Vatican denounces Avatar movie
Vatican denounces Avatar movie
VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican newspaper and radio station have called the film “Avatar” simplistic, and criticized it for flirting with modern doctrines that promote the worship of nature as a substitute for religion.
L’Osservatore Romano and Vatican Radio dedicated ample coverage to James Cameron’s big-grossing, 3-D spectacle. But the reviews were lukewarm, calling the movie superficial in its eco-message, despite groundbreaking visual effects.
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, with no theological weight — 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 has sometimes balanced that call with a warning against neo-paganism.
In a recent World Day of Peace message, the pontiff warned against any notions that equate human person and other living things. 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.”
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 preview held in Rome just a stone’s throw from St. Peter’s Square. The movie will be released Friday in Italy.
Jan 12, 2010 @ 20:11:56
The Vatican is actually afraid of losing Catholics to Eywa? This could be interpreted as a very good sign ;)
Jan 13, 2010 @ 07:46:04
Somebody is scaaaaaaaaaaaared :)
Jan 15, 2010 @ 08:45:37
They are afraid of losing there power.
Jan 27, 2010 @ 23:51:14
*facepalm catholic style* I see where there coming from. But would they ban their kids from watching pohcahontis? Only if they are a heartless bastard without whimsy! (yes I botched the spelling)
Jan 28, 2010 @ 01:35:07
Praise Eywa!!!!!!!!!… right?
Jan 28, 2010 @ 16:13:36
He’s just comparing fictional stories and thinks his is better.
Jan 30, 2010 @ 16:15:25
Lol. ‘L’Osservatore Romano’ =/= ‘The Vatican’.
Feb 02, 2010 @ 23:37:47
they should melt some of that gold and feed the hungry
Feb 07, 2010 @ 10:41:30
i watch AVATAR movie,its showing American mind set, to Kill innocent Women,Child and Older people, and Un-Armed Human any where in Planet and may be become in universe too, Al ready do in vietnam, cambodia, africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, and do propaganda they are Human been and others are terrorist, if One American Die in combat they kill thousand with modern ammunition and say “Save the World”
I can just pray the God, give him mind and hart to to respect other country human been, people get Food and Medicine Not Ammunition,
Feb 08, 2010 @ 10:53:19
I have not seen Avatar, but I will correct you on what you claim as the “American” mindset. It is a savage human mindset you are talking about, not one country. Last I checked, children in Africa were stolen from their homes and forced to be slaves still. Women and girls in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan are raped and then beaten for being raped while their assailants are allowed to roam to do it to another female. I’m not saying the U.S. is necessarily the greatest country in the world, but we are extremely humane and do more than our fair share in attempting to aid other countries in times of need. And, everyone expects it from us. See Haiti. See the millions of Mexican immigrants, legal and not, that we take care of. See the African refugees that we’re helping to have a life free from the fear of slavery. See the AIDS crisis in Africa. Yes, we are involved in a war, but you act as if we’re the only ones and that we were never provoked.
Feb 09, 2010 @ 10:29:24
Don’t these people have anything better to do? Do they honestly think that a movie like Avatar (even though I think it is brilliant) will influence someone enough to change their religion? I personally hope people start to worship Eywa, damn straight better than most religions, at least nature exists.
Mar 12, 2010 @ 08:32:09
Thanks to the church cos it’s there to guide us. whatever it says I hold to be true and from God. So if you are not happy with the church, you’ve got no other choice.
Mar 21, 2010 @ 22:05:11
The theme of Fern Gully, er, Avatar is easily seen as Anti-American. Does anyone know how the Chinese government felt about Avatar? They banned it because they felt their people would equate it with Tibet and even the Chinese government’s displacement of numerous people for their hydropower projects, Olympics building projects, and other “urban renewals”. They were worried it might touch a nerve.
Avatar is easily anti-imperialist and though it’s not that deep, it might become timeless, because it’s the powerful that tend to displace the powerless when it’s convenient to do so, most or all empires of the past did so, and empires of the future will continue to do so. I think it’s an innate human tendency for those with power to take advantage of those without power, from the interpersonal level to the international level.