With the new Moses movie “Exodus” opening up in theaters this week I began to do a little research and came across a couple articles regarding the beliefs of director Ridley Scott (an atheist) and was surprised (not really) that he talked about choosing a writer that is also (hold your hats) an atheist. As I read a few Q & A’s from the director I thought to myself, “It’s Noah all over again” (Darren Aronofsky director of Noah also an atheist).
In the article, “Christian Bale and Ridley Scott Talk Religion and “Exodus” an RNS Interview. Scott said, “The writer I chose to finally polish it said, “You couldn’t have asked a worse person to do this because I am a dyed in the wool atheist. I simply don’t believe in this stuff.” What I don’t understand and find to be irritating is why do such filmmakers try to tackle spiritual/biblical subject matters that they neither believe in nor know anything about? That would be like me writing a script about atheism when I believe in God and his Son Jesus Christ. Makes no sense. Or (an after thought I had the following morning after writing this blog which may stretch your mind and beliefs a bit) could it have been God’s plan all along to try and reach these men and others like them? It’s not impossible. God’s surely capable of doing something out of the ordinary because of his love for mankind. Just a thought, and one to seriously consider.
I’ve finally realized why this bothered me so much (and it had nothing to do with the fact that they’re atheist) it’s because when I first heard about the movie by watching trailers over the last couple months I became very excited and thought, unlike the movie Noah, someone might nail this and it could become a box office hit like Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” which was quite powerful (a sequel please). When I shared my frustration with my husband, he mentioned (and I paraphrase) that it’s not such a bad idea that they had to open a Bible and research for the film. Good point right? And as I thought about what he said I remembered the Bible says Gods word is spirit and life, and maybe, just maybe these individuals might one day have recollections about what they’ve read and could one day turn to God. Which brings to mind the famous author C.S. Lewis of “Mere Christianity” who was also an atheist and became a Christ follower. But that does not change my opinion about seeing the movie: Sorry Hollywood, although I love going to the theater, I may have to pass by the box office on this one.
Complete Movie Review “Plugged In” from Focus on the Family
