I came into watching Avatar because of buzz too, though the bad kind. I saw everyone raging about the movie and wanted to know what the original actually was so I could have educated rage too. And then fell in love. lol

I don't understand the "bleh, children's story" attitude. I've seen people feel that way about HP, or dismiss the entire YA genre because it's for kids/teens. Which is just ridiculous to me. Good stories are good stories!