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Avatar has
become the biggest box-office hit in the
history of film-making beating Titanic last week.
This PG-13 film opens news vistas in the world of
movies.
Watching Avatar, it’s easy to see why it is probably the
most expensive movie ever made. That may be an unusual
way to start off a review, but the sheer visual
magnitude of the new movie from James Cameron makes
everything else—plot, character development, dialogue,
message—seem secondary. Though it’s being billed as a
“3-D” film, our idea of 3-D movies doesn't do it
justice. Forget the headache-inducing paper glasses and
gimmicky scenes of stuff popping out of the screen at
you; this is a completely new kind of movie experience.
There are rumors that Avatar took almost 15 ears to
make—this is only sort of true. In actuality, the
technology necessary to make the film reality is what
has been years in the making. Cameron and his technical
team actually helped develop a completely new kind of
camera, one with two lenses, that mimics the way the
human eye interprets spatial dimension. While watching
the movie, you feel as though the fictional world of
Pandora (the distant planet the movie takes place on) is
actually in the same room—not just an image being
projected onto a movie screen.
The movie tells the story of a disabled former Marine
named Jake Sully who has been recruited to take part in
the very expensive “Avatar” project on Pandora. Along
with being the destination to find the most valuable
natural resource in the universe, Pandora is also home
to a native population of humanoid creatures called the
Na’vi. (They’re the 10-foot-tall, scantily clad blue
aliens you’ve seen in all the commercials and posters).
In order to help a massive corporation’s mining
operations go smoothly, they’ve recruited scientists to
develop “Avatars” to help them learn from, and
eventually negotiate with, the Na’vi. Essentially,
Avatars are the bioengineered bodies of Na’vi that can
be controlled by humans when they are connected into
computer-operated brain-scan devices that look like
high-tech tanning beds.
Jake, who goes between the world of the Na’vi in his
avatar and the corporate outpost of the mining company
in his own body, is being convinced to serve the
heavy-handed political desires of the security firm used
to protect it by the evil Colonel Miles Quaritch.
Despite promises of expensive medical treatment by the
Colonel in exchange for military intelligence, Jake soon
becomes immersed in Na’vi culture. It’s here where the
story begins to mirror a Pocahontas-tale of love and
colonization: he becomes close to the princess (after
being saved by her), begins to sympathize with the
native population, and starts to question his own values
in light of the community he meets in the new world.
The Na’vi are an intensely spiritual community. They
believe that all of nature is connected through an
unseen deity called Eywa. To the Na’vi, all life is
valuable, and by connecting with life in the natural
world, they can know their god in a deeper way. (And I
mean “connecting” literally. They each have a
ponytail-like spiritual appendage that allows them to
tie into the “Tree of Souls” to pray).
Though the Na’vi practice a completely fictional
religion, it’s clear that Cameron took cues from
real-life faith ideas (including some from
Christianity). There are constant references to being
“re-born” and born again. There’s a scene where small,
glowing seeds from the Tree of Souls descend upon and
encompass Jake that seems like a reference to the
anointing of the Holy Spirit. The idea of the Na’vi’s
ability to connect to the spiritual world physically is
also an interesting metaphor about the reality of
prayer. But, there’s also plenty of other worldviews
mixed in. Transcendentalism, a new ageish reliance on
nature and energy, and even shaman-led chanting all make
up elements of the Na’vi religion.
But while Jake and the audience start to understand the
delicate way of Na’vi life, the conflict becomes clear
as humans begin to destroy parts of the planet to mine
in search of resources. Here is where Cameron’s metaphor
for pre-emptive war and colonialism get a little
heavy-handed.
Yes, a look at Western history reveals a startling
reality about the horrible violence and depravation of
rights that greedy societies are capable of. (And this
is a subject that there is value in looking at
further—if for no other reason than to prevent evils of
the past from being repeated.) But, obvious references
to current military conflicts come off as preachy and
stereotypical, and they cheapen an interesting
storyline. Taking a political stand isn’t always a bad
thing, but because Avatar lacks any attempt at nuance or
moral-conflict, it over-simplifies its message to the
point where it discredits itself.
Unfortunately, this distracts from the broader story—one
that could be more compelling if it allowed the audience
to think for itself. The larger metaphor could be seen
as an allegory for conflicts within the context of
Western history, and is one that is worth exploring (and
is done more effectively in films such as Dances with
Wolves and Terence Mallick’s New World). As Focus on the
Family’s Plugged Online put it, “Cameron’s message in
Avatar is something like this: Genocidal plunderers are
devoid of spiritual enlightenment and driven by their
compulsive lust for another people’s resources.”
Overall, Avatar is visual masterpiece with lots
spiritual, social, and political undertones that though,
they come across somewhat heavy-handed, do offer some
interesting consequences for Christians. (Courtesy:
Christian Broadcasting Network) CBN Disclaimer: In
providing movie reviews on our site, CBN.com is not
endorsing or recommending films we review. Our goal is
to provide Christians with information about the latest
movies, both the good and the bad, so that our readers
may make an informed decision as to whether or not films
are appropriate for them and their families.
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