Recently saw the film Noah (noahmovie/) and would highly recommend it for those interested in animal rights / veganism. There are a number of pro-animal rights themes explored in the film (see this review: philly/philly/blogs/v-for-vegan/Yes-Noah-is-totally-vegan-propaganda.html). It definitely explores Christian and Jewish animal rights theology, which no major fictional film has ever done before, to my knowledge. For instance, it represents the anthropocentric (human-centered) interpretation of the word dominion in Genesis as the position taken by the evil character in the film, in contrast to pro-animal Noah who is respectful of Gods Creation and thus sees it as his responsibility to protect animals from human violence against them. What I find most powerful in the film is its exploration of the question of whether humanity should be given a chance or not, which is highly relevant in this day and age of climate change and the mass extinction of species, caused by the greed, arrogance, and anthropocentrism of men. Noah interprets his dreams as revelations from God, which guide him to build the ark and save the nonhuman animals from extinction, but he is torn by whether or not to allow humans -- who have demonstrated their unworthiness to be part of Creation through violence and sin (which of course, we can see all around us today in the form of animal slavery and violence against our own kind and ecological destruction) -- to continue to exist. Specifically, he is torn by the question of the survival of his own clan: is it Gods will that humanity should die out completely, with the death of his own children, or start over through these children, despite the presence of sin in man? The vision through which Noah realizes that all human beings will always be sinful is a powerful indictment of our society today, showing rape and animal murder and mob violence as stemming from the same source: the selfishness and arrogance of man, including himself. This is a prophetic vision, in the tradition of Old Testament prophecy for social justice, but how should it be interpreted? Misanthropy and the end of our kind, or social justice and the renewal of humanity? Can the harshness of justice for Creation be tempered by our love for one another? Is there really any hope for our kind, or will our continued existence result in endless violence against Earth and its creatures? The film is a serious inquiry into these incredibly important themes. I certainly plan to see it again. It is also notable as the second major Hollywood blockbuster film in recent years to explore animal rights themes in any serious way; the first was The Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011 - imdb/title/tt1318514/). Another film that explores the question of whether humanity should live or die for the sake of saving the rest of life on Earth, and the role that love can play in that decision, is the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 - imdb/title/tt0970416/).
Posted on: Sun, 11 May 2014 19:26:35 +0000
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