Avatar Commentary

I got a chance to see Avatar over the holidays…I was really excited to see it and it did not disappoint!  The cinematography and special effects were awesome! I saw it in 3-D, but I would love to see it in IMAX just because I think it would have been even better on such a large screen. But beyond the graphics and the special effects lies a story that has been told and retold countless times.  A brief synopsis of movie: 

“When his brother is killed in battle, paraplegic Marine Jake Sully decides to take his place in a mission on the distant world of Pandora. There he learns of greedy corporate figurehead Parker Selfridge's intentions of driving off the native humanoid "Na'vi" in order to mine for the precious material scattered throughout their rich woodland. In exchange for the spinal surgery that will fix his legs, Jake gathers intel for the cooperating military unit spearheaded by gung-ho Colonel Quaritch, while simultaneously attempting to infiltrate the Na'vi people with the use of an "avatar" identity. While Jake begins to bond with the native tribe and quickly falls in love with the beautiful alien Neytiri, the restless Colonel moves forward with his ruthless extermination tactics, forcing the soldier to take a stand - and fight back in an epic battle for the fate of Pandora.”  Written by The Massie Twins  

Does this story sound familiar to you??

After the movie was over, when we were walking out of the theater, I overheard a man say, “back to reality.” But I couldn’t help but think, was the movie really a break from reality or a story of what has happened countless times and is still happening today? A prime example, the Native Americans. Check out this clip with the sound bite from the Avatar trailer over top of Disney’s Pocahontas trailer.

But even deeper than the familiar story, lies a nugget of knowledge that looks far beyond the love story that develops between the Na’vi princess, Neytiri and the avatar, Jake. The knowledge that unfolds is the connection that the Na’vi people have to their world; Their understanding that they are a part of a greater whole and not separate from it. This is what the princess shows the avatar and it makes him fall in love with not only her, but the world around him. Humans used to have this same connectedness to Earth. Many ancient peoples were aware of our connection with the Earth. We have been taught that they were savages and that they just aimlessly roamed the Earth. But many ancient peoples in Africa, Asia, America and South America had technologies and knowledge well past what we have today. Why is that so hard for us to believe? We are so lost…the person that knows something, knows that he knows nothing at all. But one thing that is evident is that ancient peoples were advanced enough to build architectures that still amaze and wonder us today. 

The Earth is our mother and we are destroying her. We are a PART of a BIGGER whole. Not greater than that whole. We have been deceived. They are wandering through space with their tools and technology searching for God. But they refuse to see that God lives within. Every human has the capability to do god-like things. Even in the bible, God says man was made in his image. And according to the bible, Jesus was sent to show us that the greatness of God is within us. Do you know we only use something like 10% of our brain? So what is the other 90% for? I believe that that is our connection with God and to the world and universe around us. We have been deceived by the devil for so long that we have been cut off from the God within us. Can you imagine the greatness that could BE if we learned to LOVE ourselves, number one, and then truly begin to embrace the greatness of God that lives within. But we live in FEAR and it is FEAR that paralyzes us and corrodes the mind….and I’ll leave you with that for today.