Making and Maturing

Art certainly mirrors culture; it reflects the cultural ideals of the artist, even if that culture is a subculture. When it comes to James Cameron’s Avatar movie franchise we find a multi-billion dollar reflection of our culture. If we let the dollars speak, they are shouting. The first Avatar film (2009) grossed 2.92 billion dollars. The second (2022), 2.34 billion dollars. After a few weeks the third has already grossed over 350 million dollars. The movies are peak cinematic productions with stunning special effects and vivid cinematography.

But what do these movies reflect about what our culture believes? There are many topics we could examine in the films, but I’d like to focus on one major one: a theology of creation. The narratives of all three movies hinge on Eywa, the nature goddess. Without spoiling the plots, each story creates tension on a binary scale: humanity either submits to and worships Eywa, or humanity abuses Eywa. Characters in these stories pray to Eywa, and ultimately are rescued by Eywa. Nature has personhood and will in these stories, and one moral takeaway is humanity is abusing nature.

One freedom narrative artists have is the use of extremes to communicate a more nuanced message. Stories work best when the good guys and bad guys are clear. But I think the binary tension in the Avatar movies is precisely the problem with the creation theology of our culture the films reflect. Good guys submit to and worship nature; bad guys don’t.

God’s command to humanity in Genesis 1:28 is markedly different than the choices Cameron presents in Avatar. God blessed Adam and Eve, and said, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). This is not worship of creation. Neither is it a mandate for abusing creation. Humanity is commanded to steward the earth, including animal life, for the glory of God.

In its remarkable artistic presentation, Avatar shows us one narrative in our culture: we must worship nature. There is no room in this worldview for a biblical creation theology. Christians may disagree about what good stewardship of creation looks like, but we must insist that we have a Creator who can be known through general and special revelation, and He has instructed us to rule over creation.

If people are listening to Cameron’s stories, the lesson is that we must stop abusing nature and start worshipping her, she will save us. Ironically, Cameron does fumble around with biblical ideas of redemption in the third Avatar film. One narrative moment (mild spoiler here) is a midrash on Genesis 22 and Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac. In Cameron’s version the main character comes to his senses and refuses to move forward with the sacrifice. Redemption comes from self-revelation. But the Genesis version is better: God provides a substitutionary sacrifice as the means of redemption.

The assumption in the Avatar movies is that mankind’s greatest sin is abusing creation. These films reflect a mindset in which the creature has displaced the Creator. That theology of creation is upside down. At our best, we understand stewarding creation is a means to glorify God, not replace him.