Noah - Movie - Merge

[Mecca]

So tonight my hubs and I went to watch Noah. We watch a ridiculous amount of movies, but we try to avoid opening weekends of movies that are popular because sometimes big crowds just tick me off. But I had my reasons for going on opening weekend for this movie. I openly admit I wanted to people watch and hear the moaning about this movie. I am snarky like that.

Our local movie theater has been pushing this movie as a must see for churches in our area and did some events to promote the movie. They were giving discounted rates to youth groups, etc. They are a business, after all, and will do anything to get butts in seats and people eating popcorn. I knew going into this I would be surrounded by a lot of Christians. The area I live in tends to be rather conservative and religious, and the vast majority of the churches are Baptist. I also knew that this was not going to be your typical biblical movie because it is directed by Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky made it very clear this would not be your typical biblical Noah's Ark story. I guess a lot of the people in attendance tonight did not get the memo or know about the movie's content beforehand. They also forgot the movie theater wants to get their money. Full stop.

So we get a bit into the movie, and I could hear so many people moaning about how off the mark it was biblically and this continued throughout the movie. Also, several people walked out. While they were walking out, they were speaking loudly about the movie being garbage. After the movie had ended and the lights came on, the looks on some of the faces were priceless. The older man sitting next to us was angry. We then walked out into the lobby and there were so many people angry about this movie and wanting their money back.

Personally, I thought it was a decent movie. I like Aronofsky's work and found his twist on the story interesting. It sure was a ffffffaaaarrrrr cry from the stories of Noah I was told and read about from my fundie days. Maybe I am just a snarky ass, but I thought it was rather interesting and a bit entertaining watching the reactions of the other movie goers. Sure, they were caught off guard by the content and many movie goers where disruptive at times, but it was funny to watch. When I got home I looked to see if Ken Ham had commented since he is such a Noah lover. Sure enough, he did.

blogs.answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2014/03/28/the-noah-movie-is-disgusting-and-evil-paganism/

[browngrl]

The more the fundies hate it the more I think I might like it. I was not planning on seeing this movie but now I almost certainly will.

[slh12280]

Ha, I loved his review. It wasn't just a bad movie; it was an "evil, pagan" movie. Oh no, someone made a movie from their own ideas based on a Biblical story! Will this reach the level of outrage of the "Da Vinci Code?"

[Toothfairy]

Haven't seen the movie but previews. Why do they make Jesus so white?

[Savoring Samsara]

Haven't seen the movie but previews. Why do they make Jesus so white?

I don't think Jesus is in this one, given that it takes place thousands of years before he lived...

[Mecca]

Ha, I loved his review. It wasn't just a bad movie; it was an "evil, pagan" movie. Oh no, someone made a movie from their own ideas based on a Biblical story! Will this reach the level of outrage of the "Da Vinci Code?"

I remember my fundie parents were outraged that I read "Da Vinci Code" and saw the movie. Keep in mind I was in my thirties when that all went down. :lol:

Ken's review was hilarious. He also did a recorded panel review of the movie, but I have not watched it yet. I might just for the LOLs.

[Mecca]

Haven't seen the movie but previews. Why do they make Jesus so white?

Jesus did not make an appearance in this movie, but Rock people, evolution, and the Big Bang Theory did. Those three things alone pissed a lot of the people in attendance last night off.

[Finduilas]

Ok now I really NEED to see this movie ! :clap:

[Trynn]

I don't know how true this is, but I've been lurkin on Adventist forums, and I'm told that most of the controversial stuff on he movie comes from be book of Enoch. Can anyone who has read the book verify?

Most Adventists (that I've heard from) at least seem to be of be opinion that the more controversy this movie gets the more people will see it. They see that as a good thing, though, because witnessing. Surely somebody will see it and it will lead to conversion....

Noah's ark was never my favorite bible story, so I'll likely pass. Even as a Christian I found retellings of bible stories totally boring because I already knew how things would turn out at the end, regardless of how many extra "plot twists" they put in there.

[apple1]

Our local movie theater has been pushing this movie as a must see for churches in our area and did some events to promote the movie. They were giving discounted rates to youth groups, etc. They are a business, after all, and will do anything to get butts in seats and people eating popcorn.

I would guess that at least some of the anger may have been due to the bait and switch advertising.

[Mecca]

I would guess that at least some of the anger may have been due to the bait and switch advertising.

Maybe, but I am not sure I would consider this a bait and switch when the contents of the movie never changed, the information about the movie's actual storyline was readily available to them, and they were not charged a higher fee to attend once they got to the movie. I am the one that should be ticked. I had to pay a higher price than most in attendance simply because I do not attend a church and did not go with a large church group. They did the same thing for "Son of God." Another movie Ken Ham hated, I might add. It is hard to feel sorry for people that do not do their homework about a movie where the director has been very forthcoming about the content and made it clear this was not your typical biblical movie. The information is out there, and it was even on the movie theater's website.

[Childless]

I may need to check this one out. I wasn't going to waste my time as the previews didn't capture my fancy, but if fundies hate it that much it's got to be good. Unfortunately, given the fact that I have a toddler and almost no access to babysitting services, I'll have to wait until it hits Blue Ray.

[GeoBQn]

From the commercials, I keep thinking that the characters look like Vikings.

[apple1]

Maybe, but I am not sure I would consider this a bait and switch when the contents of the movie never changed, the information about the movie's actual storyline was readily available to them, and they were not charged a higher fee to attend once they got to the movie. I am the one that should be ticked. I had to pay a higher price than most in attendance simply because I do not attend a church and did not go with a large church group. They did the same thing for "Son of God." Another movie Ken Ham hated, I might add. It is hard to feel sorry for people that do not do their homework about a movie where the director has been very forthcoming about the content and made it clear this was not your typical biblical movie. The information is out there, and it was even on the movie theaters website.

I don't completely disagree, because IMO it is a stupid pastor or youth pastor that takes a church group or youth group to see a movie that s/he hasn't already seen in its entirety.

I haven't seen the movie and don't intend to. I have seen ads on TV for it. The ads (on slight glance - I wasn't interested and acknowledge that I haven't paid much attention) didn't seem to give an indication that the movie was going for - I don't know - the snark factor??

Anyway - also not much sympathy for the viewers. I mean, what did they expect, really?

[danvillebelle]

I saw it Friday. It was interesting. I read a loooong piece in the New Yorker with Darren Aronofsky a few weeks ago, so I went in knowing what to expect. I thought the portrayal of how evil the world had become, the physical structure of the ark itself, and details like the costumes were spot on and quite realistic. I liked how most of the focus was on Noah's internal struggle concerning doing what he was called to do and destroying so much life (which until that point he had only protected) in the process. It made me want to come home and read the story in the Bible again, with commentary and my Strong's in hand to look things up in Hebrew. You would think that fundies would be GLAD about a movie that might actually make non-believers interested enough to pick up a Bible and read the story there, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOO (in best John Belushi voice), they have to bitch and moan and whine that it wasn't what THEY wanted to see. :roll:

As I was leaving, I passed a woman in the lobby who was saying to her companion in a snotty voice "well it certainly wasn't Scriptural!" I practically had to clap my hand over my mouth to keep from shouting "IT WASN'T MEANT TO BE!" and then making a run for it.

[Mela99]

I might go see it this week. Fiance is away on a business trip, and he would't sit through it anyway. I like Darren Aronofsky a lot, and really, I'll see anything that pisses people off.

[debrand]

I admit that Noah's Ark is one of my least favorite bible stories. It is basically a story about glorified genocide and I can never get passed the image of mother's watching the flood waters rising slowly around them as they realize that there is no escape for their children. For some reason the fact that a supposedly benevolent deity ordered those people's deaths has always bugged me.

In defense of the director, the Noah story is not that long and doesn't include enough material to be interesting in a visual format like the movies. I don't know how a scriptural movie about Noah could be made without some improvising on the part of the writers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Enoch

wikipedia is not a good source but in this instance is a good starting point about why some people might depict the Nephilim as the children of angels and humans.

The first part of the Book of Enoch describes the fall of the Watchers, the angels who fathered the Nephilim. The remainder of the book describes Enoch's visits to heaven in the form of travels, visions and dreams, and his revelations.

According to the same wikipedia article the Book of Enoch is mentioned in the New Testament book of Jude (Jude 1:14–15:). I don't know what that means beyond the fact that early Jewish Christians knew about the Book of Enoch.

[Ms Jess]

I had no interest in seeing this movie until an old friend of mine posted on facebook about how biblically inaccurate and blasphemous it is. She and I roomed together almost 20 years ago at our Christian high school. She's still very, very much into Christianity, the more conservative, the better. I have a feeling my facebook is going to blow up in controversy over this in the next couple of weeks.

[Childless]

I admit that Noah's Ark is one of my least favorite bible stories. It is basically a story about glorified genocide and I can never get passed the image of mother's watching the flood waters rising slowly around them as they realize that there is no escape for their children. For some reason the fact that a supposedly benevolent deity ordered those people's deaths has always bugged me.

In defense of the director, the Noah story is not that long and doesn't include enough material to be interesting in a visual format like the movies. I don't know how a scriptural movie about Noah could be made without some improvising on the part of the writers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Enoch

wikipedia is not a good source but in this instance is a good starting point about why some people might depict the Nephilim as the children of angels and humans.

According to the same wikipedia article the Book of Enoch is mentioned in the New Testament book of Jude (Jude 1:14–15:). I don't know what that means beyond the fact that early Jewish Christians knew about the Book of Enoch.

I never liked the Noah story either because it seems so improbable and defies logic. Two of every animal on the planet? How would you collect them all (i.e. animals indigenous to North America or Australia) and how on earth could you build a boat big enough to not only house them, but also carry enough food to feed them for multiple weeks? It makes no sense.

[Peas n carrots]

I feel more interested in seeing it now knowing it isn't so much a biblical circle jerk. It would be more fun to see it in the Bible Belt to see I could be entertained by the reactions. My super liberal enclave wouldn't garner those kind of reactions

[ADoyle90815]

The more the fundies hate it the more I think I might like it. I was not planning on seeing this movie but now I almost certainly will.

Same here. I read and saw the movie The DaVinci Code because of the fact that fundies were so pissed off about it, and the story is obviously a work of fiction. While my fiancee due to the way he was raised was upset about that story, he's more open minded about Noah as he knows they had to add stuff to make it into a feature length film. I can't watch The DaVinci Code around him, but he probably will see Noah with me.

[doggie]

So fundies are perfectly ok in changing the bible to fit their beliefs or justify the actions they take but if it is done in a movie it is somehow worse?

[gezykah]

If I didn't love Ricky Gervais already I would've fallen in love with him for this-

http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/noah ... ky-3292700

[Arete]

OK, I'm about to hoist my shallow flag up the flag pole. Noah is being played by Russell Crowe, people. Russell Crowe! That alone is worth me sitting through this movie, and I am honestly shocked that in 2 pages of comments, no one else has brought if up.

Can I possibly be the only woman on this board who appreciates scruffy middle aged men with Australian accents? ;)

[salex]

OK, I'm about to hoist my shallow flag up the flag pole. Noah is being played by Russell Crowe, people. Russell Crowe! That alone is worth me sitting through this movie, and I am honestly shocked that in 2 pages of comments, no one else has brought if up.

Can I possibly be the only woman on this board who appreciates scruffy middle aged men with Australian accents? ;)

Maybe..... since there are a couple of women at a local grocery store that always tell my husband (and me if I've with him) he looks like Iron Man my type is more like this....