Success!

All I had to do was issue myself an ultimatum... and Voila! I FINALLY saw "Avatar" today.

I wouldn't dub this my favorite movie of all time, but I definitely loved it. I took everyone's recommendation and saw it in 3D... and it was so gorgeous to watch. I was breathless as he flew through Pandora... wishing I could fly like that, or at least vividly dream of it.

At a couple of moments during the film, I found myself harkening back to Titanic, when strains of the Avatar's score echoed the earlier film and when I realized that the hero in Avatar was named Jake while Titanic's hero was Jack.

However, once the movie really got going, I couldn't help but get lost in the story and feel frustrated at its accurate portrayal of those in power who feel that every gift of nature is there for the strongest's taking... that peace is second in line to making money... and that those who use force to 'keep peace' are only doing what they feel is right. Will there ever be an answer or resolution to the quandry of two sides to the same coin?

In other themes, the film does work to inspire reconnection to nature and reconnection to faith in something bigger than ourselves... an energy, an awareness that connects us all. In fact, my favorite image from the movie was the one in which Jake was accepted into the clan, and the first Na'vi laid their hands on him, and then others laid their hands on them and so on and so on until every member of the tribe formed one big interconnected chain. I was also moved by the fact that their greeting, their highest form of respect, was to tell one another "I see you."

Being seen and being heard reminds us all that we are connected, loved and important.