With all the hype about the movie Noah, I thought it might be helpful to post how I approached it as a Pastor and why as a human being I liked it. Itâs long, so be forewarned. Along the way, I throw in my own two-cents for Christians on âhow to see a movie.â _______________________________ HOW I APPROACHED IT 1) It was a story based on the Bible. Since as a Christian I hold that to be the book above all books I was naturally curious about how people see and interpret the Bible. 2) I ignored the pre-release hype. I assumed it was hype, both from the marketers (Hey, well make more money if its controversial!) and the folks saying it was a godless piece of trash (And who hadnt even seen it. Seems unfair to assess something based on hear-say.) HOW TO SEE A MOVIE: Know thereâs always hype. These are million dollar money-making machines. They want to a significant return on their investment. You would too if you invested millions of dollars in a project. Caveat emptor. 2) I walked in knowing it was a Hollywood adaptation of a Biblical story. As such I didnt expect it to be Biblical in the sense of telling the Christian story, preaching the message of Jesus, or affirming Christian faith in full. I knew I would be pleasantly surprised if it approximated any of those things, but I donât expect Hollywood to preach Christianity. My sense is that many Christians are upset because they expected it to do some (or all) of those things. And since frustration is always a result of unmet expectations, I assume some list of expectations was not met by those Christians who were frustrated/disappointed with what they saw. In Christian theology, there is whats called common grace or prevenient grace. Itâs a way of talking about the grace God gives to humanity to aid them through life (because God is gracious) and serves as a scarlet thread that if followed leads to God revealed in Jesus Christ. Most theologians would classify the arts as a form of common grace. I have found the thread of Gods grace in many, many films because of what Jesus said: My Father is always at work. HOW TO SEE A MOVIE: Understand the art form. A good film always raises questions, elicits emotions and tells a story that rings true to the human condition. Go asking questions, not expecting answers. That is the nature of the art form. Most people take a movie and simply absorb itâs message as somehow true. As a Christian, ask questions of what you see, donât assume itâs message is true to life. Argue with it. 4) As a leader in the Christian world, I look at it as one of my jobs to be aware of how the broader culture is talking about God--good or bad. If I dont, I lose the ability to speak to that culture. This is what Paul did in Acts 17. He noticed carefully their gods. If Aronofsky were an atheist--from interviews Ive read, I dont think he is--I would have seen it anyway for the above reason. HOW TO SEE A MOVIE: What if you changed something you disagreed with about God on film from âI canât believe they (non-Jesus following people) would do that to my faith!â to âSo thatâs what people think about God. Hmm, if I dont like that, how am I contributing toward or counteracting that with my life?â Donât be shocked by a non-Christianâs take on our story. We arenât owed anything by Hollywood. Also, dont take kids to see a movie you think they arent ready to think through or you arent ready to help them talk through. WHAT I LIKED 1) It creatively filled in the gaps. The narrative of Genesis is short and to the point, intentionally giving us the high points and leaving the rest to imagination. From the Noah story (Genesis 6-9) we are to know: âThere was a righteous man named Noah. Righteous means ârightly related, full of justice and mercy.â It does not mean âsweet and gentle as a dove.â Thatâs personality. We arenât told what Noahâs personality was like. âPeople had become so wicked, God was so grieved at what humanity had become, that he decided to start over. To modernize that a bit, what if the entire world were like the worst inner city ghetto you know, only more so? As violent, as corrupt, as dangerous, as uncaring about life, as full of rape, murder and corruption as you can possibly imagine? If children were routinely sacrificed and killed? What would you say about that world and how to fix it? âThe Nephilim lived. Who were they? What were they like? We arenât given any real clues. âHe asked this man named Noah to be the means of this do-over. What kind of burden would that have been for you to bear? How would you have felt? Would you have questioned if youâd heard Godâs voice accurately? âGod said he would never do this again. Mercy is the point of the story. I thought the film brilliantly captured all the above. What Tubal-Cain says in the Ark to Noah (Yes, I know that scene wasnât in the text. Hollywood!) personified the dilemma. âYour women and your animals are now mine. I will recreate the world in my image.â Ergo, the source of the problem. I know there were deviations from the text (for the record, the recent âSon of Godâ movie and the Bible seriesâmade by self-professed Christiansâalso deviated from the text), but this was billed as âinspired by the story of Noah.â They didnât hide that. Same can be said for the Rock people, Methuselah, only one son having a wife, etc, etc. Hollywood! 2) It painted a picture of the darkness of the world and made me care about the characters and their experience. The screaming of the people when the doors of the ark closedâwhat would that have been like to listen to? The terror Noah and his family must have felt living as righteous people in a very corrupt and violent world. What it was like as a child seeing the world destroyed and seeing your family as the ones responsible for humanityâs future (if there was even going to be one). 3) The way they portrayed mankindâs interaction with God. Side note: People have made raised much Cain (pun intended) about God not being mentioned. God is referred to as âThe Creatorâ throughout the film. If we are going to argue for being true to the Biblical text, we should actually be upset that they didnât mention âElohimâ or âYHWHââthe Hebrew words for God used in Genesis 6-9. God is an English word. I found The Creator an endearing way of talking about God. Jesus said to call God âAbba (Papa)â, George Washington Carver called God âMr. Creatorâ and as Christians we affirm that God is âThe Creator!â Seems we missed the forest for the trees on this one. But the interaction the characters had with God: The honesty of Noahâs questioning. Who hasnât doubted if what they heard from God was correct? The honest feeling of abandonment by God and resultant hopelessness by the dwellers of the city. The way they looked to the heavens for an answer and at times felt they only got silence back. Who hasnât felt that? Donât the Psalms say this over and over? 4) The acting. Thought it was superb. There you have it. My two-cents. Peace. What did you think? If you hated it, why? If you loved it, why?
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 18:41:57 +0000
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