Biblical epic non-biblical?? From Daily Ringside/American Prospect: Daily Meme: The Flood Will Not Be Televised You might think, given the countrys general secular drift, that Bible epics would not be Hollywoods latest cash cow. And you would, of course, be wrong. This year, no less than four movies (loosely) based on Biblical stories will appear in theaters near you. The deluge began last month with Son of God, a feature-length version of the The Bible miniseries (without the Satan character that just happened to look like our president). An Old Testament story is up next. The trailer for Noah, which first aired during the Super Bowl, looks like your average apocalypse flick, except everyone is wearing scruffy linen tunics. Theres thunder, flying mud, the occasional fireball, lots of monsters, and—in lieu of Jesuss flowing locks—some truly spectacular facial hair. This week, The New Yorker profiled Noahs director, Darren Aronofsky (of Black Swan fame), who proudly declared that his upcoming film is the least Biblical Biblical movie ever made. In Aronofskys vision, Noah is an environmentalist who cares more about animals than people; the whole story is a cautionary tale about the destruction that will result from global warming. Needless to say, Aronofskys attempt to turn Noah into a scourging Earth First! activist is not sitting well with religious audiences. Some Christians who attended screenings of the movie last fall declared it borderline blasphemous. Christians and those interested in a Biblical story thus need to be warned to use discernment and not support Hollywood as it exploits the Bible for gain and promotes a film that casts the God of the Bible in a bad light, wrote one blogger. Others took issue with the movies environmental overtones. A Breitbart writer who got ahold of the script early described the film thusly: Noah paints the primeval world of Genesis 6 as scorched arid desert, dry cracked earth and a gray gloomy sky that gives no rain—and all this, caused by man’s disrespect for the environment. In short, an anachronistic doomsday scenario of ancient global warming. At first, Paramount tried to reshoot parts of the movie—much to Aronofskys frustration—to make it less, well, apocalyptic. They even added a Christian rock song. But audiences didnt like that either, so its back to the final cut. After much wrangling with conservative Christian groups, Paramount has now tacked this explanatory message onto every Noah ad and trailer: The film is inspired by the story of Noah. While artistic license has been taken, we believe that this film is true to the essence, values and integrity of a story that is a cornerstone of faith for millions of people worldwide. The biblical story of Noah can be found in the Book of Genesis. This last-minute apology did nothing to soothe Muslims abroad. Censorship boards in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain announced that they will not release the film. The issue for them isnt so much the environmental message as it is Aronofskys dark portrayal of Noah, who gets drunk during the movie. (This happens in the Old Testament too, in one of the weirder passages in the book of Genesis.) Noah premiered in Mexico City on Monday night to mixed reviews. Some Hollywood insiders are worried that the controversy over its Biblical accuracy will keep ticket sales down. Because the ultimate question, when the movie finally hits the big screen on March 28, will be whether Noah can flood Paramount in money.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 17:23:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015