Avatar – Double Entendres
Avatar – Double Entendres
The movie has many double entendres. For example, the destruction of “home tree” shows a couple of the multiple trunks toppling. It brings to mind the falling of the twin towers. Combined with the Colonel’s comment just before the final battle about fighting terror with terror could be a comment on the GWOT, Global War on Terror.
Do you get the sense that there’s something of a reflection of the War in Iraq as you see the military, hired mercenaries, trying to take the valuable asset (read “Oil”) from the natives (read “innocent Iraqis”)? Continue reading “Avatar – Double Entendres”
Avatar – The Technological Ambiguities
Avatar – The Technological Ambiguities
Cameron, the Director, is attacking modern Western Civilization to a large extent in this movie. (See the special on the DVD, “Message from Pandora,” where Cameron and a few of the actors go to aid the native activists in a South American country to prevent development of land.) Yet, he himself has profited from modern technology by making the movie. Which is it, James? Is technology bad or good? Good for your pocket but not for the corporation attempting to make a profit on Pandora. Continue reading “Avatar – The Technological Ambiguities”
Avatar – post 6 – Is Idolatry Possible on Pandora?
Is Idolatry Possible on Pandora?
The corporate CEO in charge of the process of mining Pandora makes the most biblical statement about Pandoran religion when the Dr. is trying to tell him about the scientific and sacred nature of the tree system on Pandora. “You throw a stick in the air around here, and it’s gonna land on some sacred fern, for Christ’s sake.” Interesting combination of words in that sentence. And to make sure the modern, 21st century American, who worships science is brought in intellectually (the viewer is already emotionally on the side of the “real” people of Pandora and not the capitalist pigs the humans are shown as) to side with the Pandorans, the Dr. says, “I’m not talking about some kind of pagan voodoo here, I’m talking about something real, something measurable in the biology of the forest. . . . What we think we know is there is some electro-chemical communication between the roots of the trees, like the synapses between neurons. Each tree has 10 to the 4th connections to the trees around it, and there are 10 to the 12th trees on Pandora. . . . It’s more connections than the human brain. Get it? It’s a network, it’s a global network, and the Navi [Pandorans] can access it. They can upload and download data, memories at sites like the one you just destroyed.” The CEO’s response, while laughing: “What the hell have you people been smoking out there? They’re just g__ d____ trees.”
Continue reading “Avatar – post 6 – Is Idolatry Possible on Pandora?”
The Matrix – Post 1
The Matrix – Too Complex to Pin Down
The Matrix has been studied from so many perspectives, perhaps showing how brilliant the movie is. There’s really no telling what the beliefs of the movie’s makers are; there’s such a montage of meaning in it. Analyzing all the underlying meaning is daunting, but that is not my goal with movies. Because I want to edify my Christian faith when watching a movie, I’m always going to gravitate to the biblical meanings that were either intentionally or accidentally in the movie. I believe it appears in all aspects of life even in artistic works. I don’t contend that there are no other meanings; I just don’t see the need to go there. Reviewing it from a biblical perspective only is still daunting. In the Matrix are the obvious Christian messages and the not so obvious. But it’s odd for a movie to be so wrapped up into a worldview that so parallels the Christian or biblical worldview as The Matrix does. It will take several posts to get anywhere with this movie, so here are my initial thoughts. Continue reading “The Matrix – Post 1”