Comments on: James Cameron Under Fire for ‘Avatar’, Accused of Ripping Off ‘Call Me Joe’

By: Point

Point — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 07:08:07 +0000

or shall we say that the Belgian cartoonist Pierre Culliford stole the idea of “the smurfs” from Poul Anderson ?
small blue creatures called Smurfs, Smurfette who was evil at first until Papa Smurf make her a real smurf !

By: Point

Point — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 06:07:14 +0000

why don’t you say that the story Call Me Joe (1957) was stolen from the Hans Christian Andersen’s Fairy tale “The Little Mermaid” ?

By: Arafel

Arafel — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:43:04 +0000

Dj straight up copied my view from another forum. Irony abounds.

By: Michael Fever

Michael Fever — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:48:59 +0000

Umm, try watching “Battle For Terra” if you want to see what Avatar really ripped off!!! Similar story, similar looking creatures, same ending.

By: ian

ian — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:43:19 +0000

Cameron has enough budget to make any story into a movie whilst other creative writers (i.e. Anderson) don’t. If indeed Cameron borrowed the idea from other writers… then those writers should be acknowledged.

A book might not become hugely successful as a movie.

By: Madi

Madi — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:17:04 +0000

Ok, so who cares? Even if Cameron did borrow this idea… it obviously worked out a lot better for him because Avatar is hugely successful and This Call me joe is not. And unless the author chooses to sue or something, it probably won’t matter.

By: dj bowron

dj bowron — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 13:48:04 +0000

this movie is great and perfectly done
sure it looks alot like the call me joe book. also the plot seems alot like one of the wheel of time books( these books are book royalty)called The shadow rising. this book has many outstanding similaritie eg.
“I see you” aiel and na’vi greeting with a deep meaning
Navi = Aiel
Neytiri = Aviendha
Jake = Rand
Grace = Moraine
Clan chief + wise woman
dragon riders = People of the Dragon
Ewya = Avendsora
dreamwalkers
“Dance with me” for fighting

here is the plot symilarities the / will separate avatar from the wheel of time

neytiri/Aviendha are forced to teach jake/rand the ways of the na’vi/Aiel by the wise woman. neytiri/Aviendha are hostile and angry at first then slowly grow to love jake/rand. jake/ rand both gather the na’vi/ Aiel clans but to prove themselves as a great hero of the na’vi/aiel Turok Makto”Rider of the Last Shadow”/car’a'carn “he who comes with the dawn” they must face a life threatening challenge…but ultimatly becoming a figure of great respect…
both jake/rand are the first non na’vi/Aiel to see the tree of souls/the tree of life … both neytiri/Aviendha are to become wise women…dancing is a term for fighting by na’vi/Aiel

I dont mean to put down the movie. infact this is one of my favorite movies… the fact is every story need some source of inspiration just like music and even inventions like that other dude said about the telephone…. think about the bow and arrow or even more think about cars. if people thought “hey that wheel is pretty cool but lets just leave the wheel as it is.. it is a great invention but adding any thing like an engine or seats would be stealing the idea……
i guess what im saying is that taking an idea and contributing to it or even changing it is okay as long as its not blatently ripping off an Idea and calling it your own. ……
nearly every movie has the old good vs evil, fall in love story
but different stories with a same base are still diferent…

if james cameron did take inspiration he from call me joe done it justice by making a movie people love .

but like chocolate and stawberry ice cream. some like one more than the other though the base is still the same and both stemmed from the old plain ice cream idea

any way its a great movie and if I ruined the plot of the wheel of time book the shadow rising im sorry but i warned you!!!!
but if you havent read them yet get on it and try to forget what i said

dj out!!!

By: Dianekas

Dianekas — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:34:49 +0000

WHo cares if he borrowed it or not , he made such wonderfull use of the material and created something that actually looks perfect to many people so imo people who can make stuff like this should be allowed to use anything

By: spin

spin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:14:09 +0000

The fact that someone “borrows” from existing works, doesn’t mean that because the borrower made a success of the story that he’s entitled to get away with impunity. This a fallacy of argument called Argumentum ad crumenam, the fallacy of believing that money is a criterion of correctness; that those with more money are more likely to be right. If someone came up with an idea and published the work or invention, the fact that he gets a copyright or a patent is his/her intention to protect the contents from being copied. I saw Avatar. I liked the movie. Never heard of Call Me Joe til now. But now discovering this blog about a possible rip off makes me think less of Avatar’s producers in that they could have credited their sources. The similarities are too specific to ignore as mere coincidence.

By: Blackbird71

Blackbird71 — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:28:26 +0000

Ordinarily, I’d agree with you, it is very easy to unintentionally replicate basic details of a story.

However, you overlook the fact that James Cameron has a track record of “borrowing” other classic Sci Fi material without crediting his sources (by his own admission). Add to this the facts that a) “Call Me Joe” appeared in a collection alongside the original stories Cameron admitted to using for “Terminator,” and b) Poul Anderson’s works include one titled “The Avatar,” and the situation starts to look like more than just a minor coincidence. All things considered, I’m not so enthusiastic about giving Mr. Cameron the benefit of the doubt in this case. He’s proven himself willing to “rip off” (his words) others’ ideas in the past, why is it unreasonable to believe he has done so again?