“Avatar” - Mostly Good I Thought

My wife and I joined the worldwide Avatar viewer club today. I had heard mixed reviews of this modern-day blockbuster, both in Christian and secular media. James Cameron, in the tradition of Titanic, has gone bigger-than-big with this film and there is no doubt that this movie is one of the most spectacular I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in quite a while. Cameron borrows heavily from quite a number of modern movie genres. I saw echoes of Alien/Aliens (complete with Ripley!), Star Wars, Dances With Wolves, Pocahontas, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Braveheart (complete with motivatonal freedom speech by a blue-faced warrior!) and even a little Apolcalypse Now. Despite the sometimes negative reviews I had seen in the Christian press, I personally thought there was much to commend in this film. In fact, I think I agreed with more of the themes running through Avatar than I disagreed with.

Obviously the visual effects are the ultimate highlight of the film, and the imagination and vision of Cameron and his technical crew are truly remarkable. From a visual esthetic point of view, the world of ‘Pandora’ is a fantastic escapist wonderland, that represents the best of the wild and untouched environs of earth - the Amazon, the jungles of equatorial Africa, southeast Asia and northern Australia (and my favourite wilderness area - Tasmania). I liked, and completely identified with, the strong theme of protecting the environment, particularly the last areas of untouched, virgin wilderness. There is no doubt that this movie has inspired me to be more conscious of my own impact on the environment and my attitudes to wilderness conservation. So too, did I completely agree with the film’s sentiment regarding wilful and thoughtless destruction of pristine wilderness in search of lucrative minerals (by the way, for such a big-budget movie, I have to say that “unobtanium” would have to be the lamest name for a sci-fi mineral I’ve ever heard of. What ever happened dilithium or kryptonite?). The place of mining in the context of wilderness conservation is a troubling and complex issue for me, as I recognise that natural resources such as coal, iron ore, copper, etc have been the major economic stimulus that has shielded Australia from the worst of the Global Financial Crisis. So I don’t want to bite the hand that feeds my own country’s resource-based economic prosperity, while also agreeing with those who object to mineral  and other resources being mined from pristine wilderness areas (I’m thinking of logging in Tasmania, the Amazon, Indonesia and Malaysia, sand mining on Queensland’s coastal sand islands, gold mining in Papua New Guinea, etc).

Much is said in the film about western military imperialism, particularly American, with reference to the “might makes right” utilitarian ethic. The makers of Avatar certainly bang the drum of those in contemporary society (of which I am one) who have grown tired of war-mongering western super-powers. Reference to the human technique of making enemies with those cultures sitting on much sought-after resources as an excuse for resorting to the military option is an unmistakable reference to the war in Iraq and oil. The military belligerence of the USA is certainly portrayed in a negative light in this flim.

I sympathised with the Na’vi, the smurf-blue humanoid race indigenous to Pandora. The Na’vi epitomise the indigenous subsistence cultures of the world, with overtones of Australian Aboriginal, Melanesian, South American Indian, North American Indian and African cultures all clearly recognisable. Who could help but feel the pain of the Na’vi, so closely connected and in sync with their environment, as their precious forest homeland is mindlessly and wantonly destroyed without a second thought by the humans bent on tapping the rich mineral resources that lay beneath? Naturally, thoughts turned to the pain that has been felt by other indigenous cultures over history who have been displaced and driven out of their ancestral homelands by imperial cultures who covet their natural resources. I get what Cameron is trying to show us here and I completely feel the pain and the shame.

Having loved all these elements of Avatar, it is probably not suprising that the film lost my support as it delves into Gaia/Mother Goddess spirituality, mixed with George Lucasesque pantheism, animism and tribal paganism. The spiritual centre of the Na’vi, the “Tree of Souls” looks like a hybrid of a Buddhist Bodhi tree and a fibreoptic Christmas tree. While rejecting the movie’s misled, but predictable, attempts at spiritual tutelage, I did like the occasional one-line pearls of wisdom, such as the quip by the Na’vi Witch-Queen Moat to Jake Sully, “It is hard to fill a cup that is already full”; an obvious reference to the effect of presuppositions on the ability to understand and absorb viewpoints and knowledge of other cultures. And despite all these lovely spiritual overtones, the occasional reminder of governing modernist scientism creeps in, as scientist Dr Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) tries to give Na’vi spiritual practices a soundly scientific explanation.

Contrary to what the makers of Avatar seem to try to convey, a passion for environmental protection and stewardship of precious wilderness environments does not arise only in connection with Gaia spirituality, pantheism and tribal paganism. These admirable, and essential, environmental concerns are every bit as compatible with biblical Christian teaching and Christian trinitarian spirituality. The difference, of course, is that Christians are motivated to protect the environment out of reverence and respect for the God who created nature. Christians worship the Creator, rather than worship the creation.

So, my strong conviction is that Christians can embrace the positive themes of Avatar - care and protection of the environment, the much-needed balance between harvesting of natural resources and preservation of pristine natural wilderness, and respect for (and sensitivity to) indigenous cultures and their connection with the environment - which are all completely complementary to a biblical Christian spirituality. The Hollywood/Oprah neo-spirituality element can be discarded, while retaining all the themes that rightly challenge all of us who inhabit this unique and breath-taking planet.

See the Avatar website here.