A spiritual year at the multiplex<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In one of Hinduism's most sacred poems, the lord and sustainer of the universe chooses to be incarnated in human form -- the ancient term is "avatar" --\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A spiritual year at the multiplex\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In one of Hinduism's most sacred poems, the lord and sustainer of the universe chooses to be incarnated in human form -- the ancient term is "avatar" --\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Mattingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-08T09:37:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/\",\"name\":\"A spiritual year at the multiplex\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-03-08T09:37:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-03-08T09:37:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\"},\"description\":\"In one of Hinduism's most sacred poems, the lord and sustainer of the universe chooses to be incarnated in human form -- the ancient term is \\\"avatar\\\" --\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"A spiritual year at the multiplex\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Mattingly\",\"description\":\"On Religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\",\"name\":\"tmatt\",\"description\":\"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. 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{"id":1821,"date":"2010-03-08T05:37:30","date_gmt":"2010-03-08T09:37:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=1821"},"modified":"2010-03-08T05:37:30","modified_gmt":"2010-03-08T09:37:30","slug":"a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/03\/a-spiritual-year-at-the-multiplex\/","title":{"rendered":"A spiritual year at the multiplex"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

In director James Cameron\u2019s blockbuster \u201cAvatar,\u201d a U.S. marine is transformed by technology into a blue-skinned warrior on a planet called Pandora, where he helps the Na\u2019vi people fight evil corporate invaders and defend their sacred lands and traditions.<\/p>\n

There seem to be some similarities in these epics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ancient Hindu scriptures have forever reiterated that whenever the world would be on the brink of disaster and mankind faces extinction, whenever the vessel of sin is about to spill over to create death and destruction, the divine Lord Vishnu would \u2026 manifest himself in mortal, palpable form to save mankind from the impeding doomsday,\u201d noted the Bengali director Sudipto Chattopadhyay, at the Passion and Cinema weblog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When evaluating Cameron\u2019s movie, he added, one thing is clear. \u201cThe use of the word Avatar hence could never be an accident. \u2026 The Avatar is meant to be the savior, the messiah of his own race and people.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was that kind of year at the multiplex, with a parade of films rolling through theaters containing obvious religious images, messages, themes and characters. This made it both easy and hard for the Beliefnet.com team to select nominees for its annual Best Spiritual Film award<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s difficult to pinpoint exactly what a spiritual film is, since people have their own ideas as to what spirituality is,\u201d said Dena Ross, the website\u2019s entertainment editor. \u201cWe define it as a film which makes a serious attempt to grapple with the big questions in life: Why are we here? Why is there evil and suffering? Is there a God? Why do bad things happen to good people?\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, she said, Beliefnet.com made a conscious decision to nominate \u201cmore overtly religious films\u201d for the Best Spiritual Film prize. A second category \u2014 Best Inspirational Film \u2014 focused on movies with uplifting messages, but few specific religious elements.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had so many amazing movies this time with strong references to religion,\u201d said Ross. \u201cI mean, \u2018A Serious Man\u2019 is about a devout Jewish man. \u2018The Stoning of Soraya M\u2019 deals with serious Muslim issues. \u2018The Blind Side\u2019 is about an evangelical family that is practicing its faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

Due to the historic success of \u201cAvatar\u201d \u2014 $700 million-plus at the domestic box office \u2014 there was a chance that Cameron\u2019s 3D myth would get the Best Spiritual Film nod from both the judges and the website\u2019s readers.<\/p>\n

Instead, the judges selected \u201cThe Road,\u201d a bleak drama based on Cormac McCarthy\u2019s novel. It told the story of a father who teaches his son to remain \u201cone of the good guys\u201d while \u201ccarrying the fire\u201d \u2014 a metaphor for hope and faith \u2014 in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by murderers and cannibals. The boy is shown praying for God\u2019s help, and keeps striving to help the people they meet.<\/p>\n

To the surprise of the Beliefnet.com team, their readers then picked \u201cThe Blind Side\u201d as the year\u2019s top spiritual film. In fact, 62 percent of the votes went to the real-life story of football star Michael Oher\u2019s journey from a Memphis ghetto into the home of a rich Christian family that, literally, adopted him as a son. \u201cAvatar\u201d got 18 percent.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Pixar\u2019s \u201cUp\u201d was chosen as the Best Inspirational Film. It told the story of a crotchety old man who soars away on an adventure inspired by devotion to his recently deceased wife. Along the way, he forms a strong bond with a young boy who reminds him that his life still has purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp\u201d was another hit for Pixar, earning nearly $300 million at the box office, while \u201cThe Blind Side\u201d shocked Hollywood with a total gross of nearly $250 million, with most of those tickets selling in the American heartland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn past years, we\u2019ve gone back and forth trying to find films that fit our definitions. But this time it was much easier with all of these big, successful films that dealt with spiritual issues,\u201d said Ross. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s a sign of the times. In hard times, people may be looking for these kinds of uplifting stories. It seems they went to movie theaters looking for something to inspire them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"