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Question: What cost 387 million dollars , brought great joy to millions of people, and sent others down a spiral of depression? Answer: Avatar.

If you haven't heard of it by now, chances are you don't get on the internet much. Or read newspapers. Or go outside. Or have friends. This movie has already grossed 1.4 billion dollars and is well on its way to becoming the highest grossing movie of all time. For James Cameron, the movie's writer and director, the only movie standing between him and #1 is the last movie he made. You might have heard of it - it's called "Titantic."

The big push behind this movie, as you probably already know, it's the visual gluttonous feast that it provides. I was able to see the movie in 3D on Monday night and pretty much sat there dumbfounded at how cool everything was. Several times I sat there with my jaw wide open while simultaneously grinning and whispering, "Wow!" The closest way I can think of to talk about the movie is to say that James Cameron has done for film what C.S. Lewis did for literature. Lewis created other worlds on paper, and Cameron brought his to life on the screen.

This movie was not without it's critics, however. For starters, critics clam the story line is essentially that of the Disney hit movie, Pocohontas (not to be confused with the actual, historical account of Pocohontas). To this I say, "Yes. It is. But I don't care. Essentially every chick flick has the same story structure but no one cares about that. Gorgeous guy meets beautiful babe. Usually one plays hard to get. Then they fall in love. Then one does something stupid and they part ways. Then they realize they are too perfect for one another and get back together. I don't even have a specific chick flick in mind, but I'm guessing this plot summarizes at least a few of them."

The movie contains also political, social, and spritual threads woven subtly and explicitly throughout. The line, "We fight terror with terror" kind of stuck out to me. The whole cowboy and indian genocide theme was pretty explicit - complete with the Avatar warriors riding horses (the Pandora equivalent of), wearing war paint, and shooting bows and arrows. Additionally, there was a whole bunch of mother earth mumbo jumbo hogwash thrown in. Something about all of creation sharing the same spirit and connecting through fiber-optic ponytails. Finally, the movie presented creation as being the mediator between man and the divine. It clearly had a divine "other" that was separate from but involved with creation, but it/she/he was accessed through creation.

I don't want to really rant about this movie because I think pretty much every movie has its own pagan message and to single this one out is unfair. I just wanted to say that the movie was super cool and entertaining but should not be viewed without discernment. Watch it through your eyes but with your heart.

P.S. The whole depression deal going on simply points out that people recognize that something in our world is broken. People long to be in a reconciled relationship with creation and the Divine, but fail to see that Jesus makes this possible. Avatar just made this super obvious.