The post below was contributed by Mikki Willis, founder of the Elevate Film Festival (www.elevatefilms.com).

It’s fulfilling to know that my review of Avatar inspired so many to see this landmark film. I’ve also received notes from a few people who were left conflicted by the violence, shocked and saddened to see the nature-loving indigenous fight back. 

I so get it. Through my work with Elevate Films I’ve spent the last few years locked in think tanks learning from brilliant people who like myself are committed to elevating the cinematic experience. Creating an alternative to violence is always at the top of the agenda. While wrestling with this subject one day a colleague asked me the following question:

“If an intruder broke into your home and was about to harm your family how far would you go to protect them?”

The answer came quickly:

“As far as I had to.”

Faced with annihilation the natives of Pandora took a stand for their planet and for the balance of all living things. Sure, we can all dream up new ways to handle such a situation. And the reality is, within our current war programmed culture Avatar will reach more people the way it is. If it takes a little violent action to get millions to see a film that ultimately teaches us life saving ancient wisdom, I say fire away!

That said, I do see that Avatar’s violence could have been reduced without diluting the film’s impact. I also acknowledge that Mr. Cameron did a fine job of not showing gratuitous images when possible, always choosing angles that spared us the site of exploding heads and splattering blood. 

Bottom line: We live in a violent world. Denying that reality will only leave us “light workers” huddling within our comfort zones, playing small to avoid experiences that conflict with our preferred view of reality.

I absolutely agree with the Buddhists belief: “resistance is the cause of all suffering.” In my experience, those who have the hardest time dealing with violence have not fully dealt with their own inner conflicts. Those doing the real inner work know that the battle between spirit and ego can get nasty. Through shamanic work we are taught that to overcome our own darkness we must “be the warrior.” Ironically, the moment we reject violence we are actually generating violence within, albeit on subtle levels. But it’s the subtle levels we could pay more attention to. Avatar is a deep film that requires deep viewing.

If we can forgive the violence and a slew of clichés, we just may see that this is one of the most important films ever made. It is literally paving the way for conscious creators to work on a grander scale. For that we are grateful. 

In service, humility and love… M

This post was contributed by Mikki Willis, founder of the Elevate Film Festival For more information about the Elevate Film Festival please visit www.elevatefilms.com

Since launching in a yoga studio in 2005, in just three years Elevate became the largest single screen film festival in the world, hosting up to 6000 people per screening! The annual event has generated international acclaim, earning overwhelming support from Hollywood, including Kevin Costner, Jeff Goldblum, Alanis Morissette, Black Eyed Peas, India Arie, Mario Van Peebles, Derek Luke, and numerous industry icons.

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 11:05 am and is filed under Guest Posts, Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.