 | Magnolia
(1999)
 | there is a part where each of the
characters-- a screwed up lot most of them, experiences a rain of frogs.
(submitted by Michael Clark, Hamilton, Canada) |
|
| The Cider House Rules
(1999)
| The migrant workers who come during the picking season
stay in the cider house, where there are rules posted for behavior.
These are the rules written by the orchard owner, who doesn't
necessarily have to live by them. They are imposed rules. They are also
ignored rules. The real rules are the unwritten rules that are lived by
the people. What makes the 10 commandments different (ISTM) from cider
house rules is that as much as the orchard owner is kind to the
migrants, there is still no real bond between them. The rules the owner
seeks to impose are impersonal and more concerned with the owner's
liability than the workers well being. The commandments are for us and
for our well being. The commandments are based in our relationship
(covenant) with God. It is within the frame work of this relationship
that the commandments become more than cider house rules. Without that
relationship, ISTM, they become no more important than cider house
rules. Which may be why many people treat them as such. (Darrel Manson,
Artesia CA) |
| In "The Cider House Rules" the laborers laugh
at the rules that are posted in the bunkhouse (when someone who can read
finally reads the rules for them); they have broken every one and will
continue to do so. One of the characters says those rules don't pertain
to them because they didn't make the rules and they can't even read
them. They have their own ideas about what's right and wrong. (Amy
Parker, Charleston, West Virginia) |
|
| The Phantom Menace
(1999)
| Anakin Skywalker as slave who sets his people free. (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
|
| The Matrix
(1999)
| A suggestion for a movie dealing with some underlying
themes to Moses and the Hebrew slaves. I am speaking
of the sci-fi hit the Matrix. I very quickly saw an
implied theme through out the movie. It is the theme
of slaves needing freedom. The people in the Matrix
(or Duracell batteries for the machines) are enslaved
by a tyrant force using them to power their world. The same can be
said for the Hebrews in Egypt. The Pharaoh
enslaves the Hebrews to build his world. The
machines in the movie use the people literally as a
power source. The only difference is that the Hebrews
were aware that they were slaves, the people in the
Matrix do not. If you have seen the movie you
understand why they don't realize they are slaves. In both cases a
prophecy is made that a man will be born and he
will be the one to free the people. In the Bible
it is Moses and he is the 'deliver'. In the Matrix
it is Neo and he is 'the One'. And both 'delivers'
are not mighty men from some far away land, but
are born as slaves themselves. While the movie makes a more obvious
reference to Alice in Wonderland, the underlying
theme of freedom from slavery
is far more interesting and enlightening. (Emily Harding) |
|
| The Mummy (1999)
| 12 plagues of Egypt return when the inscription is read
from the Book of the Dead. |
|
| Dogma (1999)
| "The golden calf is a dead ringer
for Mickey Mouse!" (see review at Hollywood
Jesus) |
|
| Instinct (1999)
| Ethan Powell leads the
other prisoners to throw away their cards and not participate in the
violent "card game." Everyone gets to go outside. |
|
| Deep
Impact (1998)
| There is a lottery system that decides
who will enter the shelters, based on age and Social Security number.
This is a modern version of blood on the door post from the Exodus
story. (submitted by Michael Clark, Hamilton Canada) |
|
| The
Prince of Egypt (1998) |
| The
Truman Show (1998)
| Truman crossing the sea to freedom (See review
at Hollywood Jesus.) |
|
| The
Shawshank Redemption (1994)
| Andy as Moses figure - murderer/prisoner
who finds freedom and shows his friend the way to the promised land. |
|
| Natural Born Killers
(1994)
| Owen as the Moses figure who leads them out through the
bowels of the prison. (Sewage dripping on them from the pipes above.) |
|
| The Stand (1994)
| Mother Abigail's prayer (DVD pt 2, ch 7) |
|
| The Lion King (1994)
|
| Tombstone
(1993)
| When I lecture on Old Testament Theology, and on the
hardening of Pharaoh's heart, I use the scene from
TOMBSTONE when Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) asks Doc
Holliday (Val Kilmer) "What makes a man like Ringo do the things he
does?" Holliday answers "A man like Ringo has got a great empty hole
running right through the middle of him...he can
never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict
enough pain to ever fill it." Wyatt asks "What does he want?"
Doc answers "Revenge." To Wyatt's question "For what?" Doc answers
"...bein' born." A
powerful picture of the interaction of choices and
inheritance in the making of an evil person.
(Lawson Stone--Professor
of Old Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary) |
|
| Empire of
the Sun
(1987)
| At the end of the hostilities American
bombers drop canisters of food from parachutes to feed the refugees and
camp inmates, a clear reference to the 'manna' from Exodus. (submitted
by Michael Clark, Hamilton, Canada) |
|
| Cocoon
(1985)
| the son risks his life to free his grandparents from
the people / police, nursing home guards, who would have them stay here
on earth in pain and suffering. |
|
| Norma Rae
(1979)
| Norma Rae leads the other workers to form a
community/union and leave the slavery of the unsafe mill. |
|
| The Poseidon Adventure
(1972)
| The young priest leads the people through the water and
through adversity to freedom. He almost makes it to the end but does not
find freedom from the overturned ship himself. On the other hand, he has
found the "freedom" that one finds through self-giving. |
| Mrs Rosen - the former underwater swimming champion -
saves the priest (and thus the group), but loses her life while doing
so. She almost makes it to the end but does not leave the ship alive. |
|
| The Ten Commandments
(1956) |
| The Night of the Hunter
(1955)
| The children escape in a boat through
"bulrushes". |
|
