Avatar - On "going native."

There's been a lot of talk about how much Avatar is like Dances with Wolves. So much so that you would think Avatar's depiction of the phenomenon of "going native" was some how inauthentic. That could be incorrect.

The expression "going native" dates back to the British Empire in the 19th century when Britain had colonies all over the world ("The empire on which the sun never sets.") It was used to describe Britons in the colonies who had become so identified with the natives that they had virtually ceased to be Britons. The phenomenon apparently happened often enough for it to become an expression. I remember seeing British actor John Hurt in a movie in which he portrayed a Britisher who had "gone native" in a British colony in Africa. I can't recall the title of the movie just now, but I vividly remember the portrayal.

So however derivative Avatar itself may be, the phenomenon itself is quite real.