AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Floods Audiences With Faulty Worldview
By Movieguide® Staff
The sequel to the box office record-setting movie AVATAR, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER opened to an impressive $134M. But should you watch it?
Part of Movieguide®’s review of the James Cameron directed sequel reads:
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER is James Cameron’s long-awaited sequel to his blockbuster 2009 movie. In the story, Jake must protect his new wife and family on Pandora from a cloned avatar of his nemesis from the first movie. A new army of Earth invaders has ordered the cloned soldier to capture or kill Jake, to stop the native resistance to Earth’s takeover of Pandora. His fight against Jake ranges from the forests of Pandora to a beautiful paradise of ocean atolls.
AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER has lots of action and jeopardy. Also, the ocean and underwater scenes are incredible. The main theme of THE WAY OF WATER is family. Also, Jake repeatedly says a father’s duty is to “protect his family.” However, the movie has a fair amount of foul language, partial nudity, and lots of action violence and combat. AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER contains false pantheistic theology, references and prayers to “The Great Mother” and some politically correct environmentalism.
Despite some strong pro-family themes, Movieguide® warned audiences of the major worldview problems that ultimately marred the movie’s messages about family and fatherhood.
Even with blockbuster movies like AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER, viewers vote with their money.
There is no such thing as a surefire box office hit—as evidenced by Disney’s latest releases STRANGE WORLD and LIGHTYEAR—and audiences have the ability to push for content that upholds biblical values with what they spend money on.
Movieguide® wants to champion the good, the true, and the beautiful rather than shut out all entertainment. However, this approach requires a foundation of a biblical worldview and the courage to stand for God’s way rather than man’s way.
It is important to exercise discernment, and not rely on a PG-13 rating as your only barometer for acceptable content. Aside from foul language or violence, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER presents a theology of the world that goes against the God of the Bible and could negatively effect young minds in subtle, but dangerous, ways.
“Despite this, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER also contains pantheistic theology, references and prayers to “The Great Mother” and some politically correct environmentalism,” the Movieguide® review reads. “Many modern radical environmentalists lean toward the pantheistic ‘Gaia myth’ of Earth and its ecosystem. The Bible tells us, however, that the God of the Universe has ordered his human creation to establish a dominion of stewardship over Earth, not to worship it but to cultivate and develop it and its resources.”
Movieguide® previously reported on the importance of a biblical worldview:
Goerge Barna’s Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University recently released data from their American Worldview Inventory 2022.
The data revealed the “the worldview dilemma of American parents,” and how a lack of a biblical worldview negatively affects their children’s spiritual well-being.
The survey asked 600 American parents with children younger than 13 worldview questions to assess how those worldviews are applied.
Of the 600 parents, 67% identified as Christians. However, only 4% said they held to a biblical worldview that keeps God’s word as the most “relevant and authoritative guide for life.”
“A parent’s primary responsibility is to prepare a child for the life God intends for that child,” Barna, the director of research at the Cultural Research Center, said. “A crucial element in nurturing is helping the child develop a biblical worldview — the filter that causes a person to make their choices in harmony with biblical teachings and principles.”
“The typical American parent is either fully unaware that there is a worldview development process, or they are aware that their child is developing a worldview, but they do not take responsibility for a role in the process,” he added. “Every parent teaches what they know and models what they believe. They can only give what they have, and what they have to give reflects their driving beliefs about life and spirituality.”
Movieguide® echoes Barna’s sentiment that media wisdom and discernment start with the parents.
“Shockingly few parents intentionally speak to their children about beliefs and behavior based upon a biblical worldview,” Barna said. “Perhaps the most powerful worldview lesson parents provide is through their own behavior, yet our studies consistently indicate that parental choices generally do not reflect biblical principles or an intentionally Christian approach to life.”
Aside from parents’ example to their children, the media’s influence on children is second to none for American families.
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