Aronofsky's "Noah"
A Thematic Review by James J. Egge
Aronofsky's Noah does two things well:
1. Impugns the character of God (cold, bitter, silent, distant, easily angered, unforgiving ,unloving)
2. Impugns the character of Noah (crazed, psychopathic, homicidal, self-righteous, lunatic)
What is does not do well is incorporate the details of the biblical account of Noah and the flood (please see Genesis 6-9)...BIG details like the reason there was a flood in the first place, how God communicated with Noah, who entered the Ark, what entered the Ark, the creation story, etc.
Over and over the idea of a distant "creator" who punishes at will is shown to NOT communicate with any man (including Noah when he prays). No one knows the will of God nor the ways of God. I theorize that this is the cry of the movies atheistic director/co-writer Darren Aronofsky as it echo's Richard Dawkins quoting Bertrand Russell, "sir, why did you take such pains to hide yourself?"
The undertone of the film indicates that the "religious" man (epitomized by Noah) is inclined to crazed, psychopathic, irrational behavior so that he might not fail his God. In fact, "religion" and the pursuit of righteousness traumatizes and divides families while separating the "religious" person from the ones that truly love and communicate with him. Thus, accepting a mission from God must lead a man away from community and into depressed, bipolar isolation.
Besides all of this, the overt theme of the movie is extreme environmentalism and veganism. The "wickedness" of man is found in his misuse of natural resources and in his slaughter of innocent living animals for their meat. It is because of these two things that God desires to punish man and wipe him off of the face of the earth so that the innocents (animals) may thrive.
Regarding veganism, there is a strong tie for Aronofsky between meat-eating and animal cruelty which is shown graphically in a couple of scenes. Aronofsky uses a typical slaughterhouse approach to plant seeds of guilt into the viewers mind about where their food comes from and why we chose to abandon a vegan diet for a carnivore diet.
The movie begins with this theme as we see Noah trying to calm and heal (with his "deep sleep" powers) an animal that was wounded by hunters. When the hunters track the animal and find Noah they viciously threaten Noah to give them their food (the animal). Noah attacks the three men and kills them. When his son (who was watching on) asks about it, Noah claims it was justice.
Just before this scene, young Shem is rebuked by his father for picking a flower. Noah then instructed him that the plant is to be connected to the earth to fulfill it's purpose. Later in the movie (briefly after the ancient slaughterhouse scene) Ham offers food to his would-be wife. The food appears to be a handful of granola.
Another subplot involves demons (fallen angels) who only crime against their creator was in trying to help poor Adam and Eve (the demons pitied them and wanted to help)...but the angry, irrational "creator" punished them by kicking them out of Heaven and covering them with rock. It is these demons that help Noah build and defend the Ark. The leader of the demons tells Noah, "I see Adam in you...the man I know...the man I came to help."
The demon leader also joins in to paint the picture of a distant, bitter, deaf God by repeating the idea that he prayed and begged the creator to take them back into Heaven but the creator is "always silent." As I mentioned before, however, God does take these demons back because of their "good works" and Jihad (holy war). This contradicts Scripture, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." 2 Peter 2:4,5. I these two verses we find four major contradictions between the Bible and Aronofsky (the sin of the angels was rebellion and war with God, they were cast down with no hope of redemption, there were 8 people on the Ark which included Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives, and the reason for God's judgment which was ungodliness.).
I have about 8 pages of notes to sift through for more detailed information, but these points highlight the movies main themes. While this is a pagan movie, I can't help but to hear Aronofsky, in his own way, crying out for an answer to why God won't hear him while at the same time lashing out in anger against God, "religious people" who represent him, and against the anti-environmental industry. Please pray that Darren Aronofsky doesn't miss the boat but that he is able to see the God of the Bible and to receive His free gift of eternal life before it is too late.
If you are in the St. Cloud, MN area on Tuesday, April 8th I cordially invite you out to our event, "Noah: The Censored Evidence," which will be held at SCSU in Atwood's Cascade room at 7:00 pm.
And most importantly, if you are not 100% sure that Heaven is in your future...please know that your REAL God loves you and has provided an "Ark" for you made out of the wood of Calvary's Cross. Please take a moment and learn what God says in His Word how you can be 100% sure of Heaven today: www.GodsAmazingGift.com
A Thematic Review by James J. Egge
Aronofsky's Noah does two things well:
1. Impugns the character of God (cold, bitter, silent, distant, easily angered, unforgiving ,unloving)
2. Impugns the character of Noah (crazed, psychopathic, homicidal, self-righteous, lunatic)
What is does not do well is incorporate the details of the biblical account of Noah and the flood (please see Genesis 6-9)...BIG details like the reason there was a flood in the first place, how God communicated with Noah, who entered the Ark, what entered the Ark, the creation story, etc.
Over and over the idea of a distant "creator" who punishes at will is shown to NOT communicate with any man (including Noah when he prays). No one knows the will of God nor the ways of God. I theorize that this is the cry of the movies atheistic director/co-writer Darren Aronofsky as it echo's Richard Dawkins quoting Bertrand Russell, "sir, why did you take such pains to hide yourself?"
The undertone of the film indicates that the "religious" man (epitomized by Noah) is inclined to crazed, psychopathic, irrational behavior so that he might not fail his God. In fact, "religion" and the pursuit of righteousness traumatizes and divides families while separating the "religious" person from the ones that truly love and communicate with him. Thus, accepting a mission from God must lead a man away from community and into depressed, bipolar isolation.
Besides all of this, the overt theme of the movie is extreme environmentalism and veganism. The "wickedness" of man is found in his misuse of natural resources and in his slaughter of innocent living animals for their meat. It is because of these two things that God desires to punish man and wipe him off of the face of the earth so that the innocents (animals) may thrive.
Regarding veganism, there is a strong tie for Aronofsky between meat-eating and animal cruelty which is shown graphically in a couple of scenes. Aronofsky uses a typical slaughterhouse approach to plant seeds of guilt into the viewers mind about where their food comes from and why we chose to abandon a vegan diet for a carnivore diet.
The movie begins with this theme as we see Noah trying to calm and heal (with his "deep sleep" powers) an animal that was wounded by hunters. When the hunters track the animal and find Noah they viciously threaten Noah to give them their food (the animal). Noah attacks the three men and kills them. When his son (who was watching on) asks about it, Noah claims it was justice.
Just before this scene, young Shem is rebuked by his father for picking a flower. Noah then instructed him that the plant is to be connected to the earth to fulfill it's purpose. Later in the movie (briefly after the ancient slaughterhouse scene) Ham offers food to his would-be wife. The food appears to be a handful of granola.
Another subplot involves demons (fallen angels) who only crime against their creator was in trying to help poor Adam and Eve (the demons pitied them and wanted to help)...but the angry, irrational "creator" punished them by kicking them out of Heaven and covering them with rock. It is these demons that help Noah build and defend the Ark. The leader of the demons tells Noah, "I see Adam in you...the man I know...the man I came to help."
The demon leader also joins in to paint the picture of a distant, bitter, deaf God by repeating the idea that he prayed and begged the creator to take them back into Heaven but the creator is "always silent." As I mentioned before, however, God does take these demons back because of their "good works" and Jihad (holy war). This contradicts Scripture, "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." 2 Peter 2:4,5. I these two verses we find four major contradictions between the Bible and Aronofsky (the sin of the angels was rebellion and war with God, they were cast down with no hope of redemption, there were 8 people on the Ark which included Noah, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives, and the reason for God's judgment which was ungodliness.).
I have about 8 pages of notes to sift through for more detailed information, but these points highlight the movies main themes. While this is a pagan movie, I can't help but to hear Aronofsky, in his own way, crying out for an answer to why God won't hear him while at the same time lashing out in anger against God, "religious people" who represent him, and against the anti-environmental industry. Please pray that Darren Aronofsky doesn't miss the boat but that he is able to see the God of the Bible and to receive His free gift of eternal life before it is too late.
If you are in the St. Cloud, MN area on Tuesday, April 8th I cordially invite you out to our event, "Noah: The Censored Evidence," which will be held at SCSU in Atwood's Cascade room at 7:00 pm.
And most importantly, if you are not 100% sure that Heaven is in your future...please know that your REAL God loves you and has provided an "Ark" for you made out of the wood of Calvary's Cross. Please take a moment and learn what God says in His Word how you can be 100% sure of Heaven today: www.GodsAmazingGift.com
