The science fiction movie’s concept really blew people away when the first instalment of James Cameron’s Avatar was published. One of the earliest movies to use extensive visual effects, it provided a surreal visual experience. Was Avatar, however, influenced by Hindu mythology?
Is Avatar inspired by Hindu mythology?
This YouTuber asserted that the James Cameron film was inspired by Hindu mythology, which ignited a Twitter discussion. Here is what is taking place.
According to a YouTuber, Lord Ram, Krishna, and Shiva served as inspiration for James Cameron’s film.
In a video titled “Avatar | How India Is Inspiring Hollywood And The World,” Sham Sharma, a YouTuber who operates the channel The Sham Sharma Show, discusses how the blue bodies of the film’s actors may have been influenced by Lord Ram, Krishna, and Shiva.
Many claimed that Cameron had acknowledged this, but others asserted that the idea of immortality is not unique to Hindu mythology.
For those who are unaware, the word “avatar” itself means “descent” in Sanskrit. When James Cameron visited India in 2010, he spoke about his love of Hindu mythology and said that it may have subconsciously influenced his work.
“I just have loved everything, the mythology, the entire Hindu pantheon, seems so rich and vivid.” He added, “I didn’t want to reference the Hindu religion so closely, but the subconscious association was interesting, and I hope I haven’t offended anyone in doing so.”
In an interview with Time magazine in 2007, he was asked what is an Avatar anyway.
To which he responded,
“It’s an incarnation of one of the Hindu gods taking a flesh form. In this film what that means is that the human technology in the future is capable of injecting a human’s intelligence into a remotely located body, a biological body.”
A drink which gives immortality is not exclusively a Indian/Hindu concept though. The first mention of it was in the epic of Gilgamesh in 2000 BC. It’s an often appearing theme in history. Can’t claim it as a win for “Indic texts”
— Adnaan Naveet (@crapycrapcrap76) December 25, 2022
Talking to GQ recently, James Cameron said that the idea of Avatar came to him in a dream when he was 19 years old.
“I woke up after dreaming of this kind of bioluminescent forest with these trees that look kind of like fiber-optic lamps and this river that was glowing bioluminescent particles and kind of purple moss on the ground that lit up when you walked on it.
“And these kinds of lizards that didn’t look like much until they took off. And then they turned into these rotating fans, kind of like living Frisbees, and they come down and land on something. It was all in the dream. I woke up super excited and I actually drew it. So I actually have a drawing.”
Do you also think Avatar is inspired by Hindu mythology? Let us know in the comments section below.
