The Green Movement and the One World Religion

‘Avatar’ and Paganism

Movie Review

By Andrew Strom, Infowars
December 28, 2009

‘Avatar’ is an enormous worldwide blockbuster movie — the first to use truly lifelike 3D — a huge leap forward that is sure to revolutionize the entire industry. I managed to see the movie in 3D this week; and, like everyone, I was utterly wowed by the lifelike 3D images and special effects. But there were some things about the film that truly disturbed me.

Maybe we should expect spiritual outrageousness from Hollywood by now. After all, they hardly seem to be able to make a spiritual statement in their movies without alienating every Christian in the audience. (They have been warned about this before. As Michael Medved has stated, Hollywood loses billions of dollars simply by offending Christians and church-goers — who number in the hundreds of millions in America). They often don’t seem to care.

But Avatar takes this to a new extreme. Many critics have commented that it has a deeply pro-environmentalist message. And indeed, it seems almost loaded with every touchy-feely New Age environmentalist theme that you can imagine. Some critics are calling it “Dances With Wolves in space.” But it sure does look amazing — in fact, stunningly real. It truly is a work of art.

The futuristic story revolves around an ex-marine posted to a planet with rich mining deposits — who has to inhabit an alien “avatar” body so he can infiltrate the local tribe that opposes the mining. Thus he becomes one of these blue-colored humanoids.

Though the film’s images are stunning audiences worldwide, the spirituality in it is at the far extreme of New Age. And it is not “subtle” either. It is a huge part of the story. More and more you see the “Gaia”-type ‘Earth-goddess’ stuff — plus pagan or wicca-like rituals — until half the film seems almost saturated with them.

As I said, most people have grown to expect this stuff from politically-correct and spiritually-weird Hollywood by now. But we are talking here about the most expensive ($300 million) and most revolutionary new film in history. Surely they have to be concerned that preaching such a message may lose them hundreds of millions of dollars in potential revenue? Apparently not.

It always strikes me as sad when these great breakthroughs in the arts fail to glorify the One who gave us creativity in the first place. And sadly, this is one of those times. And I guess that is why, even after the awe and wonder of seeing one of the greatest visual spectacles of our age, I left the theatre feeling pretty flat. And I wonder how many others felt the same — even non-Christians. I wonder how many left sensing there was something very wrong at the core of this story. I would guess it might be quite a few. (There have been a lot of complaints about the storyline).

Even many non-Christians may not like seeing the “Earth mother goddess” getting all the glory. Which is why I think this movie will never take top spot as the most-watched film in history — despite all the money spent on it. And also why I think the sequel will never earn the kind of money that they hope for.

Will Hollywood learn its lesson? I strongly doubt it.

Viewers Experience Depression and Suicidal Thoughts After Seeing ‘Avatar’ and Long to Enjoy the Beauty of the Alien World Pandora

“Avatar” is on track to be the highest grossing film of all time, but some viewers say it leaves them depressed

By Jo Piazza, CNN
January 11, 2010

James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

On the fan forum site “Avatar Forums,” a topic thread entitled “Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible,” has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope. The topic became so popular last month that forum administrator Philippe Baghdassarian had to create a second thread so people could continue to post their confused feelings about the movie.

“I wasn’t depressed myself. In fact the movie made me happy,” Baghdassarian said. “But I can understand why it made people depressed. The movie was so beautiful and it showed something we don’t have here on Earth. I think people saw we could be living in a completely different world and that caused them to be depressed.”

A post by a user called Elequin expresses an almost obsessive relationship with the film.

“That’s all I have been doing as of late, searching the Internet for more info about ‘Avatar.’ I guess that helps. It’s so hard I can’t force myself to think that it’s just a movie, and to get over it, that living like the Na’vi will never happen. I think I need a rebound movie,” Elequin posted.

A user named Mike wrote on the fan Web site “Naviblue” that he contemplated suicide after seeing the movie.

“Ever since I went to see ‘Avatar’ I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na’vi made me want to be one of them. I can’t stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and all of the tears and shivers I got from it,” Mike posted. “I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in ‘Avatar.’ ”

Other fans have expressed feelings of disgust with the human race and disengagement with reality.

Cameron’s movie, which has pulled in more than $1.4 billion in worldwide box office sales and could be on track to be the highest grossing film of all time, is set in the future when the Earth’s resources have been pillaged by the human race. A greedy corporation is trying to mine the rare mineral unobtainium from the planet Pandora, which is inhabited by a peace-loving race of 10-foot tall, blue-skinned natives called the Na’vi.

In their race to mine for Pandora’s resources, the humans clash with the Na’vi, leading to casualties on both sides. The world of Pandora is reminiscent of a prehistoric fantasyland, filled with dinosaur-like creatures mixed with the kinds of fauna you may find in the deep reaches of the ocean. Compared with life on Earth, Pandora is a beautiful, glowing utopia.

Ivar Hill posts to the “Avatar” forum page under the name Eltu. He wrote about his post-”Avatar” depression after he first saw the film earlier this month.

“When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed … gray. It was like my whole life, everything I’ve done and worked for, lost its meaning,” Hill wrote on the forum. “It just seems so … meaningless. I still don’t really see any reason to keep … doing things at all. I live in a dying world.”

Reached via e-mail in Sweden where he is studying game design, Hill, 17, explained that his feelings of despair made him desperately want to escape reality.

“One can say my depression was twofold: I was depressed because I really wanted to live in Pandora, which seemed like such a perfect place, but I was also depressed and disgusted with the sight of our world, what we have done to Earth. I so much wanted to escape reality,” Hill said.

Cameron’s special effects masterpiece is very lifelike, and the 3-D performance capture and CGI effects essentially allow the viewer to enter the alien world of Pandora for the movie’s 2½-hour running time, which only lends to the separation anxiety some individuals experience when they depart the movie theater.

“Virtual life is not real life and it never will be, but this is the pinnacle of what we can build in a virtual presentation so far,” said Dr. Stephan Quentzel, psychiatrist and Medical Director for the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. “It has taken the best of our technology to create this virtual world and real life will never be as utopian as it seems onscreen. It makes real life seem more imperfect.”

Fans of the movie may find actor Stephen Lang, who plays the villainous Col. Miles Quaritch in the film, an enemy of the Na’vi people and their sacred ground, an unlikely sympathizer. But Lang says he can understand the connection people are feeling with the movie.

“Pandora is a pristine world, and there is the synergy between all of the creatures of the planet, and I think that strikes a deep chord within people that has a wishfulness and a wistfulness to it,” Lang said. “James Cameron had the technical resources to go along with this incredibly fertile imagination of his and his dream is built out of the same things that other peoples’ dreams are made of.”

The bright side is that for Hill and others like him — who became dissatisfied with their own lives and with our imperfect world after enjoying the fictional creation of James Cameron — becoming a part of a community of like-minded people on an online forum has helped them emerge from the darkness.

“After discussing on the forums for a while now, my depression is beginning to fade away. Having taken a part in many discussions concerning all this has really, really helped me,” Hill said. “Before, I had lost the reason to keep on living — but now it feels like these feelings are gradually being replaced with others.”

Quentzel said creating relationships with others is one of the keys to human happiness, and that even if those connections are occurring online they are better than nothing.

“Obviously there is community building in these forums,” Quentzel said. “It may be technologically different from other community building, but it serves the same purpose.”

Within the fan community, suggestions for battling feelings of depression after seeing the movie include things like playing “Avatar” video games or downloading the movie soundtrack, in addition to encouraging members to relate to other people outside the virtual realm and to seek out positive and constructive activities.

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