by Jason Joyner | Jan 14, 2010 | Avatar, Biblical worldview, Blog, community, movies
Avatar.
It is a recent movie you may have heard about. It is a popular term on the internet and in gaming, speaking of a representation of the person interacting via techonology. This meaning comes from the descent and incarnation of a diety in earthly form, associated with the Hindu god Vishnu (from m-w.com).
James Cameron made this recent film, another blockbuster movie. The term used for the title may be more appropriate than he realized. In the film, humans take on avatars, forms of the alien Na’vi people, to interact with them. According to CNN, people are dealing with depression because they want to live in a paradise as beautiful and spiritual as Pandora, the alien planet depicted in the movie.
This is a sad story. I feel bad for people who feel they don’t have anything more worthwhile in their life than a fictional visual presentation. One could almost laugh about it, but there is a definite lack of community in the modern world. Where did we lose track of being a part of something?
People in the article saw the interconnectedness of the Na’vi with their planet and felt a longing for such connection in their own lives. There’s been a lot written about technology destroying meaningful relationships, replacing them instead with status updates and tweets. This problem started before Facebook and company ever sprang up on the interwebs anyway.
In the past, there was much more need for villages and communities to work together to survive. Now we don’t know who is across the street from us, and we are too independent to declare our need for each other (unless it is the barista handing us our caffeinated nourishment – some people REALLY need that).
As my friend Nicole said in her comment to my Monday post on Avatar, people long for community and belonging because that’s how they were designed. We were meant to be part of a body, part of a kingdom. Jesus came to tell us that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.
If you’re not a believer, this may seem like a strange concept. If we realize that we are God-breathed, we all have value, and it elevates our relationships because we realize everyone from our best friends to our family to the people we don’t like at work (or church) are made in the image of God, and He said this was very good. It puts a import on each human, that there is intrinsic value and dignity in everyone. If everyone has a design, a purpose, then that makes community important, because we are the threads that God wants to weave into a majestic tapestry.
For my Christian friends, we need to work on our relationships. If we can’t model real community to the world, then they may see their only hope in a fictional world.
A few more thought on this new “Eden” before I’m done blabbing on Avatar.
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by Jason Joyner | Jan 14, 2010 | Avatar, Biblical worldview, Blog, community, movies
Avatar.
It is a recent movie you may have heard about. It is a popular term on the internet and in gaming, speaking of a representation of the person interacting via techonology. This meaning comes from the descent and incarnation of a diety in earthly form, associated with the Hindu god Vishnu (from m-w.com).
James Cameron made this recent film, another blockbuster movie. The term used for the title may be more appropriate than he realized. In the film, humans take on avatars, forms of the alien Na’vi people, to interact with them. According to CNN, people are dealing with depression because they want to live in a paradise as beautiful and spiritual as Pandora, the alien planet depicted in the movie.
This is a sad story. I feel bad for people who feel they don’t have anything more worthwhile in their life than a fictional visual presentation. One could almost laugh about it, but there is a definite lack of community in the modern world. Where did we lose track of being a part of something?
People in the article saw the interconnectedness of the Na’vi with their planet and felt a longing for such connection in their own lives. There’s been a lot written about technology destroying meaningful relationships, replacing them instead with status updates and tweets. This problem started before Facebook and company ever sprang up on the interwebs anyway.
In the past, there was much more need for villages and communities to work together to survive. Now we don’t know who is across the street from us, and we are too independent to declare our need for each other (unless it is the barista handing us our caffeinated nourishment – some people REALLY need that).
As my friend Nicole said in her comment to my Monday post on Avatar, people long for community and belonging because that’s how they were designed. We were meant to be part of a body, part of a kingdom. Jesus came to tell us that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand.
If you’re not a believer, this may seem like a strange concept. If we realize that we are God-breathed, we all have value, and it elevates our relationships because we realize everyone from our best friends to our family to the people we don’t like at work (or church) are made in the image of God, and He said this was very good. It puts a import on each human, that there is intrinsic value and dignity in everyone. If everyone has a design, a purpose, then that makes community important, because we are the threads that God wants to weave into a majestic tapestry.
For my Christian friends, we need to work on our relationships. If we can’t model real community to the world, then they may see their only hope in a fictional world.
A few more thought on this new “Eden” before I’m done blabbing on Avatar.
—
by Jason Joyner | Jan 14, 2010 | Blog, giving, Haiti, world events, World Vision
I know there are lots of ways to help in Haiti, with the large earthquake that has devastated Port-au-Prince. We donated through World Vision, which is a well-respected charity with people already on the ground.
Air 1 has a list of other reliable organizations on this web page.
Every little bit helps, but most of all prayer. Someone on KLove radio this morning who has been to Haiti and sponsors a child there shared this:
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
—
by Jason Joyner | Jan 14, 2010 | Blog, giving, Haiti, world events, World Vision
I know there are lots of ways to help in Haiti, with the large earthquake that has devastated Port-au-Prince. We donated through World Vision, which is a well-respected charity with people already on the ground.
Air 1 has a list of other reliable organizations on this web page.
Every little bit helps, but most of all prayer. Someone on KLove radio this morning who has been to Haiti and sponsors a child there shared this:
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
—
by Jason Joyner | Jan 11, 2010 | arts, Avatar, Biblical worldview, Blog, community, faith, movies
I’ve seen Avatar.
So have approximately 10 billion people.
Or so it seems.
I don’t always make it to the “big” movies, unless there are talking animals or race cars involved. When I first heard about Avatar, I wasn’t all that interested in it either. Over time, the previews and early reviews changed my mind, and once it became a phenomenom, I was ready to go.
I enjoyed the movie a lot. The visuals were striking and immersive. It certainly was memorable. The story in my opinion, as many others, was recycled and preachy in a not so subtle (or accurate) way. Still, I appreciated my time in Pandora.
Apparently not as much as the people in this CNN article. The title for the article is “Audiences Experience ‘Avatar’ Blues.” It quotes people as saying they so longed to live like the Na’vi (the tall blue skinned aliens in the movie, if you weren’t one of the 10 billion) or in a beautiful place like Pandora (their Eden-like planet) that it depressed them.
Some thought there was no reason to go on, since humans have pretty much trashed Earth at this point, and there’s no way to reverse things. A couple of the people contemplated suicide, as everything seemed “meaningless” since watching Avatar. One wanted to “escape reality.” Another thought if he killed himself, he’d be “rebirthed” in a place similar to Pandora.
Thankfully those quoted have seemed to find a little comfort in online fan communities for Avatar. I was surprised by the depth of feeling that people had in the article.
Perhaps according to my friend Becky Miller, I shouldn’t have.
She’s been posting for over a week on the movie. She enjoyed the movie as well, but had concerns that Christians weren’t showing discernment over the worldview espoused in the movie (panentheism, slightly different from pantheism).
I certainly agreed with her over the need for discernment. Nothing comes from a vacuum – James Cameron has a certain worldview, and whether he is actively promoting it or thinks he isn’t, it is still going to come out. Christians (and everyone really) should realize this and use a little analysis when doing anything from voting to watching movies. You won’t convince me that is “is just entertainment.”
Still, she and I debated somewhat in the comments of one post. I suggested that Christians take the movie as a “Mars Hill” moment (the time when Paul, visiting Athens, used the idol to the “Unknown God” to explain Christianity to the pagan philosophers). There are certainly some aspects of the movie that can be used as conversation starters, even if the thrust of the movie is contrary to a Christian world view.
After reading this CNN article, I’m a little more disturbed. I don’t think James Cameron’s intent was having people take his movie quite so seriously, but Holy Unobtanium, Batman!
I think I’ll take up some of these thoughts in the next post or two…
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