What the Chinese Think of Avatar

China Smack has a few early comments on Avatar, which might add a billion or two to the gross.

James Cameron’s latest film, Avatar, was released in China on 2010 January 2. Many Chinese are familiar with and loved James Cameron’s previous famous film, Titanic, which is still the number one most successful movie in history. Although Avatar or 《阿凡达》 (“ā fán dá”, in Chinese) has premier two weeks later in China than the rest of the world, it has become very popular and successful as many Chinese are waiting in lines every day to buy tickets to watch the movie.

The Chinese people who have watched Avatar have praised the amazing computer special effects, but this is expected. What is more interesting is how many Chinese people feel the story of Avatar is very similar to a controversial social issue in China.

In the movie, humans use violence to take the land of the Na’vi alien residents on the alien world of Pandora. In China, there are news reports and internet postings about local Chinese governments using violence to forcefully evict residents from their homes (to demolish the buildings and redevelop the land). chinaSMACK translated and reported some of these stories in recent months, such as Woman Sets Self On Fire To Protest Demolition Of Home and Kunming Residents Believe In Brother Chun To Save Homes.

Now that you are aware of that background, you can understand the sarcastic reactions that many Chinese netizens have posted on BBS forums after watching Avatar…