, i feel like pandora’s earth being all connected like a nervous system was the best metaphor for hinduism i’ve ever encountered. i think this movie definitely takes some hindu ideas and sheds them in a positive light, as well as some native american ideas.
Yup kelly, I saw this movie, loved the movie and its pretty much inspired by Hinduism. I am sure Cameron must have read Bhagwad Gita and got inspired :). So I found many things inspired from Hinduism and few things inspired by African Tribes in this Movie but altogether very good Movie :).
I think Indians (Hindu) should be happy even, since this fabulous movie is based on their native language and concept.
Wow……be happy, enjoy this movie and stop criticizing…..
The movie is NOT based on their native language nor their culture.
Thats why it doesnt make sense for them to get upset about it. It has nothing to do with it.
The small groups that are taking offense to it are crying because of the disambiguation of the word Avatar which they lay sole claim to.
Its not exclusively a Hindu word.
Actually the movie is based on our language and culture.
1. The Na’vi believe that energy is only borrowed and returns when a person dies (Check out Hindu One-o-One)
2. The Navi thank ewa for the food that they kills for (another Hindu Concept)
3. The Squat cross-legged when they meditate
4. Their Grammer is exactly like Hindi (and other Indian Languages)
5. They mate for life..
6. Women are treated equal if not higher with respect to men.
7. The Navi believe they are all connected and orcheastrated by the universal collective.
I could go on and on, and I feel proud that James Cameron found our beliefs and way of life to inspire himself from for such a beautiful race that has made us all think about the carnage we do to our own Mother Earth (another Hindu Concept)
Actually all those things you have said could be compared to Native Americans. There are also examples of nearly everything you said in a dozen other world cultures as well.
All your comparisons all mean nothing since it is pure fiction and has no impact on Hindu faith at all.
While there may be parallels, it is not to say that these concepts are exclusively Hindu.
Here are some facts:
1. ‘Avatar’ WAS not an English word. Go refer an English dictionary that is more than 5 or 10 yrs old. You may not
find the word at all, and even if you did, you’ll find it exclusively referring to the Sanskrit/Hindu origin. Of
late it has infiltrated into English via the likes of YahooMessenger and Cameron for want of a ‘cool’ or exotic
word to market around. Had there not been a Hindu religion, Yahoo/Cameron would not have had this word to use for
his film. Hope that clears some of the inaccuracies posted above.
2. ‘Avatar’ is closely associated with the 10 incarnations of a major God of Hinduism: Lord Vishnu – much so that it is less used as a noun in Hindu culture and more as a synonym for Lord Vishnu’s incarnations. Kinda like
‘Immaculate Conception’ – while one can use the term metaphorically and such, the origin of that term is well
rooted in Virgin Mary’s story. (rather, use the the equivalent yiddish/hebrew term that may have been written in the original Bible). While one may make a movie on in-vitro fertilization and title it a tongue-in-cheek ‘Immaculate Conception’, a deeply devoted Christian who has never used the term outside the religious domain may feel hurt when he comes across its assorted usage.
3. The blue skinned characters also closely resemble the coloration of the very same Hindu God Vishnu.
Here is my opinion:
The statement by Rajan Zed was probably not meant as a warning or even a protest over its usage.
It may never have come up had the title simply been ‘Incarnation’. It probably seemed like the word was chosen to give the title a ‘zing’ and while at it, a few ideas from its domain were borrowed (such as blue skinning the aliens).
It is more to reduce the possible hurting of the religious sentiments of devout Hindus when they see the usage of that intimate term (refer #2 above) for pedantic use. That does not mean the Hindus are going to be outraged – those who take offence will simply not watch the movie. It is simply telling Cameron, that there is more to the word ‘Avatar’ than he might be aware of and IF POSSIBLE, avoid going into areas that could hurt certain section of society. That way everybody wins.
1. The word Avatar does have Hindu origins, but as many words in the english language they were adopted after a popculture use. There was a Dungeons and Dragons like text based video game called Avatar which was the main character’s name. He was a representation of the player in the game world… your avatar.
The word has similiar meaning and was adopted into language far longer than 5 years ago.
It is the english reference of the word that means a physical representation (clearly inspired by the Hindu Sanskrit origins) and has a similar, but not exclusively spiritual meaning.
Sure – maybe older than 5 yrs, so lets 30 yrs. Nothing else changes in my factoid#1 and directly addresses the post by Chris:
“Did they actually invent the word? Because “Avatar” sounds English to me”.
Rodney, Its clearly the movie based on hindu scripture you should ask cameron where his idea come from. I hope he tell the truth
So when he admits that there are cultural influences from many religions (mostly Native American Tribal) and doesnt say this is based solely on Hindu scripture you will just HOPE that he was lying about it?
Sorry. Its not a Hindu movie, nor was it intended to be. Its fiction. Based on many things and often criticised for its comparison to Dances with Wolves or Pocahontas – in both the “other” culutre is Native American Tribal traditions.
You can pretend if you want, but Cameron has already said this is not a movie about Hindus.
Who cares about the origin? Just because the word has a hindu origin automatically means it can’t be used for ANYTHING else?? Sorry, but no.
The word has other meanings and in this case it very specifically means a secondary representation of a real person- like an avatar in a video game. The character is not you, but it is the embodiment of you, a representation of you. The Na’vi bodies that the humans use are avatars for the humans, as in temporary representation of their real forms.
To think anything else is just being way oversensitive- especially since in the movie the Na’vi are the GOOD GUYS so even if it was a reference, why the hell would it be offensive? If they made a movie about white skinned aliens with beards running around do you think I’d get offended and think they were mocking Jesus? No… you know why? Because that would be retarded. It’s a movie. Get over it.
ok, this is really stupid, i have not seen the movie yet, but want to. Just because they have blue skin that does not offend me a hindu. this is not a fight worth picking when there are so much more to argue.
Havent seen the movie yet but why are some characters dressed like “Lord Shiva”.Did the very creative Cameron run out of imagination suddenly, hee hee. And yes Avatar (like thousands of words) is a Sanskrit word later absorbed into English and other languages.
Just stating facts here.Om Namah Shivaye.
Oh, by the way the Hindus will take this in their stride, you have to see some Bollywood movies – and then you will know what I am saying. Try making a movie on Islam and then we all can watch the fun.
They are not “dressed like lord shiva” any more than using the word Avatar to offend Hindus. Loose robes are hardly exclusive to shiva.
Avatar may have its origins in Sanskrit, but that doesn’t make it exclusively a sanskrit word. And it doesn’t offend the entire religion for using it.
As you mentioned, this is not going to offend any Hindus unless they go out of their way to be offended by it. If blue skin is enough to send them into a holy frenzy, then I guess the Smurfs, X-Men’s Nightcrawler, nocturn and Beast and the Cookie Monster are all slights against their belief system.
They are using the word ‘Avatar’ as in second skin, a second representation, not the Hindu meaning.
*minor spoilers*
In the movie, the humans use empty alien bodies that they ‘drive’ around to blend in with the Navi. These are avatars. The same way that in video games, your character is an avatar. This is nothing to do with the Hindu faith other than the word having two meanings.
How cool is the name Rajan Zed?
Why people post stupid comments like ‘its only a movie’
Imagine if there was a movie insulting jews or muslims belief.
ADL and CAIR will jump in along with all mainstream media screaming racism.
Hollywood is not fair to Christians and Hindus
Uh, probably because it is “Only a movie” and when you start setting up hypothetical situations with ” Imagine if there was a movie insulting X or X” you are creating situations that are completely not relevant to THIS film to help your argument because this movie isn’t out insulting anyone.
I’ll admit that Hollywood probably leans pretty far to the left but I don’t think you can blame a single institution for that. If Hollywood was run by christians and hindus then it wouldn’t be all that interesting would it? We’d have the same films on the same subjects time and time again with out any room for anything really fun like Boondock Saints or Harry Potter because they’re just simply the devil’s work.
I’m pretty sure there are plenty of “Christian” or “Hindu” films there just isn’t a lot of mainstream appeal for such films so they fly under the radar.
Well it is “only a movie”
Hollywood is equally unfair to all religions and all beliefs and all reality.
Get over it.
guys , the hindu groups are concerned because the name is avatar and all characters are bluish in colour which is lord vishnu in hindu mythology who is also blue in colour.
And let them worry. This movie infringes NOTHING upon their faith. The word Avatar is not an exclusive Hindu word.
They are creating their own problem where there isn’t one.
Yeah, the smurfs are all blue too so were these Hindu groups voicing their concerns over the smurfs when they came out? Highly unlikely. This is another example of over political correctness or sensitivity and I’ll even take it a step further and say that these same people are probably latching on to gain attention or raise interest in their group. Not unlike PETA who will cry out over the President swatting a fly in the oval office and call it animal cruelty because it makes the press….they really don’t care about the fly so much. If they did they’d be lined up along the highways in outrage of the mass fly slayings against the windshields of millions of drivers every day. Rubbish.
” The word Avatar is not an exclusive Hindu word.”
sorry borther The word Avatar is an exclusive Hindu word.
Sorry Pritam, it is not.
It has origins with the Hindu language, but it is NOT exclusively Hindi.
In fact, the Hindu word which Avatar derives from is AVATARA. Avatar respects the original application of the word and applies it to modern culture.
Adapt or die my friend. Ignorance gets you left behind.
Ok this is abs BULLSHIT, when Madonna on a highley televised award show came out with a small fitting clothing and was sporting a third eye (only suppose to be worn by holymen) with henna, then in a tabloid pic she had a babytee with Lord Shiva on it, WHY THE HELL WERE YOU NOT FUCKING FIGHTING THAT!!! Are you mad becase you (the group) is not getting the millions that will be made of this movie. This group is so full of it SHIT and it gets me mad when idiots try to pick a fight with insignificant BULSHIT rather than proctecting the real issues.
GET A LIFE MORANS!!!
ok… feeling better now. :)
yeah its pretty retarded….but they are just Hindus….what are they gonna do send suicide bombers? I mean its not like Cameroon is dealing with Christianity or Islam where they just kill you for some stupid shit…..
First off his name is Cameron.
Secondly, he is not “dealing with Hindus” because this doesnt matter to anyone but this select group making an issue out of it.
I am sure Cameron discarded this quicker than passing gas.
Linguists are worry religious twats won’t be able to understand that words can have more than one definition and interpretation.
well I am a Hindu and I am not offended! Actually I,m really looking forward to the film so where is the fucking trailer.
The closest english word for avatar would be incarnation. Its not a very religious word or anything. I am a hindu and don’t see anything wrong with the movie being named Avatar.
Did they actually invent the word? Because “Avatar” sounds English to me.
1784, from Indian literary language. “avatarana” “descent” (of a deity to the earth in incarnate form), from ava- “down” + base of tarati “(he) crosses over.”
It is an Indian word. But that doesn’t mean they are the only ones who can use it. The word has more than one meaning and doesn’t mean that its use refers to their religion.
*facepalm*
isnt this based on a japanese manga by the same name so why werent they pissed when i was first announced
thats different b/c we’re not rich like james cameron is
Just out of curiosity sake, that little picture icon beside our comments…what’s that called again?
You don’t say!! You mean we show off our own little Hindu sub-god all this time? WOW! I never knew, never had a clue…
:s
Its called a Gravatar… just sayin.
But I get your point lol
There is always some “group” outraged about something in every movie. No one should report this outrage. It’s slow news day outrage, it’s we want to get printed in the papers so we’ve fake outrage. It’s Fox News style outrage.
Thanks Paul. I always count on at least one person who pays so much attention to the site to report to us what constitutes a valuable post or not.
If you bothered to read my post you would see that I presumed it was an isolated group and countered their stand.
If you don’t think the topic is worth discussing then don’t comment on it. Otherwise you just prove it is worth discussing and you defeat your point.
Rodney, I thought you were commenting on the story, not “reporting” it. I was just tossing my two cents in, I’m sorry. Really, I was agreeing with you, again, I’m sorry. I never said any comment about the value of the post on The Movie Blog. The story quoted here from Newsblaze is what I was speaking of. So, I was not trying to be that “one person”. Obviously I think it’s worth discussing, I commented on it. I don’t think journalists should be so lazy as to report on singular opinions.
But this isnt just one raving lunatic on a street corner with one singular opinion.
It is a small group, but this is their view and their stand to even think they have a say in Cameron’s film was interesting at very least.
Brothers and Sisters,
I am a Hindu and this topic to relate to Hinduism a lot. I know religion has nothing to do with a lovely and spectacular movie like which i saw now. The only thing is we relate to circumstances and people we meet and First and foremost is all Hindu gods are depicted pianted blue. Second the word Avatar has its origions in Sanskrit it means a different for. We believe that god took different forms in different ages to protect the Universe. But in Sanskrit we dont say Avatar we say Avataar there is a double aa added. It’s just faith when you see something which 1/6 th of the world population is watching for its extraordinary. I loved the movie and i loved we humans lost the war because we are destroying our planet. If technology means destruction of planet then we dont want it.
thus another reason some people thing religions are a joke….im not saying love and faith for a divin creator…but religion …it always seems to fuck shit up….kinda funny to me when this happens, i was raised a product of the california school systems so i was taught evolution…..funny how learning differant things can broaden your spectrum of thinking…..but then again maybe i was taught the wrong thing…either way people who hate on entertainment for religious people are pathetic….remember when these same pack of cow worshipping,non sewage having, and highest rate of underage of 14 pregnancies can hate on shit like this and aladin….get over it u fucking douchebags.
ps i cant spell for crap…probly cause im not smart hahahahahahahahahaaha pew pew roflcocpters
well man people take religion seriously, hell i know girls that wont fuck before marriage b/c of their religion, dont get me wrong im a christian, but i dont get upset something like this b/c its just a movie and its not real, if it was based on actual events then i could understand the outrage, but this is rediculous.
“When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.”
“We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.“ Albert Einstein
(1879 -1955):
Please don’t see hinduism on what is written in west .. You talk about evolution… The word Avatar came from god vishnu who takes Avatar in the world when the evils rule the world to destroy them.. He came to world first as a fish some millions of years ago.. then he came as a half man and half animal.. and then there are other 6 more and budhha is one of them.. budhha’s name was siddhart… There is only one avatar left of him which is called Kali Avatar.. that means half man and half machine.. all this is written thousands of years ago .. we call this era as Kali era in india.. which means machine age.. and this all was decided thousands and thousands of years ago.. Read vedas even scientist in NASA and the great Albert Einistien use to refer to Vedas…
Religions are nothing but Faith and even thinking that religions are fake is also a faith in itself..
Oh come on, it’s just a movie! People are so easily offended, and this looks great
Amen brother. Amen
How many times have we heard about things like this? The Golden Compass, 300, now this. Arg, I ate it.
A film that does not step on anyones beliefs is 0 seconds long.
How about violence to cows, shouldn’t steakhouses be more of an threat to Hindu devotees than movies?
is it the word avatar or the concept he’s tweakin about?
if its either i dont see the big deal.
its not like cameron is attempting to change or redefine the hindu beliefs.
maybe the guys just trying to hook himself up with a paid consultant gig. :/
how many movies have been based on the judeo-christian messiah//the one theme its crazy.
it doesnt mean they are attempting to redefine the word messiah or reinterpret the religion.
Not only the word “Avtar”………….
1) Hindus pray the PEEPUL Tree (can see exact root and system in the movie).
2) Skincolor of the Protagonists (Many deities bear the same colour: Blue i.e. Shyam)
3) Archery the weapon………….
& many more. Learn Hinduism, though many scripts have been burnt after Mughal invasion.
i agree rodney htis is just bullshit
If I remember correctly, the WWE wrestler Al Snow went under the name Avatar for a little while back in the late 90’s and I don’t recall Hindu groups beating down the doors to get at him…
Well in all fairness, I wouldn’t risk my religion being associated with Al Snow either, so I can’t blame them for keeping quiet on that one. /Foley
How absolutely ridiculous… It’s a movie, people.
Guys,
I agree, one should’t mix religion with any movies or whatever. Simply want to mention that the word ‘avatar’ is undoughtedly a Hindu work stemming from the Sanskrit language(we call that the language of the Gods), which comes from the oldest books on earth dating from over 3000BC.