Avatar fandom as nature-religious expression?
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v4i4.394Keywords:
nature religions, religion and popular culture, religion and film,Abstract
The article investigates spiritual trends in the fandom around the movie Avatar; in particular whether nature, represented by the "goddess" Eywa, is seen as sacred by fans and if so, if this may influence fans' environmental practices. I have used the popular net-based fan forums avatar-forums.com and naviblue.com, because these sites show a broad, non-specialized interest in the movie. The result of the investigation shows a weight on pantheistic or animistic interpretations of nature. The practices springing from this view include meditation in nature to enhance awareness as well as daily practices like recycling, vegetarianism and an ecological lifestyle. Radical environmental initiatives are few, but exists on an ideological level, but more importantly there has been a production of manifestos aimed at politicians. A comparison to already established fandoms indicates that a development in the direction of more communal and face-to-face fan activities may be on the way.References
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Brooker, Will. 2002. Using the Force: Creativity, Community and Star Wars Fans (London: Continuum).
Forbes, Bruce David, and Jeffrey H. Mahan (eds.). 2000. Religion and Popular Culture in America (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Hutton, Ronald. 2001 [1999]. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Istoft, Britt. 2008. ‘Trekkies, Jedi-Knights and Pop Witches: Fantasy and Science Fiction as Religion’, in G. Hallbäck and A. Hvithamar (eds.), Recent Releases: The Bible in Contemporary Cinema (Shef_eld: Shef_eld Phoenix Press): 150-69.
Jenkins, Henry. 1992. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture (New York and London: Routledge).
Jindra, Michael. 1999: ‘ “Star Trek to Me is a Way of Life”: Fan Expressions of Star Trek Philosophy’, in Porter and McLaren 1999: 217-30.
———. 2000. ‘It’s about Faith in our Future: Star Trek Fandom as Cultural Religion’, in Forbes and Mahan 2000: 165-79.
Kraemer, Ross S., William Cassidy, and Susan L. Schwartz. 2001. Religions of Star Trek (Boulder, CO and Oxford: Westview Press).
Lovelock, James. 1995 [1979]. Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
McLaren, Darcee L. 1999. ‘On the Edge of Forever: Understanding the Star Trek Phenomenon as Myth’, in Porter and McLaren 1999: 231-43.
McLaren, Darcee L., and Jennifer E. Porter. 1999. ‘(Re)Covering Sacred Ground: New Age Spirituality in Star Trek: Voyager’, in Porter and McLaren 1999: 101-15.
Moyers, Bill. 1999. ‘Of Myth and Men’. Online://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,990820,00.html.
Porter, Jennifer E., and Darcee L. McLaren (eds.). 1999. Star Trek and Sacred Ground: Explorations of Star Trek, Religion and American Culture (New York: State University of New York Press).
Taylor, Bron. 2001a. ‘Earth and Nature-Based Spirituality (Part I): From Deep Ecology to Radical Environmentalism’, Religion 31.2: 175-93. doi:10.1006/reli.2000.0256.
———. 2001b. ‘Earth and Nature-Based Spirituality (Part II): From Earth First! And Bioregionalism to Scienti_c Paganism and the New Age’, Religion 31.3: 225-45. doi:10.1006/reli.2000.0257.
———. 2010. Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future (Berkeley: University of California Press).
Wilhelm, Maria, and Dirk Mathieson. 2009. Avatar: A Con_dential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora (New York: itbooks).
Published
2011-01-01
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Istoft, B. (2011). Avatar fandom as nature-religious expression?. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 4(4), 394-413. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v4i4.394
