Do NOT go see the movie "Noah"

[Personanongrata]

Thanks, on my way now to see it!!

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

I haven’t seen the movie, don’t plan on doing it, but saw this article and thought of this thread (I only read a couple of lines in it, gotta go (plus I am not interested in the movie at all, would read Navarre Bible Noah’s ark passages if I want to reflect on it, would watch another type of movie if I wanted to watch a movie), but came and posted it here because I have liked other articles of his in the past ):
themattwalshblog.com/2014/03/29/im-a-christian-and-i-think-noah-deserves-a-four-star-review/

I like this comment on the article:

What exactly is the objective of your blog, Matt? I periodically read it because my FB friends share it, but I can’t figure you out. Are you trying to spread the gospel? Are you trying to convert people to conservativism? Are you just a jerk? I don’t get it. Please, choose an objective and stick with it.

I find myself reading that blog far too often, without good reason. It gets aggravating.

 

[RPRPsych]

I like this comment on the article:

I find myself reading that blog far too often, without good reason. It gets aggravating.

That’s the first I’ve seen of that blog, but I see what you mean.

Someone has their religion and their politics all blended into - wait for it, I’m trying to annoy the author - “a seamless garment”.

 

[agnes_therese]

Some of it is true, but there’re lies mixed in that would be very harmful to your faith.

Only if you’re expecting Hollywood movies to teach you your faith. I don’t know why anyone would. But if you do, you probably shouldn’t watch any of them, including “Noah.”

 

[Louise2323]

I just went to see the movie after reading a positive review by a Catholic journalist. Worst decision ever. If you don’t believe me, go see the movie and 10 minutes into the movie do what I did, walk out and ask for a refund. They’ll give you one.

This movie in my opinion is just a way to confuse people and ridicule our faith in a real God, not a mythological creator, by mixing all sort of mythological and crazy ideas such as Rock People who talk and look like they belong in a toddler movie instead. Hollywood is trying to make a mockery out of SACRED scripture. We don’t know every little detail about Noah’s life, but this movie was a joke and actually changed verses in the Bible. Why would you accept this. Please don’t go and don’t take children at least. They may even start thinking Noah is a mythological being as well.

Indeed. Hollywood always attacks Catholicism in open ways and Christianity in veiled ones (to not anger the "new born evangelicals). Remember The Da Vinci Code, trying to pass as acurate/ historical movie. Remember the past, a movie named “The bell´s of St Mary´s”, with Ingrid Bergman and Bing Crosby, it portrayed the Catholic Church under a good light (director was Catholic). Not anymore. Its subtle, but we are being attacked and many times we dont even see it.

 

[kozlosap]

I’m confused here. (Which is quite normal) I can never remember believing that Noah’s Ark was an actual real life story. I’m sure there are others who think as I do, so I can’t imagine even trying to ascertain that the movie goes against Catholic teachings.

 

[on_the_hill]

I will very likely see it after it comes out on Netflix or On Demand or Amazon. It looks like a cool movie. I’d like to see Emma Watson in a role other than Hermione Granger.

Whether or not it’s accurate, meh. I watch to be entertained.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

I like this comment on the article:

I find myself reading that blog far too often, without good reason. It gets aggravating.

Haha, I don’t read it frequently, I just remember I have read other blog posts of his in the past that I liked (maybe some I have disliked too, I can’t remember)… I don’t think he has to have a clear objective on his blog though. I too end up reading it because of FB friends lol. I positively absolutely believe we need to have our politics and religion mixed… religion should be part of everything (religion as in God/morality), now, I don’t agree when people assert that the only moral way to achieve a certain good for society is X way, when there are other moral ways… I have seen that happen, but I don’t see that as mixing religion with politics, I see that as misleading people to think that it is the only moral solution.

 

[irishpatrick]

Many posters speak about going to see the movie to be entertained, and they really do not seem to care if the movie (depicting a real and important Biblical event) is accurate, or not. This situation reminds me of another movie, in which Russell Crowe became famous, and in that movie he had just killed another Gladiator on his path to avenge the wrongs done to him, and he made the following statement:

Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?

It did not matter to the Romans watching the carnage that real human beings were being killed and maimed before their eyes–in fact, they went there to be entertained by such evil.
…
Likewise, it does not seem to matter to a great many Christians (from many denoms) that “Noah” was made to entertain the masses without any real concern for treating the material with due accuracy and respect.

Russell Crowe could easily have looked to the film viewing audience and said to them: ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

I wonder what would have happened to the Coliseum Gladiator battles if the Roman citizens just stop going…if the Coliseum was empty for each event.

 

[TerryJT]

I don’t get all the energy. I liked it.

But then-I didn’t go for a bible lesson, nor was I expecting one.

If it gets people talking about the motifs of sin, punishment, redemption, new beginnings…I don’t see much harm in it.

 

[Phalanx]

I will very likely see it after it comes out on Netflix or On Demand or Amazon. It looks like a cool movie. I’d like to see Emma Watson in a role other than Hermione Granger.

Whether or not it’s accurate, meh. I watch to be entertained.

Emma Watson is in it? Then its settled, im seeing it

 

[LongingSoul]

I’m confused here. (Which is quite normal) I can never remember believing that Noah’s Ark was an actual real life story. I’m sure there are others who think as I do, so I can’t imagine even trying to ascertain that the movie goes against Catholic teachings.

It’s generally accepted as a mixture of myth, legend and fact. There are 4 recorded accounts of a deluge event from where Noahs Ark is probably drawn and the long version is found in the Gilgamesh epic some of which dates to the 18th century BC. The Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the OT) including the Genesis story of Noah, was compliled around the 5th century BC at the time of the return from exile. Stories like these are significant in demonstrating Gods relationships with man and His continual desire to show mercy and save us despite our sinful inclinations.

So you’re right in the sense that being creative with some of the details is not going to be heresy and the actual telling of the story may honour the great tradition of story telling that links us to the important Patriarchs in faith.

 

[pnewton]

Thanks the OP for the heads up. The secular media has also panned it. The name of God is never used only the name “Creator”.

That at least would be accurate as the name of God was not reveled until Moses.

 

[pnewton]

I’m confused here. (Which is quite normal) I can never remember believing that Noah’s Ark was an actual real life story. I’m sure there are others who think as I do, so I can’t imagine even trying to ascertain that the movie goes against Catholic teachings.

There is no “Catholic position” on the degree of historical accuracy of this story. I truly believe it, but that is just my opinion. There is nothing heretical in taking it as a myth or embellishing on it as such. There is nothing evil in writing a story around the text and I am looking forward to seeing this movie after reading the reviews. It seems like my type of film. It might be a tad dark, but it is probably closer to the real feel of the event than singing about an “arky, arky.” After all, we are talking about a darkness great enough to grieve God enough that he wiped the slate clean of the pinnacle of his creation. It should be the second darkest movie ever written after The Passion.

 

[Nelka]

I’m confused here. (Which is quite normal) I can never remember believing that Noah’s Ark was an actual real life story. I’m sure there are others who think as I do, so I can’t imagine even trying to ascertain that the movie goes against Catholic teachings.

Of course it is, why bother putting it in the Bible? Why would Jesus Christ mention it?

Some people are too secularised.

 

[aicirt]

I stand by my opinion. The movie depicts Noah as intentionally defying God, and wanting to commit abortion and kill his grandchildren. There’s also presumed premarital sex. Is that not evil???

In the olden times, something like this would be condemned as categorically heretical.

Saw the movie. Noah does not defy God. He doesn’t advocate abortion. He threatenes to kill an unborn grandchild if the child is a girl so that she cannot reproduce. Why? Because he saw the evil of descendants of Cain’s tribe and feels that even his own family harbors evil in their souls. He does not make this proclimation until after the Ark is afloat. He is depressed and in a rage. He’s just witnessed the end of humans in his time. He’s not having a good day. Does he snap out of it? Well, we’re here, aren’t we?

Premarital sex? Yes, just like with Adam and Eve. God had not yet chosen Abraham to be the Father of the Jews so there isn’t a religion as we know it. They weren’t going to find a rabbi or priest at that time.

 

[LongingSoul]

Of course it is, why bother putting it in the Bible? Why would Jesus Christ mention it?

Some people are too secularised.

It’s not to say that the story is meaningless and untrue, but to say that it comes to us from an ancient tradition of recording important stories. Scribes in those times were not just copyists, they had a skill and authority to teach by putting stories that had been kept alive in oral tradition for thousands of years, into a concentrated universal structure that could unite the people of the times not just by ancestry but by shared memories and traditions. That was really important to the Jews returning from exile and those who hadn’t gone wandering.

The theme of a destructive but cleansing flood and the theme of an ark which was the only means to be saved were shared human themes. So the bible tells of Noahs flood as covering the whole world and only those on the ark being saved, but in reality, we generally accept now that there would have been a flood, but it wasn’t encompassing the entire world or destroying all people.

The story of Noahs Ark has a different place in our tradition to what it had in ancient oral tradition since our faith in salvation comes through our faith in Jesus, the Saviour. We behold Noahs Ark for its role in pre-figuring the coming of Christ, but Christ is story of our salvation.

 

[aicirt]

Don’t really understand why so many have their knickers in a twist over this movie. The director or whotever is responsible is a Jew and, if he is an atheist, he surely doesn’t deny God aka The Creator in this movie.

The original Noah story in the Bible is about saving lives. So is this one. He treasures his adopted daughter, he fights for his sons, he values the animals and the plants. He has taken his responsibility seriously. All this from the Jewish atheist. (I still don’t believe he’s an atheist).

Okay the Messangers are a big strecth. He could have done same without making them into Transformers. Dump the stowaway too. But the message of the movie is to respect life and the Creator who gave us life.

Certainly gives us something to think and talk about. Many will open their Bibles to read the original story. And that’s good.

 

[josh987654321]

.

If an Atheist or someone who has never read the Bible were to watch this movie ‘Noah’ do you think he would come away from it saying “Whoa, this could be true/this seems legit, I might read the bible” or you think he will come away saying “I can’t believe the Mosaic religions believe this, how could anyone seriously believe this?”

I believe anyone who say’s this movie will do well for our faith is gravely mistaken, I believe if anything it will give the unbeliever more reasons to mock and scorn us, give them more reasons for misinterpretation.

If I were a non believer and someone tried to say that this movie “Noah” was based on the biblical story that all Mosaic religions believe, I would be saying “They cannot seriously believe this.”

I find the movie offensive and all I can say is thank goodness the Pope called off sitting down with Russel Crowe to endorse this movie in any way shape or form. If your going to call a movie ‘Noah’ and make it about the biblical story, I believe the least you could do is stick to the story and last time I checked, I don’t recall Noah being a drunkard who didn’t recieve messages from God but interpreted Dreams, nor giant transformer things building and defending the ark, nor do I remember a whole lot of other stuff that I have heard they put in there.

Thank you for reading
Josh

 

[VeritasLuxMea]

If an Atheist or someone who has never read the Bible were to watch this movie ‘Noah’ do you think he would come away from it saying “Whoa, this could be true/this seems legit, I might read the bible” or you think he will come away saying “I can’t believe the Mosaic religions believe this, how could anyone seriously believe this?”

I believe anyone who say’s this movie will do well for our faith is gravely mistaken,

Well if I’m trying to witness to an atheist or someone who has never read the Bible, the last thing I would do is point them to the flood story, or Jonah and the whale or that bear that God sends to maul 42 children to death because they made fun of Elisha.

So, this movie is not much of a concern for me.