Find Religion

Here’s the post I’ve been promising you: My thoughts on the movie 300. If you haven’t yet seen this film, I recommend doing so, because at the core, it’s a movie that everyone should see. It does a lot of things right. However, in no way would I call 300 an accurate movie, and I’m not even a historian. Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD if you have yet to see the movie!

The movie tells the tale of the small Greek state of Sparta fighting the Persian empire. The draw of this movie for me was the amazing fight scenes that were supposed to be shown. In real life, the Spartans were known for their amazing fighting skills–mainly their advanced fighting in formations. Think of it like a marching band. Everyone knew where to go to make the formation strongest in any situation. The first fight scene in the movie showed this, and was breath-taking. After that, the movie resorted to stop-action filming showing the Spartans fighting hand-to-hand combat. Seriously, that doesn’t make sense. Regardless of how they cut off the Persians in order to only fight a few at a time, when the same 10 or so men were always at the front lines, as shown in the movie, they’d get tired eventually. Really, this doesn’t make sense.

But what makes even less sense is the portrayal of the Persians and Xerxes. Historically speaking, Xerxes (also known as Khashyarsha) was a devout Zoroastrian. I’m not saying that he wasn’t a dictator or a tyrant–maybe he was–but he was not a God, nor did he portray himself to be. Xerxes was a devout worshiper of Ahura Mazda, and the Persians would have rebelled against him if he even compared himself to God.

The way that the Persians were represented in the movie, as monsters in many cases, was also ridiculous. In fact, at one point in the movie, I had to laugh, because a character looked like a giant crab-creature. Give me a break. In one interview, Frank Miller said,

Well, okay, then let’s finally talk about the enemy. For some reason, nobody seems to be talking about who we’re up against, and the sixth century barbarism that they actually represent. These people saw people’s heads off. They enslave women, they genitally mutilate their daughters, they do not behave by any cultural norms that are sensible to us. I’m speaking into a microphone that never could have been a product of their culture, and I’m living in a city where three thousand of my neighbors were killed by thieves of airplanes they never could have built.

Sounds kinda…derogatory to me. How about to you? My friend Bijhan, a Zoroastrian himself, had this to say about the film:

This is simply insane, implying that microphones and airplanes are beyond the mental capacity of someone who would believe in a different God than his. Also, for the record, the Persians were not Muslims nor Arabs. The Persians did NOT genitally mutilate their women, they did NOT saw peoples’ heads off. Many Persian theologians at the time were suggesting that God was indeed a woman, and the naval commander for the Persians during the war was, in fact, a woman! Artemisia I of Caria was the Queen of Helicarnassus, a Persian territory in Asia Minor, was one of the closest tactical advisers to Xerxes, and was highly regarded in Persia.

All in all, the movie was a let-down simply because it could have been SO MUCH BETTER. I’m not saying that they needed a perfectly accurate representation of what happened, but they could have done a better job to the advantage of the movie.

Xerxes, 300, Frank Miller, Persia, Zoroastrianism

Angels in America is one of my favorite plays of all time. In 2003, HBO took the play and made it into a miniseries, bringing light to this great work, but since then, it has faded, which is why I’m taking a moment to highlight it here.

The play/movie follows the stories or four people. Harper and Joe are Mormons–she is addicted to Valium and he is trying to deny his homosexuality. Louis and Prior are a gay couple, and Louis leaves when he finds out the Prior has AIDS because he loves him too much. The characters interact with one another and also with others in the story to try and find the right path in their lives. All the while, they are visited by angels–and everyone is looking for God.

It’s a great play, and HBO did it justice. I urge you to head to Blockbuster and rent it the next time you’re in the mood for some great art.

Angels in America, HBO, Tony Kushner, angels

All week, I’ve been talking about Children of Men. The group of hope in this movie, The Human Project, is a group devoted to bettering mankind and perpetuating the species.

Well, it turns out that there really is a human project. From what I can see, they advocate that God is not the only answer. I didn’t join the site as a member, but you can here for exclusive news and other fun secretive stuff. If you liked the movie, check out this site.

Oh, and for all my dear readers out there, especially the silenced ones who like to read what I write but feel too intimidated to write a comment about religious things, I am now the proud writer of another 451 Press site — www.RealityonBravo.com. Check it out if you love Top Chef, Project Runawy, Real Housewives of Orange County, My Life on the D-List, and all of the other Bravo shows!

You can read this movie’s synopsis here.

Ok, so…Children of Men is a great movie, and you have to admit that, even if you didn’t particularly like the film. Why? Simply put, it’s causing a stir.
If you don’t like Clive Owen in the lead role, that’s ok. If you don’t like Ashitey, who’s pretty much a newcomer to the movie scene, that’s ok too. Even if you push me and say that you don’t like Michael Kaine…well. I guess everyone has faults, that’s ok. The thing is, this movie is not about liking or not like the actors, camera angles, or even plot. It’s about liking (or not liking) it’s ideas.

A lot of religiously-minded people have been likening this story to a “Nativity” story, saying that it’s Mary and Joseph for the modern age. I disagree. You get the first clue that this is a story about anything BUT God in the title–Children of who? Men, not God.

The story does follow a nativity-like pattern, I’ll give you that. However, frequently religious followers are pushed to the forefront. Unlike the nativity story, these people don’t need a savior for their souls. They have religion. They need a savior for life itself.

It brings to mind the intelligent design debate in the public school system today. This movie is all about God versus monkeys. I’ll even be brave enough to guess that the original intent of the film is to say, in some sense, that EVEN IF we were created according to the Genesis story, we need to dwell on evolution now. Without God, perhaps we could not have been created. Without man, however, we will not survive.

The radical group in this story has the name “the Fishes.” Very biblical–”and I will make you fishers of man.” In my mind, I see a million possible connections and theories I’d like to tell you, but I’ll save you the time and simple voice one question. Why are they called “fishes” and not “fishers”?

If this was a real-life group, I’d say that they made a mistake. I believe the group intends to be thought of as fishers–people who are going to go and and spread the Gospel (or, in this case, spread the truth about the ugly government). However, looking more closely, the author was correct, and the name truly reflects who they are–people who are lost and waiting for a savior.

Again, the savior they seek is not God. Children of Men asks us to look within ourselves for comfort and to look toward the future for hope. The outlook is fairly religiously bleak, but has extreme faith in the power of mankind.

Religious or not, I do like this movie, and I think that you should go out and see it, for it’s amazing camera work if nothing else. Do not look towards this movie to guide you to God, however. This movie voices the opinion that we have outgrown religion, and we need ourselves as much as we need a deity.

Further thoughts on this movie tomorrow…

Children of Men, Clive Owen, God, religion, intelligent design, religion

Children of Men was one of the least publicized movies this winter, but it was getting rave reviews, so I decided to go see it with my boyrfriend and his brothers. Seeing as it was classified a “religious” movie, I was even more excited about seeing it.

It is a great movie. Don’t get me wrong. But–it is not a religious movie. Or at least, not a movie that thinks religion is the answer. I’ve read some reviews that believe this is the ultimate religious movie…I’ll have to disagree.

Here’s what the movie is about…tomorrow, I’ll talk about the religious implications!

*Warning, Spoilers Ahead!

COM follows the story of an ex-activist, played by Clive Owen. He lives around the year 2030, which is very different than today because ever since a flu outbreak (in which his own son died), women have infertile. The movie begins when the youngest person in the world, an 18-year-old boy, is murdered.

Julian (Julianne Moore) contacts Owne’s character, Theo, to ask for some help. She belongs to an activist group known as “the Fishes,” and they need his help getting proper papers to transport a young refugee girl, Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey) across borders. You see, the world is crumbling without children in it, and Britian now considers any and all foreigners suspect, the “fugees” are rounded up, tortured, and taken to a camp. Julian doesn’t tell Theo why the girl needs to be transported, only that he is the only one she trust to help them do it.

Of course, things go horrible wrong. Julian is killed in transport, and Theo finds out that the murder was ordered from within the Fishes, because Julian and other leaders didn’t see eye to eye on things. Theo learns Kee’s real secret–she is pregnant. They escape, along with a Fishes midwife who is devoted to Kee, and seek refuge with Theo’s friend, Jasper (Michael Kaine). Theo also learns that Julain wanted to tranport Kee to “The Human Project,” an underground group of intellectuals who has escpaed the government rule of Britain and hope the Kee is the “key” to fixing the infertility problem. The Fishes were opposed to these, seeking to use the power of a baby for political gain.

The only way to avoid the Fishes and keep Kee’s condition a secret is to get her to a specific buoy on a specific night where a boat from the Human Project will pick her up. The only way to do that is to get into a refugee prison camp that is near this pick up spot.

After narrowly escaping the Fishes, who kill poor Jasper, the group of three (Theo, Kee, and the midwife) successfully get into thet prison. Along the way, shocking images of torture can be seen from the bus windows, as they are going into the camp. Reminding veiwers of Iraqi prison camps and Nazi concentration camps, the bus stops, and a military leader hand picks certain people to get off the bus for this torturing. Kee’s midwife is one of them.

Once inside the camp, which looks like the slums of a city, Theo finds a room for him and Kee quickly, because she has gone into labor. He delivers the baby–the first in over 18 years in the entire world. The next morning, the Fishes and the government clash head to head with the camp as their battlefield. Kee is caputured by the Fishes, who hole up in a broken down building where a number of refugees are hiding. Theo narrowly escapes death and joins them, recapturing Kee from the Fishes leader, who has been greatly affect simply by holding a child.

The baby is crying and Kee’s secret is out. The refugees all touch her and the baby as she passes by and the military calls for a cease fire to protect the baby. The scene is deeply emotional, as the men see hope in the form of a child, for the first time.

Gunfire re-starts, and Kee and Theo find a boat, rowing away from the doomed city. They get to the buoy but worry they are too late. Kee suddenly freaks out, thinking that she is bleeding, but it is Theo, who has been shot after all and is losing blood quickly. Kee tells him that she is naming the baby Dylan, after the son Theo had lost, and he slips into death. Kee is alone on the water, but suddenly, the Human Project Boat appears through the mist, coming to protect her and her baby.

Overall, the movie was completely touching. So…that’s the recap…we’ll get into the nitty-gritty tomorrow.

Children of Men, Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Kee, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Michael Kaine, Human Project

Last night, my boyfriend and I watched The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which is by far one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. Ever.

It’s the true-life story of Emily Rose, a girl who was suppossedly possesed by the devil and who died in order to show the world that demons exist. It’s horrifying to hear what happened at the exorcism…and what’s worse, it really happened. The sound in the movie are taken from the real life tpe recording made that night.

Do demons really exist?

Do possessions really happen?

Is the devil all around us?

Simply frightening thoughts. No matter what you believe are the answers to those questions, I think this is a movie worth seeing. Come to your own conclusions, but frankly, I was glad my boyfriends was here last night. I don’t think I would have been able to sleep otherwise.

A few posts ago, I mentioned going to see the movie Borat, which I’m sure that most of you, by now, have heard about.

For those of you who have not, here’s the skinny: A comedian (Sacha Baron Cohen) posed as an international reporter trying to understand American customs. He got people to quickly sign release forms and then intentionally set them up for a number of hilarious prank conversations. For example, in one, he met with an etiquette tutor and showed her pictures of his “son”, including ones in which his son’s penis was all out there.

Ok, it was funny. I saw the movie, and I laughed at some of the people’s reactions. And it’s not really Miss Maners who’s having a problem.

It’s the drunken frat kids who said anti-feminist things. It’s the gay-bashing rodeo manager. It’s the news producer who got fired after letting Borat on her show.

Legally, these people are going to have a hard time touching Cohen. He covered his tushie and got everyone to sign waivers. Legally, I suppose that he could do whatever they agreed in the contract.

Ethically, we get to a gray area.

There’s a lot of gray areas in the Bible, if you ask me. I mean, it’s just not possible for everything to be black and white. Take, for example, the commandment “thou shalt not kill.” Is abortion killing? Some say yes, because you are killing a human life form. Some say no, because the fetus is not yet human. Gray area.

What Cohen did falls in this range in my opinion. However, what is more interesting to me is not whether he was right or wrong in pranking people, but rather the way people are reacting to everyone knowing their true feelings about things.

Take a look at your own prejudices. Imagine them being broadcast for millions to see. Big deal, right? Most people, me included, woudl squirm at the thought.

Remember, however, that your prejudices are not as secret as you think. If you believe in a Christian tradition, than remember: God knows. That’s just as bad (well, worse really) than the whole world knowing.

Work on prejudices. Work on hate. Work on fixing your own soul before accusing other people.

Sacha Baron Cohen, prank, gray area, Bible, prejudices, Christian, God

Last night, I saw the movie Borat (very funny if you like that kind of Anchorman or Napolian Dynamite type of humor). There’s a scen towards the end of the movie where they are obviously making fun of religion–the main character, Borat from Katzakistan, is “Christianized” by a fundamentalist group, by you can tell that he doesn’t understand the concept of Jesus or being saved.

A lot of popular culture these days makes fun of religion. We have two options here–be offended or laugh. I choose to laugh, because when it comes down to it, that scene in the movie is pretty funny.

Now, I’m not saying that we should make fun of God or Jesus or any other religions figure. It’s kind of like using the Lord’s name in vain–not a good thing. However, I think that sometimes we have to step back from it a bit and be able to laugh at ourselves: our religious traditions, our ideas, and our lifestyle. Seeing it through the eyes of someone from a very different culture makes this easy to do. It also makes us aware of our own prejudices and shortcomings.

Will some people be offended by the movie Borat? Oh yes. Very much so. I urge you to give it a chance, however, and if it’s not your cup of tea, at least give things that make religion laughable a chance. Life is funny, even religious parts of life.

movie, Borat, religion, Jesus, popular culture, laugh, God, funny