'Avatar' and Original Sin
'Avatar' was predicted to be as big a sci-fi sensation as 'Star Wars' in 1977. With a cost of $350 million dollars it was supposed to have changed the way we see cinema all over again – as well as present a much needed lesson on environmentalism. I wonder if that $350 million could have been spent elsewhere.I'm not saying it was a bad movie. It was magnificent! I saw the 3D version and as soon as I saw the main character floating in zero gravity I knew I was seeing something completely new. At times I found myself reaching out to touch floating creatures that appeared to be moving a foot or so in front of me. It's greatest achievement is that one could not tell where the CGI started and live action ended at all, in a way that I found more convincing than any other fantasy movie. But it does not have the scope or mileage of 'Star Wars' and any sequel seems unimaginable.
The problem is that it is a story that has been told over and over again. It's basically 'Dances with Wolves' in outer space. Civilised man infiltrates primitive tribe and realises they have it right and the 'civilised' are evil. Ends up fighting for the 'primitives'. It's interesting that the spirituality of the natives has a quasi-scientific dimension which makes it impossible to see as just part of their culture. We feel the need for certainty in spirituality and yet it is that certainty that we all hate.
I am always interested to see who the bad guys are in sci-fi. In the days of Flash Gordon it was the Emperor Ming who looked decidedly Chinese and Maoist. The Klingons looked suspiciously Arabic and I have been told personally by one of the actors in 'Star Wars' that the Sith Empire was based on the British Empire. In the 'Alien' series it is not the Giger-creations that are the bad guys, but 'the Company' that repeatedly sends innocent people out to be impregnated by the aliens to provide research into bio-weapons.
So the new enemy is faceless corporations? Apparently not so now. In 'Avatar' it is no-one less than the human-race that is evil. Director James Cameron goes out of his way to depict the human baddies as every race on Earth. This reminded me of Christianity's least favourite doctrine – Original Sin, that we are born bad. 20th Century literature from Joyce to Winterson is full of tales of how Original Sin supposedly damages people psychologically. People fell robbed of the ability to fulfill their human potential, particularly in the arts, until they can throw off the idea of being born with a propensity to do evil. One vocal 'artist's coach' told me she would side with any religion, even militant Islam, rather than Christianity because no other religion puts a barrier between humans and God, stating that only God's grace can save us.
But Original Sin seems to be coming back into vogue, not just in 'Avatar', but in popular scientific thinking. It is difficult to understand Professor Richard Dawkins 'Selfish Gene' position, that we are born selfish, without referring back to it, and John Gray's assertion that choice is an illusion and that we are chemically determined has a particularly Calvinist feel to it. Put Dawkins and Gray together and we have something that runs parallel to Original Sin except … there's no hope.
Judaism claims not to have any concept of Original Sin, but the Jewish picture of humanity and evil is one of a heron stuck in the mud. The bird tries to loose itself from the mire, but the more it struggles the more it becomes trapped. Surely that's the same as the Christian concept of sin? It's also a good analogy to man's problem with the environment. Do you know anyone who is really environmentally friendly? Even Green organisations rely totally on fossil fuels and other pollutants to get around. We are that heron in the mud and it is difficult to see how it can end well for us.
According to 'Avatar' it will lead us to the stars to colonise and dominate other species. I hope there is another way, but I don't think the constant kicking against the realistic side of Original Sin will help us. As Randy Stonehill once sang:
I've got news for you, we are all the same,
I've got news for you, are you listening?
I've got news for you, we are all to blame,
and when that is understood we can start to live again.
The problem is that it is a story that has been told over and over again. It's basically 'Dances with Wolves' in outer space. Civilised man infiltrates primitive tribe and realises they have it right and the 'civilised' are evil. Ends up fighting for the 'primitives'. It's interesting that the spirituality of the natives has a quasi-scientific dimension which makes it impossible to see as just part of their culture. We feel the need for certainty in spirituality and yet it is that certainty that we all hate.
I am always interested to see who the bad guys are in sci-fi. In the days of Flash Gordon it was the Emperor Ming who looked decidedly Chinese and Maoist. The Klingons looked suspiciously Arabic and I have been told personally by one of the actors in 'Star Wars' that the Sith Empire was based on the British Empire. In the 'Alien' series it is not the Giger-creations that are the bad guys, but 'the Company' that repeatedly sends innocent people out to be impregnated by the aliens to provide research into bio-weapons.
So the new enemy is faceless corporations? Apparently not so now. In 'Avatar' it is no-one less than the human-race that is evil. Director James Cameron goes out of his way to depict the human baddies as every race on Earth. This reminded me of Christianity's least favourite doctrine – Original Sin, that we are born bad. 20th Century literature from Joyce to Winterson is full of tales of how Original Sin supposedly damages people psychologically. People fell robbed of the ability to fulfill their human potential, particularly in the arts, until they can throw off the idea of being born with a propensity to do evil. One vocal 'artist's coach' told me she would side with any religion, even militant Islam, rather than Christianity because no other religion puts a barrier between humans and God, stating that only God's grace can save us.
But Original Sin seems to be coming back into vogue, not just in 'Avatar', but in popular scientific thinking. It is difficult to understand Professor Richard Dawkins 'Selfish Gene' position, that we are born selfish, without referring back to it, and John Gray's assertion that choice is an illusion and that we are chemically determined has a particularly Calvinist feel to it. Put Dawkins and Gray together and we have something that runs parallel to Original Sin except … there's no hope.
Judaism claims not to have any concept of Original Sin, but the Jewish picture of humanity and evil is one of a heron stuck in the mud. The bird tries to loose itself from the mire, but the more it struggles the more it becomes trapped. Surely that's the same as the Christian concept of sin? It's also a good analogy to man's problem with the environment. Do you know anyone who is really environmentally friendly? Even Green organisations rely totally on fossil fuels and other pollutants to get around. We are that heron in the mud and it is difficult to see how it can end well for us.
According to 'Avatar' it will lead us to the stars to colonise and dominate other species. I hope there is another way, but I don't think the constant kicking against the realistic side of Original Sin will help us. As Randy Stonehill once sang:
I've got news for you, we are all the same,
I've got news for you, are you listening?
I've got news for you, we are all to blame,
and when that is understood we can start to live again.