Avatar has made oodles of dough (well over $2 billion and counting) from the premise that bad guys want to mine the resources under the habitat of an indigenous species.
Survival International has made a ten-minute film (narrated by ace-campaigner, Joanna Lumley) highlighting the plight of the Dongria Kondh tribe in Orissa, India, whose sacred mountain is rich in bauxite ore that mining company Vedanta Resources wants to get its mitts on. This film is a public response to Mr Cameron's epic, inviting him to join the cause and pledge his money.
This is an interesting dilemma. Does James Cameron risk on the one hand being seen as a hypocrite if he doesn't cough up a contribution, or on the other hand risk inviting every Tom, Dick and Harry charity to show up cap in hand on his next film set.
The solution? He's got to sign a cheque, to make sure his movie is not devalued as a cheapshot way to exploit environmental concerns. Having made the biggest grossing film of all time, he is going to get the begging-bowl letters anyway.
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