Algo que me esqueci de referir a propósito d'O Avatar

Um amigo meu chamou-me a atenção para o facto do enredo d'O Avatar ser antecipado, em parte, num livro conhecido de ficção científica, de Ursula K. Le Guin, The World for World is Forest, premiada com o "Hugo" e a "Nebula" (a tradução portuguesa, Floresta é o nome do mundo, foi publicada pela Europa-América, na sua colecção Livros de Bolso FC, em 1984). O livro foi escrito em 1972 tendo como pano de fundo a guerra no Vietname.

A Wikipédia informa o seguinte sobre o livro: "The novella version, originally published in Again, Dangerous Visions, was a winner of the 1973 Hugo Award for Best Novella. Le Guin has stated in her introduction to the novel that the Vietnam War was a major influence on this work. Her original title was The Little Green Men, but Ellison changed it with Le Guin's reluctant consent.

An evidently relevant touch is the presence of Vietnamese people among the oppressor humans, presumably intended to convey the point that today's oppressed might turn into tomorrow's oppressor.

A copy of The Word For World is Forest is visible at the bedside of the character Joker in a scene set in Vietnam in Stanley Kubrick's film Full Metal Jacket (this is an anachronism as the movie takes place in and around 1968, while The Word For World is Forest was published in 1976).

In chapter 43 of the expanded version of Stephen King's 1978 novel The Stand, dialogue between the characters Nick Andros (who is characterized as an avid science fiction reader) and Tom Cullen alludes to "The Word For World is Forest" as they enter Woods County, Oklahoma: "'The world is the place I mean,' Tom said. 'Are we going into the world, mister?' Tom hesitated and then asked with hesitant gravity: 'Is Woods the word for world?' Slowly, Nick nodded his head."

Este apontamento é relevante para mim na medida que vem a substantivar aquilo que me parece ser o despropósito de muitas críticas ao filme, quanto à sua correcção ou plausibilidade científica, esquecendo que o mais importante em ficção científica só em parte passa por aí (ver aqui e aqui).