Many people criticize "Avatar" for being "unoriginal" or "derivative". [View All]

Personally, I love Avatar because it reminds us of lessons we never seemed to have learned, no matter how many times it was presented to us. Things that bear repeating.

For instance: the Na'vi phrase "I see you" basically means "I GROK you."

Whether or not Cameron ever read Heinlein and has any clue what GROK means - he summed it up perfectly in the scene where the female lead went past the Avatar Physical Charismatics of the "jakesully" she knew and saved the "real" jake, saying "Jake, MY Jake?" And the first words out of her mouth, despite the fact that her True Love is physically repugnant to her, "I see you". I "grok" you.

And don't even get me started on the "consecutiveness" of the Universe!

Although I feel I have to comment on the "cup" statement that is straight out of Daoism and so many people choose to ignore.

"You cannot fill a cup that is already full."

That is straight out of Daoism, and other Earth-based religions. You must approach everything with an open mind, and you cannot do that if your mind is already full with preconceptions. As Yoda said "You must UN-learn everything you have learned."

Daoism emphasis's "emptiness", so that each of us can learn new things without pre-conceptions. So that we can see everything with "new eyes". Many other Earth-based religions do the same. Including the religion of the Na'vi.

No, Cameron doesn't present us with anything "new". He reminds us of what was lost.