It is curious to me that this movie has so obviously touched a raw nerve and gotten under the skin of a certain set of east-coast conservatives. It reminds me a bit of the over-reaction of the same set to a certain book about granola-toting and sandal-wearing cons!
I understand and agree with, to a point, the knock on Hollywood pantheism. That said, I found Douthat’s critique of the movie to be forced and artificial. It is true that the tall blue people were a bit tree-huggy, and their primitive beliefs were certainly based on American Indian-type pantheism or nature-worship. However, the primary expression of this was the belief that all of the living things in their home formed an interconnected whole that the native people are both caretakers and a part of. Take out the fantasy and sci-fi elements and there isn’t anything here Wendell Berry hasn’t also said.
More interesting is the question Douthat raises of why the natives are attractive, both to the central character, and, in theory, to the audience. As I’ve already said, I enjoyed the movie a good deal and in no small part because I enjoyed the depiction of the natives. Why? Am I just a naïve anti-American nativist, or a sucker for nostalgic, romantic, treacle? Or maybe I’m just a flat out tree-hugging anti-corporate anti-military liberal!
