What Is the Movie Avatar About?
January 1, 2010 3 Comments
So what is the movie Avatar really about? Here are some possibilities:
- The obstacles to finding spiritual energy in the world around us
- The joys of flying a high-tech helicopter
- The dangers of the scientific enterprise, or of scientific knowledge
- The need for humans to find and explore life on other planets
- The vices of capitalism
- The honorable service of the United States Marines
- The virtues of a simple lifestyle
- The religious significance of trees
- The degrading effect of secularism in contemporary western civilization
- The color blue
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Jenn, I think you’re right. I also think there’s a critique of secularism in the film, with its negative view of industry-capitalism (and associated avarice) and of brute power (i.e., the military). Its attitude toward science seems to me a bit ambivalent. But there’s an unequivocal thread of enthusiasm for some kind of spiritual reality. Do you agree?
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I thought Avatar was an allegory for the plight of the Native Americans and what the US government did to them. As the movie progressed toward the end, it also invoked in me a lot of thoughts about God’s tendency to side with the oppressed. I really want to see it again because I thought it was a well-rounded and well-made movie.
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I’ll take number 10. Studying philosophy of color shows you how much of a genius Cameron is 🙂
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