Nick Hunter Decalogue 2/11/20
Midrash is Hebrew method of interpreting the meaning of biblical texts. It allows us to understand the meanings of the biblical text through real life scenarios. In Decalogue, we see midrash in both episodes 1 and 5. Each episode has a different meaning that relates to one of the 10 commandments given to us by the bible. The commandments state what is required of you as a person of faith under God. The first 3 concern the love for God and the last 7 are about love of you neighbor.
Episode 1: I AM THE LORD THY GOD: THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME
In episode one, we see this man who is sitting by the fire that represents something or someone, but we are not sure yet. He is cold, lonely, and sitting by a faint fire with a dead dog at his feet. Next, we see a boy running on a television screen in what seems to be a commercial and a shot of a women crying. This event is explained by the midrash of what episode 1 brings. The episode in full, is about a boy and his dad. The son is a curious little guy, who asks his dad many questions each and every day. One specific question he asked him though, was what happens to people when they die? The father replied, that's it, it's the end. The father doesn't believe in God you can see from the start. His son wants to learn about God because his aunt believes in him and tells him there is a spirit inside of you. The father doesn't believe in this but what he does believe in, is a computer. He can put any sort of equation in the computer and he knows it will be right. He believes this is the key to everything, that it will tell you anything you want to know, help you and show you the way. He and his son idolize the computer. However, here is where the midrash steps in. The boy gets a pair of ice skates for Christmas and wants to test them out. He and his dad checked the temperatures and plugged an equation into the computer that would tell them the ice has frozen. The son proceeds to ice skate but falls in. The ice wasn't completely frozen even though the computer told them it was. The father did not believe the ice had broken up at first because his computer said it wouldn't. Later, he finds out it did when he sees it and realizes that his son had died. He goes to the church in their town and pushes the table in front of the virgin Mary over who has a tear it seems to be rolling down her eye. The holy water is frozen and it is very dim. Midrash shows that God wants him to be the only thing we idolize. No computer, other God, person, or creature. He shows us this with this episode that he is God almighty and is the one that we should idolize because he is never wrong, unlike the computer. He uses the boy as his example to the father to help him understand this. The women was the boys aunt crying because the commercial was taped a few days before the boy had died. I also have a hunch that the man sitting at the end of the pond by the fire, represented the Holy Spirit and the fire representing the light that is in all of us.
Episode 5: THOU SHALT NOT KILL
The second episode we watched was about the 5th commandment thou shalt not kill. There is midrash in 2 different ways. One, there is a young adult man that strangles a taxi driver and kills him. This is seen as murder. Second, the young man is put on trial, and put to death by capital punishment. This is seen as allowed.
In both cases, they can be looked at as murder under God. One just looks worse than the other to us as a society because one is murder, a brutal, hateful, and heinous. The other, is simply punishing the murderer who broke the law of his country. In both regards, they are breaking the laws of God. God wants us to love each other and care for each other. He brings this to light in this episode that it doesn't matter what way a person is killed, any person that is being killed by another person is wrong. The Decalogues make both killings look miserable, unbearable, and sad. I felt sad for the man who murdered the taxi driver because of the way he was killed. I also feel terrible about how the taxi driver died because his murder was gruesome and horrifying to watch with how much he suffered. They do this I believe to point out that killing anybody is wrong and that it should not happen in the first place whether it be by capital punishment or by murder.
Episode 1: I AM THE LORD THY GOD: THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME
In episode one, we see this man who is sitting by the fire that represents something or someone, but we are not sure yet. He is cold, lonely, and sitting by a faint fire with a dead dog at his feet. Next, we see a boy running on a television screen in what seems to be a commercial and a shot of a women crying. This event is explained by the midrash of what episode 1 brings. The episode in full, is about a boy and his dad. The son is a curious little guy, who asks his dad many questions each and every day. One specific question he asked him though, was what happens to people when they die? The father replied, that's it, it's the end. The father doesn't believe in God you can see from the start. His son wants to learn about God because his aunt believes in him and tells him there is a spirit inside of you. The father doesn't believe in this but what he does believe in, is a computer. He can put any sort of equation in the computer and he knows it will be right. He believes this is the key to everything, that it will tell you anything you want to know, help you and show you the way. He and his son idolize the computer. However, here is where the midrash steps in. The boy gets a pair of ice skates for Christmas and wants to test them out. He and his dad checked the temperatures and plugged an equation into the computer that would tell them the ice has frozen. The son proceeds to ice skate but falls in. The ice wasn't completely frozen even though the computer told them it was. The father did not believe the ice had broken up at first because his computer said it wouldn't. Later, he finds out it did when he sees it and realizes that his son had died. He goes to the church in their town and pushes the table in front of the virgin Mary over who has a tear it seems to be rolling down her eye. The holy water is frozen and it is very dim. Midrash shows that God wants him to be the only thing we idolize. No computer, other God, person, or creature. He shows us this with this episode that he is God almighty and is the one that we should idolize because he is never wrong, unlike the computer. He uses the boy as his example to the father to help him understand this. The women was the boys aunt crying because the commercial was taped a few days before the boy had died. I also have a hunch that the man sitting at the end of the pond by the fire, represented the Holy Spirit and the fire representing the light that is in all of us.
Episode 5: THOU SHALT NOT KILL
The second episode we watched was about the 5th commandment thou shalt not kill. There is midrash in 2 different ways. One, there is a young adult man that strangles a taxi driver and kills him. This is seen as murder. Second, the young man is put on trial, and put to death by capital punishment. This is seen as allowed.
In both cases, they can be looked at as murder under God. One just looks worse than the other to us as a society because one is murder, a brutal, hateful, and heinous. The other, is simply punishing the murderer who broke the law of his country. In both regards, they are breaking the laws of God. God wants us to love each other and care for each other. He brings this to light in this episode that it doesn't matter what way a person is killed, any person that is being killed by another person is wrong. The Decalogues make both killings look miserable, unbearable, and sad. I felt sad for the man who murdered the taxi driver because of the way he was killed. I also feel terrible about how the taxi driver died because his murder was gruesome and horrifying to watch with how much he suffered. They do this I believe to point out that killing anybody is wrong and that it should not happen in the first place whether it be by capital punishment or by murder.
Nick, I found your blog interesting because of how you highlighted to way the film brought out your point of view on certain topics, such as; feeling sympathetic for the taxi driver as well as the murderer himself. I found this interesting because I had a very different experience in watching the last film, highlighting our topic of midrash. In watching the film I found it hard to sympathize with both men involved in the situation due to my personal view of karma and how things play out for those who do wrong. Given that the taxi driver is seen being a snob and a sort of pervert in his first few scenes I thought it was just his karma that put him in the wrong place at the wrong time and then karma again which brought his murderer to justice.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Christian God would state that those who kill, no matter what, are in the wrong, their are other Gods that would state these happenings are a result of karmic energy that keep the levels of good and evil at an equal balance. In this example of different religious background, one can then refer back to the topic of midrash and how those who watch the movie with differing views of religion would interpret the hermenuic presentation in a seemingly construed way as opposed to those sharing in the same religion.