Avatar is Pagan, and Boring.

Box Office

The Vatican doesn't think much of Avatar. And frankly neither do I.

When the film opened in Italy, the Vatican offered a review.  A Philadelphia Daily News columnist covering the release wrote:

The Vatican newspaper and radio station are criticizing James Cameron's billion-dollar 3-D blockbuster for flirting with the idea that worship of nature can replace religion - a notion that the pope has warned against. They call the movie a simplistic and sappy tale, despite its awe-inspiring special effects.

There are only a few really big ideas of what the world's all about. One God, no God, many gods, and variations therein. North America has historically been dominated by monotheism and the great questions of divine presence (or lack of it), but this story has fallen out of favor in our culture.

Rather, as surprisingly Christian and theologically reflective piece by Russ Douthat in the New York Times points out, Hollywood's themes are increasingly old-school pantheistic paganism. From Star Wars to Pocahontas to Avatar's "All Mother" force, the themes reflect an ancient worldview of divinity in all things and harmony in the cycle of life/death.

I hesitate to say this change is a loss for Christianity, since that would assume that the movies ever did reflect a truly Christian worldview (more likely Hollywood has been spewing a jumble of vaguely monotheistic bits that generally suggests God likes us and all, but we're mostly on our own, so let's stick together). Rather, I'd suggest the diversity of stories gives us a chance to more clearly articulate what is and is not the Christian story, much as Douthat has done.

Clearly, Avatar is glorious eye candy. It's a spectacular visual experience second to none, and groundbeaking in it's 3D techniques. It deserves many technical awards. But what finally soured my opinion of Avatar was the story itself, filled with stereotypes, cliches, and re-hashed film conventions.  It was Pocahontas & Ferngully rolled up with action sequences from Aliens. When the visual technique wore thin, I was checking my watch and waiting for it to be over. Once again, it seems narrative is everything.

So did you see paganism in Avatar? What other big big stories do you see in which films? Is the diversity of religious worldview in Hollywood films a loss for Christians or a chance to set our story apart?

(Editor's note: We've had several of our contributors write about Avatar.  The links to the other posts are here and here.)

Login to comment

Comments (23)

Of course I saw the paganism. The characters were supposed to be akin to Native Americans with their nature worship and whatnot.

What I can't understand is why the Vatican thinks this is worth commenting on. As if Avatar is really going to lead people to paganism. If people are that gullible, it should be rather easy to bring them back anyway. What does the Vatican expect from movies? That all the characters are Christians and the films are rooted in reality? That would make for some rather boring movies. James Cameron made up a race of people, and naturally, part of making up a culture involves making up a religion.
Thank you for saying what's been on my mind too! So many Christians are flocking to this 'visual feast' and while it is stunning, its message left me cold. Nice analysis!

David
http://www.redletterbelievers....
"North America has historically been dominated by monotheism" - well, I think you forgot the history of North America didn't start with the discovery of the "New World". As far as I remember, there has been a long tradition of Indian religion, that hasn't been too monotheistic! ;-)
Many of the movies in America are not Christian or Christian like...d movie too me is a great movie and very intresting if I might add
Actually, a fair number of Native American (and west African) religions are montheistic, although in practice they get cluttered up with all kinds of intermediaries, not unlike Roman saints. Check out the conversation between the Anglican missionary and the local chief in Chinwa Achebe's Things Fall Apart.

I would find it odd if a totally fictional book about a totally fictional culture had our understanding of God front and center. I've noticed that fiction such as Ursula LeGuin's doesn't either have a pagan pantheon nor some analogue of Christianity, and that's fine with me. Even C.S. Lewis said that he did not set out to write a thinly veiled Christian allegory, he just set out to write a story. Where I would expect to see a Christian sense of God is in movies about communities in North America that have a substantial Christian population. Everyone in those movies shouldn't be a de facto agnostic, and the roles of Christians should be about in proportion to, and modeled after, their role in real life.
Yes, and it's amazing how North American Christianity is most often cinematically portrayed in a negative light when it is portrayed.
I strongly believe the key point of the film wasn't religion specifically, so much as taking care of the resources our planet provides... not abusing what we've got to the point that our race is on the brink of collapse. Additionally, how we should handle the need/quest for resources if ours are depleted or nearly so... and that we shouldn't go after it regardless of any costs to what we may feel are "lesser species" than ourselves. Like it or not, there's a delicate balance in ecosystems... you throw something off with carelessness, and there's bound to be nasty repurcussions. This is a message everyone really needs to consider regardless of our race or religion. Lastly I think the film not so subtly points at how we in America (in our history) very poorly "took over" the US territories and very nearly destroyed a culture (Native Americans) who had just as much right to use the land. I'm surprised how much of a rant this article conveys, considering this blog has typically tried to open discussion in a more positive way... rather than complaints about hollywood and other religions, it often poses questions like: "what can we do in a positive way with our faith in spite of the things we disagree with or believe are unhealthy?". I almost imagine you went into the film with your arms crossed, brow furrowed, waiting for the first opportunity to critique... instead of allowing the characters, subtexts, and overall mission of the film to inspire and entertain you.
While Avatar is the popular movie to criticize today (which makes sense as we've grown to be a society where it's "cool" to criticize the popular), I thoroughly enjoyed it on two levels:

1. art. it's simply stunning. those who have seen avatar (especially in 3d) have witnessed the next step in visual effects; much like the star wars of old.

2. Avatar is monotheistic in nature. The "all mother" is the deity. Only one deity. One. All things contain the energy/life that has it's root in one deity. I'd say that - while not using the same language - i'd say my Christianity is very similar

Pagans believe that many things have their own - individual - spirit. very different from the system described in Avatar where everything is interconnected in it's existance (as I'd say is true for Christians) and there all those interconnections ultimately fall under one deity (which I'd say is true for Christians).
@AdamLehman & SiarlysJenkins:

Sorry, but that isn't correct at all. What you're describing has very little to do with monotheism - it's simply pantheism / panentheism.

Sorry - I should have mentioned that "Theolobias" and "Tobias Lampert" is very much the same person ... ;-) Just couldn't stand that Disqus-thing any longer.
Panentheism. Thanks Tobias! I learned something today. That’s exactly what it represents.

To be honest, my first impressions were that it was a first rate Disneyland thrill ride. It was disorienting and disconcerting to have bugs flying through the theater over my head. The forest was magical in the way that Fern Gully or the Ewok Village was. I kept thinking that I’ll bet George Lucas is completely envious. That said, if you strip away the special effects, the movie was a one dimensional morality play with the usual heros and villains. White man corporations bad, gentle primitive natives good. No nuances, no thought provoking issues. The standard plot of 90% of Hollywood films of the last 20 years. In reality I felt the novelty of 3-D got in the way of any character development and narrative. A good film allows for a little bit of distance between the viewer and the medium, to provide space for contemplation. This felt like being caught up in a video game.

Of course, you could say all the usuals about new age religion, demonic imagery and pagan themes but I will leave that to someone else. A fun Disneyland ride.
@Guest

What I'm describing has everything to do with monotheism. One God. One deity. One set of ears that I share my life with.

By simply stating, "sorry, but that isn't correct at all." does very little to add to the discussion.

What I found frustrating in Avatar was not the paganism per se, but the idea that pagan beliefs somehow "elevated" the native people over the invaders. Why add an incoherent gloss of an ill-defined religion? It is the use of the "simple pagan people = good" and "sophisticated foreign people = bad" stereotype that is frustrating. Why not elevate the connection of the people and animals to nature along the lines of the elves in the Lord of the Rings series? Having the natives praying to a tree, after showing their incredible ability to use a physical and mental connection to animals and to manipulate their environment in general, simply diminished them in my eyes. Why not give them an understanding of the tree and root mechanism as a knowledge storage and transmission device?
Well, it certainly wasn't Christian, so Pagan would be a good word to describe it. Though Eywa did seem to be a personal deity, and the connection with nature was part of their relationship with her. I was still moved by the worn out narrative of the greedy imperialists vs. the primal, "innocent," peace-keeping, earth-loving "others." Learning to "see" the "other" is a powerful and important lesson whenever and wherever it is conveyed.

See the latest in:

Promotion

promo 1 promo 2
promo 3 promo 4

Donate Now