As Avatar has been playing in the theatres there have been some reports of people feeling depressed and experiencing suicidal thoughts as a result of watching this movie.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Avatar-driving-us-to-suicide-say-fans/articleshow/5436823.cms
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Avatar-driving-us-to-suicide-say-fans/articleshow/5436823.cms
Apparently this feeling of depression, and of suicidal thoughts, is brought about because people can not get to Pandora. The mere fact that Pandora is fictional does not seem to impact these people and their thoughts. The reason for this is that there appears to be archetypal thought of wanting to return to the Garden of Eden from which mankind was cast out in Genesis 3:22-24. To see some aspects of the Garden of Eden, in the movies, appears to elicit these longings that only God can solve.
In the Bible God declares that:
Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
18 But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy.
19 And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.
20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.
21 And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
23 They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the LORD, and their offspring with them.
24 And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpents meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.
The Tree of Life, which had been in the center of the Garden of Eden, will one day be accessible to God’s people again. The hope for Christians is that by walking with Jesus one day we will be able to return to this wonderful place and pick up where Adam and Eve left off.
God has promised to grant to us special blessings in our fellowship with Him. In I Corinthians 2:9 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” This assurance is available for people who want what the Garden of Pandora has offered. God wants us to long after that beautiful place that was the perfection of all, which God created in the beginning. That place where sin drove us out of is waiting for us to return. In order to get there we will have to study the things of God and accept His gift of returning to Eden, by faith. That which fantasy movies speaks to can happen in the reality of life. This is God’ promise, that Avatar only suggests. God’s reality is better than Avatar’s suggests.
So to those who feel frustrated, depressed, or suicidal, don’t get stuck in the mud of old thinking. If you really want to go to someplace like Pandora, or better, then the best way to get there is to talk to God about it and be willing to go with Him to the place that He has created for you.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Avatar the Psychology of the Movie.
I mentioned in the last post that Avatar has sold over 2 billion dollars worth of tickets. To sell this many tickets indicates that the minds of the people of the world have resonated with the movie. This indicates that the movie has tickled, and then satisfied, many of the reasons that people go to movies. Avatar has allowed people the experience of seeing and hearing one man’s vision of an Edenic planet and all of the beauties and wonders of this fictional planet. People have been allowed the experience of adventure, exploration, to learn, to see good conquer evil, to see a new people, to see the weak defeat the strong. Avatar has been able to incorporate all of the standard symbols that move human beings and to satisfy many of the longings of the human heart.
One of the interesting issues of the movie Avatar is that there are several internet reports of people being depressed and sometimes having suicidal thoughts after seeing Avatar. The general thought is that people respond so intensely to the movie, that they long to be able to see a planet like this in reality and to have the kinds of experiences presented in the movie. To have that depth of experience indicates clearly that Avatar has hit into the psychology of mankind.
Another facet of the psychology of Avatar is that of the general archetypal symbols that Avatar has incorporated into the themes of the movie. Each archetypal symbol touches the psyche of humanity and elicits a positive response, especially that of watching the movie, often multiple times, and encourages them to want to share with their family and friends so that they to can have the kind of fulfilling imagery that Avatar has so clearly provided.
Some of the archetypal symbols are the following:
1. The Garden of Eden.
2. The thrill of learning.
3. The thrill of adventure and exploration.
4. The experience of being chased by large creatures that look like dinosaurs.
5. The conflict of good versus evil.
6. The conflict of life and death.
7. The experience of the need for family and sociability.
8. The learning of the elders.
9. The experience of survival against overwhelming odds.
10. Space travel to a new and wonderful world.
11. The ability to create coherence out of chaos.
12. The love between a man and a woman – very much like that in Eden.
13. The experience of interconnection with God.
14. The experience of interconnection with the life of the planet and all of its creatures.
15. Spirituality and life and death.
16. To be able to live happily ever after.
17. The resurrection.
18. The presence of a God/man – an Avatar.
19. Total immersion and accomplishment of entering into a new culture.
20. Overcoming handicaps and fears.
21. Imperialism.
22. The experience of church and fellowship.
All of these experiences resonate with audiences all throughout the world. These experiences resonate so well that people have set new records of spending to go and see this movie. The interesting part is that all of these symbols and experiences are integral parts of the Bible. All of these things God created for mankind to help him grow, mature, and accomplish things, all for the glory of God. God offered the reality of Pandora for His people in the beginning and He plans to offer these things again after sin has been taken care of.
One of the interesting issues of the movie Avatar is that there are several internet reports of people being depressed and sometimes having suicidal thoughts after seeing Avatar. The general thought is that people respond so intensely to the movie, that they long to be able to see a planet like this in reality and to have the kinds of experiences presented in the movie. To have that depth of experience indicates clearly that Avatar has hit into the psychology of mankind.
Another facet of the psychology of Avatar is that of the general archetypal symbols that Avatar has incorporated into the themes of the movie. Each archetypal symbol touches the psyche of humanity and elicits a positive response, especially that of watching the movie, often multiple times, and encourages them to want to share with their family and friends so that they to can have the kind of fulfilling imagery that Avatar has so clearly provided.
Some of the archetypal symbols are the following:
1. The Garden of Eden.
2. The thrill of learning.
3. The thrill of adventure and exploration.
4. The experience of being chased by large creatures that look like dinosaurs.
5. The conflict of good versus evil.
6. The conflict of life and death.
7. The experience of the need for family and sociability.
8. The learning of the elders.
9. The experience of survival against overwhelming odds.
10. Space travel to a new and wonderful world.
11. The ability to create coherence out of chaos.
12. The love between a man and a woman – very much like that in Eden.
13. The experience of interconnection with God.
14. The experience of interconnection with the life of the planet and all of its creatures.
15. Spirituality and life and death.
16. To be able to live happily ever after.
17. The resurrection.
18. The presence of a God/man – an Avatar.
19. Total immersion and accomplishment of entering into a new culture.
20. Overcoming handicaps and fears.
21. Imperialism.
22. The experience of church and fellowship.
All of these experiences resonate with audiences all throughout the world. These experiences resonate so well that people have set new records of spending to go and see this movie. The interesting part is that all of these symbols and experiences are integral parts of the Bible. All of these things God created for mankind to help him grow, mature, and accomplish things, all for the glory of God. God offered the reality of Pandora for His people in the beginning and He plans to offer these things again after sin has been taken care of.
Avatar: The Movie
In December of 2009 the Movie Avatar was released after a 5year developmental period. In less then two months it has become the most commercially successful movie of all time. To have this kind of financial success it appears that the movie has touched enough emotional, psychological, and spiritual buttons to get people to pay out over 2 Billion dollars worth of tickets.
It will be the purpose of this blog to share some insights of what it is that people come to look for in the movie, and what it is that they experience, and then to share some insights into this process from a Christian Biblical perspective.
Some of the blog posts will be long and some of them short but all of them will be attempting to discuss an issue in the movie and then give a Bible response to that subject. Hopefully people will be able to assess some of these issues and to get answers to some questions that they might have had.
I pray that these ideas will be used to give people security and to fulfill their hopes of being able to see something like Pandora or even better. God tells us in the Bible that when He created the earth, and the Garden of Eden, that it was very good. Genesis 1:31. It is this writers opinion that the Garden of Eden was the prototype of the movie Avatar and that all of the major themes in the movie were derived, in some way or another, from the Bible stories which came out of the Garden of Eden. What people enjoyed about the beauties of Pandora were the things that God put into the Garden of Eden.
God has indicated that we will see the Garden of Eden again for this Garden is described in Revelation 22:1-2. In addition God has said that He will create a new heavens and a new earth and it will be like the original earth created for His people in the beginning. Revelation 21:1. God has also promised us that He will create a setting for His people that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the minds of men. All that Pandora has offered, God will show us something better.
It will be the purpose of this blog to share some insights of what it is that people come to look for in the movie, and what it is that they experience, and then to share some insights into this process from a Christian Biblical perspective.
Some of the blog posts will be long and some of them short but all of them will be attempting to discuss an issue in the movie and then give a Bible response to that subject. Hopefully people will be able to assess some of these issues and to get answers to some questions that they might have had.
I pray that these ideas will be used to give people security and to fulfill their hopes of being able to see something like Pandora or even better. God tells us in the Bible that when He created the earth, and the Garden of Eden, that it was very good. Genesis 1:31. It is this writers opinion that the Garden of Eden was the prototype of the movie Avatar and that all of the major themes in the movie were derived, in some way or another, from the Bible stories which came out of the Garden of Eden. What people enjoyed about the beauties of Pandora were the things that God put into the Garden of Eden.
God has indicated that we will see the Garden of Eden again for this Garden is described in Revelation 22:1-2. In addition God has said that He will create a new heavens and a new earth and it will be like the original earth created for His people in the beginning. Revelation 21:1. God has also promised us that He will create a setting for His people that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the minds of men. All that Pandora has offered, God will show us something better.
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