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[Alex]

In terms of whether it dilutes things for there to be evidence that the planet is sentient in some way and the religion based on something real, I don't really see how it was possible to avoid that since otherwise the only outcome for the movie is for the Na'vi to lose and be annihilated.

Also, since it is the very rare movie indeed that can present faith without also preventing evidence so that the audience can buy in I don't really hold that against anybody.

But if evidence dilutes the message, then doesn't it also dilute the message that the good guy is only convinced to do the right thing once he himself has come to believe in the religion? Wouldn't the most powerful message be for him to not only have no evidence that the planetary religion has a factual basis but to in fact believe it to be silly nonsense and yet still be willing to risk death protecting those people from what is coming?

Though the tact to take with the company representative was not to say "hey, they're religion is real" but rather "hey, it looks like their religion is based on the fact that biosphere is a single sentient entity, how much fricking money do think that might be worth if we can learn to work with it?"