I've already mentioned the strange combinations of religion, like Jake's "Christian-like" prayer to Eywa, who contrary to Neytyri's opinion, answers like the Christian God of battles. I also don't understand how the Pandorans know that a soul can travel from one body to another, when they've never encountered people with two bodies, a Pandoran and a human. This is an artificial "deus ex machina" used by Cameron. Is it to finalize the story? Is it to help us identify more closely with the Pandorans? Or in using such incarnation imagery, does Cameron have more Christianity in his world-view than he admits and we know? For amazingly, Jesus Christ now has a human body, indestructible and eternal, still carrying the scars of his crucifixion. It is, of course, not a human body like ours, for it can do things ours cannot do and is not subject to death ever again.
Eywa does not return Grace to her Pandoran body after her human body has been mortally wounded. She's too weak according to Mo'at, the shaman of the tribe. But what would that have to do with her soul? Is it really because she's a scientist, not a believer? Is this a swipe at modern scientists, who provide the technology to modern man, modern genocidists, but who have no belief in a higher power? Yet, he gives to this scientist a name that any Christian would immediately associate with - Grace, like the best-known song of Christendom, Amazing Grace. Perhaps as a scientist, Grace was not too far from grace to receive it, at least at the end.
Again, I am analyzing this movie by superimposing my worldview over that of the movie. I have obviously changed Eywa to Yahweh. And why not? Eywa is a myth, a combination of religious ideas and beliefs that Cameron cobbled together. The true God, the Father of Jesus Christ and the giver of all grace, is all that matters, and any story that speaks of a deity with power over the creation, the power to raise the dead (Jake died to his human body and was raised in his Avatar body at the end of the movie), who chose a savior (Jake) for the Pandorans, and who answers prayers with such power as occurred in the movie, could only represent the one true God, even if the representation was somewhat faulty and mixed.
The movie involves a reversal of the usual trend - Western man shows the primitive how far behind in technology and culture they are. In this movie, Western man makes a show at cultural interchange, but there is really no attempt to evangelize the natives. Again, what would we tell them that was relevant? Have they sinned? Did they formerly live in a Garden of Eden? What messages has God already revealed to them? In the context of the movie, all this is irrelevant. The Pandorans apparently result from the liberal, anthropological world of unbelief. That is, they evolved on Pandora, and they are in harmony with their beautiful environment. However, as is typically the case with the romantic view of the savage, the negatives are not shown - the infant deaths, the enslavement of demonic religion, the economic enslavement of primitive man to the socialist economy (no allowance for advancement, which would be a betrayal of the equality of the tribe), immorality, drug addiction, short life spans, etc.
It is also interesting that Cameron has made these people larger than humans, even though the planet has low gravity. Even on earth in normal gravity, the natives are small, not large and vigorous. They may be strong and rugged, but health is not the first thought that comes to mind when seeing National Geographic shows on primitive peoples. Thus, primitives, living on a planet with less gravity would be even smaller and less vigorous than those seen on earth.
In this movie, the Pandorans only can really teach us. We have nothing that they would want, according to Grace and Jake. In real life on earth, the ideal exchange occurs when the gospel is presented to such people, and they adopt turth to liberate themselves from demonic oppression. They can then improve themselves without too radical an adoption of modern technology. They can learn to exchange with the West, and in time, grow their own culture, having adopted the technology that works for them and that can help them grow into a modern society.
What religion do the Pandorans believe in? Is it voodoo? Is it demonic? The deleted scenes include one in which they use a hallunogenic drug to achieve religious nirvana, enlightenment, etc. They use pagan dancing to try to inspire their god to act on their behalf. They have sacred sites of great value that apparently no one will ever be able to access, no matter how financially or technologically important they become. How can anyone ever access it, if it's the domain of a god? It's akin to the sacred places over which Muslims will kill and die. One of the most important truths spoken in sarcasm is when the CEO says, "You throw a stick around here, and it'll land on some sacred fern, for Christ's sake." How ironic!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Double Entendres
The movie has many double entendres. For example, the destruction of "home tree" shows a couple of the multiple trunks toppling. It brings to mind the falling of the twin towers. Combined with the Colonel's comment just before the final battle about fighting terror with terror could be a comment on the GWOT, Global War on Terror.
Do you get the sense that there's something of a reflection of the War in Iraq as you see the military, hired mercenaries, trying to take the valuable asset (read "Oil") from the natives (read "innocent Iraqis")?
Dr. Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) discovers that there's an actual physical or biological connection amongst all the trees on Pandora (there is on earth too, Dr.) and that it's like a neural network from which the natives can download memories. But at the same time, the place they download from is a religious, holy place. So which is it? Is unobtainium a valuable mineral to be used for technological purposes, or is it some supernatural substance that should not be touched because it's a holy thing to the natives? Does the natives' belief make it holy, or is it holy in some objective way? Would a scientist, taught modern secular naturalism which presumes no supernatural entity has anything to do with anything in the natural world, be worried about the religious beliefs of primitive peoples? This is getting into the religious double entendres, it's all mixed up in Cameron's world of Pandora - the technological and the supernatural.
Do you get the sense that there's something of a reflection of the War in Iraq as you see the military, hired mercenaries, trying to take the valuable asset (read "Oil") from the natives (read "innocent Iraqis")?
Dr. Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) discovers that there's an actual physical or biological connection amongst all the trees on Pandora (there is on earth too, Dr.) and that it's like a neural network from which the natives can download memories. But at the same time, the place they download from is a religious, holy place. So which is it? Is unobtainium a valuable mineral to be used for technological purposes, or is it some supernatural substance that should not be touched because it's a holy thing to the natives? Does the natives' belief make it holy, or is it holy in some objective way? Would a scientist, taught modern secular naturalism which presumes no supernatural entity has anything to do with anything in the natural world, be worried about the religious beliefs of primitive peoples? This is getting into the religious double entendres, it's all mixed up in Cameron's world of Pandora - the technological and the supernatural.
Cool Scenes
I'm not sure that the cool scenes in this movie have anything to do with the bible, except maybe in the principle that excellence in artistry is one way we glorify our Creator. But I have to comment on them because they are just so cool,, and I have to justify my comment that it is a great movie. The technology of the movie has been commented upon by critics ad infinitum and is the first thing that captures the viewer's attention.
The creatures and their movement are very real and life-like. Especially entrancing are the flying dino-bird, Ikron (sp?), scenes. Very realistic and believable.
Consider also the scene in which the Colonel is in a robot suit fighting the huge, Panther-like predator which Neytyri rides. Again, the Colonel almost out-acts the technology. He's a warrior, even when fighting virtually in the suit. Also, effective is the scene just prior, where Dragon, the Colonel's flying fortress, explodes after Jake throws a missile into one of its helicopter blades. The explosion and the Colonel being flung back, then in his quick thinking, going into the ship to get into a robot suit, is realistic and very exciting.
Jake's jumping onto the shuttle carrying the daisy-cutter bombs then back onto Turuk is cool. As I stated in the Jake post, his landing amongst "the people" flying Turuk is like a 747 landing on a local airfield. Combined with the fact that he redeems himself in Neytyri's and the peoples' eyes and demonstrates some type of "divine" choice as the savior of the Pandorans, followed by the touching scene of reconciliation with and support from Tsu-Tey, combine to make it very effective.
The fall and explosion of the shuttle carrying the Daisy-Cutter bombs is awesome. The airfield full of futuristic aircraft is very realistic. The final battle contains one scene after another of great artistry and realism.
When Jake, the wheelchair-ridden cripple, first uses his Avatar body and can run, we are with him and his exhilarating use of legs, something he had not done since the loss of use of his human legs.
The creatures and their movement are very real and life-like. Especially entrancing are the flying dino-bird, Ikron (sp?), scenes. Very realistic and believable.
Consider also the scene in which the Colonel is in a robot suit fighting the huge, Panther-like predator which Neytyri rides. Again, the Colonel almost out-acts the technology. He's a warrior, even when fighting virtually in the suit. Also, effective is the scene just prior, where Dragon, the Colonel's flying fortress, explodes after Jake throws a missile into one of its helicopter blades. The explosion and the Colonel being flung back, then in his quick thinking, going into the ship to get into a robot suit, is realistic and very exciting.
Jake's jumping onto the shuttle carrying the daisy-cutter bombs then back onto Turuk is cool. As I stated in the Jake post, his landing amongst "the people" flying Turuk is like a 747 landing on a local airfield. Combined with the fact that he redeems himself in Neytyri's and the peoples' eyes and demonstrates some type of "divine" choice as the savior of the Pandorans, followed by the touching scene of reconciliation with and support from Tsu-Tey, combine to make it very effective.
The fall and explosion of the shuttle carrying the Daisy-Cutter bombs is awesome. The airfield full of futuristic aircraft is very realistic. The final battle contains one scene after another of great artistry and realism.
When Jake, the wheelchair-ridden cripple, first uses his Avatar body and can run, we are with him and his exhilarating use of legs, something he had not done since the loss of use of his human legs.
The Technological Ambiguities
Cameron, the Director, is attacking modern Western Civilization to a large extent in this movie. (See the special on the DVD, "Message from Pandora," where Cameron and a few of the actors go to aid the native activists in a South American country to prevent development of land.) Yet, he himself has profited from modern technology by making the movie. Which is it, James? Is technology bad or good? Good for your pocket but not for the corporation attempting to make a profit on Pandora.
In the Colonel's fight with the huge panther-like creature, he is in a robot suit but can only win in hand-to-hand combat using a primitive weapon, created by modern technology, a huge Rambo knife.
Jake can't walk unless he's in his Avatar body, which was created by modern gene-recombinant technology, and Jake could not even be on the planet Pandora without the technology that they later dismantle. Also, certain humans remain on the planet, but they cannot stay alive without the breathing masks which could not possibly be maintained without the base, which is dismantled or left derelict in the end. Lastly, Jake cannot enter the Pandorans' world as a native without the technology which the Pandorans hate. So which is it, is technology bad or not.
In the Colonel's fight with the huge panther-like creature, he is in a robot suit but can only win in hand-to-hand combat using a primitive weapon, created by modern technology, a huge Rambo knife.
Jake can't walk unless he's in his Avatar body, which was created by modern gene-recombinant technology, and Jake could not even be on the planet Pandora without the technology that they later dismantle. Also, certain humans remain on the planet, but they cannot stay alive without the breathing masks which could not possibly be maintained without the base, which is dismantled or left derelict in the end. Lastly, Jake cannot enter the Pandorans' world as a native without the technology which the Pandorans hate. So which is it, is technology bad or not.
The Uniform Code of Military Justice
I have to put post this because of my military background. As Jake explains upon his arrival on Pandora, the military on Pandora are simply mercenaries defending the corporate entity that is on the planet to mine unobtainium. However, they are also there to defend Humans, whom we can correlate with Americans. They are still defending Americans, if there is an America at this time in the future. Also, the Colonel's attitude is a carryover from his days of actual military duty. It's clear that he has merged the two worlds in his mind; he is on Pandora not just because he loves war but because he believes in defending Americans/Humans. His comment to Jake when they square off at the end - "What's it like to betray your own race?" - shows that he identifies Humans as a particular group to whom you should be loyal. Is this interplanetary racism on his part? Is there such a thing?
For a mercenary army defending a corporation doing business on another planet, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) would not apply unless the nation or planet sent them as an arm of the military. Because of the proliferation of contract workers in modern wars, the UCMJ, or at least statues of federal law, is now applied to some extent to contract employees, like mercenaries. But if it did, then Jake would be guilty of the rankest form of treachery. Is it justified in light of the usurpation of the Pandorans' land? When is it right to turn against your own people or nation or planet? Jake doesn't just feed the Pandorans information, like a spy, nor does he withdraw because he disagrees with the Humans' methods. He actually joins the Pandorans and fights against his own people, the Human race.
The interesting parallel arises also with regard to the Western world and its conquering of native people groups around the globe. Did we dehumanize them in order to destroy or enslave them? It is a question that has been debated more in the latter part of the 20th century and in this century. Animals are not entitled to the protection of law, contrary to the animal rights advocates. Biblically, only Humans are entitled to that protection. But what about Humanoids on another planet? If the methods were somehow wrong with respect to the Western world's subduing of primitive cultures in the 3rd world and the identification of native Humans as sub-Human was made easier by their primitive ways - lack of clothing, religious idolatry and sorceries, and less advanced culture, what would happen if we encountered another type of people on another planet? The ease of dehumanization would be much easier. would it not?
Another question that the movie raises is: When is it right to turn on your own people? I'm not saying what Jake did in the movie was right or wrong, but the bible indicates a time when nationalism becomes idolatry, when our loyalty to God must take precedence over loyalty to country. E.g., Jeremiah was called a traitor. In the historical context in which he lived, he was. He advised the king to give up to a hostile power - Babylon. He told the Israelites living in Babylon to live peacefully in Babylon and develop families and prosper. He based his position on the threats and promises of God, that if the Israelites turn from their true worship of Him, then He would turn them over to foreign powers. Jeremiah also was a prophet and knew what would happen, not only the captivity in Babylon but the people's return after 70 years of captivity. This knowledge and position gave him confidence to stand against a people who had betrayed God and, therefore, had no grounds for calling Jeremiah a traitor, when it was he who remained true to God and His word.
Back to the movie. Was Jake like Jeremiah? No, he went much further. Jeremiah would have never joined the Babylonians and fought his own people. But had the Humans so forsaken any sort of lawful and just perspective toward the Pandorans that would justify withdrawal from the mission and harsh criticism of their actions? Most definitely. Even though the movie seems to assume a humanistic standard of ethics, by biblical standards (assuming the Pandorans were Human-like enough to make them more than animals in God's creation), then the attempt to forcibly remove them from their land was unjust by biblical standards. What if their religion were interpreted as a false worship and full of witchcraft? Is that part of Genesis' dominion covenant and the continued validity of the Mosaic mandate to destroy all idolatry in the land?
These questions are tough to answer. First, the Humans did not know what history of religion experienced by the Pandorans. What message had been brought to them in the past? Had God spoken to them by prophets and warned them of turning from them? If the Humans had even wanted to bring the gospel to the Pandorans, what relevance would an earth religion, even if true for the entire creation, including Pandora, have for the Pandorans? The land referred to by Moses was Palestine. None of earth's history would matter to the Pandorans in the slightest. They lived in the world of Eywa, a fictitious world created by James Cameron to make their religion true, at least on Pandora. Thus, we can never answer these questions fully in the context of the world of Pandora. Cameron has created a box within which we must play, as the Colonel says at the beginning of the movie, by "Pandora's rules." But the questions raised are interesting for the modern Christian.
For a mercenary army defending a corporation doing business on another planet, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) would not apply unless the nation or planet sent them as an arm of the military. Because of the proliferation of contract workers in modern wars, the UCMJ, or at least statues of federal law, is now applied to some extent to contract employees, like mercenaries. But if it did, then Jake would be guilty of the rankest form of treachery. Is it justified in light of the usurpation of the Pandorans' land? When is it right to turn against your own people or nation or planet? Jake doesn't just feed the Pandorans information, like a spy, nor does he withdraw because he disagrees with the Humans' methods. He actually joins the Pandorans and fights against his own people, the Human race.
The interesting parallel arises also with regard to the Western world and its conquering of native people groups around the globe. Did we dehumanize them in order to destroy or enslave them? It is a question that has been debated more in the latter part of the 20th century and in this century. Animals are not entitled to the protection of law, contrary to the animal rights advocates. Biblically, only Humans are entitled to that protection. But what about Humanoids on another planet? If the methods were somehow wrong with respect to the Western world's subduing of primitive cultures in the 3rd world and the identification of native Humans as sub-Human was made easier by their primitive ways - lack of clothing, religious idolatry and sorceries, and less advanced culture, what would happen if we encountered another type of people on another planet? The ease of dehumanization would be much easier. would it not?
Another question that the movie raises is: When is it right to turn on your own people? I'm not saying what Jake did in the movie was right or wrong, but the bible indicates a time when nationalism becomes idolatry, when our loyalty to God must take precedence over loyalty to country. E.g., Jeremiah was called a traitor. In the historical context in which he lived, he was. He advised the king to give up to a hostile power - Babylon. He told the Israelites living in Babylon to live peacefully in Babylon and develop families and prosper. He based his position on the threats and promises of God, that if the Israelites turn from their true worship of Him, then He would turn them over to foreign powers. Jeremiah also was a prophet and knew what would happen, not only the captivity in Babylon but the people's return after 70 years of captivity. This knowledge and position gave him confidence to stand against a people who had betrayed God and, therefore, had no grounds for calling Jeremiah a traitor, when it was he who remained true to God and His word.
Back to the movie. Was Jake like Jeremiah? No, he went much further. Jeremiah would have never joined the Babylonians and fought his own people. But had the Humans so forsaken any sort of lawful and just perspective toward the Pandorans that would justify withdrawal from the mission and harsh criticism of their actions? Most definitely. Even though the movie seems to assume a humanistic standard of ethics, by biblical standards (assuming the Pandorans were Human-like enough to make them more than animals in God's creation), then the attempt to forcibly remove them from their land was unjust by biblical standards. What if their religion were interpreted as a false worship and full of witchcraft? Is that part of Genesis' dominion covenant and the continued validity of the Mosaic mandate to destroy all idolatry in the land?
These questions are tough to answer. First, the Humans did not know what history of religion experienced by the Pandorans. What message had been brought to them in the past? Had God spoken to them by prophets and warned them of turning from them? If the Humans had even wanted to bring the gospel to the Pandorans, what relevance would an earth religion, even if true for the entire creation, including Pandora, have for the Pandorans? The land referred to by Moses was Palestine. None of earth's history would matter to the Pandorans in the slightest. They lived in the world of Eywa, a fictitious world created by James Cameron to make their religion true, at least on Pandora. Thus, we can never answer these questions fully in the context of the world of Pandora. Cameron has created a box within which we must play, as the Colonel says at the beginning of the movie, by "Pandora's rules." But the questions raised are interesting for the modern Christian.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Individual acting performances-Col Guarlich
The most impressive performance of Avatar is the Colonel, played by Stephen Lang. He's a one-man recruiting performance for the Marines. He reminded me more of a no-nonsense Chief Master Sergeant, but the rank of Colonel works fine for the movie. From his first in-brief for the newbies on Pandora to the moment he's shot with arrows "dipped in a neurotoxin that can stop your heart in one minute," he is the most committed, forceful personality in the movie. He is mission-focused, forceful, tough, and clearly earth-o-centric, until the moment he tells Grace, "I can do that," in response to her question, "Ranger Rick, what are you going to do? Shoot me?" At that point, glib becames lack of care, which we do not expect from a committed Marine. He also takes over from the corporate CEO, but the original movie does not show that. You learn that from a deleted scene where the CEO is trying to stop the use of daisy-cutters on the Pandorans' religious site. After that, the Colonel is ruthless, cavalier, and cruel.
But until then, he is a lovable tough guy, who commands respect, and he is the most focused person on the planet of Pandora. He is lovable because you know, or think, at the beginning that he's tough because he cares about his people. He seems to truly care about Jake. But there's something about him; he seems to love war too much. He is tough because he is utterly single-mindedly focused on the mission. At some point, though you realize something has snapped, and he is ruthless and cares nothing for the beings on Pandora, or anyone who gets in the way of the mission.
Two scenes demonstrate that resolute focus and fearlessness. When Jake and his allies escape their confinement to go back to the Pandorans and assist them in their resistance, the Colonel grabs a machine gun and with a quick "masks on" to warn the other humans in the air traffic control tower, he walks out holding his breath and starts firing on the helicopter Jake is in. The other scene is when "Dragon," his aircraft, is crashing, and he gets into a robot suit while his shoulder is on fire, appearing not to notice. As he prepares the machine for a jump out of the aircraft, he casually brushes the fire off himself with his hand. Throughout the rest of the movie, he is a cornucopia of army lingo and GI Joe brashness and bravado mixed with utter self-confidence and even humor.
The in-brief acquaints you with his personality right away. The key statement from that briefing is: "As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed . . . not with all of you." In the deleted portion, he makes the only reference to religion amongst the humans when he refers to the different religious beliefs of the humans. He mentions Muslim, Christian, atheism, etc., indicating a pluralistic society with no one religion dominant. Being on Pandora "is not a cake walk, but the money's good." His first private conversation with Jake lets you know about his attitude toward being wounded and scarred on Pandora. "I kind of like it."
A critical deleted scene evidences a point sometime after the Colonel has clicked a switch in his own mind. Parker Selfridge, the CEO and presumably the man in charge, tries to keep the Colonel from going out with daisy-cutters, and the Colonel grabs him and clearly wants to kill him and says, "You're a long way from earth." Once the dogs of war are loosed, it is hard for the civilians to reign it in. Another scene evidencing this complete commitment to the destruction of the Pandorans is his decision to bring down Home Tree, the home of the Pandorans, while Jake and Grace are tied not far from it. It appears that the Colonel feels as scorned by Jake as Neytyri and doesn't mind sacrificing him or Grace for the sake of the mission, even though there was not urgency time-wise.
A good piece of directoral work occurs in the scene where the Colonel asks Jake, "Haven't gotten lost in the woods, have you?" In the scene that follows, Jake is clearly too anxious to get back to his Avatar body and become one of the Pandorans through the final ceremony. And the Colonel clearly sees through it also. Lang and Worthington, of course, did fine acting performances in that scene. The Colonel is correct to doubt Jake's resolve, and Jake has "crossed a line" already; he sees his human existence as the dream world and his Pandoran existence as the real. Biblically, the Colonel, who should've known this would happen, is right to mistrust Jake's motivations, and Jake has simply fulfilled the Deuteronomic warning against becoming too close to the pagans and their worship. He wants to become one of them. His affections, loyalties, and desires are wound up in his life with them. Thus, he becomes like them, in culture, in love, in affection, and in religion.
But until then, he is a lovable tough guy, who commands respect, and he is the most focused person on the planet of Pandora. He is lovable because you know, or think, at the beginning that he's tough because he cares about his people. He seems to truly care about Jake. But there's something about him; he seems to love war too much. He is tough because he is utterly single-mindedly focused on the mission. At some point, though you realize something has snapped, and he is ruthless and cares nothing for the beings on Pandora, or anyone who gets in the way of the mission.
Two scenes demonstrate that resolute focus and fearlessness. When Jake and his allies escape their confinement to go back to the Pandorans and assist them in their resistance, the Colonel grabs a machine gun and with a quick "masks on" to warn the other humans in the air traffic control tower, he walks out holding his breath and starts firing on the helicopter Jake is in. The other scene is when "Dragon," his aircraft, is crashing, and he gets into a robot suit while his shoulder is on fire, appearing not to notice. As he prepares the machine for a jump out of the aircraft, he casually brushes the fire off himself with his hand. Throughout the rest of the movie, he is a cornucopia of army lingo and GI Joe brashness and bravado mixed with utter self-confidence and even humor.
The in-brief acquaints you with his personality right away. The key statement from that briefing is: "As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed . . . not with all of you." In the deleted portion, he makes the only reference to religion amongst the humans when he refers to the different religious beliefs of the humans. He mentions Muslim, Christian, atheism, etc., indicating a pluralistic society with no one religion dominant. Being on Pandora "is not a cake walk, but the money's good." His first private conversation with Jake lets you know about his attitude toward being wounded and scarred on Pandora. "I kind of like it."
A critical deleted scene evidences a point sometime after the Colonel has clicked a switch in his own mind. Parker Selfridge, the CEO and presumably the man in charge, tries to keep the Colonel from going out with daisy-cutters, and the Colonel grabs him and clearly wants to kill him and says, "You're a long way from earth." Once the dogs of war are loosed, it is hard for the civilians to reign it in. Another scene evidencing this complete commitment to the destruction of the Pandorans is his decision to bring down Home Tree, the home of the Pandorans, while Jake and Grace are tied not far from it. It appears that the Colonel feels as scorned by Jake as Neytyri and doesn't mind sacrificing him or Grace for the sake of the mission, even though there was not urgency time-wise.
A good piece of directoral work occurs in the scene where the Colonel asks Jake, "Haven't gotten lost in the woods, have you?" In the scene that follows, Jake is clearly too anxious to get back to his Avatar body and become one of the Pandorans through the final ceremony. And the Colonel clearly sees through it also. Lang and Worthington, of course, did fine acting performances in that scene. The Colonel is correct to doubt Jake's resolve, and Jake has "crossed a line" already; he sees his human existence as the dream world and his Pandoran existence as the real. Biblically, the Colonel, who should've known this would happen, is right to mistrust Jake's motivations, and Jake has simply fulfilled the Deuteronomic warning against becoming too close to the pagans and their worship. He wants to become one of them. His affections, loyalties, and desires are wound up in his life with them. Thus, he becomes like them, in culture, in love, in affection, and in religion.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Individual acting performances-Jake Sully
Sam Worthington, who has come to be typecast as half human/half whatever, plays Jake. In the latest Terminator, he's half robot, half human. In Clash of the Titans, he's half human, half god. And in Avatar, he's half human, half Pandoran, or at least half the time.
Worthington plays the regular guy, but not just any regular guy, the regular guy with the desire for more. In the Collector's edition of the movie, not the original theatrical release, he is shown on earth, living the wheel-chair life. He says he can't stand being told what he cannot do. In a bar scene, after seeing a guy slap his own girlfriend, Jake wheels up to him, pulls one of his bar stools sending the guy to the floor, and he jumps out of his wheelchair and begins pummelling the guy. He says he guesses he never found anything worth fighting for. As he's about to beat up this guy, he says, "The strong prey on the weak, nobody does a d___ thing about it." Obviously, this desire to protect the weak comes out later when dealing with the humans and their attitude toward the "blue monkeys" on Pandora.
Does the modern American life give the type of challenge that a person needs to stand for something? There is freedom to fight for just about any political or cultural cause, but are they worth fighting for? The Kingdom of God is that transcendant, limitless cause that the Christian fights for. And His Commander in Chief is none other than Christ, the one who stood up to overwhelming religious and political power and even conquered death itself. That is worth fighting for; He is worth following.
Watching Worthington get the hang of his new Pandoran body gives you the feel for what a paralyzed person might do if they suddenly had the ability to run again. You also see that Jake is a fighter; he's not one to give up, and his humor in the face of danger and challenge demonstrate that when he's learning to face death as a Pandoran and the sarcastic and hostile jabs by Tsu-Tey. The difficult job is showing how he can so easily leave off being human and become Pandoran. It involves more than just joining a tribe as in Dances with Wolves; it involves becoming a part of another form of humanoid and calling humans "aliens." But that is a failure by the Director, not the actor in this case. Otherwise, Worthington portrays Jake as an unassuming, even humble person, who will not back down from a fight. In other words, you identify with Jake well, for the most part. The questions arise from the ease of his conversion, but that transition is better portrayed when you see the deleted scenes that the DVD version allows you to view. You see the harshness of the humans and the further incorporation of Jake into their religious system, like the scene he takes some peyote type drug that allows him to have an out-of-body experience like a scene out of a Carlos Castenada book. He has accomplished the mission that the humans gave him, but it, of course, backfires because he is one of them, the enemy.
In that scene, Neytyri tells Jake that Eywa does not take sides; she only defends the balance of nature. He responds with: "It was worth a try." That's a combination of prayer and respect for the sovereignty of God, something like the Christian prayer ending, "if it by your will, Lord." Thus, Cameron puts the Pandoran view in the perspective of Yahweh who does not repsect persons, but only defends His truth, His kingdom, and those who turst in Him. The Humans believe in nothing but power; the sovereignty of God seems irrelevant to them. Again, the Pandorans, even in their paganism, are not as far from the true God as the Humans are.
When he is found to have too much sympathy with the Pandorans, the humans have him arrested. At the same time, the Pandorans, even Natyri, have rejected him as a traitor. In this rejected state, he is like unto Christ, rejected by all men the night He was betrayed, only to be then rejected the next day by His own Father. When he attempts to then go back into his Avatar body to try to help the Pandorans, Jake comments on his status, "Outcast, betrayer, alien, I was in the place the eye does not see."
Worthington plays the regular guy, but not just any regular guy, the regular guy with the desire for more. In the Collector's edition of the movie, not the original theatrical release, he is shown on earth, living the wheel-chair life. He says he can't stand being told what he cannot do. In a bar scene, after seeing a guy slap his own girlfriend, Jake wheels up to him, pulls one of his bar stools sending the guy to the floor, and he jumps out of his wheelchair and begins pummelling the guy. He says he guesses he never found anything worth fighting for. As he's about to beat up this guy, he says, "The strong prey on the weak, nobody does a d___ thing about it." Obviously, this desire to protect the weak comes out later when dealing with the humans and their attitude toward the "blue monkeys" on Pandora.
Does the modern American life give the type of challenge that a person needs to stand for something? There is freedom to fight for just about any political or cultural cause, but are they worth fighting for? The Kingdom of God is that transcendant, limitless cause that the Christian fights for. And His Commander in Chief is none other than Christ, the one who stood up to overwhelming religious and political power and even conquered death itself. That is worth fighting for; He is worth following.
Watching Worthington get the hang of his new Pandoran body gives you the feel for what a paralyzed person might do if they suddenly had the ability to run again. You also see that Jake is a fighter; he's not one to give up, and his humor in the face of danger and challenge demonstrate that when he's learning to face death as a Pandoran and the sarcastic and hostile jabs by Tsu-Tey. The difficult job is showing how he can so easily leave off being human and become Pandoran. It involves more than just joining a tribe as in Dances with Wolves; it involves becoming a part of another form of humanoid and calling humans "aliens." But that is a failure by the Director, not the actor in this case. Otherwise, Worthington portrays Jake as an unassuming, even humble person, who will not back down from a fight. In other words, you identify with Jake well, for the most part. The questions arise from the ease of his conversion, but that transition is better portrayed when you see the deleted scenes that the DVD version allows you to view. You see the harshness of the humans and the further incorporation of Jake into their religious system, like the scene he takes some peyote type drug that allows him to have an out-of-body experience like a scene out of a Carlos Castenada book. He has accomplished the mission that the humans gave him, but it, of course, backfires because he is one of them, the enemy.
In that scene, Neytyri tells Jake that Eywa does not take sides; she only defends the balance of nature. He responds with: "It was worth a try." That's a combination of prayer and respect for the sovereignty of God, something like the Christian prayer ending, "if it by your will, Lord." Thus, Cameron puts the Pandoran view in the perspective of Yahweh who does not repsect persons, but only defends His truth, His kingdom, and those who turst in Him. The Humans believe in nothing but power; the sovereignty of God seems irrelevant to them. Again, the Pandorans, even in their paganism, are not as far from the true God as the Humans are.
When he is found to have too much sympathy with the Pandorans, the humans have him arrested. At the same time, the Pandorans, even Natyri, have rejected him as a traitor. In this rejected state, he is like unto Christ, rejected by all men the night He was betrayed, only to be then rejected the next day by His own Father. When he attempts to then go back into his Avatar body to try to help the Pandorans, Jake comments on his status, "Outcast, betrayer, alien, I was in the place the eye does not see."
Friday, December 17, 2010
Individual acting performances-Tsu-Tey
Tsu-Tey, played by Laz Alonzo, is the quintessential macho, native, destined to be chief of the tribe. His attitude makes you believe he's a native Pandoran, alternately jealous, contemptuous, distrustful, respectful depending upon how Jake impresses or does not impress him. It's hard to like the man, but you respect him. His most impressive scenes involve one battle scene and two endearing scenes near the end.
The battle scene shows Tsu-Tey leaping off his dino-bird in slow motion into the rear of a shuttle with several soldiers with machine guns. As he leaps, he fires his arrow, then beats soldiers with his bow and throwing them off the shuttle. One soldier finally has the clearance to fire his machine gun, and Tsu-Tey falls into the forest, fatally wounded.
The 1st endearing scene occurs when Jake has just landed the Turuk, chief monster dino-bird like a Boeing 747 at a city airport, in front of Tsu-Tey and the rest of the clan. Tsu-Tey is now the chief, something he has prepared his entire life for. But when he sees Jake, whom he has mocked, jeered and sometimes hated as a betraying alien throughout the movie, he recognizes his "chosen" status. He's dumbfounded. When Jake tells him that he's ready to serve "the people," he tells Tsu-Tey, "You are a great warrior, and I can't do this without you." This, meaning to defeat their enemies, whom Jake has now turned against with all his heart. In an impressive feat of humility and bowing to the will of their deity, Eywa, Tsu-Tey looks into Jake's eyes, puts his hand on Jake's chest, and the great warrior-chief says to the alien: "Turuk-Machto, I will fly with you!" And he says it with gusto and sincerity.
Oh that I as a Christian would bow as quickly and whole-heartedly to the God of heaven once I know His will, even when it goes against everything within me and that I've lived for!
The 2nd occurs as he's dying. You have to ignore for a moment the pagan death practice to appreciate the love expressed by Tsu-Tey for his former enemy, Jake. Apparently, the Pandorans have a tradition of killing their own warriors who are fatally wounded in battle. Jake refuses the request of Tsu-Tey for Jake to do this for him. Tsu-Tey vehemently urges Jake, exclaiming, "It IS the Way!" Then, he says, "It is good, and I'll be remembered I flew with Turuk-Machto! And that we were brothers, and he was my last shadow." Amazing scenes.
The battle scene shows Tsu-Tey leaping off his dino-bird in slow motion into the rear of a shuttle with several soldiers with machine guns. As he leaps, he fires his arrow, then beats soldiers with his bow and throwing them off the shuttle. One soldier finally has the clearance to fire his machine gun, and Tsu-Tey falls into the forest, fatally wounded.
The 1st endearing scene occurs when Jake has just landed the Turuk, chief monster dino-bird like a Boeing 747 at a city airport, in front of Tsu-Tey and the rest of the clan. Tsu-Tey is now the chief, something he has prepared his entire life for. But when he sees Jake, whom he has mocked, jeered and sometimes hated as a betraying alien throughout the movie, he recognizes his "chosen" status. He's dumbfounded. When Jake tells him that he's ready to serve "the people," he tells Tsu-Tey, "You are a great warrior, and I can't do this without you." This, meaning to defeat their enemies, whom Jake has now turned against with all his heart. In an impressive feat of humility and bowing to the will of their deity, Eywa, Tsu-Tey looks into Jake's eyes, puts his hand on Jake's chest, and the great warrior-chief says to the alien: "Turuk-Machto, I will fly with you!" And he says it with gusto and sincerity.
Oh that I as a Christian would bow as quickly and whole-heartedly to the God of heaven once I know His will, even when it goes against everything within me and that I've lived for!
The 2nd occurs as he's dying. You have to ignore for a moment the pagan death practice to appreciate the love expressed by Tsu-Tey for his former enemy, Jake. Apparently, the Pandorans have a tradition of killing their own warriors who are fatally wounded in battle. Jake refuses the request of Tsu-Tey for Jake to do this for him. Tsu-Tey vehemently urges Jake, exclaiming, "It IS the Way!" Then, he says, "It is good, and I'll be remembered I flew with Turuk-Machto! And that we were brothers, and he was my last shadow." Amazing scenes.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Individual acting performances-Neytyri
One of the best performances in this movie is that of Natyri, who is excellently portrayed by Zoe Saldana. She truly comes off as a native woman. She is believable as a native female who knows her forest; she may not know about much else in the universe, but she knows the forest well. And, her teaching to Jake is alternately frustrating and patient. She does a great job at the initial meeting with Jake when divine intervention not only prevents her from killing Jake but causes her to bring him before the tribe. Their initial meeting is believable in the sense of her portrayal of a woman fighter, who has lost her sister to the humans, is stopped from killing Jake by "divine" intervention, and must somehow explain to Jake, without getting too close, that his blundering in the forest is ignorant and shows he doesn't belong there. Of course, a 2nd "divine" intervention by Eywa causes her to bring Jake to the tribe.
In spite of the fact that Neytyri is supposed to become the spiritual leader of the tribe one day and that her mating with Jake will disqualify her from that position (we learn this in a deleted scene), she still chooses Jake. Her love is so great. You have to wonder if it's his non-native, free-spirited personality that she loves, not just his courage and warrior spirit. Thus, we have one of the many ambiguities in the movie. Is native life really that great? Does Jake really bring something profitable from the "wicked" human culture from which he comes? How can that be if native culture is so wonderful? Etc.
Another very real portrayal is at the denouement of the movie. We're still not sure if Jake is fully on board with the Pandorans in their fight to keep the humans from taking over their planet. Maybe Jake just wants to save their lives by getting them to move. Natiri learns that Jake's original mission was to cause them to move, and she portrays well a woman betrayed.
One of the most touching scenes of the movie is at the very end, when Jake is facing death because as a human he cannot breathe the Pandoran atmosphere. She is trying to revive his Pandoran body, but she then realizes that he's not there; he's in his human body. She rushes to find him in the trailer where the transport system is located, and she finds him and holds him. He seems like a little child in his human form, for the Pandorans are quite large. For the first time, she sees him in his pitiable, paralyzed, small human form. He's like a child in her arms. In an instant, he has gone from a formidable warrior, fighting to protect her, to a helpless dying form in her arms. Yet, her love is so great that she smiles at him and gives him the traditional Pandoran greeting - "I see you." Thus the spouse of the man sees him in both his strong, warrior self and in his true child-like, weak state of his real self. She provides the breathing apparatus that saves his human life. Thus, she saves him twice - in warfare and in his heart.
In spite of the fact that Neytyri is supposed to become the spiritual leader of the tribe one day and that her mating with Jake will disqualify her from that position (we learn this in a deleted scene), she still chooses Jake. Her love is so great. You have to wonder if it's his non-native, free-spirited personality that she loves, not just his courage and warrior spirit. Thus, we have one of the many ambiguities in the movie. Is native life really that great? Does Jake really bring something profitable from the "wicked" human culture from which he comes? How can that be if native culture is so wonderful? Etc.
Another very real portrayal is at the denouement of the movie. We're still not sure if Jake is fully on board with the Pandorans in their fight to keep the humans from taking over their planet. Maybe Jake just wants to save their lives by getting them to move. Natiri learns that Jake's original mission was to cause them to move, and she portrays well a woman betrayed.
One of the most touching scenes of the movie is at the very end, when Jake is facing death because as a human he cannot breathe the Pandoran atmosphere. She is trying to revive his Pandoran body, but she then realizes that he's not there; he's in his human body. She rushes to find him in the trailer where the transport system is located, and she finds him and holds him. He seems like a little child in his human form, for the Pandorans are quite large. For the first time, she sees him in his pitiable, paralyzed, small human form. He's like a child in her arms. In an instant, he has gone from a formidable warrior, fighting to protect her, to a helpless dying form in her arms. Yet, her love is so great that she smiles at him and gives him the traditional Pandoran greeting - "I see you." Thus the spouse of the man sees him in both his strong, warrior self and in his true child-like, weak state of his real self. She provides the breathing apparatus that saves his human life. Thus, she saves him twice - in warfare and in his heart.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Avatar, attempting to replace the bible?
I've already mentioned how Cameron uses the born-again concept in the religious culture of Pandora. He almost directly quotes the Old Testament when Jake says the Pandorans say that "Eywa will provide." Even the name Eywa is close to Yahweh. Then, there's the Pandoran worship services that are performed around the Tree of Souls; they look like a Charismatic/voodoo service. The process, passing through the eye of Eywa, attempted upon the Dr. (Grace) - unsuccessfully, but successful upon Jake, is basically the death - resurrection process of the bible. To give the benefit of the doubt to Cameron, he perhaps used symbols and principles to which we can relate in order to draw us into the story and relate sympathetically to the Pandorans. However, a not-so-subtle attempt to suck the viewer into a sympathetic view of environmentalist, anti-capitalist, nature worship cannot be ruled out either.
Then, after uniting the clans, Jake prays to Eywa. He sounds like Elijah praying humbly to Jehovah. His prayer is a contrast to the swaying, chanting, shaking worship of the Pandorans. It's as if Jake is praying to Eywa as if Eywa is Jehovah. Not only does Jake mix the true worship of Jehovah with Eywa, speaking to her as if she's Jehovah, but he even adds modern science. He tells Eywa that the Dr. is with Eywa. Eywa is omniscient, for she can see earth and how humans have destroyed all the trees - "There's nothing green there," according to Jake. This scene indicates that Cameron, if his beliefs are somehow reflected truly in the movie, believes that all beliefs can be combined into the truth. Such a perspective calls forth the judgment of God, which distinguishes, which divides, the true from the false and rewards the righteous and condemns the wicked. Otherwise, how would the God of the bible be distinguished from Eywa, or Allah, or any other false god.
Then, after uniting the clans, Jake prays to Eywa. He sounds like Elijah praying humbly to Jehovah. His prayer is a contrast to the swaying, chanting, shaking worship of the Pandorans. It's as if Jake is praying to Eywa as if Eywa is Jehovah. Not only does Jake mix the true worship of Jehovah with Eywa, speaking to her as if she's Jehovah, but he even adds modern science. He tells Eywa that the Dr. is with Eywa. Eywa is omniscient, for she can see earth and how humans have destroyed all the trees - "There's nothing green there," according to Jake. This scene indicates that Cameron, if his beliefs are somehow reflected truly in the movie, believes that all beliefs can be combined into the truth. Such a perspective calls forth the judgment of God, which distinguishes, which divides, the true from the false and rewards the righteous and condemns the wicked. Otherwise, how would the God of the bible be distinguished from Eywa, or Allah, or any other false god.
Is Idolatry Possible on Pandora?
The corporate CEO in charge of the process of mining Pandora makes the most biblical statement about Pandoran religion when the Dr. is trying to tell him about the scientific and sacred nature of the tree system on Pandora. "You throw a stick in the air around here, and it's gonna land on some sacred fern, for Christ's sake." Interesting combination of words in that sentence. And to make sure the modern, 21st century American, who worships science is brought in intellectually (the viewer is already emotionally on the side of the "real" people of Pandora and not the capitalist pigs the humans are shown as) to side with the Pandorans, the Dr. says, "I'm not talking about some kind of pagan voodoo here, I'm talking about something real, something measurable in the biology of the forest. . . . What we think we know is there is some electro-chemical communication between the roots of the trees, like the synapses between neurons. Each tree has 10 to the 4th connections to the trees around it, and there are 10 to the 12th trees on Pandora. . . . It's more connections than the human brain. Get it? It's a network, it's a global network, and the Navi [Pandorans] can access it. They can upload and download data, memories at sites like the one you just destroyed." The CEO's response, while laughing: "What the hell have you people been smoking out there? They're just g__ d____ trees."
Of course, no tree is just a tree; it's a creation of God. But you don't need a global neural network of data that can be downloaded to respect them. The earth God created allows for use of trees and condemns their worship. Not the god of Pandora; whoever created Pandora wants people to worship trees, communicate with the dead (prohibited in the bible), and not cut them down. Stay primitive. On earth, staying primitive means not participating in the world of modern technology, the world of computers. On Pandora, staying primitive is the way to technological advance. The trees and the Pandorans' tails are the computers and cable connections. Everything is upside down. Stay primitive to communicate with the planet, the trees, and the past. No need for computers. Brilliant. Cameron has created a world in which the laws of earth don't apply and for which the best and brightest can fight for keeping the native in his place, so that technology and knowledge on that planet can advance. The modern liberal can argue for keeping the native below him and still claim to want progress to not be impeded.
Of course, no tree is just a tree; it's a creation of God. But you don't need a global neural network of data that can be downloaded to respect them. The earth God created allows for use of trees and condemns their worship. Not the god of Pandora; whoever created Pandora wants people to worship trees, communicate with the dead (prohibited in the bible), and not cut them down. Stay primitive. On earth, staying primitive means not participating in the world of modern technology, the world of computers. On Pandora, staying primitive is the way to technological advance. The trees and the Pandorans' tails are the computers and cable connections. Everything is upside down. Stay primitive to communicate with the planet, the trees, and the past. No need for computers. Brilliant. Cameron has created a world in which the laws of earth don't apply and for which the best and brightest can fight for keeping the native in his place, so that technology and knowledge on that planet can advance. The modern liberal can argue for keeping the native below him and still claim to want progress to not be impeded.
Avatar and Deut. 7
Avatar is an interesting combination of The Matrix, Dances with Wolves, and Shrek. The Matrix because it involves a human electronically entering another world to live on a different plane; Dances with Wolves because it involves the conversion from Christianity (or some form of agnosticism) to a native religion of animism; and because it involves morphing into another being entirely and remaining that way. I'd like to focus on the Dances with Wolves aspect in this post.
In Dances with Wolves, the American soldier eats a form of communion with the natives by eating raw blood of a buffalo, he marries into the tribe, and he adopts their religion by learning about their view of the deity and adopting that view of life. The process in Avatar is even more explicit, for Jake begins the process of actually becoming a clan member. He seems to believe in nothing, for he tells Natiri's mother his "glass is empty." the stupidity of both the Pandorans and the humans is astounding. The humans seem to be entirely materialistic in either a military or capitalist way. The military is a mercenary arm of the capitalist acquisition process. The Pandorans win out because Jake has so little to lose in becoming one of the Pandorans. They have a religion, a community, and living in his Avatar body gives Jake a chance to not only walk and run again but learn how to hunt, conquer the challenges of Pandora, and even fly. So, it's really a no-brainer that he would choose Pandora over Earth.
The Pandorans are stupid to think that Jake, running around with the chief's daughter, 3/4 naked,spending all day with her, learning from her, will not result in their developing a relationship rivaling the chosen, arranged marriage between Natiri and Tsu-Tey, the next clan leader.
Deut. 7 warns clearly that assimilation is the great danger for the believer. "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly." Dt. 7:3-4. When Jake goes through the initiation ceremony to become a member of the clan, He repeats what they teach - that your born twice, once naturally and once as a man. Thus, Cameron's depiction of the Pandorans' religious culture parallels the biblical born-again concept. What would James Cameron have done if the movie involved a Christian culture from earth, attempting to draw the Pandorans into the true faith? What if the Pandorans resisted not an attempt to take their valuable minerals at the expense of their religion but an attempt to teach them that the true riches are not in a tree or in a planet's "living" network, but in the true and living God who created all things, including Pandora?
This would be difficult in the setting Cameron created because he creates a world in which animistic, pantheistic, ancestor and nature worship, all combined in one, is scientifically and religiously valid. Even the roots of the plants of Pandora are interconnected in some way that indicates the planet itself is one organism. The main religious center of the Pandorans is an area with an electromagnetic power that is measurable by scientific instruments. The prayer tree by which the Pandorans can connect their tails and pray and hear their ancestors is audible and visible. Thus, Cameron has taken ancient, primitive paganism and visually created a world that makes it seem not only technologically possible but religiously possible. Genius. Diabolical genius, but genius nonetheless. Never mind that it has nothing to do with reality. But this is the power of myth; it need not be true to create a religion, a culture, a society, a way of life.
Again, it is evident to anyone watching the movie (even if the characters in the movie are totally blind to it) that Jake and Natiri are destined to be a pair. Jake must be thinking like an American teenager, when he has Pandoran sex with Natiri. How could he make a commitment to a woman on another planet, while he's in a body that is temporary and not his at all? She tells him how she views sex - the proper way: "I am with you now, Jake, we are mated for life." This seems to pull Jake into reality, and he says to himself as he reenters his human body world, "What the hell are you doing, Jake?" Earlier, as he reenters his human body, unable to walk and not really interacting with another human being like he interacts with Natiri, he had said that he had begun to think of his human life as the dream world and the Pandoran world as the real world. No wonder! He has legs in the Pandoran world, he has a great girl friend with whom he hunts, flies around on a big dinosaur bird, and runs around nearly naked. Talk about a boy's dream come true. In the human world, he moves around in a wheelchair, barely has time to sleep much less develop any friendships, and works for a covetous, avaricious corporation that would like to destroy the Pandorans but for the bad press that would come from it.
But the biblical lesson of not communing with, marrying with, and adopting the ways of the pagan is clearly set forth, even if the Director had not intended to do so. The end result is almost perfectly scripted from Deut. 7.
In Dances with Wolves, the American soldier eats a form of communion with the natives by eating raw blood of a buffalo, he marries into the tribe, and he adopts their religion by learning about their view of the deity and adopting that view of life. The process in Avatar is even more explicit, for Jake begins the process of actually becoming a clan member. He seems to believe in nothing, for he tells Natiri's mother his "glass is empty." the stupidity of both the Pandorans and the humans is astounding. The humans seem to be entirely materialistic in either a military or capitalist way. The military is a mercenary arm of the capitalist acquisition process. The Pandorans win out because Jake has so little to lose in becoming one of the Pandorans. They have a religion, a community, and living in his Avatar body gives Jake a chance to not only walk and run again but learn how to hunt, conquer the challenges of Pandora, and even fly. So, it's really a no-brainer that he would choose Pandora over Earth.
The Pandorans are stupid to think that Jake, running around with the chief's daughter, 3/4 naked,spending all day with her, learning from her, will not result in their developing a relationship rivaling the chosen, arranged marriage between Natiri and Tsu-Tey, the next clan leader.
Deut. 7 warns clearly that assimilation is the great danger for the believer. "Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the Lord will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly." Dt. 7:3-4. When Jake goes through the initiation ceremony to become a member of the clan, He repeats what they teach - that your born twice, once naturally and once as a man. Thus, Cameron's depiction of the Pandorans' religious culture parallels the biblical born-again concept. What would James Cameron have done if the movie involved a Christian culture from earth, attempting to draw the Pandorans into the true faith? What if the Pandorans resisted not an attempt to take their valuable minerals at the expense of their religion but an attempt to teach them that the true riches are not in a tree or in a planet's "living" network, but in the true and living God who created all things, including Pandora?
This would be difficult in the setting Cameron created because he creates a world in which animistic, pantheistic, ancestor and nature worship, all combined in one, is scientifically and religiously valid. Even the roots of the plants of Pandora are interconnected in some way that indicates the planet itself is one organism. The main religious center of the Pandorans is an area with an electromagnetic power that is measurable by scientific instruments. The prayer tree by which the Pandorans can connect their tails and pray and hear their ancestors is audible and visible. Thus, Cameron has taken ancient, primitive paganism and visually created a world that makes it seem not only technologically possible but religiously possible. Genius. Diabolical genius, but genius nonetheless. Never mind that it has nothing to do with reality. But this is the power of myth; it need not be true to create a religion, a culture, a society, a way of life.
Again, it is evident to anyone watching the movie (even if the characters in the movie are totally blind to it) that Jake and Natiri are destined to be a pair. Jake must be thinking like an American teenager, when he has Pandoran sex with Natiri. How could he make a commitment to a woman on another planet, while he's in a body that is temporary and not his at all? She tells him how she views sex - the proper way: "I am with you now, Jake, we are mated for life." This seems to pull Jake into reality, and he says to himself as he reenters his human body world, "What the hell are you doing, Jake?" Earlier, as he reenters his human body, unable to walk and not really interacting with another human being like he interacts with Natiri, he had said that he had begun to think of his human life as the dream world and the Pandoran world as the real world. No wonder! He has legs in the Pandoran world, he has a great girl friend with whom he hunts, flies around on a big dinosaur bird, and runs around nearly naked. Talk about a boy's dream come true. In the human world, he moves around in a wheelchair, barely has time to sleep much less develop any friendships, and works for a covetous, avaricious corporation that would like to destroy the Pandorans but for the bad press that would come from it.
But the biblical lesson of not communing with, marrying with, and adopting the ways of the pagan is clearly set forth, even if the Director had not intended to do so. The end result is almost perfectly scripted from Deut. 7.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Avatar, cont'd
When Jake gets left because he was chased by some huge Pandora black panther-type beast, a fantastic scene by the way, he has to find his way in the dark. The female Avatarian, Natiri, saves him and tells him it's his fault the animals that attacked him had to be killed. His existence in the forest, his ability to make fire (none of which would have saved him in the movie - symbolic of technology not saving man; then how did you make your movie without technology - one of many self-contradictions in the movie), are an affront to Pandora. He's supposed to mingle with the wildlife, with nature, not take dominion over it. Yet, even the Pandorans take dominion over the creatures, like the horse-like creatures and the flying dragons. More contradictions.
In the Director's Edition on the DVD there are 16 extra minutes, which has some key events narrated. Natiri's sister was killed by the humans, shot in the schoolhouse set up by the Dr. (Sigourney Weaver). That explains a couple of things. 1) Why Natiri is so hostile at the beginning, and 2) why the Director could portray the Pandorans as so innocent. The sister and some other young people had set fire to a bulldozer. Killing them seems like overkill and makes the humans look like the original aggressors.
The scene in the forest when the "seeds of the sacred tree" gather and rest upon Jake is remarkably similar to Jesus' baptism, where the Holy Spirit lighted upon Him and the Father's voice said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." I don't know if the Director, Cameron, is trying to replace Christianity with the Pandoran Pantheism, or if he just couldn't come up with anything better. In any event, the more things change, the more they stay the same. For dramatic effect, nothing beats God giving His sign of favor on the stranger, the One from the Sky People.
Just for grins: Regarding the attire of the Pandoran women, someone at Victoria's Secret needs to develop a Pandora Nature Wear line.
In the Director's Edition on the DVD there are 16 extra minutes, which has some key events narrated. Natiri's sister was killed by the humans, shot in the schoolhouse set up by the Dr. (Sigourney Weaver). That explains a couple of things. 1) Why Natiri is so hostile at the beginning, and 2) why the Director could portray the Pandorans as so innocent. The sister and some other young people had set fire to a bulldozer. Killing them seems like overkill and makes the humans look like the original aggressors.
The scene in the forest when the "seeds of the sacred tree" gather and rest upon Jake is remarkably similar to Jesus' baptism, where the Holy Spirit lighted upon Him and the Father's voice said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." I don't know if the Director, Cameron, is trying to replace Christianity with the Pandoran Pantheism, or if he just couldn't come up with anything better. In any event, the more things change, the more they stay the same. For dramatic effect, nothing beats God giving His sign of favor on the stranger, the One from the Sky People.
Just for grins: Regarding the attire of the Pandoran women, someone at Victoria's Secret needs to develop a Pandora Nature Wear line.
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Abyss
A fantastic story of aliens, or Atlantians, or whatever who are concerned about the violence on planet earth and create some fantastic water warnings (like the Great Flood?) for the humans. What stops them from destroying the earth, Ed Harris' character gives his life to defuse a nuclear weapon that has sunk to the bottom of the abyss, where the aliens live. He knew it was "a one way ticket when he left." And he told his girlfriend that he loves her. This simple message - self-sacrifice and love of a woman - is enough to stop the aliens' judgment. I don't see how you get anything out of this story unless you have faith in the God of the bible. Otherwise, it's just a silly, unbelievably fantastic and hopeful peacenik story. It is only worth watching if you see the Judgment God of the Bible holding back His anger because of the one-way ticket of His Son, which was not really a one-way ticket. Neither was Ed Harris' trip to the bottom; he was raised up from "the Abyss." Sounds almost like a catechism question. Modern movies make no sense and are mere explorations of fantasy and sentimentality, unless interpreted through the lens of the gospel.
The Gospel of John
This movie came out in 2002. It stars Henry Ian Cusick as Christ. He was the British fellow who showed up in, I believe, the 3rd season of "Lost" when the hatch was opened. Christopher Plummer narrates. Defects: It uses the Living Bible translation of the Gospel of John, and it unexplainably breaks up certain scenes, like John 6, into more than one setting. Strengths: It follows faithfully, without injection of any human edits or additions, the gospel of John. Cusick's acting is tremendous, as he portrays Christ in the gospel of John, the gospel that most explains who He is. It is different from the other gospels, which display His advice and instruction. The movie is visually and, more importantly, audibly powerful because of the personality of Christ portrayed, relentless in defending his assertions, which to those of the time, appear blasphemous, insane, and worse. Christ's righteous stand for Himself, in all its unpretentious and unselfish glory, is like a tsunami of words that overwhelm the viewer with their power. It is 3 hours long, but it flies by in no time, as you wonder how this person can withstand the opposition and continue to persuade, cajole, and argue His way into the people's hearts. One must either hate Him or love Him. One must also walk away from this movie with the thought of C.S. Lewis in mind, that Christ was either the Son of God, or He was the most wicked person ever to walk the earth, or he was crazy on the level of a man who thinks himself a grapefruit. But an honest viewing of this movie will leave you dazzled with the personality of "the man," the man who did what other men could not and claimed to be what other men could not be. It is, as Variety magazine describes it, "dramatically powerful," and it is much more.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Dave
The movie "Dave" is about a man who looks just like President Bill Mitchell and who takes his place after the president has a stroke. It's too bad the makers of the movie had to make it partisan, as if the democrats were the only politicans caring about people having jobs. Bill Mitchell is the consummate democrat, living for the camera, caring only about power and prestige, lying about who he was.
Otherwise, this movie actually demonstrates the gospel. Like the Christian receiving sonship in God's family as a gift, Dave receives the gift of a prestigious office, having done nothing to obtain it. But in a reversal of meaning, the real gift is in what Dave brings. He brings reality, a person who cares for others more than himself, more than the office. Thus, like Christ, he gives his righteousness to President Mitchell, whose life he is living. Not only that, but he takes on the guilt of President Mitchell and suffers for President Mitchell's sins, dying - in a sense - of the massive stroke only to rise again as Dave.
Thus, Christ, who cared little for office, prestige, the glory of man, gave Himself for us commoners. He took on our guilt and ended up with the greatest honor of all. For His righteousness was a real righteousness, not a pretend one. And He really gives His righteousness to us, not a pretend righteousness. And He dies a real death, not a pretend death.
Otherwise, this movie actually demonstrates the gospel. Like the Christian receiving sonship in God's family as a gift, Dave receives the gift of a prestigious office, having done nothing to obtain it. But in a reversal of meaning, the real gift is in what Dave brings. He brings reality, a person who cares for others more than himself, more than the office. Thus, like Christ, he gives his righteousness to President Mitchell, whose life he is living. Not only that, but he takes on the guilt of President Mitchell and suffers for President Mitchell's sins, dying - in a sense - of the massive stroke only to rise again as Dave.
Thus, Christ, who cared little for office, prestige, the glory of man, gave Himself for us commoners. He took on our guilt and ended up with the greatest honor of all. For His righteousness was a real righteousness, not a pretend one. And He really gives His righteousness to us, not a pretend righteousness. And He dies a real death, not a pretend death.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Signs
Signs is a wonderfully contrived vision of how the providence of God works to our good, even when we think things are working to the worse. A priest, played by Mel Gibson, has left his ministry because of the loss of his wife. We don't understand this at the beginning. We simply see him and his brother and his children and how they deal with the unknown. Crop circles appear, animals act weird, and finally it's revealed that an alien race has invaded our atmosphere. How do they react? Mel Gibson's brother asks for comfort. Mel gives him none. He gives him a choice - does he believe in chance or does he believe that there is a meaning behind it all, that things happen and someone is watching out for them through it all. Mel has given up that meaning because he has given up on God.
The person who doesn't believe is filled with fear, but the one who believes there's a meaning and someone watching out for them are filled with hope. Mel asks his brother what kind of person is he? Is it a sign, or do people just get lucky? "Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"
But the seriousness of the questions are interspersed continually with comedy that keeps you from recognizing that you are being sucked in. Sucked into what? Life and its vagaries, changes, unpredictabilities, disappointments. You are in the movie, living life, fearful, lacking in understanding as to why things happen, giving your best explanation which always seems to come up short. You don't know what connection the events going on in the movie and remembered by Mel have to each other. Your best attempts to solve your problems are silly, comedic, ineffectual. So, who's in charge, and is it for our good or for evil?
But the comedy is interspersed with true suspense, mystery, even terror. For instance, the time when Mel and his brother think they are chasing the same local pranksters but discover it's someone of enormous power. Then there's the time Mel tries to convince himself that it's just a human prank. He stands in the middle of a corn field, the bluish moonlight shedding a bright eerie glow on him and the field. Then, he encounters the unknown the unthinkable, and he reacts in terror - because he is not living in faith. And he turns to understanding as his solution. He tells his family it's time to turn the TV on. Before he wanted to protect his family from unwarranted fear. Now the reality is too close. Now he wants to know what's going on.
Then he encounters the man who killed his wife, by accident, but killed her nonetheless, and he speaks of the purpose of life, governed by a person. He has gone over it in his own mind over and over again, and he's come to the conclusion that it had to happen at just the exact right time. He could have fallen asleep behind the wheel at any point in his drive, and he would have simply driven into a ditch or tree and come out with a headache. But instead, he fell asleep just as he drove up to Mel's wife. "It's like it was meant to be." Even death has meaning, but the question in the movie is: What meaning? The man who killed Mel's wife, who thinks he's doomed for killing a reverend's wife, who has learned that God governs all things and that there's meaning in even the worst of events.
At the most crucial time of the invasion, Morgan, Mel's son, has an attack because of his medical condition. Then the truth comes out. Mel really believes, but he has not wanted to. In a demonstration of the grace of God poured out in spite of man's wickedness, Mel makes a perverse prayer. As he holds his son, who may die, he thinks of his wife, and says, "Don't do this to me again. Not again. . . . I hate you." Yet, his son doesn't die and they survive the night. It's one of the most touching moments of the movie, combining the love of a father for the son he thinks he'll lose (hints of Christ and the cross?) and the grief of a husband who has lost his wife in a freak accident.
In the final crisis, as usual, Mel's mind goes back to the night his wife died, and we learn what she said to him as she died. She has a message for each member of the family, but the messages for Mel and his brother are cryptic, and Mel has always attributed her words to the "random firings of the nerve endings of her brain" - nonsense in other words. But the movie returns us to the conversation with his brother when he's talking about those who "see" signs as meaning someone watching out for us and those who just believe in luck.
Mel's wife word for him was to "see," and that word sums up the faith problem Mel has throughout the movie. How will he see the events of his life? Will they have meaning? Will he learn from them? And, when the word has practical effect at the end, will he use it to effect and give his brother the message his wife had for him? The end of the movie is like eternity - when all the strange events of our life unfold and something meaningful and for our good is revealed. Even Mel's son's disease and his daughter's obsessive neurotic compulsion about water have a beneficial effect. Thus, the providence of God, the love of God, is displayed, even in the worst possible events we could imagine - death, disease, and the seeming end of the world.
The end of the movie is the simple but touching picture of a man restored in his faith, in his calling before God. Notice that after Mel has seen telling evidence of some odd creature - in the corn field where he saw the leg, he still tries to convince himself it's not true. When he went to Ray Reddy's house, he speaks to someone in the pantry as if it's some prankster. In fact, the first half of the movie, Mel's character appears to be atheistic, but we see what he really is toward the end, when he "prays" and says, "Not again, not again. I hate you. I hate you." He hates God because of what he has lost, what he has suffered. This is the truth of the atheist, not that he doesn't believe in God but that he doesn't want to, he hates God. This movie is not about aliens or signs; it's about a man whose suffering has caused him to turn against God, and it is about the fact that our suffering is not evidence that God is cruel. In fact, even our suffering turns to our good. This is the message of "Signs."
The person who doesn't believe is filled with fear, but the one who believes there's a meaning and someone watching out for them are filled with hope. Mel asks his brother what kind of person is he? Is it a sign, or do people just get lucky? "Is it possible that there are no coincidences?"
But the seriousness of the questions are interspersed continually with comedy that keeps you from recognizing that you are being sucked in. Sucked into what? Life and its vagaries, changes, unpredictabilities, disappointments. You are in the movie, living life, fearful, lacking in understanding as to why things happen, giving your best explanation which always seems to come up short. You don't know what connection the events going on in the movie and remembered by Mel have to each other. Your best attempts to solve your problems are silly, comedic, ineffectual. So, who's in charge, and is it for our good or for evil?
But the comedy is interspersed with true suspense, mystery, even terror. For instance, the time when Mel and his brother think they are chasing the same local pranksters but discover it's someone of enormous power. Then there's the time Mel tries to convince himself that it's just a human prank. He stands in the middle of a corn field, the bluish moonlight shedding a bright eerie glow on him and the field. Then, he encounters the unknown the unthinkable, and he reacts in terror - because he is not living in faith. And he turns to understanding as his solution. He tells his family it's time to turn the TV on. Before he wanted to protect his family from unwarranted fear. Now the reality is too close. Now he wants to know what's going on.
Then he encounters the man who killed his wife, by accident, but killed her nonetheless, and he speaks of the purpose of life, governed by a person. He has gone over it in his own mind over and over again, and he's come to the conclusion that it had to happen at just the exact right time. He could have fallen asleep behind the wheel at any point in his drive, and he would have simply driven into a ditch or tree and come out with a headache. But instead, he fell asleep just as he drove up to Mel's wife. "It's like it was meant to be." Even death has meaning, but the question in the movie is: What meaning? The man who killed Mel's wife, who thinks he's doomed for killing a reverend's wife, who has learned that God governs all things and that there's meaning in even the worst of events.
At the most crucial time of the invasion, Morgan, Mel's son, has an attack because of his medical condition. Then the truth comes out. Mel really believes, but he has not wanted to. In a demonstration of the grace of God poured out in spite of man's wickedness, Mel makes a perverse prayer. As he holds his son, who may die, he thinks of his wife, and says, "Don't do this to me again. Not again. . . . I hate you." Yet, his son doesn't die and they survive the night. It's one of the most touching moments of the movie, combining the love of a father for the son he thinks he'll lose (hints of Christ and the cross?) and the grief of a husband who has lost his wife in a freak accident.
In the final crisis, as usual, Mel's mind goes back to the night his wife died, and we learn what she said to him as she died. She has a message for each member of the family, but the messages for Mel and his brother are cryptic, and Mel has always attributed her words to the "random firings of the nerve endings of her brain" - nonsense in other words. But the movie returns us to the conversation with his brother when he's talking about those who "see" signs as meaning someone watching out for us and those who just believe in luck.
Mel's wife word for him was to "see," and that word sums up the faith problem Mel has throughout the movie. How will he see the events of his life? Will they have meaning? Will he learn from them? And, when the word has practical effect at the end, will he use it to effect and give his brother the message his wife had for him? The end of the movie is like eternity - when all the strange events of our life unfold and something meaningful and for our good is revealed. Even Mel's son's disease and his daughter's obsessive neurotic compulsion about water have a beneficial effect. Thus, the providence of God, the love of God, is displayed, even in the worst possible events we could imagine - death, disease, and the seeming end of the world.
The end of the movie is the simple but touching picture of a man restored in his faith, in his calling before God. Notice that after Mel has seen telling evidence of some odd creature - in the corn field where he saw the leg, he still tries to convince himself it's not true. When he went to Ray Reddy's house, he speaks to someone in the pantry as if it's some prankster. In fact, the first half of the movie, Mel's character appears to be atheistic, but we see what he really is toward the end, when he "prays" and says, "Not again, not again. I hate you. I hate you." He hates God because of what he has lost, what he has suffered. This is the truth of the atheist, not that he doesn't believe in God but that he doesn't want to, he hates God. This movie is not about aliens or signs; it's about a man whose suffering has caused him to turn against God, and it is about the fact that our suffering is not evidence that God is cruel. In fact, even our suffering turns to our good. This is the message of "Signs."
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