Chinese Avatards go mad for Pandora

The Chinese have apparently gone mad for Avatar, with eager cinemagoers queuing for hours in freezing temperatures to visit the wonderful world of Pandora.

On its opening day, the movie took a record 56 million yuan (£5m), and IMAX cinemas are booked to bursting for weeks to come, the Times reports.

But it's not just the 3-D spectacle which is making waves in China - audiences have been quick to see the film as an "allusion to the exploitation of China’s weak by the powerful, the poor by the rich".

The Times explains that "forced eviction and government land-grabs are a hugely hot topic" in China and the Na’vi are accordingly "the equivalent of a Chinese 'nail house'", a property whose owner refuses to bow to developers.

Posts across China's blogosphere reveal Avatar really has struck a chord with the oppressed masses. Its fave blogger, a "20-something writer and race-car driver" named Han Han, noted: "For audiences in other countries, such brutal eviction is something outside their imagining. It could only take place on another planet or in China."

A Cup of Green Tea chipped in with: "They are very much alike. For instance, the conflict in the film also starts with land. When real estate developers want a piece of land, the local residents must move away; if they decline to leave, then real estate developers will resort to violent ways."

The blogger suggested: "I strongly advise real estate developers and urban administrative inspectors see the movie and learn from it."

It's good to see that the Chinese believe Avatar might serve some purpose other than to plunge the public into a collective suicidal despair, as people realise that our own crappy lump of rock will never be as lovely as Pandora. ®