James Cameron doesn’t make a ton of movies, but when he does; he does it well Any director can make a lot of movies, some of which turn out to be exceptional. Cameron seems to focus on quality over quantity and in my opinion that makes him one of the most successful film directors of his time. Titanic will always be his greatest achievement. Avatar is a very close second.
The movie takes place on a moon known as Pandora in the year 2154. Humans have come to this moon to mine a precious mineral known as unobtanium. The name is hilarious in my mind, unobtanium. We have gone there to obtain a mineral whose name suggests that it cannot be obtained. Intelligent. This moon, Pandora, is inhabited by a race of beings known as the Navi. They are much bigger than humans, we look like unique children when we are next to one of them. They are a less advanced race when it comes to technology. Throughout the film we get the impression that they are more in tune with nature than with technology, which explains why they seem less advanced. Money seems to be the driving force behind technology. Without money, one has to wonder how far we would have come in terms of technology. The main premise is that we are there for unobtanium and the Navi are in the way.
One of the villages is under a giant tree that grows over the largest deposit of the mineral anywhere on the planet. The mining company has contracted with the military to relocate the indigenous population so they can begin mining operations. The Navi, however, are not willing to leave. Humans have engineered Navi bodies laced with human DNA. The DNA of a human being used in each body is specific, so the body can only be used by the donor of that DNA. The human who donated the DNA can enter a machine and link to Navi’s body. Humans use these hybrid Navi-human bodies (called Avatars) to try to gain the trust of the Navi people.
At first, this technology was used to study the Navi, to try to understand them better. Thus, there is a clash in the film between the scientists running the show and the mining company. Scientists believe there is much more to learn and gain from Navi than just unobtainium. One of the scientists who was to operate one of the Navi bodies dies. He luckily he had a twin brother, who happens to be paralyzed from the waist down, who can operate on the body. They share the same DNA, so the body should work for it. The problem is that he used to be a soldier. The commander of the group responsible for cleaning the Navi sends him to try to get Intel. This paralyzed soldier is the main character of the movie and his name is Jake Sully. While he is in his Navi body, he learns the ways of Navi. When he realizes that the mining company is willing to kill Navi to get the unobtanium, he decides to help Navi fight back.
The story is a bit more complicated than that, but you get the basic plot of the movie. I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it. The graphics are amazing! Unfortunately, the religious community has had issues with the film. Real people? How ridiculous can we get as a society? The main problem with the film is Navi’s worship of nature and his god known as Eywa. I don’t even know where to start with this. We have not made contact with another race, as far as we know, thus far. If that day comes, do we really believe that they will believe in the same god that we have come to believe in on this planet? If they did, that would go a long way toward proving that our version of God is correct, but that hasn’t happened. That means the jury is still out in my mind on the existence of a god. If we make contact with another race of beings, and their religion turns out to be very different from ours; What does that tell us about the existence of a god? I don’t want to get into a debate about the existence or not of god, but I feel these questions need to be asked.
It is true that in the past humans worshiped nature as a god or gods, the religion is known as Paganism. Since Navi seems to worship nature in the movie, this worries some people in the religious community. That Avatar will somehow cause a resurgence in the Pagan religion. Would that be a bad thing? I am not sure, but what I am sure of is that we could bear to respect nature a little more on this planet.
In the film, the Navi have achieved a balance with nature. They live within nature, as part of it. Of course, in the movie they have a much cooler connection to the world around them. The Navi are truly capable of connecting with the world around them. His hair ends in a game of nerves. Other life forms have this same trait, even trees and the Navi can connect with these other living things. When they ride their version of a horse, they connect their nervous system to that of the animal. The same goes for your flying creatures. They can connect to the trees and listen to the life forces of the world around them, past and present. This is a brilliant conceptual aspect of the film that really sells the Navi culture. How cool would it be if we could do that? More importantly, what would nature have to tell us if we could?
It’s natural to lash out when you feel threatened by something and that’s all the religious community has done with this movie. Anytime someone’s belief system is threatened, they feel the need to react, so I can understand their problem with this movie. However, they must realize that this is a brilliant work of art, and nothing more. It takes place on a fictional planet in the Alpha Centauri star system. The Navi are not real and sadly the amazing planet of Pandora is not real. How cool would it be if it was? I wouldn’t mind spending a year or two there. The fact that the religious community felt threatened in any way by the message of this film leads me to wonder how dangerous belief in a god really is.
Never mind the fact that the main message had nothing to do with worshiping nature but with respecting it. I don’t know if there’s going to be a big pagan revival because of this movie. I doubt it, but everything is possible. What I do know is that the film is much more than just a message. It is a work of art that aims to amaze our imagination. The planet Pandora is beautiful, with floating mountains, misty forests, and trees as big as skyscrapers. The variety of plants and animals a feast for the eyes and the imagination. If there’s any real message from the movie, it’s that greed is bad. I think the religious community would have focused more on this positive message. The fact that the mining company was willing to kill the incredible Navi and destroy the land above simply to reach a mineral below. A mineral that they only seek, because it will make many people on earth richer than they already are. In my opinion, that is the real message of the film, if there is one. That we can’t just destroy for the sake of greed.
Whatever message each of us chooses, the important thing is that you saw this movie. It’s rare that a movie comes along that stimulates our imaginations and makes us think of the possibilities. What fantastic planets may be waiting for us to discover them. I highly recommend Avatar to anyone who hasn’t seen this movie. It may very well be one of the greatest cinematic feats of our time.
