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The 2009 [[Action film|action]]-[[Adventure film|adventure]] film ''[[Avatar_(2009_film)|Avatar]]'' has earned widespread success, becoming the [[List of highest-grossing films|highest-grossing film]] of all time.<ref name="Boxofficemojoalltime">{{cite web|first=|last=|title=All time worldwide box office grosses|publisher=''[[Box Office Mojo]]''|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/world/|accessdate=January 8, 2010}}</ref> The blockbuster has provoked vigorous discussion of a wide variety of cultural, social, political, and religious themes identified by critics and commentators, to which the film's writer and director [[James Cameron]] responded that he hoped to create an emotional reaction and make the public conversation gravitate towards socio-political, cultural, environmental, and spiritual topics.<ref name=ChR /> The broad range of ''Avatar'''s intentional or perceived themes has prompted reviewers to call it "an all-purpose [[allegory]]"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/02/16/avatar_an_all_purpose_allegory|title=Avatar: an all-purpose allegory|publisher=[[Foreign Policy]]|last=Keating|first=Joshua|date=January 17, 2010|accessdate=January 19, 2010}}</ref> and "the season's ideological [[Rorschach test|Rorschach blot]]".<ref>{{citeweb|url=http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/talking_pictures/2010/01/why-is-avatar-a-film-of-titanic-proportions.html|title=Why is 'Avatar' a film of 'Titanic' proportions?|author=Phillips, Michael|publisher=''[[Chicago Tribune]]''|date=January 10, 2010|accessdate=January 10, 2009}}</ref> One reporter even suggested that the politically-charged punditry has been "misplaced": reviewers should have seized on the opportunity to take "a break from their usual fodder of public policy and foreign relations" rather than making an ideological battlefield of this "popcorn epic".<ref name=LABlog>{{cite web|last=Boehm|first=Mike|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/02/avatar.html|title=The politics of 'Avatar:'The moral question James Cameron missed|work=''[[The Los Angeles Times]]''|date=February 23, 2010|accessdate=February 27, 2010}}</ref>
Dominant motifs in the discussion of the film's themes include [[environmentalism]], [[imperialism]] and racism, [[militarism]] and patriotism, corporate greed, citizens' property rights, a conflict between [[technology]] and nature, a clash of [[civilization]]s, and [[spirituality]] versus [[religion]].<ref name="themes">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/11/PK4B1B0EHD.DTL&type=movies|last=Ordoña|first=Michael|date=December 14, 2009|title=Eye-popping 'Avatar' pioneers new technology|accessdate=December 14, 2009|work=[[San Francisco Gate]]}}</ref><ref name=NYThemes /> Cameron has specifically mentioned deliberate connections between the film's plot and the religious concepts and [[iconography]] of [[Hinduism]].<ref name=Time>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1576622,00.html#ixzz0a69HUhNB|title=Q&A with James Cameron|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]]|last=Winters Keegan|first=Rebecca|date=January 11, 2007|accessdate=December 26, 2009}}</ref><ref name=ew.com>{{cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20336893_10,00.html|title='Avatar:' 11 Burning Questions|work=Entertainment Weekly|last=Svetkey|first=Benjamin|date=January 15, 2010|accessdate=January 16, 2010}}</ref>
== Political themes ==
Director James Cameron called ''Avatar'' "very much a political film" and added, "as an artist, I felt a need to say something about what I saw around me.... This movie reflects that we are living through war. There are boots on the ground, troops who I personally believe were sent there under false pretenses, so I hope this will be part of opening our eyes."<ref name=Wrap>{{cite web|last=Lang|first=Brent|url=http://www.thewrap.com/article/james-cameron-avatars-political-message-12929|title=James Cameron: Yes, 'Avatar' is political|date=January 13, 2010|accessdate=February 13, 2010|work=thewrap.com}}</ref>
=== Imperialism and colonialism ===
[[File:Evo Morales at COP15.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Bolivia]]n President [[Evo Morales]] praised ''Avatar'' for "resistance to capitalism" and the "defense of nature".]]
''Avatar'' describes the battle by an [[indigenous people]], the Na'vi, against alien human [[imperialist]] oppression. The film presents the struggle of these native people as symbolic of similar conflicts throughout human history. James Cameron acknowledged that the film is "certainly...about imperialism in the sense that the way human history has always worked is that people with more military or technological might tend to supplant or destroy people who are weaker, usually for their resources"<ref name=themes /> and said that references to the colonial period are in the film by design."<ref name=npr />
[[Adam Cohen]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called the film's [[anti-imperialist]] message "a 22nd-century version of the [[American Revolution|American colonists vs. the British]], [[Indian independence movement|India]] vs. [[British Raj|the Raj]], or Latin America vs. [[United Fruit]]".<ref name=NYTeditorial>{{cite web|last=Cohen|first=Adam|date=December 25, 2009|title=Next-Generation 3-D Medium of 'Avatar' Underscores Its Message|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/26/opinion/26sat4.html|accessdate=December 26, 2009}}</ref> [[Evo Morales]], the first [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] president of [[Bolivia]], praised ''Avatar'' for its "profound show of resistance to capitalism and the struggle for the defense of nature".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/evo-morales-praises-avata_n_420663.html|title=Evo Morales praises Avatar|publisher=[[Huffington Post]]|work=ABI|accessdate=March 7, 2010|date=January 12, 2010}}</ref> Similarly, Dennis Atkins of ''[[The Courier Mail]]'' saw the film as "a clear message about dominant, aggressive cultures subjugating a native population in a quest for resources or riches."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26561642-27197,00.html|title=Conservative criticism of Avatar is misplaced|last=Atkins|first=Dennis|date=January 7, 2010|accessdate=March 3, 2010|work=[[The Courier Mail]]}}</ref> [[George Monbiot]] of ''[[Guardian]]'' explained conservative criticism of ''Avatar'' by what he called the film's "chilling metaphor" of the European and American genocide against the native residents of the Americas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jan/11/mawkish-maybe-avatar-profound-important|title=Mawkish, maybe. But Avatar is a profound, insightful, important film|last=Monbiot|first=George|date=January 11, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2010|work=[[Guardian]]}}</ref>Saritha Prabhu, an Indian-born columnist for ''[[The Tennessean]]'', wrote about the parallels between the plot and how "Western power colonizes and invades the indigenous people (native Americans, Eastern countries, you substitute the names), sees the natives as primitives/savages/uncivilized, is unable or unwilling to see the merits in a civilization that has been around longer, loots the weaker power, all while thinking it is doing a favor to the poor natives."<ref name=TENN>{{cite web|url=http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100122/COLUMNIST0108/1220308/1008/OPINION01|title=Movie storyline echoes historical record |accessdate=February 07, 2010 |last=Prabhu |first=Saritha |date=January 22, 2010 |work=[[The Tennessean]]}}</ref> Huascar Vega Ledo in ''BolPress'' saw the human colonizers on [[Fictional_universe_of_Avatar|Pandora]] as having "the imperial attitude...similar to that of [[NATO]] in [[Iraq]] or [[Israel]] in [[Palestine]]." <ref name=BolPress />
Dalia Salaheldin of [[IslamOnline]] found it reassuring that "When the Na'vi clans are united, and a sincere prayer is offered, the bows and arrows equipped 'primitive savages' win the war".<ref>{{cite web|last=Saladeldin|first=Dalia|date=January 21, 2010|url= http://www.islamonline.net/servlet/Satellite?c=Article_C&pagename=Zone-English-ArtCulture/ACELayout&cid=1262372577176 |title=I see you... |work=[[IslamOnline]]|accessdate=January 22, 2010}}</ref> In the same spirit, Palestinian activists painted themselves blue and dressed like the Na'vi during their weekly protest in the village of [[Bilin]] against [[Israeli West Bank barrier|Israel's separation barrier]], equating their struggle with the one portrayed in the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2010/02/12/dip.DTL&o=8|title=Day in pictures|date=February 12, 2010|accessdate=February 17, 2010|work=[[Associated Press]]|publisher=[[SFGate]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/worldnews/7222508/Palestinians-dressed-as-the-Navi-from-the-film-Avatar-stage-a-protest-against-Israels-separation-barrier.html|title=Palestinians dressed as the Na'vi from the film Avatar stage a protest against Israel's separation barrier|date=February 13, 2010|accessdate=February 13, 2010|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref> However, Seraj Assi argued in ''[[Arab News]]'' that "for Palestinians, 'Avatar' is rather a reaffirmation and confirmation of the claims about their incapability to lead themselves and build their own future."<ref name=ArabNews />
Other critics objected to what they saw as a misrepresentation of capitalism in the film. [[Forbes]]' columnist [[Reihan Salam]] said that while making capitalism is the villain of ''Avatar'', Cameron fails to understand is that capitalism represents a far more noble and heroic way of life than that led by the Na'vi because it "give[s] everyone an opportunity to learn, discover, and explore, and to change the world around us."<ref name=Forbes2 /> [[David_Brooks_(journalist)|David Brooks]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' criticized what he saw as the White Messiah complex in the film, whereby the Na'vi "can either have their history shaped by cruel imperialists or benevolent ones, but either way, they are going to be supporting actors in our journey to self-admiration."<ref name=Brooks>{{cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/opinion/08brooks.html?scp=1&sq=David%20Brooks%20%20avatar&st=cse|title=The Messiah complex|last=Brooks|first=David|date=January 7, 2010|accessdate=February 28, 2010|work=[[New York Times]]}}</ref> Others disagree: "That seems a bit much. First off, [Jake is] handicapped. Second off, he ultimately becomes one of [the Navi] and wins their way."<ref name=Romm>{{cite web|last=Romm|first=Joseph|url=http://climateprogress.org/2010/03/07/avatar-environmental-best-picture-post-apocalypse-now-eco-pic/#more-16811|title=Post-Apocalypse now|work=ClimateProgress.org|date=March 7, 2010|accessdate=March 8, 2010}}</ref>
=== War and militarism ===
[[File:Avatarwar.JPG|left|thumb|Battle scenes in ''Avatar'' drew comments on its implicit criticism of military campaigns.]]
Anti-militarism is viewed as another deliberate theme of the film. Cameron acknowledged that ''Avatar'' contains implicit criticism of America's involvement in the [[War in Iraq]] and that Americans had a "moral responsibility" to understand the impact of their country's recent military campaigns.<ref name=TAU /> Commenting on the term "[[shock and awe]]" in the film, Cameron said: "We know what it feels like to launch the missiles. We don't know what it feels like for them to land on our home soil, not in America."<ref name=TAU>{{cite news | first=Ben | last=Hoyle | title=War on Terror backdrop to James Cameron's Avatar | date=December 11, 2009 | publisher=News Limited| url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/war-on-terror-backdrop-to-james-camerons-avatar/story-e6frg8pf-1225809286903 |work=[[The Australian]]|accessdate=December 24, 2009}}</ref> He added that "we're in a century right now in which we're going to start fighting more and more over less and less"<ref name=themes /> and revealed that "the Iraq stuff and the [[Vietnam]] stuff is there by design."<ref name=npr />
Christian Hamaker of ''[[Crosswalk.com]]'' noted that, "in describing the military assault on Pandora, Cameron cribs terminology from the ongoing war on terrorism and puts it in the mouths of the film's villains, who proclaim a "shock and awe campaign" of "pre-emptive action," as they "fight terror with terror. Cameron's sympathies, and the movie's, clearly are with the Na'vi — and against the military and corporate men."<ref name=CW /> Armond White of ''[[New York Press]]'' dismissed the film's perceived anti-militaristic subtext as "essentially a sentimental cartoon with a pacifist, naturalist message" that uses villainous Americans to misrepresent the facts of militarism, capitalism, and imperialism.<ref name=NYPress /> Answering comments on the film as insulting to the US military, blogger Mike Boehm in ''Los Angeles Times'' said that "if any U.S. forces that ever existed were being insulted, it was the ones who fought under [[George Armstrong Custer]], not [[David Petraeus]] or [[Stanley McChrystal]]."<ref name=LABlog />
Conversely, Pierre Desjardins of ''[[Le Monde]]'' opined that, contrary to the perceived pacifism of ''Avatar'', it justifies war and violence, especially in response to an attack, by way of attributing militaristic roles and symbols to the film's positive characters and remarked that "all wars, even those that seem the most insane, always occur for the 'right reasons'."<ref name=LeMonde>{{cite web|first=Pierre|last=Desjardins|date=January 28, 2010|url=http://worldmeets.us/lemonde0000223.shtml|title=Avatar: Nothing But a 'Stupid Justification for War!'|accessdate=February 18, 2010|work=[[Le Monde]]|publisher=worldmeets.us}}</ref> Ann Marlowe called it "in an insider's way" both pro- and anti-military, and saw it as "a metaphor for the networked military."<ref name=Forbes />
=== Anti-patriotism ===
Some conservative critics commented on what they perceived as ''Avatar'''s anti-American message, equating RDA's [[Private military company|private security force]] to American soldiers. [[Russell D. Moore]] in ''[[The Christian Post]]'' stated that, "If you can get a theater full of people in Kentucky to stand and applaud the defeat of their country in war, then you've got some amazing special effects" and criticized Cameron for what he saw as an unnuanced depiction of the American military as "pure evil" in the film.<ref name=Moore>{{cite web|last=Moore|first =Russell D.|url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091221/avatar-rambo-in-reverse/index.html |title=Avatar: Rambo in Reverse|work=[[The Christian Post]]|date=December 21, 2009}}</ref> [[John Podhoretz]] of ''[[The Weekly Standard]]'' argued that the film asks the audience to "root for the defeat of American soldiers" and called it "a deep expression of anti-Americanism ... with its hatred of the military and American institutions and the notion that to be human is just way uncool."<ref name=TWS>{{cite web|url=http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/350fozta.asp?pg=1|last=Podhoretz|first=John|title=Avatarocious|date=December 28, 2009|accessdate=February 22, 2010|work=[[The Weekly Standard]]}}</ref> John Nolte's review in ''BigHollywood'' called ''Avatar'' the "liberal tell" of "a thinly disguised, heavy-handed and simplistic sci-fi fantasy/allegory critical of America from our founding straight through to the Iraq War."<ref name=BigHollywood>{{cite web|url=http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/12/11/review-camerons-avatar-is-a-big-dull-america-hating-pc-revenge-fantasy/|title=REVIEW: Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ Is a Big, Dull, America-Hating, PC Revenge Fantasy|last=Nolte|first=John|date=December 11, 2009|accessdate=March 3, 2010|work=bighollywood.breitbart.com}}</ref> [[Charles Mudede]] of ''[[The Stranger]]'' said that with the release of the film "the American culture industry exports an anti-American spectacle to an anti-American world."<ref>{{cite web|title=The globalization of Avatar|url=http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/01/04/the-globalization-of-avatar&view=comments|last=Mudede|first=Charles|date=January 4, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2010|work=[[The Stranger]] Slog}}</ref> Film critic [[Debbie Schlussel]] dismissed ''Avatar'' as "cinema for the hate America crowd."<ref>{{cite web|title=Don’t believe the hype: "Avatar" stinks (long, boring, unoriginal, uber-left)|url=http://www.debbieschlussel.com/13898/dont-believe-the-hype-avatar-stinks-long-boring-unoriginal-uber-left/|last=Schlussel|first=Debbie|date=December 17, 2009|accessdate=March 5, 2010}}</ref>
[[File:September 11 2001 just collapsed.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Reviewers compared the felling of [[Fictional universe of Avatar#List of flora|Home Tree]] (image below) with the [[9/11]] attack on the [[World Trade Center]] — a metaphor some deemed anti-American.]]
Answering this criticism, James Cameron said that "the film is definitely not anti-American"<ref name=Q&A /> and that "part of being an American is having the freedom to have dissenting ideas."<ref name=Wrap /> [[Ann Marlowe]] of ''[[Forbes]]'' concurred, calling the film "the most neo-con movie ever made" for its "deeply conservative, pro-American message."<ref name=Forbes>{{cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/23/avatar-neo-con-military-opinions-contributors-ann-marlowe.html|title=The most neo-con movie ever made|date=December 23, 2009|accessdate=February 22, 2010|last=Marlowe|first=Ann|work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref> Eric Ditzian of ''[[MVT]]'' reckoned that "it'd take a great leap of logic to tag 'Avatar' as anti-American or anti-capitalist."<ref>{{cite web|last=Ditzian|first=Eric|last2=Horowitz|first2=Josh|url=http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1632159/story.jhtml|title=James Cameron responds to right-wing 'Avatar' critics|work=mtv.com|date=February 18, 2010|accessdate=March 7, 2010}}</ref> But Cameron also acknowledged that one can interpret the film in many different ways: "The bad guys could be America in this movie, or the good guys could be America in this movie, depending on your perspective."<ref name=themes />
=== September 11 attacks ===
Although reportedly not a deliberate theme of the film,<ref name=TAU /> reviewers perceived visual and conceptual similarities between the air raid on and the resultant collapse of the Na'vi habitat [[Fictional universe of Avatar#List of flora|Home Tree]] in ''Avatar'' and the [[September 11 attack]] on the Twin Towers of the [[World Trade Center]].
Ben Hoyle of ''The Australian'' observed that after the Na'vi homes collapse in flames, the scene of landscape coated in ash and floating embers is reminiscent of [[World Trade Center site|Ground Zero]] after the September 11 attacks.<ref name=TAU /> Ann Marlowe of ''Forbes'' also saw "the wintry ash of the destroyed sacred tree" and "the image of the helicopters dwarfed by the huge tree" as mirroring the terrorist assault.<ref name=Forbes /> Sam Adams of ''[[The A.V. Club]]'' called the resonance with the images of the attack on lower Manhattan "inescapable", except that "the U.S.’ stand-ins are the perpetrators, and not the victims" and described it as "the movie’s most seditious act, only with the terms reversed."<ref name=AV />
Reviewers also criticized James Cameron for a "tacky metaphor for the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center,"<ref name=BigHollywood /> for his "audacious willingness to question the sacred trauma of 9/11,"<ref name=AV>{{cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/articles/going-navi-why-avatars-politics-are-more-revolutio,36604/|title=Going Na'vi: Why Avatar's politics are more revolutionary than its images|last=Adams|first=Sam|date=December 22, 2009|work=[[The A.V. Club]]}}</ref> and for what they saw in the film as Cameron's justification for the [[Multi-National Force – Iraq|allied forces]]' war on terror led by an American marine riding on the "imperial [[Bald eagle|American eagle]]."<ref name=LeMonde /> Armond White of ''The New York Press'' blamed Cameron for "the hypocrisy," "contradictory thinking" and "beserk analogy" of presenting the World Trade Center as "an altar of U.S. capitalism," which the author described as "a guilt-ridden 9/11 death wish."<ref name=NYPress />
Responding to criticism of the scene, James Cameron said he had been "surprised at how much it did look like September 11," but added that he did not think that it was necessarily a bad thing.<ref name=TAU />
== Social and cultural themes ==
''Avatar'' explores a number of social, cultural, ethical, and moral issues, profusely commented on by its reviewers. Summing them up, Adam Cohen said in his editorial for ''The New York Times'' that the film is morally educating as being "fundamentally about the moral necessity of seeing other beings fully" and called the theme "the movie’s moral touchstone."<ref name=NYTeditorial />
=== Technology vs. culture ===
The film also focuses on the expansive [[technocratic]] [[conquest]] by the humans as an attack on cultural and moral values. James Cameron explained that in creating the noble and cultured Na'vi living in commune with the lush naturescape he was attempting to create a race that was aspirational: "The Na'vi represent the better aspects of human nature, and the human characters in the film demonstrate the more venal aspects of human nature."<ref name=Wrap />
David Quinn of the ''[[Irish Independent]]'' noticed that the film was contrasting its "mix of [[New Age]] environmentalism and the myth of the [[Noble Savage]]" with the corruption of the "civilized" white man.<ref name=IRIN /> Columnist Oscar van den Boogaard, writing for ''[[De Standaard]]'' in Belgium said, "It's about the brutality of man, who shamelessly takes what isn't his."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldmeets.us/destandaard000001.shtml|work=worldmeets.us|author=Oscar van den Boogaard|accessdate=February 13, 2010|title=What does avatar mean to you?}}</ref> [[Angola]]n critic Altino Matos saw in the film a message of hope, and wrote in the ''Jornal De Angola'', "With this union of humans and aliens comes a feeling that something better exists in the universe: the respect for life. Above all, that is what ... ''Avatar'' suggests."<ref>{{cite web|last=Matos|first=Altino|url= http://worldmeets.us/jornaldeangola000002.shtml |work=worldmeets.us|date=January 9, 2010|accessdate=February 13, 2010|title=Avatar holds out hope for something better}}</ref>
Analyzing the contrast between technology and culture in ''Avatar'', Maxim Osipov wrote in the ''[[Hindustan Times]]'' and ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'':
<blockquote>
The 'civilised humans' turn out as primitive, jaded and increasingly greedy, cynical, and brutal – traits only amplified by their machinery – while the ‘monkey aliens’ emerge as noble, kind, wise, sensitive and humane. We, along with the ''Avatar'' hero, are now faced with an uncomfortable yet irresistible choice between the two races and the two worldviews. And invariably, along with him we cannot help but lean toward the far more civilised insides within the long-tailed, blue-skinned, and technologically infantile exterior.
</blockquote>
Osipov also commended Cameron for “convincingly” defining culture and civilization as “the qualities of kindness, gratitude, regard for the elder, self-sacrifice, respect for all life and ultimately humble dependence on a higher intelligence behind nature.”<ref name=HT>{{cite web|last=Osipov|first=Maxim|date=December 27, 2009|url= http://www.hindustantimes.com/cinema-news/sid411.aspx/What-on-Pandora-does-culture-or-civilisation-stand-for/Article1-491066.aspx#|title=What on Pandora does culture or civilisation stand for? |work=[[Hindustan Times]]|accessdate=December 27, 2009}}</ref><ref name=SMH>{{cite web|last=Osipov|first=Maxim|date=January 04, 2010|url= http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/avatars-reversal-of-fortune-20100104-lpod.html|title=Avatar’s reversal of fortune |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|accessdate=January 5, 2010}}</ref> Conversely, David Brooks of ''The New York Times'' opined that ''Avatar'' creates "a sort of two-edged cultural imperialism" as an offensive cultural stereotype that white people are rationalist and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic and that illiteracy is the path to grace.<ref name=Brooks />
Climate advocate [[Joseph Romm]] wrote, "Interestingly, the movie is mostly pro-science while still being anti-technology."<ref name=Romm/>
=== Environmentalism ===
[[File:Avatarhometree.jpg|right|thumb|Critics perceive technological ravage of [[Pandora]] as ''Avatar'''s strong environmental message.]]
James Cameron said he envisioned ''Avatar'' as a broader metaphor of how we treat the natural world.<ref name=NYThemes /> In an interview with [[Terry Gross]] of ''[[National Public Radio]]'' he explained that, "at a very generalized level, ''Avatar'' is saying our attitude about indigenous people and our entitlement about what is rightfully theirs is the same sense of entitlement that lets us bulldoze a forest and not blink an eye.... And we can't just go on in this unsustainable way, just taking what we want and not giving back".<ref name=npr/> On the ''[[Charlie Rose (talk show)|Charlie Rose talk show]]'', Cameron said that he had deliberately kept the environmental and spiritual themes in the film despite requests to "down-peddle" them, because "we are going to go through a lot of pain and heartache if we don't acknowledge our stewardship responsibilities to nature."<ref name=ChR>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10866#frame_top|title=James Cameron, Director|date=February 17, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2010|work=charlierose.com}}</ref> He has also expressed encouraged everyone be a [[tree hugger]]<ref name=Wrap /> and urged that we "make a fairly rapid transition to alternate energy."<ref name=Time10>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1969722,00.html|title=10 questions for James Cameron|work=[[Time_(magazine)|Time magazine]]|date=March 4, 2010|accessdate=March 8, 2010}}</ref>
''Avatar'' has been called "without a doubt the most epic piece of environmental advocacy ever captured on celluloid.... The film hits all the important environmental talking-points – virgin rain forests threatened by wanton exploitation, indigenous peoples who have much to teach the developed world, a planet which functions as a collective, interconnected [[Gaia]]-istic organism, and evil corporate interests that are trying to destroy it all."<ref name=MNN>{{cite web|last=Linde|first=Harold|url=http://www.mnn.com/technology/research-innovations/blogs/is-avatar-radical-environmental-propaganda|title=Is Avatar radical environmental propaganda?|work=[[Mother Nature Network]]|date=January 4, 2010|accessdate=March 7, 2010}}</ref> Lori Pottinger of ''[[Huffington Post]]'' connected the film to the endangerment of biodiversity in the Amazon [[rainforest]]s of [[Brazil]] by dam construction, logging, mining, and clearing for agriculture.<ref name=HuffEnv>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-pottinger/emavatarem-should-brazil_b_430724.html|title=Avatar: Should Brazil Ban the Film?|last=Pottinger|first=Lori|date=January 21, 2010|accessdate=February 20, 2010|work=[[Huffington Post]]}}</ref> Melinda Liu in ''[[Newsweek]]'' saw the destruction of Home Tree in ''Avatar'' as yet another environmental subtext in the film hinting at rampant tree-felling in [[Tibet]].<ref name=Newsweek /> Similarly, in a case of life seeking to imitate art, the 8,000-strong [[Dongria Kondh]] tribe from [[Orissa]], eastern [[India]], appealed to James Cameron to help them stop a mining company from opening a [[bauxite]] [[open-cast mine]] on their sacred Niyamgiri mountain, reckoning that the author of ''Avatar'' would understand their plight. An advertisement in ''[[Variety_(magazine)|Variety magazine]]'' said: "Appeal to James Cameron. ''Avatar'' is fantasy ... and real. The Dongria Kondh tribe in India are struggling to defend their land against a mining company hell-bent on destroying their sacred mountain. Please help the Dongria."<ref name=TimeOrissa>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1964063,00.html|title=Echoes of Avatar: Is a Tribe in India the Real-Life Na'vi?|last=Thottam|first=Jyoti|date=February 13, 2010|accessdate=February 19, 2010|work=[[Time_(magazine)|Time magazine]]}}</ref><ref name=Orissa>{{cite web|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/feb/08/dongria-kondh-help-stop-vedanta|title=Indian tribe appeals for Avatar director's help to stop Vedanta|last=Hopkins|first=Kathryn|date=February 8, 2010|accessdate=February 14, 2010|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> In a similar bid for environmental protection, a coalition of over fifty environmental and aboriginal organizations of [[Canada]] ran a full-page ad in the special [[Academy Award|Oscar]] edition of ''Variety'' comparing their fight against Canada's [[Athabasca Oil Sands|Alberta oilsands]] to the Na'vi insurgence in ''Avatar'' — an analogy disputed by the [[Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/energy-resources/Environmentalists+Avatar+oilsands+allegory+deserves+Oscar/2643174/story.html|title=Environmentalists say Avatar's oilsands allegory deserves Oscar|last=Husser|first=Amy|date=March 5, 2010|accessdate=March 7, 2010|work=[[Calgary Herald]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.edmontonjournal.com/business/industry+disputes+Avatar+analogy/2644714/story.html|title=Oil industry disputes Avatar analogy|date=March 5, 2010|accessdate=March 7, 2010|work=[[Edmonton Journal]]}}</ref> Authors also compared the film's depiction of destructive corporate mining for [[unobtanium]] in the Na'vi habitat with the mining and milling of [[uranium]] near the [[Navajo]] reservation in [[New Mexico]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pej.org/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=8059&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0|title=Avatar Unmasked: the real Na'vi and unobtanium|date=February 17, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2010|last=Schmidt|first=Diane J.|work=pej.org}}</ref> Cameron acknowledged some of these environmental issues in his interview with ''Time magazine''.<ref name=Time10 /> He was also awarded the inaugural [[Temecula]] Environment Award for Outstanding Social Responsibility in Media by three environmentalist groups for portrayal of environmentalist struggles that they saw to be similar to their own.<ref>{{cite web|last=Fischetti|first=Peter|date=March 6, 2010|url=http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_W_saward07.43eebb4.html|title='Avatar' director wins different award from Temecula-area environmentalists|work=[[The Press-Enterprise (California)]]|accessdate=March 7, 2010}}</ref>
However, Armond White of ''New York Press'' dismissed ''Avatar'''s alleged pro-environmental stance as inconsistent: "While prattling about man’s threat to environmental harmony, Cameron’s really into the powie-zowie factor: destructive combat and the deployment of technological force. Avatar condemns mankind’s plundering and ruin of a metaphorical planet’s ecology and the aboriginals’ way of life. Cameron fashionably denounces the same economic and military system that make his technological extravaganza possible. It’s like condemning NASA — yet joyriding on the Mars Exploration Rover."<ref name=NYPress />
=== State vs. citizens' rights ===
[[File:Avatarbulldozer2.JPG|left|thumb|The bulldozing of the [[Fictional_universe_of_Avatar#List_of_flora|Tree of Voices]] reminded reviewers of the forcible eviction policies related to development in [[China]],<ref name=globaltimes>{{web cite|url=http://opinion.globaltimes.cn/chinese-press/2010-01/496947.html|title=Avatar's story should frighten city developers|date=January 7, 2010|work=[[Global Times]]|accessdate=February 19, 2010}}</ref> [[Russia]],<ref name=Vedomosti>{{web cite|last=Editorial|title=Krylatskiy Townspeople Treated Like Avatar Natives|url=http://worldmeets.us/vremya000003.shtml|date=January 22, 2010|work=[[Vedomosti]] (Russia)|publisher=worldmeet.us|accessdate=February 19, 2010}}</ref> and [[Brazil]].<ref name=HuffEnv />]]
''Avatar'' has evoked parallels with the oppressive policies of some states towards their citizens. David Boaz of the [[Libertarian]] [[Cato Institute]] said in ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' that the film's essential conflict is a battle over property rights, "the foundation of the [[free market]] and indeed of civilization."<ref>{{web cite|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-boaz26-2010jan26,0,6596249.story|title=The right has ''Avatar'' wrong|last=Boaz|first=David|date=January 26, 2010|work=[[Cato Institute]]|publisher=[[Los Angeles Times]]|accessdate=February 20, 2010}}</ref>
Melinda Liu wrote for ''Newsweek'' that the destruction of the Na'vi habitat—a giant tree—is reminiscent of the forced eviction policies perpetrated by Chinese authorities, where 30 million citizens have been evicted in the course of the country's three-decade long [[Land development|development boom]]<ref name=Newsweek>{{cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/233068|title=Confucius Says: Ouch — 'Avatar' trumps China's great sage|last=Liu|first=Milinda|date=February 4, 2010|accessdate=February 19, 2010|work=[[Newsweek]]}}</ref>—a factor some believed to have contributed to the film being pulled from Chinese [[2D]] theaters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldmeets.us/chinadaily000022.shtml|title=Twisting Avatar to Fit China's Paradigm|last=Zhou|first=Raymond|date=January 8, 2010|work=[[China Daily]]|publisher=worldmeets.us|accessdate=February 21, 2010}}</ref> She quoted a Chinese blogger who wrote, "China's demolition crews must go sue Cameron for copyright infringement."<ref name=Newsweek /> An article in the ''[[Global Times]]'', published by the [[Communist Party of China|Communist-Party]]'s official newspaper ''[[People's Daily]]'', called the film's plot "the spitting image of the violent demolition in our everyday life. ... [F]acing the violent demolition conducted by [[chengguan]] but instigated by real estate developers, some ordinary people have wept or burned themselves desperately, while most continue to bear unfairness in silence."<ref name=globaltimes/> Similarly, Lori Pottinger linked forced eviction of the Na'vi to the displacement of tribes in the Amazon basin.<ref name=HuffEnv /> An editorial in the Russian ''[[Vedomosti]]'' newspaper used the same comparison to describe the forcible demolition of private houses in a [[Moscow]] suburb.<ref name=Vedomosti />
James Cameron acknowledged analogy with some of these issues in an interview with ''Time magazine''.<ref name=Time10 />
=== Race and racism ===
[[File:CCHPounderLazAlonsoDec09.jpg|thumb|right|Some reviewers saw a racist message in the casting of all the [[Na'vi]] characters with [[African-American]] or [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] actors, including [[C. C. H. Pounder]] and [[Laz Alonso]] (pictured above).]]
While Cameron denied that the film is racist, telling ''[[The Associated Press]]'' that the real theme of ''Avatar'' is about respecting others' differences, some reviewers saw the film as "a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people", which reinforces "the white [[Messiah]] fable", in which the white hero saves the helpless primitive natives,<ref name=HuffRace>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/10/avatar-critics-see-racist-theme_n_418155.html|title='Avatar' critics see racist theme|date=January 11, 2010|last=Washington|first=Jesse|accessdate=February 15, 2010|work=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> who are thus reduced to servicing his ambitions and proving his heroism.<ref name=ArabNews>{{cite web|url=http://arabnews.com/lifestyle/article18309.ece|title=Watching 'Avatar' from Palestinian perspective|last=Assi|first=Seraj|date=February 17, 2010|accessdate=March 3, 2010|work=[[Arab News]]}}</ref> Philosopher and critical theorist [[Slavoj Žižek]] noted that the film features "brutal racist undertones" which he identifies in, among other things, the fact that the "film enables us to practise a typical ideological division: sympathising with the idealised aborigines while rejecting their actual struggle."<ref>{{cite web|last=Žižek|first=Slavoj|date=March 4, 2010|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/film/2010/03/avatar-reality-love-couple-sex|title=Return of the natives|work=[[New Statesman]]|accessdate=March 7, 2010}}</ref> [[Annalee Newitz]] of ''[[io9]]'' saw ''Avatar'' as a metaphor for how European settlers in America oppressed the Indians and how "white guilt" expresses itself in continued attempts to lead people of color, albeit in a kinder way.<ref name='Newitz2009'>{{cite web|url=http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar |title=When Will White People Stop Making Movies Like "Avatar"|accessdate=December 27, 2009 |last=Newitz |first=Annalee |date=December 18, 2009 |work=io9}}</ref> Another author ironically remarked that "in 'Avatar' there is no place for heroes of color. Yet, there is no reason to worry, since the brave-hearted white man will fix the destruction of all the 'Pandoras', such as the Caribbean and Middle East. He will never feel guilty, even when he is directly responsible for the destruction."<ref name=ArabNews />
[[Josef Joffe]], publisher-editor of ''[[Die Zeit]]'' in [[Germany]], said the film bows to the notion of the "[[noble savage]]" which European philosophers, including [[Rousseau]], have written about for centuries: "So, as deep and precious as the metal in this film, slumbers a condescending, yes, even racist message. Cameron bows to the noble savages. However, he reduces them to dependents."<ref>{{cite web|last=Joffe|first=Josef|url=http://worldmeets.us/diezeit000050.shtml|title=Avatar: A Shameful Example of Western Cultural Imperialism|work=[[Die Zeit]]|date=January 17, 2010|accessdate=January 17, 2010}}</ref> while Mark Mardell of ''[[BBC]]'' was reminded of its variant, the "[[magical negro]]" term coined by black critics who noted white authors often featured non-white characters possessed of a certain sort of natural wisdom, mystic powers, who play sidekick to the white hero and often sacrifice themselves for the central character.<ref name=BBCRace /> Critics also called the Navi neural [[plug-n-play]] control over their animals "biped-centrism [which] is just another form of imperialist racism"<ref name=TWS /> and "a sexualized conquest [that] suggests latent [[fascism]]."<ref name=NYPress /> Noting that "ultimately in Cameron's film, the only good humans are dead — or rather, resurrected as 'good Navi'," Harold Brackman in ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' saw this as ''Avatar'''s inadvertent promotion of [[neo-Nazism]], or supremacy of one race over another.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1261364552525&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull|title=About avatars: Caveat emptor!|last=Brackman|first=Harold|date=December 30, 2009|accessdate=February 16, 2010|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref>
In ''Charlie Rose'' talk show Cameron acknowledged parallels with the "noble savage" as a reason for the film's success, but rejected claims about the film as racist:
<blockquote>
When indigenous populations who are at a bow and arrow level are met with technological superior forces, [the indigenous] lose. If somebody doesn't help them, they lose. So we are not talking about a racial group within an existing population fighting for their rights.
</blockquote>
emphasizing that the "noble savage" would not have won alone.<ref name=ChR />
The traditional Na'vi greeting "I see you" prompted Adam Cohen of ''The New York Times'' to contrast it with the principle of [[totalitarianism]] and [[genocide]] as the oppression of those who we fail to accept for what they are, quoting the Nazi ghettos for Jews and the [[Soviet]] [[GULAG|gulags]] as examples.<ref name=NYTeditorial />
Armond White of ''New York Press'' criticized Avatar’s as "the easiest, dumbest escapism imaginable" for involving "blue cartoon creatures rather than brown, black, red, yellow real-world people."<ref name=NYPress /> Other reviews called ''Avatar'' an offensive assumption that nonwhites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades,<ref name=Brooks /> and "a self-loathing racist screed" due to the fact that all the "human" roles in the film are played by white actors and all the Na'vi characters—by [[African-American]] or [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] actors ([[C. C. H. Pounder]], [[Zoe Saldana]], [[Wes Studi]], and [[Laz Alonso]]) and that the Na'vi society was strongly reminiscent of African and Indian tribal cultures.<ref name=BBCRace>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2010/01/is_blue_the_new_black_why_some.html|title=Is blue the new black? Why some people think Avatar is racist|last=Mardell|first=Mark|date=January 3, 2010|accessdate=March 3, 2010|work=[[BBC]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goodnewsfilmreviews.com/2009/12/avatar-2009.html|title=Avatar 2009|date=December 20, 2009|accessdate=February 15, 2010|work=goodnewsfilmreviews.com}}</ref>
=== Human dream and guilt ===
{{ external media
| align = right
| width = 150px
| topic = James Cameron: Pushing the limits of imagination
| audio1 = [http://public.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2010/02/20100218_fa_01.mp3 Terry Gross with James Cameron on "Fresh Air"] at [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123810319 National Public Radio] ''retrieved February 27, 2010''
}}
In an interview on ''[[National Public Radio]]'' with [[Terry Gross]], James Cameron highlighted the human dimension of ''Avatar'', expressing surprise that "with all the talk about this movie, nobody has mentioned that the main character is disabled." Cameron explained:
<blockquote>
Avatar comes from a childhood sense of wonder about nature... We go from this state as children where we don't know what we can't do. You fly in your dreams as a child, but you tend not to fly in your dreams as an adult. In the Avatar state, [Jake] is getting to return to that childlike dream state of doing amazing things ... In a funny way, it's actually kind of a comment on the way we find expression for our imagination [and] on the huge gap or shortfall between what you can imagine and what you can actually do.<ref name=npr />
</blockquote>
and said elsewhere that the positive public response to the Na'vi and their philosophy of connectedness to the earth and to each other means that "we have that within ourselves."<ref name=ChR /><ref name=Wrap />
Other reviews saw ''Avatar'' as "the bubbling up of our military subconscious ... the wish to be free of all the paperwork and risk aversion of the modern Army--much more fun to fly, unarmored, on a winged beast."<ref name=Forbes />
Cameron also said that ''Avatar'' is a satire on the sense of human entitlement that "if we can take it, we will. And sometimes we do it in a very naked and imperialistic way, and other times we do it in a very sophisticated way with lots of rationalization — but it's basically the same thing."<ref name=npr>{{cite web|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123810319|last=Gross|first=Terry|date=February 18, 2010|title=James Cameron: Pushing the limits of imagination|accessdate=February 27, 2010|work=[[National Public Radio]]}}</ref>
Similarly, a prominent Russian columnist Valery Panyushkin in ''[[Vedomosti]]'' traced ''Avatar'' popularity to its giving the audience a chance to make a correct moral choice between good and evil and, by emotionally siding with Jake's treason, to relieve "us the scoundrels" of our collective guilt for the cruel and unjust world that we have created.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://friday.vedomosti.ru/article.shtml?2010/01/29/15470|last=Panyushkin|first=Valery|trans_title=I am one of the scoundrels|title=Я — один из мерзавцев|date=February 12, 2010|accessdate=February 27, 2010|language=Russian|work=[[Vedomosti]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://worldmeets.us/vedomosti000004.shtml|last=Panyushkin|first=Valery|trans_title=I am one of the scoundrels|date=January 30, 2010|accessdate=March 8, 2010|language=English|work=[[Vedomosti]] via translation by WorldMeets.US}}</ref>
However, [[Armond White]] of ''[[New York Press]]'' criticized ''Avatar'' as "the corniest movie ever made about the white man’s need to lose his identity and assuage racial, political, sexual and historical guilt."<ref name=NYPress> {{cite web|url=http://www.nypress.com/article-20710-blue-in-the-face.html|title=Blue in the face|last=White|first=Armond|date=December 15, 2009|accessdate=February 27, 2010|work=[[New York Press]]}}</ref> [[Reihan Salam]] in ''Forbes'' saw it as ironic that "Cameron has made a dazzling, gorgeous indictment of the kind of society that produces James Camerons."<ref name=Forbes2>{{cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/2009/12/20/avatar-media-james-cameron-opinions-columnists-reihan-salam.html|title=The case against 'Avatar'|first=Reihan|last=Salam|date=December 21, 2009|accessdate=February 28, 2010|work=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>
== Religion and spirituality ==
[[File:The Ash Yggdrasil by Friedrich Wilhelm Heine.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Reviewers compared [[Fictional universe of Avatar|Pandora]]'s [[Tree of Souls]] to [[Yggdrasil]], an immense [[world tree]] pivotal to mythic [[Norse cosmology]].]]
According to James Cameron, one of the film's philosophical underpinnings is that "the N'avi represent that sort of aspirational part of ourselves that wants to be better, that wants to respect nature, while the humans in the film represent the more venal versions of ourselves, the banality of evil that comes with corporate decisions that are made out of remove of the consequences."<ref name=Wrap /><ref name=Q&A>{{cite web|url=http://carpetbagger.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/a-few-questions-for-james-cameron/|title=A few questions for James Cameron|date=December 21, 2009|accessdate=February 14, 2010|last=Murphy|first=Mekado|work=The Carpetbagger blog of [[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Film director [[John Boorman]] quoted a similar distinction as one of the key factors contributing to its success: "Perhaps the key is the marine in the wheelchair. He is disabled, but Mr Cameron and technology can transport him into the body of a beautiful, athletic, sexual, being. After all, we are all disabled in one way or another; inadequate, old, broken, earthbound. Pandora is a kind of heaven where we can be resurrected and connected instead of disconnected and alone."<ref name=IRIN>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/david-quinn-spirituality-is-real-reason-behind-avatars-success-2038398.html|title=Spirituality is real reason behind Avatar's success|work=[[Irish Independent]]|last=Quinn|first=David|date=January 29, 2010|accessdate=February 12, 2010}}</ref>
David Quinn of the ''[[Irish Independent]]'' agreed that spirituality "goes some way towards explaining the film's gigantic popularity, and that is the fact that ''Avatar'' is essentially a religious film, even if Cameron might not have intended it as such."<ref name=IRIN /> At the same time, [[Jonah Goldberg]] of ''[[National Review Online]]'' objected to what he saw in the film reviews as "the norm to speak glowingly of spirituality but derisively of traditional religion."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://article.nationalreview.com/419321/iavatari-and-the-faith-instinct/jonah-goldberg|title=Avatar and the faith instinct|date=December 30, 2009|accessdate=March 7, 2010|last=Goldberg|first=Jonah|work=[[National Review Online]]}}</ref>
=== Religious and mythological motifs ===
Other reviewers suggested that the film draws upon many existing religious and mythological motifs. S. Brent Plate of ''[[Religion Dispatches]]'' said that ''Avatar'' "begs, borrows, and steals from a variety of longstanding human stories, puts them through the grinder, and comes up with something new."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/mediaculture/2228/something_borrowed,_something_blue:_avatar_and_the_myth_of_originality|title=Something Borrowed, Something Blue: Avatar and the Myth of Originality|last=Plate|first=S.Brent|date=January 28, 2010|accessdate=February 20, 2010|work=[[Religion Dispatches]]}}</ref> [[Vern Barnet]] of the [[Charlotte Observer]] opined too that ''Avatar'' borrows concepts from many religions and poses a great question of faith. He said: "The movie's [[Tree of Souls]] recalls the [[Norse]] story of the tree [[Yggdrasil]], an example of a tree supporting the cosmos found in many traditions. Its destruction signals the collapse of the universe. Scholars call such trees the [[axis mundi]], the center of the world."<ref name=CHAR>{{cite web|url=http://www.charlotteobserver.com/175/story/1183099.html|title='Avatar' upends many religious suppositions|last=Barnet|first=Vern|date=January 16, 2010|accessdate=February 13, 2010|work=[[Charlotte Observer]]}}</ref> Malinda Liu in ''Newsweek'' commented on the Na'vi respect of all life beings and their faith in [[reincarnation]] as being very similar to the Tibetan religious beliefs and practices,<ref name=Newsweek /> while Reihan Salam of ''Forbes'' called them "perhaps the most sanctimonious humanoids ever portrayed on film."<ref name=Forbes2 /> Huascar Vega Ledo of the Bolivian publication ''BolPress'' explained the concept of "avatar" to signify "something born without human intervention, without intercourse, without sin," compared it to the birth of [[Jesus Christ]], [[Krishna]], [[Manco Capac]], and [[Mama Ocllo]] and drew parallels between the deity [[Eywa]] of [[Fictional_universe_of_Avatar|Pandora]] and the goddess [[Pachamama]] worshiped by the indigenous people of the [[Andes]].<ref name=BolPress />
[[File:Lucas Cranach d. Ä. 035.jpg|thumb|right|Critics commented on ''Avatar'''s Pandora as similar to Christian depictions of [[Garden of Eden|Eden]].]]On a critical note, columnist Angela Himsel in ''Huffington Post'' called ''Avatar'' "a new version of the [[Garden of Eden]] syndrome" and pointed out phonetic and conceptual similarities of the film's terminology with that of the [[Book of Genesis]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/angela-himsel/emavatar-meets-garden-of_b_468923.html|title=Avatar Meets Garden of Eden|last=Himsel|first=Angela|date=February 19, 2010|accessdate=March 3, 2010|work=[[Huffington Post]]}}</ref>
=== Pantheism vs. Christianity ===
Some Christian reviewers saw ''Avatar'' as promoting [[pantheism]] and [[nature worship]]. Gaetano Vallini, a cultural critic for ''[[L’Osservatore Romano]]'' of [[the Holy See]], wrote that the film "shows a spiritualism linked to the worship of nature, a fashionable pantheism in which creator and creation are mixed up."<ref name=NYThemes>{{cite web|last=Itzkoff|first=Dave|date=January 20, 2010|url= http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/movies/20avatar.html?hp |title=You Saw What in ‘Avatar’? Pass Those Glasses!|work=[[New York Times]]|accessdate=January21, 2010}}</ref> ''[[Vatican Radio]]'' said that the film "cleverly winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the religion of the millennium. Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship."<ref>{{cite news|title=Vatican critical of Avatar's spiritual message|url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/story/2010/01/12/avatar-vatican.html|work=[[CBC News]]|date=January 12, 2010|accessdate=March 3, 2010}}</ref> [[Ross Douthat]], a conservative columnist of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called ''Avatar'' "the Gospel According to James" and "Cameron's long [[apologia]] for pantheism [which] has been [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]'s religion of choice for a generation now."<ref>{{cite web|last=Douthat|first=Ross|date=December 21, 2009|url= http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/21/opinion/21douthat1.html?_r=1 |title=Heaven and Nature|work=[[New York Times]]|accessdate=December 21, 2009}}</ref> John Podhoretz of ''The Weekly Standard'' saw in the film "its mindless worship of a nature-loving tribe and the tribe's adorable [[pagan]] rituals." <ref name=TWS /> Christian film critic David Outten said that "the danger to moviegoers is that ''Avatar'' presents the Na'vi culture on Pandora as morally superior to life on Earth. If you love the philosophy and culture of the Na'vi too much, you will be led into evil rather than away from it."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movieguide.org/articles/1/574/capitalism-christianity-and-avatar-by-david-outten| title=Capitalism, Christianity and AVATAR|last=Outten|first=David|date=December 15, 2009|accessdate=February 13, 2010|work=movieguide.org}}</ref> Outten further added:
<blockquote>
Cameron has done a masterful job in manipulating the emotions of his audience in ''Avatar''. He created a world where it looks good and noble to live in a tree and hunt for your food daily with a bow and arrow.... Cameron said, "''Avatar'' asks us to see that everything is connected, all human beings to each other, and us to the Earth." This is a clear statement of religious belief. This is pantheism. It is not Christianity.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.movieguide.org/articles/1/623/avatar-wins-golden-globe-cameron-pushes-pantheism-on-tv| title= AVATAR Wins Golden Globe: Cameron Pushes Pantheism on TV|last=Outten|first=David|date=January 29, 2010|accessdate=February 15, 2010|work=movieguide.org}}</ref>
</blockquote>
Other Christian critics said that ''Avatar'' has "an abhorrent [[New Age]], pagan, anti-capitalist worldview that promotes goddess worship and the destruction of the human race,"<ref>{{cite web|title=AVATAR: Get Rid of Human Beings Now!|date=December 17, 2009|accessdate=March 3, 2010|url=http://www.movieguide.org/box-office/4/10075-avatar|work=movieguide.org}}</ref> emphasized ''Avatar'''s thematic elements deemed objectionable by Christians,<ref name=CW>{{cite web|url=http://www.crosswalk.com/movies/11623820/page0/|title=Otherworldly "Avatar" Familiar in the Worst Way|last=Hamaker|first=Christian|work=crosswalk.com|date=December 18, 2009|accessdate=February 13, 2010}}</ref> and suggested that Christian viewers interpret the film as a reminder of [[Jesus Christ]] as "the True Avatar."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.christianpost.com/article/20091223/the-true-avatar/page2.html|title=The True Avatar|last=Palmer|first=Lane|[[Chritsian Post]]|date=December 23, 2009|accessdate=February 13, 2010}}</ref><ref name=BolPress>{{cite web|url=http://worldmeets.us/bolpress000009.shtml|title=Jesus Christ and the movie Avatar|name=Huascar Vega Ledo|work=BolPress|publisher=www.worldmeets.us|date=January 7, 2010|accessdate=February 21, 2010}}</ref>
Conversely, Matthew J. Milliner in ''The Public Discourse'' online publication of the Witherspoon Institute maintained that the film promotes [[theism]] rather than pantheism, because "[[Jake Sully]] does not pray to a tree, but through a tree to the deity whom he addresses personally" and, unlike in pantheism, "the film's deity does indeed—contrary to the native wisdom of the Na'vi—interfere in human affairs." Quoting [[C. S. Lewis]]' ''[[Space Trilogy]]'', he also called the film "a depiction of [[Garden of Eden|Eden]]."<ref name=TPD>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2010/01/1095|title=Avatar and its Conservative Critics|last=Milliner|first=Matthew|date=January 12, 2010|accessdate=February 21, 2010|work=thepublicdiscourse.com}}</ref> Ann Marlowe of ''Forbes'' agreed, saying that "though ''Avatar'' has been charged with "pantheism", its mythos is just as deeply Christian."<ref name=Forbes /> Another author suggested that the film's true message is [[panentheism]], which "leads to a renewed reverence for the natural world—a very Christian teaching."<ref name=Nooz />
Saritha Prabhu, an [[India]]n-born columnist for ''[[The Tennessean]]'', saw the film as a misportrayal of pantheism and contrasted it with her own views: "What pantheism is, at least, to me: a silent, spiritual awe when looking (as [[Einstein]] said) at the 'beauty and sublimity of the universe', and seeing the divine manifested in different aspects of nature. What pantheism isn't: a touchy-feely, [[kumbaya]] vibe as is often depicted. No wonder many Americans are turned off." Prabhu also criticized Hollywood and Western media for what she saw as their generally poor job of portraying [[Eastern religion|Eastern spirituality]].<ref name=TENN /> Demetria Martinez of ''[[National Catholic Reporter]]'' disagreed with the Vatican's characterization of ''Avatar'' as pagan, urging Christian critics to see the film in the historical context of "Christianity's complicity in the conquest of the Americas."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/criticism-avatar-spiritualism-base|title=Criticism of 'Avatar' spiritualism off base|last=Martinez|first=Dimentria|date=January 20, 2010|accessdate=March 3, 2010|work=[[National Catholic Reporter]]}}</ref>
== Parallels with Hinduism ==
[[Image:Krishna as avatar.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Critics compared the Na'vi with Hindu gods such as [[Krishna]].]]
Acknowledging multiple thematic connections with [[Hinduism]], Nikhat Kazmi of ''[[The Times of India]]'' equated ''Avatar'' to a treatise on Indianism "for Indophiles and Indian philosophy enthusiasts", starting from the very word ''Avatar'' itself.<ref name=TOI>{{cite web|last=Kazmi|first=Nikhat|date=December 17, 2009|accessdate=February 12, 2010|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Entertainment/Movie-Reviews/English/Avatar/moviereview/5348868.cms|title=Avatar|work=[[The Times of India]]}}</ref> A ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' article discussed a number of analogies between the film and the ancient [[Hindu]] epics [[Mahabharata]] and [[Ramayana]], as well as their depiction of the main avatars [[Rama]] and [[Krishna]], depicted here with blue skin, black hair, and a [[tilak]] mark on the forehead.<ref name=HCR>{{cite web|last=Lassin|first=Arlene|middle=Nisson|date=December 29, 2009|accessdate=February 13, 2010|url=http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6777326.html| title=New movie Avatar shines light on Hindu word|work=[[Houston Chronicle]]}}</ref>
=== Terminology ===
[[Image:Rama_with_Bow_and_Arrows.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Another Hindu god, [[Rama]], traditionally portrayed as an archer with blue skin.]]
Answering a question from ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, "What is an ''[[avatar]]'' anyway?" Cameron replied, "It's an [[incarnation]] of one of the [[Hindu deities|Hindu gods]] taking a flesh form. In this film what that means is that the human technology in the future is capable of injecting a human's intelligence into a remotely located body, a biological body."<ref name=Time>{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1576622,00.html#ixzz0a69HUhNB|title=Q&A with James Cameron|work=Time Magazine|last=Winters Keegan|first=Rebecca|date=January 11, 2007|accessdate=December 26, 2009}}</ref>
Following the film's release, a number of reviewers focused on Cameron’s choice of the religious [[Sanskrit]] term for the film's title and its connection with the film's plot. Parvathi Nayar of ''[[The Hindu]]'' reasoned that "Cameron uses the loaded Sanskrit word of the movie's title to talk of a possible future manifestation of man. A next step in our evolution, if you like, that results from man's interaction with an emotionally superior—but technologically inferior—form of alien. Can we integrate and change, rather than conquer and destroy?"<ref name=TH>{{cite web|last=Nayar|first=Parvathi|date=December 24, 2009|accessdate=February 12, 2010|url=http://beta.thehindu.com/arts/cinema/article69898.ece|title=Encounters of the weird kind|work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> Conversely, Maxim Osipov of [[ISKCON]] argued in ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'' that "Avatar" is a "downright misnomer" for Cameron's film because "the movie reverses the very concept [that] the term 'avatar'—literally, in Sanskrit, 'descent'—is based on. So much for a descending 'avatar', Jake becomes a refugee among the aborigines."<ref name=SMH/>
David Quinn of ''[[Irish Independent]]'' thought that ''Avatar'' insults traditional usage of its title since it is a human, not a god, who descends in the film.<ref name=IRIN /> However, Rishi Bhutada, Houston coordinator of the [[Hindu American Foundation]], said that while there are certain sacred terms that would offend Hindus if used improperly, avatar is not one of them.<ref name=HCR /> [[Texas]]-based filmmaker Ashok Rao added that 'avatar' does not always mean a representative of [[God]] on [[Earth]], but simply one being in another form — especially in literature, moviemaking, poetry and other forms of art."<ref name=HCR />
=== Iconography ===
[[Image:Garuda Vishnu Laxmi.jpg|thumb|upright|left|[[Vishnu]] and [[Lakshmi]] riding on the [[Garuda]] - Painting in [[LACMA]] from Rajasthan, Bundi, c.1730]]Explaining the choice of the color [[blue]] for the Na'vi, Cameron said "I just like blue. It's a good color ... plus, there's a connection to the Hindu deities, which I like conceptually."<ref name=ew.com>{{cite web|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20336893_10,00.html|title='Avatar:' 11 Burning Questions|work=Entertainment Weekly|last=Svetkey|first=Benjamin|date=January 15, 2010|accessdate=January 16, 2010}}</ref>
Commenting on this topic, reviewers drew more detailed parallels between the Na'vi complexion and the [[iconography]] of Hinduism. An Indian film writer and director Sudipto Chattopadhyay opined that the deliberate choice of the blue skin "instantly, magically and metaphorically relates the film's protagonist to two previous avatar’s of [[Vishnu]], namely [[Rama]] and [[Krishna]]",<ref name=cnngo.com>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/play/avatar-hindu-perspective-961455 |title=The religious backdrop to James Cameron's 'Avatar' |accessdate=January 18, 2010|last=Wadhwani |first=Sita |date=December 24, 2009 |work=CNN Mumbai |publisher=Cable News Network Turner Broadcasting System, Inc }}</ref>—an observation shared by other authors,<ref name=Nooz /><ref name=NewsToday /> including Dana Goodyear of ''[[The New Yorker]]'', who described the Na'vi as Vishnu-blue.<ref name=TNY>{{cite web|url=http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/10/26/091026fa_fact_goodyear|title=MAN OF EXTREMES: The return of James Cameron|work=[[The New Yorker]]|last=Goodyear|first=Dana|date=October 26, 2009|accessdate=February 13, 2010}}</ref> Janos Gereben of ''[[San Francisco Examiner]]'' agreed, comparing the film's scene in which the blue-skinned avatar of [[Jake Sully]] flies a predator [[Toruk]], with a 18 century Indian painting of blue-skinned Vishnu and his consort [[Laksmi]] riding through the sky on the gigantic magical bird [[Garuda]], and called the depiction of Vishnu "'Avatar' prequel".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sfexaminer.com/entertainment/Avatar-the-prequel-at-the-Asian-Art-Museum--84402267.html|title=Avatar, the prequel, at the Asian Art Museum|accessdate=February 17, 2010|last=Gereben |first=Janos |date=February 15, 2009 |work=[[San Francisco Examiner]]}}</ref>
=== Philosophical concepts ===
Reviewers also discussed explicit or implicit similarities of the film with the philosophy of Hinduism. Vern Barnet of ''[[Irish Independent]]'' suggested that, just as [[Hindu deities|Hindu gods]], particularly Vishnu, become avatars to save the order of the universe, the film "suggests something is terribly wrong with a rapacious greed that leads to destroying the world of nature and other civilizations, and the movie's avatar must avert ultimate doom."<ref name=IRIN /> While questioning theological correctness of the film's title, Maxim Osipov opined that the film's philosophical message was consistent overall with the ''[[Bhagavad Gita]]'', a key scripture of Hinduism, in terms of defining what constitutes real culture and civilization.<ref name=HT /><ref name=SMH /> Sudipto Chattopadhyay suggested that Cameron is alluding to the god Vishnu who regularly manifests himself in palpable form to save mankind from the impeding doomsday.<ref name=cnngo.com />
Tam Hunt in ''Noozhawk'' linked the Na'vi goddess Eywa, the repository of Pandora's [[biosphere]], to the concept of [[Brahman]] as the ground of being described in [[Vedanta]] and [[Upanishads]] and likened the Na'vi ability to connect to Eywa with the realization of [[Atman]].<ref name=Nooz>{{cite web|url=http://www.noozhawk.com/local_news/article/011610_tam_hunt/|title=‘Avatar,’ blue skin and the ground of being|date=January 16, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2010|last=Hunt|first=Tam|work=NoozHawk}}</ref> Authors in ''[[East Valley Tribune]]'' and [[Philippines|Philippino]] ''The News Today'' commented on ''Avatar'''s exposition of the Hindu concepts of divine descent and [[reincarnation]].<ref name=NewsToday>{{cite web|url=http://www.thenewstoday.info/2010/03/01/two.critiques.avatar.vis.a.vis.cinema.paradiso.html|title=Two Critiques: ‘Avatar’ vis-à-vis ‘Cinema Paradiso’|last=French|first=Zenaida B.|date=March 1, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2010|work=The News Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/151439|title=A spiritual year at the multiplex|last=Mattingley|first=Terry|date=March 3, 2010|accessdate=March 5, 2010|work=[[East Valley Tribune]]}}</ref>
== References ==
{{Reflist|2}}
== External links ==
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499549/news Avatar reviews on IMDB.com]
{{avatar (2009 film)}}
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