Avatar is an example of a movie whose very premise requires us to disregard any sort of factual improbabilities or scientific inaccuracies. We have to take for granted that there could potentially be a planet like Pandora where scientists are able to actually map out an interconnectedness of the life there that so resembles a range of religious philosophies about the way our world is made up. The reality of this fantasy is masterfully crafted and augmented by the use of 3D to give it a sense of both immediacy and other-worldliness.
It’s actually a fascinating parable about the ways science could potentially prove the existence of some religious concepts, at least to the satisfaction of the pantheistically inclined. The notion that everything in the world, from humans (or the Na’vi) to animals to vegetation, is imbued with this network of divine particles, a kind of holy spirit, is enticing. It’s a view that can be and often is applied by religious traditions to explain how our world could work. So Avatar is a fantasy that the things people with faith believe in is actually provable and confirmed by science. It’s a nice idea, at least. I’m not sure how I feel about James Cameron being our god though.
Continue reading on the next page…