Our own Avatars

In the film Avatar, there is a tree called the Tree of Souls. The tree has a spiritual connection, as it deals with ancestors. In Mormon culture, ancestors play a huge role (as we focus on families being eternal). The film makes illustrates the tree as large and bright, drawing the audience’s attention to it. The tree fills the entire screen, so there is no way the audience can miss it, and it enables significance. Then, when we hear the ancestors, it’s happy (there’s laughter and happy tones), which allows the audience to also think about their own memories of their ancestors.

A theme I also found in the film, which the essay touched on, is the Plan of Salvation. Something that stuck out to me from the very beginning of the film is that Jake Sully came to the planet from a different one (earth) so he could basically have a second chance. Something the article brought up that I didn’t think of before, though, is the connection of how our bodies are avatars of our spirits. In the film, Jake is able to use “his” legs in the other world, of which was restricted in earth. Another aspect of avatars which the article brought up was technological avatars we use on a regular basis through social media. I had never connected those to the meaning of avatar, but it definitely makes sense after reading the article. The “avatars” we use regularly through social media aren’t us, but they are somewhat linked to us.