Our friend Ralph Winter, producer of the X-Men and Fantastic Four films, recently checked out The Book of Eli and Avatar in the theaters. And though he notes that one (Eli) is more intentionally religious than the other, he found more depth and meaning in the more secular film.

"Avatar, with no religious intentions, displays a world where the hero discovers an after life of sorts, finds a way to not just replace his destroyed legs, but receive a whole new body and existence," Winter writes at The Bully Pulpit. "Much is made of how Avatar is pantheistic, is anti-conservative, etc. But notice the yearnings in the storytelling – the desire for something more than just conquering, and experiencing a world we can barely imagine. . . . I think that is what audiences are responding to – a world where they want to go and live, and explore. They want to be around Jake, who figures out what is important and how the world works. Remind you of anything?"

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