Pantheism and Avatar

Ross Douthat writes an op-ed piece for the NY Times on pantheism in the new blockbuster film Avatar:

In Cameron’s sci-fi universe, this communion is embodied by the blue-skinned, enviably slender Na’Vi, an alien race whose idyllic existence on the planet Pandora is threatened by rapacious human invaders. The Na’Vi are saved by the movie’s hero, a turncoat Marine, but they’re also saved by their faith in Eywa, the “All Mother,” described variously as a network of energy and the sum total of every living thing.
If this narrative arc sounds familiar, that’s because pantheism has been Hollywood’s religion of choice for a generation now. It’s the truth that Kevin Costner discovered when he went dancing with wolves. It’s the metaphysic woven through Disney cartoons like “The Lion King” and “Pocahontas.” And it’s the dogma of George Lucas’s Jedi, whose mystical Force “surrounds us, penetrates us, and binds the galaxy together.”

I’ve not seen Avatar, but I think Douthat is right on the money (as he often is). Read the whole thing.
The Blind Side strikes me as a better flick to see during this holiday season. It is a true story, as World magazine recently explored in a cover story.