Films with a Message

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Terminator

An Allegory for King Herod’s Killing of the Innocents

Perhaps this is pushing things a bit far but:

John Connor (note the initials) - the future saviour of mankind

The Terminator works through all the Sarah Connors of a particular district in some unnamed City… mirroring the ruthless efficiency of King Herod

Sarah (wife of Abraham) Connor - the Mother of the saviour - is seen with an Iguana - perhaps we have here a Marian motif (the serpent - it will crush your head and all that…)

Not saying James Cameron set out with the sole purpose of creating a latter day killing of the innocents - but with the inclusion of a subtle hint here and there - with the light touch of the true storyteller - Cameron is able to lend the whole a certain gravitas - and at little extra cost

Alternatively - perhaps I need to get out more!!!
 
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Maccabees:
She ends up in Paradise right?
How did she get there. Science.
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I was under the impression that science failed at this point.
 
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Ahimsa:
Why did you think that science provided Paradise, in “Contact”?
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Because Sagan, who wrote the movie, was a fierce atheist. His message was that it will not be God who provides our Heaven, but our own advancing science.

Sagan wrote a book called “Demon-Haunted World” in which he tried to show that the scientific-method was the best way to think about any idea, and that ideas that couldn’t be verified with the scientific method were false.
 
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Della:
Mainstream films ought to entertain first and make us think second.
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All films have a message, whether it’s obvious or not. Failure to think about the message or world-view that’s being communicated results in being subtlely altered by those movies.
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Della:
Those that don’t are usually only popular with those who also believe the message the filmmaker was trying to make.
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Not necessarily.

I don’t like Buddhism but I’m OK with StarWars.

I really don’t like Gnosticism but the Matrix was a fun movie.

I have a TON of friends who REALLY don’t like Catholicism OR Christianity but who still like The Lord Of The Rings.
 
I just saw Twilight Samurai . It isn’t your typical reluctant hero story. Movie has a lot to say about priorities.

Also, a classic is “Lilies of the Field”, a good-natured comedy with Sidney Poitier as a Baptist handyman helping some nuns build a chapel.
 
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pilchard:
Terminator

An Allegory for King Herod’s Killing of the Innocents

Perhaps this is pushing things a bit far but:
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No… I don’t think you’re pushing things too far, I think you’re on the money…

BUT… I don’t think James Cameron really wanted us to reflect on Christ, but more wanted to use the story of Christ as a sort of emotional backdrop against which to project his characters.

This is the kind of thinking about movies I’d like to see more of, Pilchard. Good show old chap.
 
“Metropolis” by Fritz Lang has a good message about human dignity in the modern world.
 
Lets see…
“THe Passion” obvious reasons

“The Scarlet and the Black” (great movie based on the underground operations of Catholics (Fr. O’Flagherty) at the Vatican during WWII).

“Patches of Blue” (Sidney Poiter) great movie on the ignorance of racism

“Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima” Film based on … well the title says it all.

and many already listed
 
1984
Brazil
Equilibrium
The Matrix
The Island
Gattaca
Signs
Its a Wonderful Life
 
If you haven’t seen it, ya’ll need to rent “I Am David”…

From USCCB: “The small, simply told tale is intelligent yet unpretentious, tender without being trite, edifying as well as engaging. It has moments of genuine drama, but more importantly it has heart, and the gentle message it imparts – that life is a gift – is full of hope.”

“Jim Caviezel, who portrayed Christ in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” plays Johannes, a protective fellow prisoner who looks out for the orphaned boy and becomes his mentor.”

“In an ironic twist, Hristo Shopov (who played Pontius Pilate in “The Passion of the Christ”) once again stands in judgment over Caviezel as the prison camp’s world-weary commandant. Francesco de Vito, who played St. Peter in the Gibson film, also appears as a friendly Italian sailor.”

Full review here: usccb.org/movies/i/iamdavid.htm
 
I quite like The Matrix - the First one that is - the other’s don’t even exist as far as I am concerned

I think the trick with the Matrix is to see the vitrual reality motif as a setting. Within this fictional setting there is a very profound message - death and resurrection.

People keep on at Neil about “something he has to do”. Well - that “something” occurs right at the end of the movie. What happens? Neil dies.

That is the thinkg that he had to do. It was only in dying (or - “dying to self” if you like) that Neil was able to transend the program and… well - you know the rest. What a fantastic cool ending to a film.

That will always be myh interpretation of Matrix. Might be my own personal one - but it does it for me.

I think this lateral thinking occurs a lot in proper sci-fi (as opposed to cops and robbers in space). There is some conept - some paradigm that you have to accept for the film to work - and only WITHIN that paradigm can the film be properly interpreted… - so to complain that matrix represents the mistake of Gnosticism (or whatever the claim is) is missing the point
 
I agree with SIGNS and let me offer up another M. Knight Shamalan movie filmed in the neighborhood he grew up in and the Catholic private school…WIDE AWAKE.

Very sweet and a movie that reminds you that God is always with you, even when you are looking for Him.

#2 - GRAND CANYON with an all star cast. In this film, we see how God’s plan intertwines us all and only when you step away from it can you see the “miracles” that our connections make and the beauty of it and we are humbled by the size and power of God, not unlike the grand canyon.

#3 THE MISSION another all star cast but with a harsh look at history Catholic politics and how the Holy can be betrayed.

#4 - Believe it or not the silly cartoon ANTZ with the voice of Woody Allen “spoke” to me as I was coming back to my Catholic faith. As the ant travels outside of his “disappointing” existence looking for something better, some utopia, he finally comes full circle but this time HE chose it!

Just a few…
 
Aliens

Apart from being just a fantastic movie anyway it has my favourite line in the whole of filmdom

Aliens contains one of the most moving well done (unsentimental) redemption themes ever. The person redeemed is - of course Gorman. Gorman has been a complete wash out the whole of the movie - but when push comes to shove - when the chips are well and truly down - the man comes good. When vasquez is wounded in the air duct and about to be overrun Gorman goes back to help. As their amo run out and they are about to meet their end Gorman activates the last grenade and glances at Valquez and Valquez returns his gaze and before grasping the grenade in their last act (and here I guess one could interpret it as a last desperate reargaurd action to help Ripley et al…) Vasquez underlines Gorman’s redemption with my favourite ever line of a film…

“You always were an as*hole Gorman”
 
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pilchard:
  • so to complain that matrix represents the mistake of Gnosticism (or whatever the claim is) is missing the point
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Read the link I posted to Envoy, a Catholic magazine.

Again:
envoymagazine.com/backissues/4.5/coverstory.html

I liked the Matrix as well (as entertainment), but the fact remains that it is a allegory for Gnostic belief, which was so similar to Catholic belief (on the surface!) that it confused many Romans in the first years of the Church.

Gnosticism is a sort of virus that is natural to the Catholic mind, because Gnosticism echos many of the true beliefs, it finds an easier time implanting its false beliefs. Be aware of it, and realise that the makers of the movie indeed had the desire to plant or communicate this Gnostic idea.

I think it is missing the point to think that subtle distinctions are unimportant ones.
 
Well I guess it comes down to the kind of thing touched upon in the “what’s your favourite star wars movie” thread

The Force. You can do one of two things. You can either complain that it is some kind of manichaeism (off the top of my head - don’t quote me on that!) or you can see it as an analogy for the spiritual.

The emphasis there being on the word “analogy”. If one fails to see it analogously then of course the thing is heterodox

One common complaint about the matrix is that it is too unbelievable - ranks of human’s being used as batteries. “come on” they say. Well - all I can say is that they have never read any Philip K Dick!! Of course there is a suspension of disbelief required - but so what - it’s a movie. What IS important is not believability but internal consistency / coherence - and this The MAtrix has - with oooooodles of style thrown in
 
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