Avatar, the recent blockbuster by acclaimed Director James Cameron, denigrates America, its military, humanity and God—all in the name of environmentalism. This is the latest example of “Hollywood chic.”
Mr. Cameron, who has directed box office mega-hits such as Titanic and The Terminator, has truly outdone himself. Avatar is the highest grossing film of all-time in North America: it is the first film to net more than $2 billion. Breaking cinematic ground with new technology, this $300 million 3-D adventure required the craft and skill of 2,000 people over three years. But the end result may be as breathtaking as it is morally grotesque.
Set in the year 2154, the U.S. Armed Forces is on a mission to destroy another planet called Pandora which has a rich source of mineral that humans on earth desperately need to stave off an energy crisis back home. Pandora harbors a planetary forest inhabited peacefully by the Na’vi, a blue-skinned, golden-eyed race of slender giants. Humans cannot go to Pandora due to the toxic air. Yet they can travel there with the use of an avatar which assumes the shape of a Na’vi.
Paraplegic war veteran, Jake Scully, assumes the avatar originally crafted for his twin brother, now deceased. Jake becomes a Na’vi to infiltrate the alien’s lifestyle and obtain access to the mineral. If his mission is successful, the government promises to give him an expensive surgery to restore the use of his legs. Jake befriends the Na’vi and falls in love with Neytiri, a Na’vi assigned to teach him Na’vi ways. Upon falling in love with Neytiri and the earth-loving Na’vis, Jake goes rogue and forsakes his mission. He joins forces with the Na’vi to fight the invading military intent on destroying the beautiful land of Pandora. Upon defeating the army, Jake relinquishes life on earth as a human and opts to become a Na’vi, living on Pandora with his fellow enlightened creatures.
Only in Hollywood is it chic to be anti-American, anti-military, anti-human and anti-God—and embrace global warming extremism to boot. By contrast, the majority of Americans are proud of their country, their military and their Christian roots.
In Avatar, worshipping God is replaced by worshipping nature. Defending and worshipping nature, specifically, a giant tree, becomes the salvo of the Na’vi people. Such tree-loving pantheism makes a mockery of God and religion. This runs contrary to the convictions of the roughly three-quarters of all Americans who are Christians. According to a Gallup poll in 2003, 95 percent of Americans believe in God and 60 percent say religion plays a very important role in their lives. Americans are a religious people with more than half attending church at least once a month.
Moreover, in Avatar, Mr. Cameron not so subtly presents the “evil” military invading the peacenik Na’vis as a trope for President George W. Bush’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, especially for what the misguided left and Hollywood believe to be a war waged for oil. Again, Mr. Cameron is detached from majority American sentiment. A USA Today-Gallup Poll, taken prior to the March invasion, indicated that 75 percent of U.S. citizens supported the war in Iraq. Saddam Hussein posed a threat to national security by refusing to abide by U.N. sanctions. Hussein’s demise was a victory for Iraqis and lovers of freedom worldwide. American blood was not shed for oil, but for liberty and democracy at home and abroad.
But Mr. Cameron’s lies don’t stop there. At the Global Green USA’s 7th Pre-Oscar Party, Mr. Cameron called for a mobilization to tackle climate change on a scale similar to that of World War II. “We haven’t made as nearly as much progress as we need to. We need to accelerate. We need to mobilize like we did in World War II. And we need to see the threat as that severe to the safety and security of this country and to our children. And it isn’t happening. People need to wake up,” Mr. Cameron said.
However, Americans are starting to believe that the threat of global warming has been overstated. A March Gallup survey found that 48 percent of Americans think that the seriousness of global warming is exaggerated; this is up from 41 percent in 2009 and 31 percent in 1997. Also, more Americans do not believe global warming is happening. Currently, 53 percent of Americans believe global warming is occurring, down from 58 percent in 2009 and 65 percent in 2008. Americans are also less convinced that humans are causing global warming, with 50 percent holding this view, down from 61percent in 2007 and 58 percent in 2008.
Despite Mr. Cameron’s 3-D shock and awe, Americans are beginning to see the light. At this year’s Academy Awards, Mr. Cameron was ousted by his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow. She accepted awards for best director and best movie for The Hurt Locker, a motion picture highlighting the heroism of our men and women in arms. At last, Hollywood got one right.
Mr. Cameron's anti-God, anti-military and anti-American movie is a national disgrace. Our art should reflect our most cherished values, rather than the destructive ideology of a fringe minority.
-Loredana Vuoto is President of Eloquence, LLC, a speechwriting and writing services firm in Washington, DC. She is also the Managing Editor of Reflections.