Vatican says Avatar is no masterpiece

[Bert]

Source: msnbc

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.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34821947/ns/entertainment-movies/

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Wow, as if I needed another reason to see Avatar. Hope it does well in Italy too where it is just opening this week.

[valerief]

1. Yeah, nature doesn't even have a collection plate! nt

[FSogol]

9. Yeah, but unlike the Vatican, Nature collects us all at the end...

...as compost. ;-)

[valerief]

19. Hey, I'm with Nature all the way!!! nt

[arcadian]

2. Doesn't Avatar deal with the theme of exploitation?

Kind of like flashing a mirror in the Vatican's face.

[Mithreal]

23. But would they see anything in the mirror?

[AllenVanAllen]

29. Lol!

[grytpype]

3. What a bunch of medieval assholes.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. How should we break it to them that "worship of Nature" preceded "Religion" by eons...?

If anything it was organized religion that was substituted for worship of nature.
I cannot help but wonder if we would not have been much better off if we had all stayed with "worship of nature"

[Solly Mack]

5. lololololololol

[DJ13]

6. Cameron's PR firm even got the Vatican to shill for the movie?

Damn, they're good.

[notadmblnd]

7. Did they receive that message directly from God?

They do claim to have a direct link, don't they?

[ChadwickHenryWard]

8. Well, they never had anything negative to say about the abuse of indiginous people,

so of course they wouldn't get it.

[Codeine]

10. It's mindless eye-candy.

Fuck the Vatican, it's just a dumb film.

[depakid]

13. I guess you didn'y like Fern Gully, either...

}(

[santamargarita]

11. Must be good! I'll definitely see it!

n/t

[newscott]

12. The Sermon on the Mount was way better.

[Ed76638]

14. The people of the Westren Hemisphere got along with nature just fine

Until Columbus came and fucked it all to hell.

[PSPS]

15. Forget Ebert. "Vatican" is always my go-to source for a movie review.

Maybe Benny can start a movie review column and shop it around the syndicates.

I remember the "Legion of Decency" movie list way back in the day that was published in various church handouts. We kids would always check the listings under the "Condemned" category.

[Prometheus Bound]

18. LOL

[customerserviceguy]

16. Of course the Vatican is threatened by this movie

It parallels the efforts five hundred years ago to bring Jaysus to the poor heathen Native Americans in the name of the Vatican. We all see how that turned out for them.

[madrchsod]

17. who the hell gives a shit what these guys have to say...

[ZombieHorde]

33. Unfortunately, many people care what the Vatican says.

Roman Catholic is a pretty big group.

[Orrex]

20. I hear that the 3D effect got messed up when they projected it on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

And anyway, the Vaticanites aren't the only ones calling it simplistic.

[AllenVanAllen]

30. Even simple concepts can sometimes be

profound.

[Jennicut]

21. What would Jesus say today about the destroying of the environment.

I mean, really. Don't they have better things to do?

[Fearless]

22. And now it will be all that more popular.

[Haole Girl]

24. Felling a little missionary gulit, are they? nt

[Orrex]

25. I don't believe they have a position on that

[AlphaCentauri]

26. Those creatures look like angels

[salguine]

27. Moviegoing public thinks Vatican is no great shakes either.

[shadowknows69]

28. I'm sure Jim Cameron atop his mountain of money gives a flying lizard fuck what the Vatican thinks.

[DisasterMan827]

31. Picky, picky, Vatican...

They always like to bash anything that has a good plot...Avatar, The Da Vinci Code...and the list goes on.

It tells you something about the Vatican.

They're living by medieval ideologies in the year 2010.

It's sad really.

[caseymoz]

32. The Vatican again shows that it's run by thick-headed people.

First, the "mother nature" depicted in the movie was a planet connected by a kind of neural network, which could communicate to the animals, and the Nar'i could plug into it directly. That's distinct from earth, where there is no such thing. Even so, it says nothing about a larger creator. There could still be "God" in the Avatar universe for all that it goes into it. It's just that there's an entity larger and more powerful than human beings and less powerful than God, and this entity is based in the physical world.

It's like the Catholic Church just came out against networked computers because they're obviously idolatry. It's also as if they don't want people to think about these distinctions.

I could see where the Pope and Bishops would complain about it being simplistic, but anything is simplistic compared to the doctrine and dogma of the Roman Catholic Church. I like when the Vatican does this dry-run at censorship. It tells people what a bigoted and ignorant an outfit it really is, and the fact that they will start book burnings immediately when they have enough power.

Lastly, on a related subject, David Brooks complains that it is racist in its use of the "White Messiah" saving an indigenous population. He names some of the movies that have done this.

No, it isn't racist for a story to depict a "White" person who suddenly gets it and decides he is going to save a native population against the racism and greed of other "White" people. This, if anything, must be encouraged, not discouraged as it doesn't happen often enough in the real world. If the "White" person was depicted as saving them from themselves, while other White people decimate them, I could see suspicions about racism. Otherwise, it's just bullshit.

[mackerel]

34. "Vatican says Avatar is no masterpiece"

Oh well then it's settled.

[Anakin Skywalker]

35. That's It! I'm Boycotting "Avatar"!

Yeah! Just because the Vatican says it sucks! :sarcasm:

[yoyossarian]

36. They're just pissed cuz' Cameron's miracles are so much more...

...impressive than anything they have to offer.