Comments on: Is Christ God’s avatar?

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 21:49:53 +0000

While not wanting to subtract from your brilliant analogies, I saw Avatar on TV on New Year’s Day and wasn’t impressed. It seemed to be a pretty clear analogy on development in the Amazon. So why didn’t they just set it in the Amazon? Could it be that marketing executives considered handsome, tall blue people with perfect teeth more attactive to the film’s target demographic than indigenous Amazonian tribespeople?

By: Bosco Peters

Bosco Peters — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 22:26:34 +0000

By, “I havn’t read the whole story”, Sander – it appears you mean this post.

By: Sander Alkaimo

Sander Alkaimo — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 21:21:13 +0000

Are you seriously comparing the Christian belief to the beliefs of the Na’vi? If there are any beliefs that should be compared to Avatar’s ‘Eywa’, It should be hindoism, Pagan beliefs or Shamanism. They are nature-based or spiritual based, sorta like in the movie. I havn’t read the whole story, but please, don’t make any link between the Christian beliefs and the one from the movie Avatar, it isn’t the same at all, in ANY way.

By: Jordan Edwards

Jordan Edwards — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 04:37:08 +0000

3d movies are so cool, i just wish that we could watch 3d movies on TV*,,

By: Richard Anderson

Richard Anderson — Wed, 19 May 2010 04:24:52 +0000

I had previously decided not to watch this movie, thinking it would be too weird. I’m glad I decided to watch it. It turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever seen. However, I believe that our own world is even stranger, more beautiful and mysterious than Pandora. So lets keep it clean and learn to share it. It belongs to all of us.

By: Albert Serano

Albert Serano — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:55:22 +0000

I like the Avatar 3D film, especially the story line, not solely it brings a very new feelings but inspiring ideas of humanity. I heard the New Avatar 2 is comming soon, cannot wait to watch it again…!

By: Wilson Hewatt

Wilson Hewatt — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:25:21 +0000

During the movie, I was momentarily messed up by many of the similar things that were been discussed here, but for the most part, I dismissed them as my expectations progressed. Even the over zealous depiction of “corporate greed” or the “over-zealous military commander” were accepted as being a important section of the story.But there one technical thing that (oddly enough, I guess) irritated me. There was no way to go back and view it again, but I’m pretty sure that when the Colonel was killed, he took his hands off the robot controls, trying to remove the arrow/bolt. Yet, with the Colonel’s death, the robot TOPPLED OVER! I would have expected such a machine just to simply stop moving and stand there.

By: Bosco Peters

Bosco Peters — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:20:53 +0000

I went to Avatar for a second time yesterday and figured out why some people overseas come out feeling despondent (as mentioned in comments above & in some reviews). They are sad they are not living in New Zealand where so much of the movie’s beauty was clearly filmed.

By: Ian Stevenson

Ian Stevenson — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:01:51 +0000

Just in reply to Mr StanmoreRob. I am really surprised at your response to this movie. You must have gone in with some preconceived ideas that there was some religious message of something(?) I loved the message re the environment. We have raped our own planet in exactly this manner and this movie illustrates that. Pagan or otherwise the idea of connectedness and respect is there in spades and is a good thing. I think the cost of the movie is irrelevant.

I suggest you widen your perspective otherwise you are going to be constantly disappointed (or stop going to fantasy movies)

By: Christopher Orczy

Christopher Orczy — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:35:05 +0000

I am pleased you noticed the Roger Dean influence. I am hoping the Roger Dean will get some credit at some point for this.

By: John Sobert Sylvest

John Sobert Sylvest — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:37:26 +0000

Putting the best of Brooks & Bell together (see articles in previous post), what if we set aside our racial-cultural lenses to interpret each individual in the film, color-blindly & w/o cultural biases, each as a part of our own selves w/our own biases. Then, we might receive the film’s message in quantitative terms, which is to say that one person brought a more rational, dualist, problem-solving approach and that was enough to complement the more predominant, nondual approach of the other protagonists.

IOW, our greatest value-realizations in our relationship to self, other, God and the environment will come from a more robustly nondual stance, which enjoys a primacy but not an autonomy vis a vis our rational approaches to reality. Put most simply, humankind needs a LOT more nonduality and a lot less dualistic problem-solving; but we clearly need BOTH to best realize life’s values.

By: John Sobert Sylvest

John Sobert Sylvest — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 20:38:32 +0000

Below are two good reads re: Avatar's strengths and weaknesses: Caveat: Spoiler Alert! Avatar, Parsnips and Aboriginal Agony | Steve Bell | David Brooks: The Messiah Complex - NYTimes.com And why shouldn't Avatar have both strengths and weaknesses, getting so much so very right and quite a bit wrong, too? That reflects my own brokenness. Our coming together makes us whole. Avatar has much wheat and a good bit of chaff, they say? Sounds like my journey. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

By: StanmoreRob

StanmoreRob — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:41:30 +0000

This article by a self proclaimed ‘rationalist, ‘atheist’, ‘humanist’ is worth a look. I agree with him about the film generally but totally disagree with his claim that the film is Christian or ‘messianic’. I’ll keep insisting that the fairly weak spirituality it contains is Pagan to the core.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/24688186/Film-Rave-1

By: StanmoreRob

StanmoreRob — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:06:19 +0000

I find what you say interesting- some valid points raised but, over-all, I can’t agree. Avatar annoyed me, I walked out of the cinema feeling irritated and wanting to kick one of those silly blue things! I saw it as a film that emerges from an increasingly Godless society desperately searching for some sense of the spiritual. To my mind it was very much more Pagan than Christian. I think that Emma’s point about the film leaving people feeling despondent is important. Avatar doesn’t offer a genuine spirituality but, rather, a big bag of special effects and a dose of Goddess worship. I despair that so much money was spent to accomplish so little when so much of the world’s population still don’t have adequate food and water.

By: Emma

Emma — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 11:50:38 +0000

Hmm, seems like my reply didn’t stick. Had major internet problems yesterday! Thanks for your Bosco. I’m a C of E Christian and have only been to a couple of ordinations which were a long time ago which is why I missed it! As I have been involved with other spiritualities for the last couple of years I saw mostly pagan ideas in the film, mostly the interconnected and interdependance of all living things. Thanks for pointing out the christian element!
Also, have you noticed how film goers are reporting feeling berift and depressed after watching the film. They say they are dispondant as they realise their life is so much less than it could be. I think there is a real mission point to be had here.