the character Neytiri, voiced by Zoe Saldana, right, and the character
Jake, voiced by Sam Worthington are shown in a scene from, 'Avatar.'
'Avatar' remains the top box-office draw in the U.S. for the fourth
straight weekend with $48.5 million. (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, File)
VATICAN CITY - "Avatar" is wooing audiences worldwide with visually
dazzling landscapes and nature-loving blue creatures. But the Vatican
is no easy crowd to please.
The Vatican newspaper and radio station are criticizing James
Cameron's 3-D blockbuster for flirting with the idea that worship of
nature can replace religion — a notion the pope has warned against.
They call the movie a simplistic and sappy tale, despite its
awe-inspiring special effects.
"Not much behind the images" was how the Vatican newspaper,
L'Osservatore Romano, summed it up in a headline.
As the second highest-grossing movie ever, "Avatar" is challenging the
record set by Cameron's previous movie "Titanic."
Generally it has been critically acclaimed and is touted as a leading
Oscar contender.
Bolivia's first indigenous president, Evo Morales, has praised
"Avatar" for what he calls its message of saving the environment from
exploitation. But the movie also has drawn a number of critical
voices. Some American conservative bloggers have decried its
anti-militaristic message; a small group of people have said the movie
contains racist themes.
To Vatican critics, the alien extravaganza is just "bland."
Cameron "tells the story without going deep into it, and ends up
falling into sappiness," said L'Osservatore Romano. Vatican Radio
called it "rather harmless" but said it was no heir to sci-fi
masterpieces of the past.
Most significantly, much of the Vatican criticism was directed at the
movie's central theme of man vs. nature.
L'Osservatore said the film "gets bogged down by a spiritualism linked
to the worship of nature." Similarly, Vatican Radio said it "cleverly
winks at all those pseudo-doctrines that turn ecology into the
religion of the millennium."
"Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship,"
the radio said.
Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said that while the movie
reviews are just that — film criticism, not theological pronouncements
— they do reflect Pope Benedict XVI's views on the dangers of turning
nature into a "new divinity."
Benedict has often spoken about the need to protect the environment,
earning the nickname of "green pope." But he also has balanced that
call with a warning against turning environmentalism into
neo-paganism.
In a recent World Day of Peace message, the pontiff warned against any
notions that equate human beings with other living things in the name
of a "supposedly egalitarian vision." He said such notions "open the
way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the
source of man's salvation in nature alone, understood in purely
naturalistic terms."
The pope explained in the message that while many experience
tranquillity and peace when coming into contact with nature, a correct
relationship between man and the environment should not lead to
"absolutizing nature" or "considering it more important than the human
person."
The Vatican newspaper occasionally likes to comment in its cultural
pages on movies or pop culture icons, as it did recently about "The
Simpsons" or U2. In one famous instance, several Vatican officials
spoke out against "The Da Vinci Code."
In this case, the reviews came out after a red-carpet "Avatar" preview
held in Rome just a stone's throw from St. Peter's Square. The movie —
which has made more than $1.3 billion at box offices worldwide, partly
boosted by higher 3-D ticket prices — will be released Friday in
Italy.
"So much stupefying, enchanting technology, but few genuine emotions,"
said L'Osservatore in one of three articles devoted to "Avatar" in its
Sunday editions. The plotline of aliens who live on a distant
unspoiled planet and the humans who want to pillage their resources is
a universal theme that can be reminiscent of past colonizations and
wars, the paper said. As such, it is easy to relate to it, but also
unoriginal.
"Everything is reduced to an overly simple anti-imperialistic and
anti-militaristic parable," it said.
In America, the big numbers and media hype have been accompanied by
some controversy.
Blog posts, newspaper articles, tweets and YouTube videos have
criticized the film, with some calling it "a fantasy about race told
from the point of view of white people" and that it reinforces "the
white Messiah fable." Cameron says the real theme is about respecting
others' differences.
An LA Times blog noted that the movie "has inflamed the passions of
right-wing bloggers and pundits."
"Cameron incensed many voices on the right by acknowledging
of-the-moment messages about imperialism, greed, ecological disregard
and corporate irresponsibility," it said. Anti-smoking lobbies have
denounced the cigarette-puffing character played by Sigourney Weaver.
Back at the Vatican, the reviews did praise the groundbreaking visuals
of the movie.
Vatican Radio said that "really never before have such surprising
images been seen," while L'Osservatore said the movie's worth lies in
its "extraordinary visual impact."