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Avatar: A Beautiful Lie

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By Diane Singer|Published Date: January 18, 2010

A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness breathes out lies.
Proverbs 14:5

James Cameron’s film Avatar is burning up box offices around the world, raking in more than $600 million dollars in its first two weeks. Visually, it’s not hard to understand why: the improvements Cameron has made to both motion-capture and 3D technology are astounding. I found the motion-capture used in Polar Express disturbingly creepy, and I generally avoid 3D movies because the fuzzy resolution gives me a headache. Plus, I can never really forget the techno-geek gimmicks behind such movies, so my focus is never solely on the film’s story.

Not so with Avatar: the motion capture technology is so good that Jake Sully’s avatar is completely believable from the get-go; and the 3D effects so smooth that I soon forgot I was wearing those goofy glasses. Within a few minutes, the technological tricks faded into the background, allowing me to immerse myself in every scene.

And what scenes they are! The first 90 minutes of the movie are simply luminous as the film’s hero, Jake Sully in his avatar body, first experiences the glorious and terrible beauty of Pandora. Words cannot describe the plant and animal life Cameron has envisioned – from creatures of terrifying fierceness to those of delicate elegance, and everywhere a world exploding with color, lush vegetation, and light. The film is a visual wonder. One sequence alone – when Jake learns to fly a Pandoran dragon through the planet’s floating islands – is worth the price of admission. The grace and beauty of that scene literally brought tears to my eyes.

No one can doubt Cameron’s artistic genius when it comes to bringing to the screen this fantastical, mythical world. It represents the best expression of what J.R.R. Tolkien meant when he said that we are to be “sub-creators” with the Creator. Cameron’s vision is so powerfully and beautifully rendered that it’s easy to imagine a world like Pandora actually existing – if not now, then one day when the Lord fashions a new universe for the everlasting delight of His children.

However, for all its visual splendor, Avatar is a disappointment. Worse than that, it’s full of lies.

About 90 minutes into the film, Cameron’s artistic weakness become so glaringly obvious that I found myself frequently checking my watch for the remaining 70 minutes. What is that weakness? His use of trite, leftist-Marxist clichés in lieu of a fresh, creative plot. The bad guys are military mercenaries and greedy, exploitive company executives who have one objective: to bulldoze and strip-mine the planet and kill anyone who gets in the way of their making a profit (Pandora, it seems, is important because it has rich deposits of the priceless, and ridiculously named, unobtainium).

The good guys are the native Na’vi, who are noble, courageous, and living in harmony with the planet, which is both their home and their deity. Jake starts off as a spy for the bad guys, but he (and a handful of good-guy scientists led by Sigourney Weaver’s character) sides with the Na’vi once he realizes how superior their way of life is and after he, predictably, falls in love with the chief’s daughter.

In the final battle, the natives use primitive weapons – and the assistance of fierce beasts sent by their earth-goddess in response to Sully’s prayer – to defeat a technologically superior enemy, finally driving the evil human oppressors off their planet. If it all sounds tiredly familiar, it should: Cameron could have easily entitled the film Dances with Wolves Goes to Pandora.

While this trite plotline is disappointing, the greater flaw is the film’s worldview. In the words of the writer of Proverbs 14, it’s a movie that “breathes out lies.” Ultimately, Avatar becomes little more than a propaganda tool for environmental radicals, pantheists, anti-Western terrorists, anti-military liberals, and anti-capitalists (which is ironic given the film’s tie in with such corporate giants as McDonalds). Spiritually, there’s not much here for Christians to cheer, and there is much to be wary of: a film that is this visually stunning can easily circumvent our sense of duty to discern right from wrong, the truth from the lie. We may become so enthralled by what we see that we forget to stop and ask, “What’s the message?”

Chekhov once wrote, “The aim of fiction is absolute and honest truth.” But what happens when a book or film tells lies? How should Christians respond? This is an issue for any Christian with a biblical worldview who watches Avatar. As much as I appreciate Cameron’s visual imagination and the technical mastery he exhibits in this film, his worldview is not one I share.

Would I recommend seeing the film? Yes, but with reservations – especially for parents who must decide whether to allow their children to view the film. The PG-13 is an appropriate rating: children under this age should not be exposed to the intense and scary violence of Avatar, nor to its lies. Parents of teens, however, can use the movie as a teaching opportunity if they will discuss with their children how the film’s worldview distorts the truth, both in its implied rejection of American history and, most importantly, in its powerfully alluring portrayal of pantheism (Romans 1:25).

In the end, it’s a film that can be enjoyed on a visual level, but one whose message must be demolished (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).

A number of film critics claim that Avatar represents a technological leap that will change the future of movies. If that’s so, then let us hope that the next writer/director to employ Cameron’s pioneering technology will do a better job of telling a tale which also tells the Truth.



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14 Comments

  1. DButler makes this comment

    2010-02-19 13:50:18

    As a Native American believer in Christ, I believe that Diane hit it on the head with her "Dances with Wolves" reference and there are many of us Native believers that would say the same thing. It is hard for me to not feel conflicted in many ways, b/c we have had to deal with the aftermath of 500 years of "Not what the Creator intended." Yet in the midst of it all, I believe that we are able to see Jesus and be reconciled to Him, through Him, and to all men(2 Cor. 5:16-21). The moral morass that we face as native people (especially Christian native people) in light of what has happened historically is truly a "tangled web", but as has been said by older and much wiser Native Christians: "We can forgive the white man for all he has done, b/c He brought Jesus, and we want Jesus, more than anything else in the world."

  2. RICHIE BARONE makes this comment

    2010-01-25 14:31:48

    I agree w/Diane 100% but this is nothing new in Hollywood as stories go Cameron ripped-off most of the story line from "Fern Gully" an animated flick which had basically the same message in the late 80s-early 90s. Nothing new under the sun, same theme different variation!

  3. Lied to before makes this comment

    2010-01-23 16:52:59

    I am afraid that some young minds maybe swayed by the underlying influences of this movie. This is one card of many in a deck stacked to promote their agenda. I much rather spend my money on movies like Fireproof or the Ultimate Gift. Money has power, I want to use it to God's glory. Maybe buying a DVD and using it to learn as Kathy and vikingmother states would be a good use of your money, but only then would I give money to an organization with their agenda. I would then gift it to our church for discussions with the youth.

  4. Joy makes this comment

    2010-01-23 09:21:35

    I enjoyed this review and wish that we had more of this kind of discussion in our churches. I think it is important to explore the beauty of a given work of art, the skill with which it is made etc and not just say, "No" because the message is not Christian. We want our children (and ourselves) to be discriminating and not satisfied with drivel whether it comes dressed as Christian or not. Diane Singer criticism of the triteness of the plot is "spot on"! I think that it would be interesting to explore how the film and the culture depicted there are not true to their own world view. At one point we are told that the nature goddess does not discriminate or favor one life form over another! If that is so it should not matter if the planet is ruled by a population of cartoonishly depicted military characters or the natives. For that matter it should not matter whether any of the people survive at all -- as long as there is some life. Interestingly the characaters within this pantheistic worldview, cry out for a personal response from their goddess when their existence is threatened (Jake's prayer is one example)!!! "Reality is harsh to the feet of shadows" (CS Lewis) We need to point this out -- man made in the image of God longs for Him -- especially when our backs are to the wall!

  5. John Cyr makes this comment

    2010-01-22 18:35:03

    Avatar was a feast for the eyes but a famine for the brain. Dances with Wolves is a good analogy but I think the analogy of Disney's Pocahontas on steroids is also an accurate one.

  6. Dave Panzer makes this comment

    2010-01-22 12:06:48

    I basically agree with Diane Singer's review and greatly wonder about the Youth Pastor's reaction. I have 3 teen-age boys, all of whom are facile technophiles of varying abilities and interests (one is a budding film-maker and wans to go to the Biola Univiersity film school). I am a biologist by training and we have all seen the film and realize it for what it is: a technologically advanced film with cool special effects and a very strange, "propaganda tool for environmental radicals, pantheists, anti-Western terrorists, anti-military liberals, and anti-capitalists." to quote Diane. However, we recognize it for what it is and are therefore not affected - our faith stands firm. That is the message that pastors of all faiths and ages need to get across. Avatar is merely the latest of Hollywood films that have had similar messages that are generally of a worldview that is anti- if not a-Christian. My advice: enjoy the film in 3-D and IMAX for the beauty and technology and cheer the heros and boo the bad guys.

  7. Rich Buckley makes this comment

    2010-01-22 11:05:01

    "Oh! what a tangled web we weave When first we practise to deceive!" Sir Walter Scott's admonition cuts both ways; none of us escape its relevance. Follow the money; it's corrupting scientific truth. It takes years and decades for science to self-correct, and the mere stroke of a Presidential pen to perpetuate an adverse agenda based on fictional entertainment-science. The essential links of transcending integrity and scholarship have been lost to political processes by the great trusting of a busy populace willing to take "their word for it." If your attention is just now starting to focus on Climate Change as a result of those infamous e-mails (WSJ 11-23-2009 "Climate Emails Stoke Debate") you recently read about, may I suggest you start your own scientific inquiry into the subject and bring into the mix for your readings at least one skeptic's website such as for example, the "Science and Public Policy Institute (SPPI)." The stakes for the rest of us on our liberties are too high to allow "science" to continue to operate in a format which discourages and presents no dissent or real minority opinions; Science should not receive a free pass to manage a a public subject of such broad and direct political consequence without dissenting opinions broadly and equally presented. Science must, in order to serve the public interest protect freedom of inquiry of which liberty and truth are based. It cuts both ways.

  8. Diane Singer makes this comment

    2010-01-20 11:24:53

    Jake, I have no doubt that viewers can find some nuggets of truth in Avatar, as they can with nearly any film or piece of literature. The question is whether the overriding message of a film or a piece of literature honors God. I believe Avatar falls far, far short of that goal for reasons I allude to in my original review. More than anything, from a Christian point of view, the film's depiction of pantheism is its most troubling aspect, and it outweighs whatever bits and pieces of truth are in the film. So, I would say, use what you can, but be very, very certain that the kids in your youth group understand the difference between a Biblical view of creation and the Creator and Cameron's pantheism.

  9. Jake Kircher makes this comment

    2010-01-20 09:17:26

    I have seen Avatar twice and am really disappointed with your review of the film. As a Youth Pastor, I am constantly looking for ways to engage kids in conversations about Christ and when a movie comes along that is full of Biblical references and connections it just makes my job easier. To say that "there’s not much here for Christians to cheer" is to completely ignore the NUMEROUS Biblical connections throughout the movie that could be used to introduce Christ to people or talk about a number of different issues, from a positive standpoint: salvation, conversion (new creation), Jacob and Esau, the story of Israel, Revelation, greed and materialism, loving God with mind, body, soul - the whole self, following God's command to take care of nature, redemption, forgiveness, marriage (for life) and more...There are a couple things that we, as Christians, need to be cautious about but it all depends on how you look at it.

  10. Diane Singer makes this comment

    2010-01-18 18:57:14

    Kathy, You have listed some great questions for Christians to ask about this film, exactly the ones I would expect parents to use with their kids. The answer to your last question, I think, can in part be answered by some of the other columns you'll find here at the CCC, including a recent ChangePoint on "Babette's Feast" -- which is a wonderful example of a film that meets the criteria of being "true, beautiful, and good." You can also find under the Worldview columns posts about some of the poems and short stories I believe every Christians should know -- from Milton's "When I Consider How My Light is Spent" to "Gimpel the Fool." Thanks for your input. I hope you will continue to check us out.

  11. Phil Vallone makes this comment

    2010-01-18 16:57:41

    Diane, I agree with you totally on the movie and the manipulation of our senses and emotions to absorb the lie as truth and not even know it. It is an excellent teaching tool to show young people how our thoughts and ideas are affected by what we allow into our mines. Thank you. It's an excellent piece. The thieves and robbers that Jesus speaks about in John in the 21st century are ideas and ideologies that come out of the media, especially movies.

  12. Rohnda Delpino Cox makes this comment

    2010-01-18 13:18:07

    The message I received from this film was that it depicted historically of how Whites came to America and claimed it as their own. Forcing out and killing the Native Indians as they greedily claimed the Indians nation for their own. The difference with Avatar is that good overcame evil, as the higher being (in this film as represented by Eywah)ultimately comes to the aid of the Na'vi (Natives). I do not necessarily see a lie in the message, just a vision of a better America. A wish for a just and honorable history on which it was founded versus the sad truth that is our reality. One could only imagine from the inference of the films conclusion the world we could really be living in today...This film was a cry out against the continuing turmoil America faces within its own nation by its own inhabitants, with a beseeching of a better existence with an end to psuedo-speciation.

  13. Kathy makes this comment

    2010-01-18 10:12:05

    Your article suggests "Use this article as a teaching tool." It may be helpful for the writer to post suggested disscussion questions. These might include: 1. What is pantheism? How does it compare with Biblical perspective? 2. What does the Bible say re. "preserving the earth?" 3. What is capitalism? Is it inherently greedy? Can capitalism be good? Why or why not? 4. If you were to create a beautiful masterpiece (painting, sculpture, movie, song) depicting "true Truth" what might you create? What would be a refreshing plot? More...

  14. vikingmother makes this comment

    2010-01-18 08:29:25

    Have not yet seen the movie. But thanks for the heads up. Surely it will be a good time for my college freshman daughter and I to discuss the hidden messages and implied values etc. in what we see. And my 11 year old boy...who is razor sharp..I want to train him to enjoy the good but to also beware the halftruths and the political fashions embedded in AVATAR (when we likely buy the DVD).