The
"Avatar" is "Dances with Wolves" in space meme has been so flogged to death, that I thought I'd make this table outlining the parallels between James Cameron's 2009 space fantasy with Frank Herbert's "Dune" (1965 novel and later 1984 movie and 2000 miniseries).
Spoiler warning!
| Avatar | Dune |
Jake Scully - outworlder
 | Paul Atreides (Muadib) - outworlder
|
who tames a flying predator,
| who tames a giant worm,
|
| "goes native" and leads | "goes native" and leads |
the blue-skinned Na'vi, natives of
| the blue-within-blue eyed Fremen, natives of
|
the hostile jungle planet Pandora,
 | the hostile desert planet Arrakis
 |
| against invading army that wants to exploit the planet of the super-valuable unobtanium | against invading army that wants to exploit the planet of the super-valuable spice (Melange) |
during which he meets and falls in love with the native Neytiri

| during which he meets and falls in love with the native Chani
 |
whose father is killed by the invading army
| whose father is killed by the invading army
|
Update: I see there's a January 26th article "
The Na’vi and the Fremen: What Science Fiction Teaches Us about Tribalism and the Mystic" which would seem to cover this same territory.
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