Media Analysis: AVATAR It all began in the year of 2154 when a crippled ex-marine named Jake Sully “saved the world”. He takes part in a program invented by scientists which put him on an alien moon called Pandora. Jake is introduced to an Avatar body which is the combination of ½ human body and ½ alien body basically controlled by the scientists who created it. After watching Avatar, for the first time, I realized that this film had different worldviews mixed together. Somewhat confusing to me. I believe there is some Christianity along with Pantheism. Though it was more difficult for me to see the Christianity throughout this movie, Pantheism stood out. What raises questions to me is the Na’vi’s creator, their relationship to each other and a spiritual relationship much higher than them. I view Christianity in this movie as Jake Sully’s mission to connect with the Na’vi as “one of them.” Jake connects his consciousness into the body of an Avatar. In the beginning of contact with the Na’vi tribe they do not take lightly to him because he spoke English. This was a red flag for them but to stay, Jake had to learn how to win the Na’vi tribes trust. To do this, Jake needed to learn their ways of living. Learn to fight the beast, learn how to hunt with bow and arrows and to do that Jake spent months learning Na’vi traditions and learning to “fit in.” This is where I make the correlation between Jakes encounter to Christianity. God sent Jesus to Earth and earn the trust of
The authors of the textbook indicate that religion, science, and media all influence the way we think about sexuality. Which of these three influences you the most? How do they influence you? Is it a positive or negative influence? What kinds of sexual values in television programs have the greatest influence upon you?
Christianity is one of the most influential religions on both ancient and modern Western society, with the religion based on the teachings of the prophet Jesus Christ who lived approximately between the years of 5 BC and 33 AD. It is claimed that Christ was the son of God whose spirit was embodied and sent to Earth as a human being to bring peace and prosperity to the less fortunate, and absolve the world of its sin. Jesus preached a doctrine of a supreme monotheistic god who ruled over the universe, as well as ethics and morals especially centred on the concept of faith and forgiveness. If one was to live their life in accordance to the Will of God and the teachings of Christ found in the written word of the Holy Bible, one would be absolved of their sin and ascend to the spiritual realm of God, known as Heaven, after their physical death.
According to Ninian Smart, the seven dimensions of religion include practical and ritual, emotional and experiential, narrative and mythical, ethical and legal, doctrinal and philosophical, social and institutional, and material. The practical and ritual dimension involves rituals and practices that provide spiritual awareness of adherents. The emotional and experiential dimension includes the life changing experiences that either the leaders or followers of a religion go through. Narrative and mythical dimension are the stories and past records that preserve tradition and culture in the religion. Ethical and legal dimension of the religion are basically the codes of behavior that are followed
Some people in our culture view the Christian gospel as a list of do’s and don't's that each person must fulfill to get into heaven. Others have no concept of what the good news is. Based on conservations I have had with people, many simply do not about the Christian gospel. Other think that the gospel is what we must do, good works to counteract the bad things we have done.
In the year 2009, James Cameron wrote and directed one of the most remarkable films I have ever seen ‘Avatar’. This science-fiction saga has a story line that is engaging and captivating for its audience. Avatar took place on a moon called Pandora. Humans discovered very valuable natural resources on Pandora and did whatever it took to obtain what they needed from Pandora. The people of Pandora are Na’vi’s, a 10 foot tall, blue-skinned humanoid alien group that lived in the rainforest or Pandora. The Humans found a way to interact with the Na’vi’s by artificial yet organic avatars that were controlled with a human mind and conscience. Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine who was given the task to manipulate the Na’vi’s into leaving their home. Sully entered
The movie Avatar is about how the human race invades a planet called Pandora to mine a certain kind of resource and fights with the Na’vi, the race of creatures that live on Pandora. The main character Jake Sulley decides to take his brothers
In just a matter of three months, half of the Virginia company was dead. One of the most notable deaths of the English men was their initial captain, whose exact identity remains a mystery. Following this death rose Captain John Smith. The most distinguishable trait about John Smith was his diplomatic charm in the face of grave danger from the Indians. John Smith would learn to act and talk like the Powhatans, in an attempt to gain their trust. Even more so, the chief of the native tribe was persuaded by his daughter, Pocahontas, to relinquish aggression towards the forthcoming ‘white men’. For the years to come, Pocahontas would act as a bridge between the foreigners and natives, allowing the English to breathe a sigh of relief in a storm of turbulence. Legend has it that a heteroromantic relationship blossomed between Pocahontas and Smith, but these are mere rumors. In James Cameron’s Avatar, characters can be found sharing the same roles as those in Jamestown. Rather than James Smith, Cameron presents Jake Sully, a marine whose consciousness embodies a Na’vi, and begins to walk amongst Pandora’s clans. According to Colonel Miles Quaritch, a military leader in the film, “If you’ll look like them and talk like them then they’ll start trusting us.” This philosophy was the exact mindset of John Smith when he set out for diplomacy amongst the natives. Likewise, there was an Avatar version of Pocahontas present, and she was to be found as Neytiri, daughter of the Na’vi chief. Correspondingly, Neytiri trains Sully to become one with her people, and slowly throughout the film the Na’vi’s learn to trust and respect Jake. Of course, what is a tale without a spark of romance? Unlike the rumors circulating amongst John Smith and Pocahontas, the bond between Neytiri and Jake Smith was indeed confirmed, and the two rendered as a pair beyond
Avatar uses a variety of film genres and styles. One of the styles is the Cowboys versus Indians theme. It is clear that Avatar is a product of post-colonialism: it shows the Na'vi as the relatively harmless yet environmentally respectful and spiritually in tuned indigenous population, while the humans are a corporate military whose only goal is mine the resources of Pandora. The film presents an anti-military narrative. The soldiers are portrayed as cruel, violent, and brainless brutes, with only mercenary intentions. They are the stereotype of the ultimate warrior. They perpetuate the “might is right” myth. All of them are males, except for a female helicopter pilot, who ultimately defects to the
Using highly advanced technology to replicate and to creating false bodies which humans use to walk amongst the natives known as the Na’vi living in the planet Pandora hence the name ‘Avatar’. The story focuses on an ex U.S. soldier name Jake Sully who is wheel-chair bound, was called upon as a last resort to replace his late brother whom had trained for 3 years in a project which was invested with so much money that the researchers could not bear to make it go to waste. Thus, sharing the same DNA, Jake was then given the privilege to be part of the project as he was tasked to retrieve back an extremely valuable mineral known as “Unobtainium” (Cameron & Landau, 2009) and at the same
The hero in this movie was Jake Sully. Jake is a hero because he saves the Na’vi people from the humans. Jake is the main character whose journey the audience follows throughout this movie. Jake begins as a human who is disabled from the waist down, traveling to Pandora to complete what his late brother had been working hard on for the last couple of years. He is chosen because he is the only one who has the same DNA as his brother, and they are similar considering they are twins. Once on Pandora, Jake meets Norm, another initiate that is to be an avatar. He is also introduced to Grace, his mentor for the human world and the person in charge of the entire organization. With Grace’s help, he adjusts to being an avatar. Jake soon goes out into the foreign world and ends up straying from the group. He is left in the wild to survive on his own until he meets Neytiri, the daughter of a powerful leader in a Na’vi tribe called Omatikaya. Neytiri helps Jake become one of the Na’vi by training him in several categories. Without the hero, Jake Sully, the audience would not have a journey to follow. Jake’s journey is followed throughout the movie. Without him there would be no saving of the Na’vi, and the humans would take over the land
The author's main purpose for writing A Myth of a Christian Nation is to explain how the world has claimed to be founded on christian principles but has neglected to see that this is a lie that we as christians and people in society have told ourselves to make it seem like we are “ one nation under God”. Boyd also focuses in on and introducing our role in the kingdom of God vs the kingdom of the world and our role in politics and society.
To explore on Pandora, whose atmosphere is very poisonous to people, scientists invented Avatars, who look like the Na’vi and are operated by genetically matched humans. By lying in the machine box, people can operate avatars as if they were living outside like other Na’vi. Jake Sully, a paraplegic veteran, is chosen as part of Avatar program to replace his deceased identical twin brother who worked for the program. Colonel Quaritch promises Jake that he helps them to collect information about the Na’vi and a giant tree called Hometree, the company will
Christianity is the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Most followers of Christianity, called Christians, are members of one of three major groups--Roman Catholic, Protestant, or Eastern Orthodox. These groups have different beliefs about Jesus and His teachings. But all consider Jesus central to their religion. Most Christians believe God sent Jesus into the world as the Savior. Christianity teaches that humanity can achieve salvation through Jesus.
Avatar is the story of Jake Sully, a paraplegic marine that is sent to the world Pandora to take the place of his dead-brother's job as a Na’vi avatar pilot. The humans on Pandora use these
Another “white fantasy” observation Newitz makes in her essay is that the white protagonist always becomes the savior. This is hardly the truth in the Avatar’s case. Throughout the film, Jake is rescued by Neytiri and the Na’vi numerous times. Even after the final battle is over, it is Neytiri who saves his life when he begins to suffocate in his human form. Also, rather than Jake “saving the day” during the final battle, the film focuses on the fact that Jake is unable to combat the opposing side single-handedly, and can only succeed with the aid of his Na’vi brethren. In other words, rather than the white man saving the day, it was the teamwork of his native friends that made the win possible.