Engaging Hollywood's 'Noah'

10 April 2014

Movie poster credit: Official 'Noah Movie' Facebook page

Engaging Hollywood's 'Noah'

By Pastor Dr Chew Weng Chee

A few Christian leaders were invited by the Home Ministry to a preview of the movie "Noah" on 12 March 2014. SIB KL's senior pastor Dr Chew Weng Chee was among the group that also included Christian Federation of Malaysia Executive Secretary Tan Kong Beng, NECF Secretary-General Eugene Yapp and NECF Researcher Mable Leong. On 4 April, the Ministry's Film Censorship Board Chairman declared the film banned in Malaysia, on the grounds that it was "insensitive" to Muslims as it depicted a prophet, and after "considering Islamic facts and history".

Despite the ban, the film is bound to be available in other ways and will certainly be a topic of conversation because of its mass appeal as a Hollywood production. How should Christians approach this version of the biblical story of the flood, and how can they engage with others who talk about it? Pastor Chew reviews the film:

"I enjoyed the film in terms of its special effects and excellent acting from Hollywood heavyweights like Russell Crowe and Anthony Hopkins. However, there are some features about the movie that needs analytical comment from a Christian point of view.

The overall plotline keeps to the biblical narrative. God wipes out humankind by a devastating flood due to the sinfulness of man so that He can start again with Noah and his family.

Despite the faithfulness of the overall theme, there are glaring misrepresentations in the movie that are unbiblical. Among them are:-

1. The main character Noah is far from being the righteous man that Genesis 6 makes him out to be. In the film, Noah is obsessed with the idea that humans ought to die because of their sin, to the point that he attempt infanticides. He is portrayed as a man consumed with the belief that the human race, including his entire family, should not survive because of sin. He tries to kill his newborn grand-daughters to stop the human race from procreating. To say the least, this is bizarre and totally unbiblical.
2. The appearance of Rock Giants in the film is supposed to be Hollywood's portrayal of the biblical Nephilim, the product of sexual union between man and fallen angels. In the film, they help Noah build the ark and also help him fight off his enemies. For their reward, they are zoomed up to Heaven and redeemed. It is tantamount to saying that demons can be saved through good works!
3. Noah's nemesis, Tubal Cain, the grandson of Cain, hacks his way into the ark, hides among the animals, kills and eats an endangered species of lizards to survive, and finally fights a battle with Noah. I am trying to read the Director's mind in putting in this extra biblical character into the story. The best that I can come up with is that Tubal Cain is the Devil incarnate that seeks to kill off Noah to thwart God's salvation plan for mankind. This is artistic license at its limit.

Notwithstanding these biblical distortions, there are positives that we can glean from watching the movie.

For one thing, it will serve as a good springboard to talk and engage with your non-Christian friends. The whole concept of sin and God's judgment can be discussed, leveraging on the theme and special effects of the film. The flood scenes are very compelling and gripping.

God's mercy and grace in forgiving Noah and finally saving his family in the ark make a good starting point to share the Gospel pointing to Jesus as the divine ark that will save us if we choose to come under His shelter.

All in all, we must view the movie as a product of Hollywood. The director, Darren Aronofsky, is a self-professed atheist and was reported in the Washington Post describing Noah as "the least biblical movie ever made".

We have to watch the movie with that in mind and with a dose of realism - since when has Hollywood been expected to produce a scripturally accurate movie designed for theological students?

In fact, producers would deliberately want to provoke controversy, knowing very well that controversy sells. They need to recoup back the US130 million spent on making the movie. Watch the film, by all means, but approach it with an open and informed mind so that you will not be stumbled.

NECF's position on the Home Ministry's ban is that the decision, made on the basis of one religious perspective, is an unfortunate reflection of growing intolerance and increasing Islamisation in the country. The imposition of a single and dominant religious position does not hold well for Malaysia's multi-religious society, as religious persuasions should not and cannot be dictated by the sensitivities of only one religion. In modern times, there will be no end to the amount of content that can be deemed offensive or insensitive. It would be more appropriate to provide education and discussion, and to affirm religious teachings on a particular subject to counter inaccuracies, rather than to impose bans.