The Two Things Noah Does Right

Ryan promises to write a longer piece about his own reaction to Darren Aronofsky’s Noah but I thought I’d put it out there what I did like about the movie.

For the most part, I sit on way on the opposite side of any kind of religious thought being taken literally – specifically, using Genesis to, in any way, talk about the birth of “man.” This I believe is fundamentally flawed view on life itself; mankind is not the center of the universe. Never has been, never will be, despite our desire to be so. We are one of many life forms battling life and death every day. The Buddhists, it seems to me, have it right in viewing religion but that’s another topic for another time. Therefore, it doesn’t matter to me if Aronofsky sought to explain evolution through Genesis (not necessary) or to talk about the creator this, the creator that – if you believe in God you’re probably going to dig Noah. But if you either don’t know what is behind all of this life that has been thriving for billions of years, or don’t need to know, you might find Noah suffocating in its sexism (women being necessary only to reproduce) and its heteronormative view of life (one male, one female).

But there are two things I really liked about the movie and that’s this:

1) Aronofsky’s disdain for mankind it palpable and true. His film makes no bones about what has led to the destruction of this planet. We are at fault. We are barbaric and disgusting in our disregard for the natural world and all of the life on it. I was right there with Noah all the way on that. I also felt his pain in not knowing what to do – there are so many beautiful things about humanity. It isn’t ALL bad. But there is so much bad. That struggle, to me, stuck with me after I saw the film in a way I never saw coming. I assumed it would not penetrate my psyche at all but it did for that reason. Now, when I read stories that depress the hell out of me, when I look at our very bleak future, I think about this tortured man. I’ll leave God out of it because you know, if he wanted to fix things he could. I don’t believe he “gave” us this planet to do with what we wanted. We are a very successful, dominant, intelligent species but we will destroy ourselves eventually – at which point the planet will shrug us off like old skin and rebuild itself. Nature doesn’t think we’re the center of the universe.

2) This is a bit of a spoiler because I do believe this isn’t in any of the original Noah stories so if you haven’t seen the film and you’d like to see how the story is told (Arofonsky take liberties with the Judao-Christian interpretation though this movie is still very much a religious epic that pays reverence to God) do not read any further.

I liked it that he entrusted the future of humanity to women, and that his message at the end of the film was loud and clear: the creator is not male. The creator is very much female. That kind of rocked my world. In many ways it made Noah a kind of modern myth — something to use in every day life and take with you as a cautionary tale. Do I think it will make Christians think more deeply about our collective future? Nope. They still see mankind as the center of the universe and they believe that by accepting Christ as their savior they will all be spared when the world ends. So you know.

I really thought I would hate Noah. It wasn’t anywhere near the “fever dream” many of the bloggers, critics and fanboys wanted it to be. But it is a loving, gentle approach to communal understanding – to bridging the gap between those who reject religion for science and those who reject science for religion. To that end, I believe it’s worth seeing. Its intentions are good, ultimately. Is it the best film Aronofsky has ever made? Not even close. But it’s a contemplative one.

As far as Oscar nominations go – I’m not really sure. My instincts say no chance in hell. But if there were going to be Oscar noms they would likely be only tech nods.