Hanscom - Light vs. Darkness

       In many popular films, the battle between light and darkness is a consistent theme touched on. I think this is such an interesting phenomenon because it reflects the battle we see going on in the world today. All we have to do is turn on the TV and watch the news to see there is a tension between good and evil. I believe as humans, we inherently know right from wrong, good from evil. It is written in the book of Ecclesiastes that God set eternity in every man's heart. Thus, we are all aware of a battle between the temporal and eternal reality, holding to the belief that goodness will prevail in the end. I personally believe that our battle today is not against flesh and blood, but against dark spirits and principalities in the heavenly realm.

       It is interesting to see how movies portray this war between good and evil in the natural, rather than spiritual. One movie in particular that explores this theme is Wonder Woman. In the film, Wonder Woman is brought to earth in order to destroy the god of war, eres. She is supposed to represent a godlike, savior figure from the world of Themyscira where she was trained to fight for noble, pure causes. However, when she encounters the sinfulness of mankind on earth, she realizes that within all men there is an inherent evil that can only be overcome by love. It is interesting that love is the essence or root of all things that are good, and in many films love is the power that overcomes the darkness. This is also a theme in the movie The Princess Bride. The theme in this film is also that of love overcoming darkness, good overcoming evil.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The "Prodigal Son Theme" in Movies

The "Prodigal Son Theme" in Movies In Luke 15: 11 - 32, Jesus shares the story of the Prodigal Son with His disciples. The story goes as follows: A father has two sons. The younger son asks for his inheritance and goes off and squanders it. After some time, he becomes poor and decides to return home to his father. He returns home with the intention of begging his father to be made one of his hired servants, expecting his relationship with his father is likely severed. However, the father welcomes him back and celebrates his return.  This story line can be found as an underlying theme in many movies today. 1) Big Fish  During the film, Will and his elderly father, Edward, have a falling out over Edward's stories about his life, and do not speak to each other for 3 years following the fight. However, when Edward falls deathly ill, Will returns home and although there is tension between the duo, their relationship has not been destroyed. Over the course of the mo...
Read more

C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves - Phileo Love

C.S. Lewis states that the necessity of friendship is not mandatory to our biological survival. Unlike the other loves it serves as the least "instinctive, organic, biological, gregarious and necessary" (58). Many films touch upon the idea of love in its eros or agape form but phileo love seems to always be the side product of the story line which is very affirming of what C.S. Lewis states in regarding phileo love. The idea of friendship is not something as valued in our society but as seen in war movies such as The Thin Red Line  the necessity for camaraderie in friendship comes into play. As C.S. Lewis states, "“Lovers are always talking to one another about their love; Friends hardly ever about their Friendship. Lovers are normally face to face, absorbed in each other; Friends, side by side, absorbed in a common interest” (61). Visually in films lovers are directly face to face and friends are often seen as companions side by side such as in war films or superhero fi...
Read more

The Decalogue - 1 & 5

The Decalogue is a series of films about the Ten Commandments. Decalogues 1 & 5 are thought provoking and pull the strings of feelings that all humans share, regardless of religion, race, etc.  The first film in the Decalogue is about the the First Commandment; " I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me". The film focuses on a father and son, having a very close relationship. The father is a professor at a university, and places all of his trust within formulas, calculations, and anything that is backed by fact or reason. The father represents someone who lacks faith and does not search for truths that cannot be attained through calculations or proof. The father's God is represented by his computer, where he trusts his calculations blindly. His son is young and innocent, asking questions that we all have wondered at some time in our own lives. The father cannot provide his son with adequate answers for these deep and profound questions of li...
Read more