The 2014 movie, Noah, has been the
subject of controversy among many conservative Christian groups. I tried to
limit my readings of reviews (on both sides) and basically only saw a few
things linked on Facebook and heard some comments from Father Jonathan Morris
on Fox and Friends. I was not
expecting a great Christian epic or a true rendition of the Genesis account of
Noah. This was probably a good thing. I wanted to see why I was hearing the
many negative rumblings of the movie. I realized that the director, Darren
Aronofsky, was raised in the Jewish tradition. I fully expected that the writer
had taken liberty in the telling of the story. I imagined that I would also
enjoy a good performance from Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins.
First, do not go to this movie if you
are hoping to see the narrative of Noah as told in Genesis. You will be
disappointed. Actually, this movie has little to do with the Genesis account of
the flood story. I would put this movie in the genre of fantasy. Neither the
storyline nor the characters bear much resemblance to the Jewish/Christian
version. Instead, Aronofsky’s movie has been cast as another one
of the flood accounts that is incorporated into more than 500 civilizations’
myths or legends of it. In these accounts there are some major
components that appear in most of them: 1) warning of pending storm, 2) a boat
is built, 3) animals and vegetation are stored, 4) a family is spared, and 5) birds
are sent out to find dry land.[1]
Aronofsky’s
Noah contains those elements. The
scripture contains those elements; however, even the components in the movie
are altered from the Biblical account. I need to point out that Aronofsky
asserted in an interview with Christianity
Today that he told this story based on the midrash tradition, in which Jewish teachers create
stories meant to explain the deeper truths of the Tanakh.[2]
Aronofsky’s
version begins with Lamech, Noah’s father, being killed while Noah was a boy.
By my calculations using the ages and years provided in Genesis 5, this was not
the case. Genesis 5 asserted that Lamech was 182 years old when Noah was born.
He lived 595 years after Noah’s birth. Noah became a father when he was 500
years old to Shem, Ham and Japheth. Noah’s sons would have known their
grandfather for ninety-five years. Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah lived 6 years
longer than Lamech. In Genesis 7, it is
recorded that the floods came when Noah was 600 years old. His father would have
been dead only 5 years and his grandfather was still living. According to
Genesis, Methuselah died the same year as the flood. We do not know how he died
– whether in the flood itself or before the flood. Aronofsky had a scene where
Methuselah died in the flood. This could have happened. This leads to another
question: was Methuselah an unbeliever or was he a martyr?
Genesis affirmed that God gave Noah detailed instructions as to what was going to happen to the world, how to built
the ark and the numbers of living creatures that would be saved on the ark.
Aronofsky’s account has Noah greatly confused and needing to find his
grandfather to seek his advice.
In Aronofsky’s account Noah decided
that man would die out with his family. Supposedly, a girl that Noah rescued and
raised as his daughter was barren. She was to be Shem’s wife. Noah did not
allow his other sons to have wives. They were not on board the ark during the
flood. This created a conflict between Ham and Noah. Ham became aware of an intruder
on the ark (the man in the movie who had killed Noah’s father when Noah was a
lad) and he nursed him and allowed him to live.
The barren wife becomes pregnant and
gives birth to twin girls; therefore, Noah decided that he needed to kill them
in order to obey God. However, at the last moment he spared his granddaughters
because “love wins out.” There is no mention of Shem having twin daughters
while aboard the ark in the Genesis account.
Finally, one the oddest parts of
Aronofsky’s movie were these giant stone monsters with lights shining forth
from their eyes. According to the rock beasts, they were the fallen angels who
(unselfishly) came to help Adam and Eve after they were evicted from the Garden
of Eden. Because these fallen angels had compassion on Adam, God punished them
and covered them with rock. These creatures were shown throughout the movie as
helping Noah and his family. They were also portrayed as the major labor force
for the ark. Right before the flood, they were shown as being repentant and
were freed from their rock prison. Where each was emancipated a powerful light
left the earth. Everywhere they had stood – the floodwaters from below the
earth were released.
I have no problem looking at this movie
as fantasy. My complaint with Aronofsky is that he used the name Noah and then
tried to incorporate sections of the Bible into this story. Clearly, this movie
does not portray the biblical Noah. However, that is not my issue. This story
comes across as fantasy and myth while pretending to tell a Jewish and
Christian story. The ridiculous nature of the events in this movie will serve
to alienate non-believers who see the movie. My fear is that Aronofsky has
helped to promote a world that was once ruled by superstition but that Noah’s sense
of love and morality over-ruled God’s design to kill out mankind. Noah is cleverly designed, New Age
propaganda that promotes man’s version of righteousness as superior to God’s,
thus allowing mankind to continue after the flood.
[1] “Flood Legends from Around the World,” NW
Creation Network: Defending Biblical History, April 13, 2014, accessed April
13, 2014, http://www.nwcreation.net/noahlegends.html.
[2] Peter T. Chattaway, “Darren Aronofsky Talks to
CT About 'Noah'”, CT: Christianity Today (March 25 2014): 1,
accessed April 13, 2014, http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2014/march-web-only/darren-aronofsky-interview-noah.html.
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