<P> The destruction of the Na'vi habitat to make way for mining operations has also evoked parallels with the oppressive policies of some states often involving forcible evictions related to development . David Boaz of the libertarian Cato Institute wrote in Los Angeles Times that the film's essential conflict is a battle over property rights, "the foundation of the free market and indeed of civilization ." Melinda Liu found this storyline reminiscent of the policies of the authorities in China, where 30 million citizens have been evicted in the course of a three - decade long development boom . An article in the Global Times, published by the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper People's Daily, called the film's plot "the spitting image of the violent demolition in our everyday life...(F) acing the violent demolition conducted by chengguan but instigated by real estate developers, some ordinary people have wept or burned themselves desperately, while most continue to bear unfairness in silence ." Others saw similar links to the displacement of tribes in the Amazon basin and the forcible demolition of private houses in a Moscow suburb . </P> <P> David Quinn of the Irish Independent wrote that the spirituality depicted "goes some way towards explaining the film's gigantic popularity, and that is the fact that Avatar is essentially a religious film, even if Cameron might not have intended it as such ." At the same time, Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online objected to what he saw in the film reviews as "the norm to speak glowingly of spirituality but derisively of traditional religion ." </P> <P> James Cameron has said that he "tried to make a film that would touch people's spirituality across the broad spectrum ." He also stated that one of the film's philosophical underpinnings is that "the Na'vi represent that sort of aspirational part of ourselves that wants to be better, that wants to respect nature, while the humans in the film represent the more venal versions of ourselves, the banality of evil that comes with corporate decisions that are made out of remove of the consequences ." Film director John Boorman saw a similar dichotomy as a key factor contributing to its success: "Perhaps the key is the marine in the wheelchair . He is disabled, but Mr Cameron and technology can transport him into the body of a beautiful, athletic, sexual, being . After all, we are all disabled in one way or another; inadequate, old, broken, earthbound . Pandora is a kind of heaven where we can be resurrected and connected instead of disconnected and alone ." </P> <P> Reviewers suggested that the film draws upon many existing religious and mythological motifs . Vern Barnet of the Charlotte Observer opined that Avatar poses a great question of faith--should the creation be seen and governed hierarchically, from above, or ecologically, through mutual interdependence? He also noted that the film borrows concepts from other religions and compared its Tree of Souls with the Norse story of the tree Yggdrasil, also called axis mundi or the center of the world, whose destruction signals the collapse of the universe . Malinda Liu in Newsweek likened the Na'vi respect for life and belief in reincarnation with Tibetan religious beliefs and practices, but Reihan Salam of Forbes called the species "perhaps the most sanctimonious humanoids ever portrayed on film ." </P>

What aspects of freedom are not depicted in the fan