Avatar - or Dances with the Na'vi
23 January 2010 by a chip off the old block
Are you one of those who couldn't resist the hype around Avatar and ended up going to the cinema to see it? I am... And I can't say I found much in it besides the 3D aspect. The story has been worked many times before, don't you think? The whole 3 hours (or was it 5?) I felt like I was just watching a coloured up re-take of Dances with the Wolves. The good old evil-white-men-need-to-be-stopped-by-the-good-white-man story.
I di
d find one aspect of the movie very interesting though, and that is the theological message of Avatar. The alternative and unspoiled world (eden?) of Pandora (a touch of mythology always works) has this weird network of all-encompassing energy, which is researched by Grace Augustine (a touch of Christianity always works). Every creature is connected to this higher energy/spirit called Eywa through their various bodily extensions. It's more than being connected really, I think the idea is that all beings are actually parts of the bigger Eywa. The Na'vi (the blue people with the tails) go to a sacred tree (of souls, we are told) to connect with the rest of their world (Eywa, ancestors, etc.). They plug their tails into the tree and get advice from it. So far what's pictured (although not explicitly told) is a pantheistic world.
As you already know pantheism is the view that the nature and God are identical. It Pantheism promotes the idea that God is better understood as way of looking at nature and everything we see around us (the sum total of all that was, is and shall be), rather than as a transcendent and especially anthromophic entity. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal or creator god. This becomes very visible in the movie, especially in the scene where Jake "prays" in front of the tree. He's encouraged by one of the blue people not to pray, because "Eywa never takes sides, she only watches the balance of everything!" This spirit/energy is totally impersonal and therefore cannot have a personal relationship with the rest of the beings. People are on their own!
Or so you'd think - because the movie takes the opposite turn in the end. Eywa decides to get involved in the business. "Eywa does hear Jake" and mobilizes the beings of Pandora to fight against evil. Quite a dramatic turn, isn't it? We are tempted to ignore the significance of this u-turn while getting our appetites satisfied with the following war scenes, however this was the gist of the whole deal for me. This was the moment where in my opinion the story writers shot themselves in the foot. Because here Pandora's pantheism shatters at this point and gives way to a supreme being who is first personal (hears and answers prayer), and then makes a distinction between good and evil (it's not about the balance, mate).
The end that satisfies us always has to admit that there is good and there is evil and they are distinct from one another, and more important, behind the story of it all there is a Supreme Personal Power who has the first and last say in things. We just can't escape from admitting it because this is the only end that makes sense of the story.
So... I know that some out there are livid about Avatar and see it as yet another subtle attack on the Christian worldview. In my opinion - if it really is - it is but be a poor attempt, because all it does is to prove to me that the pantheistic view is not sustainable and there is more to the universe than that old woman called Eywa.
I di
d find one aspect of the movie very interesting though, and that is the theological message of Avatar. The alternative and unspoiled world (eden?) of Pandora (a touch of mythology always works) has this weird network of all-encompassing energy, which is researched by Grace Augustine (a touch of Christianity always works). Every creature is connected to this higher energy/spirit called Eywa through their various bodily extensions. It's more than being connected really, I think the idea is that all beings are actually parts of the bigger Eywa. The Na'vi (the blue people with the tails) go to a sacred tree (of souls, we are told) to connect with the rest of their world (Eywa, ancestors, etc.). They plug their tails into the tree and get advice from it. So far what's pictured (although not explicitly told) is a pantheistic world.As you already know pantheism is the view that the nature and God are identical. It Pantheism promotes the idea that God is better understood as way of looking at nature and everything we see around us (the sum total of all that was, is and shall be), rather than as a transcendent and especially anthromophic entity. Pantheists thus do not believe in a personal or creator god. This becomes very visible in the movie, especially in the scene where Jake "prays" in front of the tree. He's encouraged by one of the blue people not to pray, because "Eywa never takes sides, she only watches the balance of everything!" This spirit/energy is totally impersonal and therefore cannot have a personal relationship with the rest of the beings. People are on their own!
Or so you'd think - because the movie takes the opposite turn in the end. Eywa decides to get involved in the business. "Eywa does hear Jake" and mobilizes the beings of Pandora to fight against evil. Quite a dramatic turn, isn't it? We are tempted to ignore the significance of this u-turn while getting our appetites satisfied with the following war scenes, however this was the gist of the whole deal for me. This was the moment where in my opinion the story writers shot themselves in the foot. Because here Pandora's pantheism shatters at this point and gives way to a supreme being who is first personal (hears and answers prayer), and then makes a distinction between good and evil (it's not about the balance, mate).
The end that satisfies us always has to admit that there is good and there is evil and they are distinct from one another, and more important, behind the story of it all there is a Supreme Personal Power who has the first and last say in things. We just can't escape from admitting it because this is the only end that makes sense of the story.
So... I know that some out there are livid about Avatar and see it as yet another subtle attack on the Christian worldview. In my opinion - if it really is - it is but be a poor attempt, because all it does is to prove to me that the pantheistic view is not sustainable and there is more to the universe than that old woman called Eywa.
We went to see it just because I am a visual effects junkie. I did not care much for the 3D thingy.
There are several things that made me smirk about the movie. First of all, the saviour of this peaceful nation is a white man, and they were powerless before his arrival. The whole thing about the evil armies and capitalists was just too cliche, especially when you know that they are making millions of dollars from this movie. Also, as you say, the message was rather weak, it seemed like they couldn't make up their minds. I am not against "message-giving", but if you can't do it, don't do it, most of us would be satisfied with the funky plants and blue people.
Now that that's off my chest, I'll have a cup of tea :)