This movie is a prefect example of how the empire likes to take things way out of proportion. Many of the scenes throughout the movie portray events that are so incredibly unrealistic. This movie also is a perfect example of how evil is created in the empire. Many young people view movies like these and fill their brains with thoughts of hatred and evil. The empire that we live in is filled with things like this that pull us away from being the people of God that God wants us to be. I feel as though if some people saw this and were on the verge of doing something to someone else, that this movie would push them over the edge. I feel as though this movie could give people the frame of mind that doing the things that occurred in this movie were good thing and would cause these other people to want to be like the actors in the movie and do the things in real life that were acted out in the movie. From my perspective, the only thing that this movie says about human purpose is that we are all her to kill each other some time or another.
Most things that the empire produces for the the people that live in it have a negative effect on them. Unfortunately most things that the empire produces pull people farther away from their personal walk with God rather than bring them closer to God. Hopefully the empire will somehow change sometime and produce things that draw people closer to God rather than away from Him.
Posted by Brett Ellens
Wanted
ReplyDeleteI just watched the movie Wanted last night. It was a thrilling movie, filled with nonstop and mind bending action sequences, insane car chases, and quite an impressive train accident which the main character improbably survives. While the action was stunning, the moral underpinnings left something to be desired. The main character Wesley improbably escapes his day job to become an assassin. However, his entire new life is a lie put in place by members of the Fraternity a long-standing group of assassins. The entire movie is based on deceit and ruthless killing, certainly not very good qualities of the kingdom. At the end of the movie, Wesley describes his six-week transformation from a neurotic accountant in a dead end job to a ruthless killing machine, bent on vengeance. He ends by asking, “What the f*** have you done with your life?” I agree with Brett: this is a bad movie for young people, telling them that if they aren’t squeezing every drop out of life to please themselves, they are not doing something right. But there is more to life than that. We serve God Almighty not ourselves. It is a shame that we probably won’t see a change in the empire like the one Brett mentions. There will always be a few movies that have a pro-kingdom message, but for the most part, they glorify the empire. It certainly will be refreshing to be rid of these types of messages when God’s kingdom is revealed in full.
The question of whether to watch violent films is more complex than Christians usually allow for in these kinds of discussions. For example, what does the film say about violence? Are there consequences to violent behavior? Is violence glorified as an appropriate means to solve conflict? I think you're right, Brett, to suggest that these kinds of films can be formative for us; these questions, then, become more important.
ReplyDeleteA good deal of popular culture retells the myth of redemptive violence: the good guy kills all the bad guys, isn't affected by violence at all, and everything is right with the world again. Many of us have been shaped to believe that this is normative, even if we never involve ourselves directly in violence.
More and more, though, films are showing that violent means have many unintended consequences--both on the perpetrator and the victim of the violence. These kinds of films can be formative in a very helpful way, showing the complexity of violent conflict.