Patricia Ohanian blog- Human themes vs Religious themes 4/26/2020

Sitting here, writing these blogs, I am trying to think of all of the "religious" themes that I could use to connect movies and themes from this class.  The obvious from which we have studied comes to mind; sacred and profane, chaos and cosmos, sacred time, sacred journeys, symbolism, heirophanies.
But I start to think of other movies that dont necesarily have those exactly obviously, but still have these "religious" themes.
For example; the Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games is a book trilogy but movie foursome that takes place in a dystopian universe, similar but different, to where we are today.
Katniss Everdeen takes the place of her younger sister to compete for here colony in the Hunger Games, an annual fight to the death that includes one child from each colony.
This movie shows oppression, from the capital to the colonies.
Value of a human life, killing these children in order to remind people of the power of the capital.
Injustices and Consequences, Katniss retaliating for the injustices of the capital.

These themes dont necessarily include the words sacred, God, religious, or profane; but they are still "religious themes". Jesus faced injustices from the Romans and was persecuted for them.  Many of the jews faced Opression from the Romans as well.  The value of a human life is proven by Jesus dyng for our sins so that humanity can truly live.

It makes me wonder, are some of these "religious" themes, not really religious, but more just humanitarian themes?
Are these themes things that all people, religious or not, would see as wrong, as something that should be fixed, something that is not okay?
Muslims, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Athiest alike, I think everyone would agree that these themes are injust and wrong. Maybe we are not so different after all.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thin Red Line - Connor Pugh

      The Thin Red Line follows the events of the Battle for Guadalcanal in the Pacific theater of World War II. Private Witt is picked up by a patrol boat while he and another solider are AWOL, living with a group of South Pacific natives living a care free life. Witt is punished with demotion by his Sergeant. As the film progresses, officers speak on large warships of the importance of taking the island of Guadalcanal, many of the soldiers who will be raiding the island are horrified and worrisome of what will happen on the island. Captain Staros is an American Captain who is tasked with keeping all of his men in line and also making sure they are all okay and healthy. It bothers Captain Staros that his men are seen as merely pieces in a grand plan by commanding officers and not as human lives. Staros is faced with an order from Lt. Colonel Tall to charge of a hill which will lead to the loss of probably all of his men and refuses to take the order, by doing so, this de...
Read more

The Thin Red Line - Joseph Hancock

“The Thin Red Line” has many similar themes to “Apocalypse Now.” This makes sense, as both are war films focused on a squad of American soldiers with diverse backgrounds and personalities heading into enemy territory. However, although both films tackle similar ideas, they approach them from different perspectives. For example, “Apocalypse Now” views the natural world as a part of the sacred. Meanwhile, the arbitrary war between human countries is profane by going against nature and destroying it through bombs, napalm, and firefights. But while nature is sacred, that doesn’t mean it is friendly, as the jungle is hostile towards the main characters to the point that they only feel safe on their boat after an animal attack; even then, several squad members still die on the boat as a result from unseen attacks coming from the jungle.  Comparing these ideas to those found in “The Thin Red Line”, there is plenty of overlap. Many of the visual shots in the film focus on how nature...
Read more

Rob Martine Dekalogue

Episode 1: Do any of the visuals of the films work as symbols that bridge the gap of understanding? How? Be specific in noting these visuals.  The first episode is full of symbolism in order to portray the author's message to the audience. We see a man sitting by the pond in front of a fire from the very beginning of the episode. I believe this represents God because the father comes face to face with him when checking the ice for his son. It is almost as if God is waiting for the son to drown and take him to heaven because the man is gone after the ice breaks. Another symbol is the bottle of water that Pavel and his father set outside. When they check on it the following morning, the water turned to ice, and when Pavel asks what will happen if they keep it outside even longer, the father replies, "it will eventually thaw." This foreshadows the pond eventually thawing, leading to Pavel's death. Additionally, it emphasizes the father's complete faith in knowled...
Read more