10 Reasons You're Wrong About Avatar
7. Unobtanium Isn't Stupid
Many were quick to rag on Cameron for daring to name the Macguffin mineral the humans want to harvest from Pandora "Unobtanium", deeming it emblematic of Cameron's generally un-finessed and on-the-nose screenplay.
It's a goofy name, sure, but Cameron wasn't wrong to use it or being overly glib in doing so. Unobtanium has been used in both science and science fiction for more than a half-century to describe a rare resource that's extremely difficult to extract.
Anyone thinking that Cameron's being anything less than playful - and, more to the point, scientifically accurate - is simply incorrect. It was likely intended to be both a nod to the sci-fi he grew up with, and also a tip of the hat to any scientists watching the movie.
Furthermore, it's not exactly a million miles away from the very real chemical element Dysprosium, which is derived from the Greek word "dysprositos", meaning "hard to get" (due to the difficulty involved in extracting it).
You might think Unobtanium is a bit daft, but at the end of the day, this wasn't a case of Cameron being an idiot or assuming the audience was. He could've avoided all the hullabaloo by just calling it Dysprosium, yes, but the path of least resistance has never been Cameron's way, has it?