RocketPig.  I've seen you get pissed when people do this to you.  Why are you doing this to me?  You counter one point out of several, and pretend like my entire answer has been answered.  That's not good debating.  You know that.  You seemed to misunderstand the one point you did respond to, as well (or you were just constructing a straw man argument).

My point is that there's a marked difference between simply switching sides and becoming one of a group.  In the former, the white, western, whatever person still remains in many respects seperate from the other culture.  Generally, there's a sense of his superiority maintained (not explicitly stated, of course) throughout the movie, novel, or whatever.  With Jake's becoming one of the Na'vi, he's completely relinquishing all ties to his human (symbolically Western) way of life and beliefs.  He's implying through this decision that the other culture is something not just to be respected (as is the case in the former situation) but that is superior to his own.  The physical transformation only serves to underscore the completeness of such a transformation (it was not the important difference you made it seem like I was presenting it as).

Yes, this theme has been done a thousand times,* but so has every other theme.  There's no such thing as an original theme or story.  What's unique is the way that story is told and the way those themes are presented.  I pointed out 4 ways (out of many) that Avatar was unique in that regard.  It's your turn to explain to me how all of them weren't really unique.

*Why don't you rag on Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, or whatever for being unoriginal by your definition as well?  They were hardly the first to touch on these themes.  Heart of Darkness was written over a century ago.

The reason I didn't respond to your other points is because I don't think they matter, honestly. The core of the story, while offering slightly different details than other movies that have handled similar themes, is pretty bland. There isn't much room for any kind of interpretation, which is my main problem with the movie. The villians and most of the protagonists are horribly cookie-cutter and I found no reason to question anything in the movie. It was really base-level stuff and I expected more out of it, frankly.

And have I said a single thing about Dances With Wolves or Pocahontas? I think Pocahontas was a piece of shit and Dances With Wolves a pretty good movie,  maybe a little better than Avatar. That was due to the character interaction and questions of what was "right", which I thought the movie handled better.

The shining example of this theme in film is Apocalypse Now, which was outstanding on nearly every level. By the end of the movie, the audience ends up questioning nearly every character and their ambitions, which is what a film like that should do, IMO.

Boy have movies gone downhill.

I think Avatar will win considering what it has achieved.
The unoriginality of the theme doesnt really matter to me much, I dont think it was executed in the best way in terms of story narrative but the technical achievements it has certainly compensate it for me, the movie was beautiful.

Since we are talking about the theme, Id point out that there is an epic poem from the 1500s called "La Araucana" written by Alonso de Ercilla and its considered one of the most important works in the spanish golden age.

The setting is similar since Alonso de Ercilla was in Chile for the Arauco war between Spaniords and Mapuche natives in which Spain couldnt remove them from their territory and it was similar to what humans were doing to the Na´vi, sending priests to change their faith and make them surrender when they realized they couldnt beat them.

In "la Araucana" he sees natives as very noble, he has sympathy for the Indians' suffering, admiration for the courage of their resistance, criticism of Spanish cruelty, etc... after living with them for some time.

Ive seen similar things in many other movies or stories(though the one above was true), the Last Samurai is the most recent I remember, Ive havent seen all of the movies above so I cant comment on if it should win or not, but I considered a great movie overall.

The Ten Nominees are in:

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
A Serious Man
Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
Up
Up in the Air

Surprisingly enough, they set up a great 10 nominees. Great job Academy!

I said Avatar even though Ill be pulling for Inglorious Basterds

I feel like Avatar will win, but I'm rooting for Basterds so bad. The only thing that will help Basterds is the fact that no movie like it of all the nominees. People who like alien movies will be split between Avatar and District 9, weakening each of their votes.

I love Basterds but its a very flawed movie, of course those flaws are what make it unique and amazing, but I dont know if the Academy will see past these flaws and see it for what it really is

I agree with the flaws, but every movie this year is flawed. Avatar has a very unoriginal plot, Basterds' transition and "stalling" makes parts dull, Hurt Locker isn't as emotionally attached to the character as Saving Private Ryan, and Up in the Air just didn't live up to it's potential.