Watching James Cameron's mega-hit movie AVATAR is a conflicting experience. On the one hand, it is immersive, beautiful and detailed. On the other, the ideas and beliefs presented are confusing and ultimately dangerous. We had a lot of ground to cover, and I'm grateful to everyone who made it through to the end.
First off, I must acknowledge the incredible leap forward that James Cameron has made here. It cannot be overstated that this is a truly advanced cinematic experience. AVATAR is a marker in film history when everything changed. The technology to produce AVATAR had to be created by the director himself, including the Cameron/Pace fusion 3D camera system. The computer graphic artists melded the actors' performances with alien characteristics for an unforgettable presentation.
Despite all of the spectacle however, the story lingers on the culture and spirituality of the Na'vi people. We are trained along with Jake to literally connect with animals, plants, trees, and ultimately their ancestors and goddess. If all of this sounds familiar, well, it is. Heavy doses of Native American religion are present here, modified to fit an alien race. Add the modern twist of logging in to be someone else in another world, and you've got a destructive pairing of escapism and paganism.
I wrote a review of AVATAR when it first came out, elaborating on the three main agendas of the film: the Military-Industrial Complex, Environmentalism, and Pantheistic Spirituality. The greatest danger of the film is tying a political stance (the green movement) to false teaching (worshiping nature) with a supposedly scientific basis.
Here is the truth: God is not nature. God CREATED nature. The first words in the bible echo this timeless reality:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
GENESIS 1:1
Do you believe that?
Unfortunately, James Cameron (one of my favorite filmmakers) is a professed atheist. And he is propagating falsehood through entertainment. With AVATAR, he is promoting an agenda that despite its good intentions has real power to turn people away from the one true Creator-God and his only son, Jesus Christ.
So we prayed for Jim, his wife Suzy, and the rest of the cast and crew that the LORD would bring them to himself and they would use their incredible talents for His kingdom. And we prayed for all those who have watched this film, that their eyes would be opened, and their ears would hear the still small voice of God calling their name.
See you next time at THE DECODER RING.
GENESIS 1:1
Do you believe that?
Unfortunately, James Cameron (one of my favorite filmmakers) is a professed atheist. And he is propagating falsehood through entertainment. With AVATAR, he is promoting an agenda that despite its good intentions has real power to turn people away from the one true Creator-God and his only son, Jesus Christ.
So we prayed for Jim, his wife Suzy, and the rest of the cast and crew that the LORD would bring them to himself and they would use their incredible talents for His kingdom. And we prayed for all those who have watched this film, that their eyes would be opened, and their ears would hear the still small voice of God calling their name.
See you next time at THE DECODER RING.
1 comment:
I thought it was just another rehash of the "circle of life." It also seemed strange that the Pandoran creatures "evolved" to have six legs while the Nav'i were bipedal until I read that Cameron had to make them humanoid for the audience to relate to them.
Post a Comment