Masked in secrecy and a decade in the making, James Cameron’s Avatar has finally entered the public culture in full force. When the first images and trailers started appearing, many people (including myself) were underwhelmed. Mainly at the character design of the aliens, the generic dialog heard in the trailer (“You’re not in Kansas anymore! You’re on Pandora . . .), and a plot lifted almost directly from Dances With Wolves and Pocahontas. Plus, the statements made by the director and the marketing stating Avatar was a “Game Changer” gave us plenty of snarky ammo.
