But in many cases, films allude to religion through the use of symbols, as in characters or references in the movie relate to religion. There are several examples such as Gandolf sacrificing himself to save the group and then returning more powerful in all white (…obvious) or Darth Vader sacrificing himself to throw the emperor into that always necessary bottomless pit to save Luke. Even when we are not looking for them or even expect to see religious figures, they are very often present.
Allow to me to prove my point using two prime examples: The Matrix and The Truman Show (Spoiler Alert!)
Let's review the obvious religious symbols found in the Matrix. The main character played by Keanu Reeves is Thomas Anderson. Etymologically, Anderson means "son of man," a title Jesus used to reference himself. A plate in Morpheus' ship (pictured below) reads the name Nebuchadnezzar (King) and has the words "Mark III No. 11," maybe referring to Mark 3:11 in the Bible, which says "Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, 'You are the Son of God!'"
Anderson's hacker alias Neo is an anagram for the One, a title which is used in the film to refer to Keanu Reeves' character. He is The One who is prophesied to liberate humanity from the chains that imprison them in their computer-generated illusion. Neo is killed in the movie, but in real time, he is dead for exactly 72 seconds (72 hours = 3 days?) before rising again. At the end of the movie, Neo can seen flying upwards…to heaven.Because we are a predominantly christian culture, we look for the christian symbols in whatever we do. But a Buddhist might see that the illusion of the matrix is related to the the illusion of reality that we must overcome to achieve enlightenment.
The Truman show can be seen as an allegory for the spiritual journey of the soul. Religion has to do with the belief that there is something more to reality than just the world around us. Truman's journey is to understand his reality.
Towards the beginning of the film, a light falls from the sky, referring to enlightenment from heaven. In the climax of the movie, Truman has to cross a sea to get his promised land, much as Moses did. In the clip below, Truman appears to walk on the water and reaches a stairway made of clouds that lead upwards towards heaven. The director in the movie goes by the name of Christof. An ominous figure going only by a single name, and one that contains the word "Christ." In the clip below, Christof says "I am the creator…of a television show," and it appears as a voice from the heavens. Truman then asks the ever illusive religious question "who am I?"
These are but a few of the many examples I could have used to prove my point. Some filmmakers use obvious religious references (In Star Wars Episode 3, when the emperor orders the death of all the jedi, he calls it "order 66") or they use references that many of us have to think about, ponder, and maybe even make us watch the movie a few more times to truly understand.
Some people could argue that these references are few are far between and are probably not on purpose, but the examples I have referenced show that this cannot be a coincidence. That Filmmakers have purposely placed religious figures and references in their movies.
Question: Why do you think Filmmakers include allusions to religious icons in their epic movies?
I think filmmakers include allusions to religious icons in their "epic movies" to do just that--make them epic. The movies we often consider the most memorable are those with extra layers of meaning. Religion is a perfect source of symbolism to give movies the desired depth to further complicate things or leave the audience thinking. If the audience is thinking about the movie and the message resonates well with them, it's going to do better. Perhaps that is why religion often plays a role in filmmaking. --Hannah Gibby
ReplyDeleteI think the reason that filmmakers use religious symbols in movies has a lot to do with many of the things that have been discussed in class and in other blogs. Namely that religion or at least the questions that it normally answers are universal in nature. Most people have come into contact with some sort of belief so religious ideas can resonate with everyone. In addition, religion is very personal and not thought of as something that is politically correct. I think symbology reconciles the two facts. Filmmakers, in essence, insert religion but give viewers the opportunity to interpret it in whatever way they choose. Having representations of belief rather than stating those beliefs outright or something similarly brazen gives people the chance to find their own meaning, whether it be religious or not.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason filmmakers use so much religious symbolism is because religion is still at the heart of our culture and of all cultures. Though a larger percentage of the population is moving towards atheism, the core of the best literature and films of the past has always been about religion or spirituality, and that's still how we view it. It's like Hannah said, we feel like a movie isn't epic, it isn't literary and deep, if it doesn't include some sort of overarching idea about who we are and why we're here--and more often than not those ideas will refer back to or relate to religion.
ReplyDeletenice post Curtis, you handsome man. Nice.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question: I think it depends on the movie, and the movie maker. For example, I picture the matrix people doing it to increase the depth of the movie's twist, whereas the Truman show was probably doing it more directly to get us to relate to Truman as we ponder our life-purpose. Other movies like the DaVinci Code make us question a practiced religion, and movies like The Exorcist use people's religion as ammunition. So, yeah, it depends on the movie.
Word to your motha.
I think that there are more religious symbols than we realize in movies. Most of America has some sort of religious belief and whether or not we admit it, it affects who we are and how we behave. People write about what they understand. So even in writing scripts about a completely unrelated subject the odds are good that something from your life experience will creep in. And I think that we all understand the symbols differently, like was talked about in the blog post how Christians might view the Matrix verses Buddhists who are watching the same film. We see the symbols that relate to our own life.
ReplyDeleteIt could be for a number of reasons. I personally am more interested in paying attention to the small details of movies if I know they are based in religion. For example, while I watched "Angels and Demons" I looked for any hint of religous symbols. I also watched it a second time to try to catch anything that I might have missed. In some cases directors might insert religion to increase attention among viewers. Another reason that comes to mind is that they are trying to promote a personal agenda. If I were making a movie for millions of people to see I would probably have a few Mormon references and symbols to implicity share what I believe.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of it has to do with emotion. much like stereotypes are used to convey an image in as short an amount of time as possible, religion is one of the fastest ways a writer can tap into the audience's emotions. People, whether religious or not, have premeditated reactions to religion. In the case of the truman show, when ed harris acts like god it aggrivates religious people people they have already decided that ed harris isn't god and people who are necessarily religious can tie what ed harris says into a symbol of power. that is why filmakers use religion... says i.
ReplyDeleteI do not like this type of movies that inspiring only for one religion,it is called communal movies.
ReplyDeleteRoger