Image source: http://dailycapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Avatar-image-1.jpg
In 2154, man was depicted to be suffering from energy crisis on Earth. With man's extreme need for survival, we turn to a different world that could possibly save us. But salvation in a different manner.
The Avatar research was successful in locating Pandora, a moon of the planet of Polyphemus, some 4.3 light years from Earth. Pandora held massive amounts of lush greens and a very important discovery of the mineral called Unobtanium which, for man was the solution to the energy crisis. Finding the rock was the key, but getting it was not the solution. The Na'vis were the natives of Pandora and they were the link to a missing future.
Jake Sully, had a brother Tom who was a scientist who held a PhD in the Avatar research. Each man had to be linked to a specific hybrid of human and Na'vi genome. Each avatar is very expensive and can only be linked to a specific nervous system. When Tom died, Jake was the next best bet for a possible link to Tom's avatar. He took on the task, hoping that he could get a fresh start with a new life as soon as the mission was completed. He looked forward to a life with legs, being a paraplegic ex-marine.
His mission was to learn the ways of the Na'vi and hopefully to convince them to relocate in time for the taking over of their troops to extract all possible amounts of the Unobtanium. He was supposed to succeed where the scientists failed. Given that he was the first warrior ever to use an Avatar, the natives gave him favor of learning their ways, aside from the fact that he seemed to be favored by their spirit god Eywa.
He learns their ways and fell in love with the nature and Neytiri. Soon, Jake found himself going against the inhumane ways of acquiring Unobtanium through destruction of the nature of Pandora. As he became one of the Omaticaya (people of Pandora), he vows to help the natives and defend their land. War breaks out and he unites the different clans to save their nature.
Image source: http://nice-cool-pics.com/data/media/33/pandora_s_box_legends.jpg
What it made me see
The cinematography was wonderful. My limited vocabulary of amazing adjectives cannot begin to describe the colors, vividness and creativity I have witnessed in this movie. Not only were my eyes satisfied, but also my auditory perception. The music, and the effects have brought me inside the movie to feel and witness the beauty of nature and a different world that can exist inside our minds, and in our hearts. I believe, the cinematography and animation were good in general except that I felt that they were not too detailed on soft hair animation. :)But not only was I physically moved by the awesomeness of this movie. I was also spiritually touched and inspired in so many ways that I believe most have also experienced. I couldn't let this chance pass to express how much I have seen, realized and learned from that movie. We all could truly benefit from it without realizing it.
Timeliness
The many consecutive movies about paranormal and the myths of the future have all brought us about so much fuzz, rattle and insurmountable amount of emotions. But nothing has really been done, or told about how we can prevent it. The group of scientists tried to find the answer outside of Earth, external to man. But the answer was really inside all of us. Communing with nature and really putting to our hearts the desire to heal it is the only answer. Going a step backward in simplicity and love for the only place we can ever call home is the best way to go forward.
Others say there is no more hope even in trying to practice "Going Green". They say its too late. Nothing is too late once we start doing something NOW. Nothing good is ever wasted. Every second we say it can be done tomorrow, is another second wasted.
There's no place like home
For the humans, Earth was the only place they wanted to save, so they couldn't care less for Pandora. The same was for the Na'vis though. Both parties were out to save their home.
I believe that there should always be balance in everything. Without balance, there is destruction. Even inside our bodies, when there is no balance, we become ill. There is only one source for everything.. and that is where we are at home. We must protect our home and strike balance in everything. Even the Na'vis believed that their mother nature's spirit Eywa was a neutral mother who did not favor any side unless it was for the balance of the natural process. Eywa did not send the children of the earth to help the Na'vis until the very end that their intervention was needed.
All creation is beautiful
Neytira Image source: http://www.2dayblog.com/images/2010/december/550x-avatar-movie.jpg
Man was created in the image and likeness of God. We are all therefore equipped with the beauty and divinity of the heart of God. It was man's stay on Earth and his attachment to the dirt that made us forget about being divine beings which came from God himself.
Just the same, the Na'vis were such beautiful creatures created in perfect simplicity inside Pandora. They had blue skin with droplets of glowing patterns of light on their skin. They had long hair of locks that fall between their thighs. Even babies and men had long braids of hair. They have only four fingers that resemble them to anything alien to man.
Th Na'vis had long limbs and slender bodies that allow them to move freely within trees. They occasionally wear accessories and other ornaments to highlight social differences and celebration of events, but other than that, they wear their bare skin on pride. Their concept and characterization of the Na'vis were excellent.
For so long a time, the human hair has only served as aesthetics for the human appearance. I bet most of us believed only up to the notion that the hair is "man's crowning glory". But the movie has given meaning to the use of hair in communing with nature. Their long locks of hair was no mere ornament. Not only do they use it for connecting to Eywa, but they use it as their guides in moving swiftly and for connecting to other creations of nature. The flying, crawling creatures were portrayed as equally alive as the trees and the natives.
What the Na'vis are and aren't
The Na'vis were very much human as in their love for their only home, but they aren't like man who will flee at the sight of the consequences of their actions. They stand and fight for what they believe and they show reverence for their past and their ancestors. Their love for their people are tantamount to their love for their own families.
Though they have families, they have shelters and some of their ways show similarity to human ways, there is something they practice that we almost always miss. Their mere existence is a symbolism of strength in spirit and belief. Though there are differences in their ways and means of "faith", they demonstrate belief in one ultimate source of life and hope.
In my opinion, they did not "worship" Eywa, but rather, they looked up to Eywa for nurturing and protection. They look up to her as their mother who took care of all of their people who has left them physically. She is the caretaker of the balance of the physical and spiritual world.
Another difference that I saw was the power of the minds of the Na'vi. To me, they closely resemble what has been ignored and forgotten in modern human ways. The power of the mind was like second nature to them as they acknowledge that was is in the mind is also what is in the heart and it therefore is what is by and from the Universe.
Some regard this as paganism, but there is a spirituality aspect of this that is underlying this concept. That every body is a house for a soul and that every being has a soul, emotion and purpose is what drives the love of the Na'vi for Pandora's creations. The representation of their unity, their connection to each other was quite "off" from my more neutral notion of nature communing, nonetheless, it still makes the point. :)
Technology could also bridge Earth
The Avatar project is powered by great loads of technological breakthroughs. I'm sure if it was real, it could've cost so much, but the underlying concept was just a simple lucid dreaming. The controller of the Avatar sleeps and then connects to its Avatar that is innate to the environment of Pandora. If only we wouldn't rely too much on technology and still be close to our ultimate source of existence, then technology could be the bridge to ground us back to earth just like what was shown in Avatar (less the destructive effects).
Whatever it is that you believe in, whether its "The end justifies the means, or that The means justifies the end", you should see the movie to learn for yourself what the real solution is. We don't have to wait for 2154 for us to realize the answer has always been within ourselves. Only the individual will create the real reality inside them.