Okay, so I just watched "Lord of the Rings"(the first one) for the first time the other day..... I've heard people talking about it and I know it super popular with home schoolers and some people might not like me very much for this post.. . but a few friends recommended it to me and so I had to watch it. :)
First off... I do not recommend hardly any movies and this is just another one that I will NOT recommend... especially for someone that is struggling or weak in their faith. I also think that children shouldn't watch it as it could plant ideas in their head that shouldn't be there.
Moving on.... While I enjoyed watching it and thought it was well done.... I think it could be a stumbling block for myself and most Christians if watched enough. After sitting for 3 hrs watching this movie I started thinking about the deeper message that is in-meshed within the whole thing. And while I see how some people can relate it to their Christian walk... I don't think it can or should be. What I began to see was a message that creates a stark contrast between good and evil but at the same time.... the very best of the good is based on the same power as the worst of the evil. The whole movie is about sorcery, witchcraft, magic.... All of which is diametrically opposed to our holy God... Yahweh, who calls those things an abomination and those that practice them were cut off from among His people.
The comparison in the movie is like going from a clear stary night(good) to the pitch black inside of a cave(evil) while God and his ways are a cloudless sunshine. I see no comparison for my spiritual walk in this movie. It portrays a battle between evil and more evil ...... both sides are fighting using the same power.... sorcery. The end result of this kind of battle is the victory of evil.
In Christ we fight with a power that is far above and overcomes and is completely opposite of all others. The powers of darkness shrinks in fear from it. It cannot be overcome or exhausted. The adversary fights with a complete different set of rules and techniques than we do. His way is laborious and exhausting, it requires our own power, will and endurance... Christs way is triumphant and victorious and requires faith, trust, hope, and prayer.
I think movies like this and a lot of movies these days are a type of brainwashing. They take evil and turn it into good. I think that it is very important to be on our guard and not accept the filmmakers definition of good but see it for what it is and hold ourselves accountable to the highest form of good!
Thanks for reading! Thoughts?
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12 comments:
Glad to hear you aren't a LOTR fan now. :P
Bravo! :)
Couldn't have said it better myself. :) It's been a long time since I've heard someone say this...it's encouraging!
I think that too many people are looking for worldly entertainment to have some correlation to their spiritual lives...when all we need is the Word of Yahweh!
I have been reading the story of David and WOW if you read it and really look at it...David was unbelievable. He killed a BEAR and a LION with his BARE HANDS! Then he crept up and cut off a corner of Saul's robe while Saul was AWAKE! I haven't seen a movie with that much excitement and thrill in forever.
Very bold statements you have made here. Good for you! Stand tall like Peter and proclaim at the top of your lungs the truth. The truth should be bold. Thanks for sharing Jeremy
Good thoughts, Jeremy. This is a subject I have thought about before. When my sis and I were little, our parents didn't expose us to stories that had "good" magic in them since, in an earthly sense, there is no such thing as "good" magic, as you've said in your post. If we were at a friend's house and watched some Disney movie with magic in it, they didn't make a big deal out of it, but we didn't have those movies at home. I remember throwing away books that grandparents sent us because they were about witches or whatever.
When we got to be teenagers, our mom read us some fantasy literature (like LOTR and Narnia) that has "good" magic in it. I guess there came a point when our parents knew we were mature enough to discern the fact that in reality, here in time and space on planet Earth, all magic is evil, even though books may use a concept of "good" magic to illustrate a point.
That all being said, this is still something I have thought about as an adult...is literature (or movies) that portrays any kind of magic as being good a profitable way to use my imagination? I'm still wrestling with that question.
I suppose it could be argued that because books (and movies) like LOTR and Narnia are symbolic and allegorical, that everything in them can be thought of as symbolic and allegorical - the battle between "good" magic and "bad" magic could be seen as the struggle between the good power of the Holy Spirit and the evil power of Satan (Eph. 6:12). Then again, is it wise to illustrate a Biblical truth (the very-real spiritual struggle that constantly surrounds us) through a practice that, in reality, is all evil?
I don't know. That's why I'm still thinking about it. Thanks for giving me more to think about.
(Wow, haha...this was long...)
Have you read the books, Jeremy?
More thoughts coming (I hope) :)
Superb notions, Jeremy (I was going to say Good Thoughts, but that's already been taken :P ). I've been thinking over this same sort of thing since I watched the first two movies and certainly relate to and agree with a lot of what April wrote above; this is still something I'm thinking about.
I have read the books since watching the first two movies and can verify that they do a pretty good job of conveying the book's message. However, as I read the entire LOTR series there were two other things I disliked that stood out to me: first, that there is no central force for good. There are just lots of small, uncoordinated groups fighting the bad guys. Second, there does not appear to be any good force that is strong enough to face and destroy the full power of the evil. Neither of these stand against the truth of God's word. We do, in fact, have one Great Commander, who's soldiers we are. And He is not only powerful enough to utterly destroy the powers of evil and blast them into eternal oblivion, etc., etc., but has already won that victory for us through personally paying the price to purchase us from the legal claim of the devil. Victory is already won.
It is worth noting, however, that LOTR is only a small part of a larger fantasy "history" of middle-earth that Tolkien wrote. There could very well be far more to his overall story than what you get through exposure to LOTR; and also that Tolkien was very opposed to the idea that his books are allegorical. He said in the forward to LOTR, "As for any inner meaning or 'message', it has in the intention of the author none. It is neither allegorical nor topical... I think that many confuse 'applicability' with 'allegory'." Thus, I think for people to try to draw direct parallels between this story and the Christian life or Biblical history is rather unfitting. I think many people take Tolkien to be implying more that he might have intended.
One final thought on LOTR. These books are not children's books, both by nature of the content and the depth thereof. I think these should be read by one who is prepared to carefully think through what is written and not take every connotation at face value. If one is prepared to do this, there are some good applications and reminders for the Christian. For example (at risk of this statement being disqualified by my previous paragraph), I think the most impacting thing for me from the books was the reminder of the reality of the spiritual realm and the battle that we are in. Just as the Ringwraiths relentlessly and mercilessly pursued Frodo, so the Devil and his forces are relentlessly and mercilessly seeking the destruction, or at any rate damage, of our souls. And these are just as real for us as the Black Riders were to Frodo. But, once again, unlike Frodo we have Christ to fight these battles for us if we let Him.
So... would I recommend Lord of the Rings to someone else? Interesting question. I wouldn't necessarily label either the movies or the books as "bad." nonetheless... is there much lasting value to be gained from them? Not a whole lot. I'd love to hear from anyone who disagrees with any of this, as I'm still working all this over in my mind.
I hope that makes some sense...
Thanks for the thoughts everyone!
It has given me lots to think about on the subject! :)
I agree! Good job Jer!
just gonna say that watching one of three movies and not reading any of his books doesn't really give you a good grasp of the trilogy (either the books or the movies).
@sarah... Like I said on my tumblr... .I watched the whole trilogy... I had only watched the first one when I wrote this post but after watching the other two I wouldn't change it a bit. I haven't read the books but since the movie is what most people base their Analogy off of... that is what I based this off of.
Haha, glad to hear it...my bad. :) It's good not to be too into watching movies, so good job. Personally they're some of my favorites but some people reeeeally don't like them!!
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