February - March 2010

James Cameron has done it again.  His latest movie, Avatar, is nearing $2 billion in ticket sales, and will surpass his last blockbuster, Titanic, as the largest grossing film in history.  And like Titanic, Avatar engages us in a less than satisfying plot through the use of stunning, ground-breaking 3-D special effects that hold the viewer spellbound.

In this futuristic film, an American corporation (the bad guys) goes to a far away moon, pandora, to harvest a rare and valuable mineral from the ground.  A formidable military force (more bad guys) is needed on Pandora to counter any resistance from the Na'vi, a tribe of ten feet tall blue natives (the good guys) who inhabit the spot under a giant tree where the mineral is found.

Avatar is the name of the scientific project engaged in diplomacy with the Na'vi and wish to avoid conflict at any cost. The scientists (more god guys) have discovered a way to transport their human bodies in their Na'vi clones while they sleep.  Jake Sully (the hero good guy) is a disabled Marine who infiltrates the tribe in order to get them to peacefully move away from the tree before the military unleashes shock and awe upon the innocents.  Predictably, Jake becomes one with the Na'vi, falls in love with a lovely Na'vi maiden (who is the ultimate Amazon warrior), repents of his complicity with both big business and the military, and helps the tribes of Pandora unite and destroy their oppressors.

What do we make of this blockbuster?  Peter Jones, writing for Truth Xchange, says, "Militarism confronts pacifism; materialism takes on spirituality; the present is bad while the future is glorious; the good guys defeat the bad guys."

Jones says the movie is paganism at its core.  The earth is divine.  The native religion is pure and undefiled; their worship services are emotional and sincere.  We are one with the earth.  The head of the Avatar project, whose character is named Grace, played by Sigourney Weaveran atheist, is converted before her death to become a follower of Elwya, the Mother-god of all that is.  Animals, birds, and trees are all in transcendent harmony.  Gag me with a fork!

This film is politically correct.  The message is clear.  Big business and the American military are beyond redemption and represent all that is bad with the U.S.A..  The film smacks of The Matrix (the alternate universe is more real than the world we live in) and Dances With Wolves (cowboy becomes Indian to save the Indians from the cowboys).  There is an irony in all of this: it still takes the wisdom and cunning of the American soldier to rescue the naive, peace-loving people and secure their safety.

On the bright side, there is a redemptive quality about the movie beyond the visual pleasures.  Here's why:  one Avatar sight reports many people are depressed and suicidal after viewing the film.  One article says, "When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar, the world seemed gray.  It just seemed so meaningless.  I live in a dying world."  Another viewer wrote, "I even contemplated suicide, thinking that, if I do, I will be re-birthed in a world similar to Pandora."  When I watched the stunning display of other-worldly flora and fauna, I thought of heaven!  We are meant for something better.

"Avatar," according to my dictionary, is a Hindu word meaning, "the incarnation of a god in human form."  Jake Sully is the anti-type of Christ.  He is a "savior" who takes on a Na'vi body to rescue a doomed race.  And so, the gospel speaks clearly into our culture.  The world is a "gray place."  But Jesus has rescued us and heaven awaits us.  This is the gospel the world so much needs to hear.