Movies with False Gods

[spacemonkey]

Theres a lot of movies out there where a group of people worship a deity, be it whatever it will, and believe in it, believe it to be there true god, somebody they need to worship and trust, something that can solve all their problems, someone they can count on no matter what the problem, somebody they cn turn their lives over to and say you know what, this dudes got me covered, only to find out later that this “god” they trusted their lives and devotion to is nothing deserving of any worship.

How many movies can you remember where this happens?
Why do you think theres so many movies that adress this matter?

I remember these:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e0/Stargateposter.jpg
http://i181.photobucket.com/albums/x309/Hansolo20/Stargate-CD2.gif

Ra from Stargate (1994) – On this movie, the people on some distant planet far away in the universe worship a being with great power. This being can use telekinetic powers, speaks in a very intimidating voice and his eyes light up. A whole religion is formed around this being called ‘Ra’. Was he a real god? No he wasn’t, he was just an alien with hunger for power and control. He is discovered for what he is by earthlings who travel through the stargate to this planet. He gets blown to smithereens inside of his own pyramid shaped spaceship.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/60/155256.1020.A.jpg
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a93/axlestarweilder/zardoz.jpg

‘Zardoz’ from Zardoz (1974) – In John Boorman’s Zardoz, humans worship a giant floating mountain in the shape of a head. Sean Connery leads a group of rebels who don’t really think that the floating mountain is a god deserving any worship. Connery and his team of rebels decide to jump on the floating mountain and discover the secrets that it holds inside. Was it a god derserving any worship? Nope, it was just a ship flown by some idiot. The head was meant to simply keep the poor people scared and to get them to do what the government wanted.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d5/Wizard_oz_movieposter.jpg
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m280/Blackguard101/TheGreatAndPowerfulOz1.jpg

‘OZ’ from The Wizard of Oz (1939) – Everyone in Oz worships the great and powerful Oz. Oz is said to be the most powerful being in all of Oz, said to be able to solve all your problems with the blink of an eye. An earthling visiting Oz defies the great and powerful Oz and ultimately uncovers that he was just an ordinary man hiding behind loud noises, microphones and smoke machines. Did all those people waste their time worshipping a common man who could not solve any of their problems? A man who lied to them and made them believe in a lie all so he could have control over them and their land? You be the judge. Dorothy, The Lion, The Scarecrow and The Tin Man always had the solution within themselves, they needed nothing more then to believe in themselves to solve their troubles.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c7/Conan_the_barbarian.jpg/200px-Conan_the_barbarian.jpg
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg10/DrABenway/thulsa-doom.jpg

‘Thulsa Doom’ from Conan The Barbarian (1982) – A strange snake worshipping cult is spreading through out the land. This cult turns its followers into braindead worshippers who are willing to give their lives for their beliefs. As the cult spreads through out, they stumble upon Conan’s home village. The cult destroys Conan’s village and murders his parents. Too bad for them, Conan grows up, searches for the cult and its leader (named Thulsa Doom) and decapitates him. Thulsa Doom was no god, he was just a dude with an overpowering and intimidating personality. True, he did have the ability to transform into a real snake, but that didn’t warrant any worship if you ask me. He was just another human hungry for power and attention. Off with his head!


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c2/Star_trek_v_ver2.jpg/200px-Star_trek_v_ver2.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/God.jpg

‘God’ from Star Treck V: The Final Frontier – A religious fanatic who goes by the name of Sybok hijacks the Enterprise so he and his followers can travel to the center of the universe to meet with god. He tells everyone to join him in his quest, promising the answers to all of lifes questions and that they are finally gonna get to meet god and that he’ll have all those answers for them. When they finally arrive to the center of the universe, they find an Alien disguising himself as God so he can escape on the enterprise from the planet on which he is imprisoned. Kirk, Spock and Bones confront and defy this “god” asking him “What does God need with a Starship?” Once they discover that this really isn’t any kind of God, just a very pissed off alien, they simply blow the alien up with one of their lazers.

[QUENTIN]

The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Ten Commandments
Jesus of Nazareth
The Passion of The Christ
The Nativity Story
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Diary of A Country Priest
The Message
Kingdom of Heaven
Kandahar
Paradise Now
Malcolm X
Yentl
Fiddler on The Roof
Water
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring

[JJFlamingo]

Uh no, Quentin, he said FALSE gods...;)

[SkyNet]

The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Ten Commandments
Jesus of Nazareth
The Passion of The Christ
The Nativity Story
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Diary of A Country Priest
The Message
Kingdom of Heaven
Kandahar
Paradise Now
Malcolm X
Yentl
Fiddler on The Roof
Water
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring

haha YES!!!

i was going to post something similar to your post!! Well played sir

[JJFlamingo]

haha YES!!!

haha NO

[Terror Australis]

Oh, great. After reading only a few of these posts I can already see where this thread is going to go...and it doesn't look pretty.

http://www.pointedmagazine.com/library/boxing%20page%20photo.jpg
http://www.gbring.com/sokuho/result/images/061103chaos_11.jpg
http://badcontrol.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/street-fight.jpg
http://www.geocities.com/hollywood/picture/5433/fight.jpg
http://www.hollywoodtoday.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/fighting.jpg
http://www.pillow-fighting.com/pillow-fighting.jpg
http://www.careercapitalist.com/.a/6a00d8345275cf69e20115709dd046970b-800wi

....and then....

http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2007-02/nuclear-bomb-badger.jpg

:D

[The Postmaster General]

Napoleon Dynamite

"Tina, you far lard, come and get some diner!"

[Tweek]

Terror Australis... What the hell? :D

To the rest of youse, "Keep cool my babies."

Anyway, false gods... Fight Club (Tyler Durden) and Network (Television) are the only ones that come to mind.

[JJFlamingo]

That's right, Tweek. Keep things cool, stick to the OP's question and likeminded examples, and let's not gleefully jump into another round of Let's All Spit On The Christian...:D

Great post Australis

[MidnightAngel]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6c/Beneath-the-Planet-of-Apes.jpg

Remember the scene where they enter a temple where mutants with telepathic powers worship a nuclear weapon who for them is a god who will bring peace?

[spacemonkey]

Hey guys, my intent is not for the thread to turn into a lets bash on the christians type of thing, and I think were all civilized human beings here and very capable of handling a thread of this nature in an educated and respectful manner. Midnight Angel was apperently the only one who grasped what I was going for. Mentioning movies that have gods who end up not being so powerful and worship worthy. Who end up not being gods, but oridinary creatures passing for a god, taking advantage of a group of individuals.

BTW Midnight Angel, I havent seen that Planet of the Apes movie. Ive yet to dive into that whole series of films, but Im sure Id like em. And that thing about apes worshipping a nuclear bomb sounds like a very cool premise! Gotta start watching these movies at some point!

[spacemonkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/c/c3/Chronicles_of_riddick_ver2.jpg/200px-Chronicles_of_riddick_ver2.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/LordMarshall.jpg

Lord Marshall from Chronicles of Riddick - Worshipped and feared by many. The Necromongers is a religion that is spreading through out the universe...by force. If you do not think like them...they will anhilate you! Wipe you out. Their Modus Operandi consists of wiping out your mind and turning you into a mindless zombie obsessed with the Lord Marshalls quest of going to a supposed "underverse" that we never get to see in the movie. But he has everyone working towards getting to "The Threshold", the door to the underverse. He gets everyone to do his bidding by means of intimidation and the use of a power he has to steal peoples life force. So basically people fear him rather then respect or love him. Turns out Lord Marshall is not as powerful as his followers were led to believe, he is stabbed in the head by Riddick himself.

[countchocula]

I don't see why The Passion of the Christ shouldn't be included. Joke or not, it's a valid example. If I think it fits the topic, that's my opinion. There is no reason for anyone to get defensive, unless God does exist and he has a JoBlo account.

[FireCaptain4]

How about: Mothra from any of the Godzilla movies with them in it. Goodness I hate Mothra, but she's worshipped as a god. In almost every one of the films she's in, there's the classic "the parent dies, thus the larva offspring must grow up and take revenge" thing going on. Then again, I don't know if this applies, but Mothra obviously isn't indestructable. I keep waiting for a Godzilla film in which big G stomps over to Mothra's island and crushs that cult and all the larva babies- it's about time!
http://www.scifimoviepage.com/dvd/mothra1.jpg

I was going to mention the terribly great "Zardoz", but spacemonkey's got that covered! I can't think of anything else at the moment.

P.S.: Let's try not get offensive here. Some of us Schmoes have religious affiliations.

[BadCoverVersion]

Lord Of The Flies

The Wicker Man

Life Of Brian :)

[Hotbox]

I don't see why The Passion of the Christ shouldn't be included. Joke or not, it's a valid example. If I think it fits the topic, that's my opinion. There is no reason for anyone to get defensive, unless God does exist and he has a JoBlo account.

that's kinda true. Jesus is 99.9% made up.
How about Neo. he's a prophet/god in the cyber world. His crucification couldn't come soon enough.

[BakeTheMooCow]

I don't see why The Passion of the Christ shouldn't be included. Joke or not, it's a valid example. If I think it fits the topic, that's my opinion. There is no reason for anyone to get defensive, unless God does exist and he has a JoBlo account.

I haven't seen "Passion of the Christ", but does it really fit the topic?

a group of people worship a deity ... that can solve all their problems, someone they can count on no matter what the problem ... only to find out later that this “god” they trusted their lives and devotion to is nothing deserving of any worship.

It would seem that "Passion" is the opposite of that.

[spacemonkey]

I haven't seen "Passion of the Christ", but does it really fit the topic?


The reason why films like The Passion of the Christ (or any other christian film where god appears as real) dont fit on this thread is because what Im asking for on this thread is films where a God is unmasked and proven to be mortal and not an all powerfull all knowing being.

In films like The Ten Commandments and THe Passion of the Christ, this does not happen. God is real in those movies, and he is not unmasked and proven to be a fake. Those movies show "God" to be real, what I want is movies where False gods who take advantage of people are proven to be fake.

Movies dealing with Jesus or God dont normally do that. More often the not, the christian god is brought to life in films, made real through the power of film.

Are there films where it is shown that God is a lie or that Jesus never existed? Even the "controversial" Davinci Code was kind of afraid to go all the way with this subject matter, they always covered their bases on that movie making sure they didnt get too blasphemous.

[spacemonkey]

Life Of Brian :)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/18/Lifeofbrianfilmposter.jpg/200px-Lifeofbrianfilmposter.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Chapman_as_Brian.jpg

Great example! People start to worship Brian like his the next Jesus Christ, to the point where they follow him around everywhere he goes, quoting his every word...until he himself has to let them know that his just a regular guy just like you and me. "You got to figure it out for yourselves!"

[bigred760]

http://blog.kedarsule.com/wp-content/uploads/timemachine.jpg

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I think this fits.

[QUENTIN]

In all fairness, while my initial post does fulfill the thread title in my view, it was both meant to be tongue-in-cheek and was not a "let's spit on/bash the Christians" joke. Rather, I'm an equal opportunity offender who made light of Islam, Nation of Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism as well.

From that initial list Malcolm X actually is a prime example of what the OP is asking for, as its hero is converted by and devotes his life to preaching the gospel of Prophet Elijah Muhammad before discovering he's a fraud and being killed for publicizing his discovery.

The Holy Mountain is another interesting, more convoluted example of what you're talking about.

[spacemonkey]

Havent seen that one in a while....need to give it a rewatch!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/gods3.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/gods1-1.jpg

Nix from Lord of Illusions - On this one a group of people worship a man called Nix. A man who has mastered the black arts, he promises them a release, paradise, and only ends up using them for his own personal interests. All his followers die...until Swann, a former follower of his confronts him and defies him, only to die at Nix's powerful hands. In comes Scott Bakula playing detective Harry D'Amour who ultimately ends up destroying Nixx. Nixx was just hungry for that "ultimate knowledge" so he gathered a group of neanderthals to do his bidding to help him get it, and in the way, worship him as a god, which he wasnt.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/Gods.jpg

[spacemonkey]

From that initial list Malcolm X actually is a prime example of what the OP is asking for, as its hero is converted by and devotes his life to preaching the gospel of Prophet Elijah Muhammad before discovering he's a fraud and being killed for publicizing his discovery.

Saw Malcom X ages ago, but sounds like I need to be checking it out again very very soon!


The Holy Mountain is another interesting, more convoluted example of what you're talking about.

*****Mild Spoiler Warning***************

Defenetly, specially in its last memorable moments when the Alchemists says "zoom back!" Fucking awesome! The overall message being, everything is an illusion, nothing is what you think it is...its all part of the show.

[FilmJunkie1114]

I haven't seen the film version yet, but if it follows the book closely, Choke technically has one.

[dennisv]

This might be silly, but does the Emperor in Star Wars count as a False "God", you think?

[KyleG]

alien 3 - more so in the directors cut

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

Leviathan in Hellbound:Hellraiser 2.

Frog-God from Drawn Together. :D

[LordSimen]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Theroadtoeldorado.jpg

First movie that came to my head actually.

[Badbird]

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MG/204893~Split-Second-Posters.jpg

Do false Devils count?

[JJFlamingo]

Spacemonkey, please put SPOILER tags on Holy Mountain THANK YOU!

[nestor17]

The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Ten Commandments
Jesus of Nazareth
The Passion of The Christ
The Nativity Story
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Diary of A Country Priest
The Message
Kingdom of Heaven
Kandahar
Paradise Now
Malcolm X
Yentl
Fiddler on The Roof
Water
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring

lol this man beat me too it

[Tony_Montana]

Oooooh shit... well there was that Simpsons episode where they all join a cult, until Homer unmasks the truth!

Does The Messenger about Joan of Arc count? She's not being worshiped but believes she's being guided by him because she's crazy (needless to say this offended a lot of French, but I'm of the opinion the film was crap and they wasted their time).

Apocalypse Now, Kurtz of course sets himself up as some kind of god/mystical figure. That's more because he's batshit insane than because he wants power, although the whole reveal that he's just a man doesn't happen to his worshipers.

Not a god, but in Dr No the man starts a rumor along with locals that a fire breathing dragon lives on his land to keep the people away. Which is of course just a tank.

[killuminati003]

In Waterworld, doesn't Deacon put himself up to be some sort of Prophet or Saint or Messiah or something to the smokers? Not a "false God" but a false religious figure none the less.

[spacemonkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/41/DragonslayerPoster.jpg/397px-DragonslayerPoster.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6d/Dragonslayervermithraxp.jpg

Vermithrax Pejorative from Dragonslayer - The Dragon in Dragonslayer is worshipped as a god. They sacrafice a virgin to it every year just to keep it happy so it wont burn down their village. A young sorcerers apprentice called Galen goes down to the beasts cave and confronts it yet fails. In comes his master (a sorcerer named Ulrich) and uses his own body to destroy the creature, the Dragon blows up in a giant ball of flame in the sky and dies. All those virgins lost to a "god" that was simply a hungry dragon. Such a waste.

[spacemonkey]

http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/MG/204893~Split-Second-Posters.jpg

Do false Devils count?

This movie is so freaking hard to find! Ive been trying to see it for the longest time. Ill have to dig harder I guess.

[God of War]

Is it me or do these two look alot alike? Balok from the original Star Trek and the dude that SpaceMonkey posted :)

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m280/Blackguard101/TheGreatAndPowerfulOz1.jpg

http://www.doggerel.com/donnah/bighead.jpg

[spacemonkey]

Interesting that both Malok from Star Trek and Oz where both puppets made to fool others, they were an illusion, nothing to be feared.

[spacemonkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1d/Baddreamsposter.jpg

Title: Bad Dreams (1988)

Director: Andrew Fleming

False God: Harris

Why was he worshipped? - He offered his followers unity through death. He says its the only way we will be truly together is when we die. Its why his cult was called "Unity".

How was he unmasked? - Well, in the film, he offers his followers peace through death and he kills himself and everyone of his followers (save for one, the films female protagonist Cynthia) by pooring gasoline all over them and starting a fire. Cynthia was the only survivor of that fire, and she still feels she is being followed by her ex spiritual leader 13 years after he was burned in the fire. Nightmarish visions come to her in her sleep (ala Freddy Krugger) and for some strange reason, her friends start to die. Who is killing them and why? Is it Cynthia in her cult crazy mind thats doing it? Is it the spirit of Harris that haunts her life? Or is it something else? Finally, Cynthia discovers that Harris was really a figment of her imagination, he only existed in her mind. As soon as she accepts this fact, he dissapears. The only thing she should have feared to begin with, was Harris when he was alive, he was the one responsible for poisoning her mind with his lies.

Review: This is an excellent film that really demonstrates how damaging and harmful cults can be. They exclude you from society, form their own society with their own (usually twisted) points of view and rules that most of the time lead to alienation, dementia and death. Harris -the religious leader in this movie- functions as a Freddy Krugger of sorts appearing to Cynthia as a boogeyman from her past who just wont let her be. Cynthia has to look within herself and face the demons of her past in order to continue with her life and restore normalcy. Problem is once youve been in a brainwashing cult, thats not an easy thing to do! Youve been programmed to think in a certain way, act a certain way and see things in a certain way. Richard Lynch as Harris is a pretty frightening character, the boogeyman who haunts you in your mind is usually far scarier, and thats the type of character Harris is. Movie works for most of the time, but ends up having a weak ending unfortunately.

[JJFlamingo]

Have you seen the alternate ending of Bad Dreams on the DVD Monkey? Where it turns out...





SPOILER









Harris was real after all, and the "suicide drugs" were merely the catalyst for him to claim the other patients' souls one by one. Cynthia returns to Unity Fields and enters the dilapidated house, where Harris appears, along with her dead friends, and he hands her a knife and tells her she must take her own life to join them, as the others chant and encourage her. Instead, she slashes him up, and his wounds also appear on the other dead characters before she sets the house on fire and escapes, free from his influence once and for all...

[spacemonkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a1/The_Mist_poster.jpg

********Spoilers Ahead**************

http://media.movieweb.com/img/Z/P/R/PHL76SNLdUuZPR_m.jpg

Title: The Mist (2007)

Director: Frank Darabont

False God: Mrs. CArmody

Why was she worshipped? Well, the people of the town end up being trapped inside of the towns supermarket when the mist begins to engulf the whole town. In the supermarket a religious fanatic called Mrs. Carmody thinks the creatures in the mist are actually sent by god and this is the beginning of "the end of days" mentioned in the bible. She starts leading people in a strange religious cult that revolves around these creatures she thinks where sent by god. Suddenly, everyone in the supermarket worships Carmody and every thing she says is taken to be true, she proclaims herself a prophet chosen by god himself.


How was she unmasked? She says the creatures are a result of the biblical "end of days" when in fact the creatures are here as a result of scientist experimenting with interdimensional doorways on a nearby military base. Nothing holy about that. She also states that the creatures are a punishment from God. She gets shot in the head by one of the townsfolk for trying to sacrafice a child to "god".

Review: This movie speaks a lot about the dangers of religious fanatism and cults. Mrs. Carmody is a character that misleads the scared people of the town into a state of hysteria. She leads them to believe they need to sacrafice a child in order to satisfy god, which of course is utter lunacy! Its not god who is in the mist, its creatures from another dimension. Mrs Carmody's fanatic mind leads her to believe that anything that happens in her life is related to her god, when in reality this was not the case. This movie shows how the fanatical/religious mind will associate whatever experiences happen to them to their mythology instead of reality. The movie also speaks about politics, the confusion that exists in the general population about whats really going on in the world, how ignorance affects judgment and how theres many people living in denial of whats really going on. A deep movie, with many meanings and symbolisms. Highly recommended.

[spacemonkey]

Harris was real after all, and the "suicide drugs" were merely the catalyst for him to claim the other patients' souls one by one. Cynthia returns to Unity Fields and enters the dilapidated house, where Harris appears, along with her dead friends, and he hands her a knife and tells her she must take her own life to join them, as the others chant and encourage her. Instead, she slashes him up, and his wounds also appear on the other dead characters before she sets the house on fire and escapes, free from his influence once and for all...

Actually, I did see that ending cause I have that movie in my collection (its one of my favorites thematically speaking). But Im no so sure you got the ending correctly because it doesnt show Harris as being real, its essentially another mind battle. She goes back to unity fields, the house if you remember correctly is burned to a crisp (cause it had burned down along with Harris 13 years ago) but the burned abandoned house serves as a catalist for Cynthias memories, and suddenly she finds herself in front of Harris and his worshippers, he tells her she has to kill herself so she can be together with them (thats what Harris used to teach his followers when he was alive) and has one final mental battle with Harris, but since she has left him behind, she doesnt kill her self with the knife he offers her, she instead "kills" Harris (symbolically speaking of course, he's been dead for 13 years) with the knife by slashing him repeatedly. Of course this is something thats just going on in her mind.

After the mental battle she has with Harris's memory, she gets back on the car and tells her shrink shes going to be alright cause she finally faced her past, destroyed her fear (Harris) and continued on with her life.

[gazzi]

i thought it was the doctor there testing drugs on the patients. didnt the movie end on a roof top with the women about to jump off cause the doctor was telling her to (she thought he was the ghost of the cult leader)? then her male friend talked her out of it and teh doctor pulls a gun out? or is that a different movie?

[otter]

http://www.gregfelton.com/movies/2007_04_12_Xerxes.gif

[The Postmaster General]

SPOILERS FOR THE MIST



Why were they worshipped? Well, the people of the town end up being trapped inside of the towns supermarket when the mist begins to engulf the whole town. In the supermarket a religious fanatic called Mrs. Carmody thinks the creatures in the mist are actually sent by god and this is the beginning of "the end of days" mentioned in the bible. She starts leading people in a strange religious cult that revolves around these creatures she thinks where sent by god.

How where they unmasked? Well, they are easily killed. They are just as easy to kill as human beings. The United States Army takes matters into its own hands and starts to systematically wipe them out.

Review: This movie speaks a lot about the dangers of religious fanatism and cults. Mrs. Carmody is a character that misleads the scared people of the town into a state of hysteria. She leads them to believe they need to sacrafice a child in order to satisfy god, which of course is utter lunacy! Its not god who is in the mist, its creatures from another dimension. Mrs Carmody's fanatic mind leads her to believe that anything that happens in her life is related to her god, when in reality this was not the case. This movie shows how the fanatical/religious mind will associate whatever experiences happen to them to their mythology instead of reality. The movie also speaks about politics, the confusion that exists in the general population about whats really going on in the world, how ignorance affects judgment and how theres many people living in denial of whats really going on. A deep movie, with many meanings and symbolisms. Highly recommended.



I don't know man. First off, they weren't creatures from another dimension, they were man made. Secondly, everyone who followed the lead of that religious fanatic lived and everyone who didn't got killed. She said it would be pride that destroyed men, and creating the monsters was done with the pride she warned against, as was the exodus from the supermarket. Both things that resulted in the chaos. I'm not sure how you can get to the end of The Mist and say that the crazy religious lady had it less figured out than the guy who blew his son's head off after thinking about it for about 5 seconds. Sure she was a total lunatic, but it was still the belief in "her God" that prevented her from looking like the punchline in an episode of Punk'd.

[spacemonkey]

i thought it was the doctor there testing drugs on the patients. didnt the movie end on a roof top with the women about to jump off cause the doctor was telling her to (she thought he was the ghost of the cult leader)? then her male friend talked her out of it and teh doctor pulls a gun out? or is that a different movie?

The original ending had the evil doctor testing out the drugs on the patients. The drugs made Cynthia (and the rest of the patients) think she was seeing Harris all over the place, in reality she wasnt it was all in her mind.

The alternate ending had her going back to the burned house, facing the memories of her past, and defeating them by slicing Harris up with the knife that he gives her to kill herself with. Its all a "mind battle" where she has to get rid of all of his teachings, of fearing him, of leaving him completely out of her mind, thats why after this she just calmly walks up to her shrink, gets on the car, puts on the seatbelt and sasy "Im gonna be alright".

[spacemonkey]

http://www.gregfelton.com/movies/2007_04_12_Xerxes.gif

Wow, I dont know how I let that one slip by me! The "almighty" Xerxes.

[spacemonkey]

SPOILERS FOR THE MIST I don't know man. First off, they weren't creatures from another dimension, they were man made.

Really? I thought the source of the fog and its inhabitants is never truly revealed. But if you see the movie closely, strong allusions are made to an inter-dimensional rift caused by something known second-hand to the townsfolk as "The Arrowhead Project," long rumored to be conducted at a nearby top-secret military facility.

So even though its never really explained where the creatures come from, allusions are made that they are the result of the military messing around with interdimensional rifts.



SPOILERS FOR THE MIST
Secondly, everyone who followed the lead of that religious fanatic lived and everyone who didn't got killed. She said it would be pride that destroyed men, and creating the monsters was done with the pride she warned against, as was the exodus from the supermarket. Both things that resulted in the chaos. I'm not sure how you can get to the end of The Mist and say that the crazy religious lady had it less figured out than the guy who blew his son's head off after thinking about it for about 5 seconds. Sure she was a total lunatic, but it was still the belief in "her God" that prevented her from looking like the punchline in an episode of Punk'd.

Its true, everyone that stayed in the supermarket survived. This doesnt mean Mrs. Carmody was right. She wanted to "sacrafice" the little kid for gods sake! Of course they had to get out of there! Mrs. Carmody and her followers wanted to sacrafice the kid! I wouldnt stick around with a bunch of religious zealots looking to kill my kid.

As for the ending, I think its obvious the message in the film is NOT to do what the protagonists did. They buckled under the preassure instead of sticking it out till the end, things can and will always change and we should never give up no matter how desperate the situation might become. The movie went to great lengths to show us this, because had they waited a couple of minutes....everything would have been alright.

So in conclusion the message of the movie is, get away from religious fanatism and stick it out no matter how grim the out look might look. Things might just start looking up for you if youre strong and dont give up.

[Leonidas.300]

In Conan, Thulsa Doom was meant to be a manipulative cult leader paralleling Donald DeFreeze of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The film has strong anti-marxist views. Followers of Thulsa are shown to lack freedom, individuality, and self-worth, infact they're shown as hypnotized. That parallels to people under communism having to obey the ideology of state with no freedom of democracy, e.g the Cuban people unable to vote.

I'm unsure of the reason why so many films address the matter of false gods, but the reason in Conan was to present a perceive failure with communism/marxism.

[Leonidas.300]

I haven't seen "Passion of the Christ", but does it really fit the topic?



It would seem that "Passion" is the opposite of that.

It does fit if he can prove Jesus is not God. Otherwise he's merely opposing the faith of Christianity, in a stand off where neither position can prove their belief.

Thulsa Doom, in the Conan film, was proven to be a false God.

I'm not sure if Xerxes is proven to be a false God. He's not one I believe in, but I'm not sure if 300 proves it. Not that the film was intent on depicting Xerxes as he actually was.

There are a few others mentioned on here which aren't really false Gods.

[The Postmaster General]

Really? I thought the source of the fog and its inhabitants is never truly revealed. But if you see the movie closely, strong allusions are made to an inter-dimensional rift caused by something known second-hand to the townsfolk as "The Arrowhead Project," long rumored to be conducted at a nearby top-secret military facility.

So even though its never really explained where the creatures come from, allusions are made that they are the result of the military messing around with interdimensional rifts.


I guess it was ambiguous, but my point was that it was man meddling with science that caused the creatures to be born. They didn't just appear. So, in effect, she makes a good argument that the doom was caused by man's pride.


Its true, everyone that stayed in the supermarket survived. This doesnt mean Mrs. Carmody was right. She wanted to "sacrafice" the little kid for gods sake! Of course they had to get out of there! Mrs. Carmody and her followers wanted to sacrafice the kid! I wouldnt stick around with a bunch of religious zealots looking to kill my kid.

As for the ending, I think its obvious the message in the film is NOT to do what the protagonists did. They buckled under the preassure instead of sticking it out till the end, things can and will always change and we should never give up no matter how desperate the situation might become. The movie went to great lengths to show us this, because had they waited a couple of minutes....everything would have been alright.

So in conclusion the message of the movie is, get away from religious fanatism and stick it out no matter how grim the out look might look. Things might just start looking up for you if youre strong and dont give up.

I don't think she was right, I just don't think the film made a definitive point condoning religion. You are making it out to be a parable, and I thought that while it made commentary on how society at large acts, it didn't teach any lessons. Not one single character in that movie ended up changed from when they were when they got introduced to us. I mean, the ones that lived.

If you are going to go that direction with the story, the final line is that the crazy religious fanatic and her followers most likely survived, while those who found her crazy were all killed because of their pride.

That's IF you are going to go with that Group A is right and Group B is wrong interpretation. I tend to look at the movie as just making commentary on what would happen if a bunch of stereotypes ended up in the middle of... well, whatever that was. I don't think King was condemning religion as much as pride. In no way do I see the story uncovering any false gods, because it was never made clear where the monsters came from, what they were, or anything... You are inferring that God had nothing to do with it, and that's an assumption - a really good one, but it's not on the same page as Zardoz.

All that being said, you keep saying "they wanted to sacrifice the kid!" --- Well, they didn't. It was the other people, the people who said those who wanted to sacrifice the kid... They were the one's who sacrificed the kid. As best as I can tell they put a bullet in the back of the kids head. They put a bullet in the kids head! I don't understand why you aren't factoring that into your analysis. If anything, I think the movie is about false pride, be it in God or man.

And it just so happens I recently came across this article entitled "False Pride as a Survival Skill"

http://www.livescience.com/health/070626_self_pride.html

[bigred760]

http://www.filmdope.com/Gallery/ActorsA/734-7175.gif

Not a god.

http://www.collider.com/uploads/imageGallery/Groundhog_Day/groundhog_day_movie_image_bill_murray.jpg

He is a god, he's not THE God.

[Elgyn]

I don't see why The Passion of the Christ shouldn't be included. Joke or not, it's a valid example. If I think it fits the topic, that's my opinion. There is no reason for anyone to get defensive, unless God does exist and he has a JoBlo account.


You know.....in all seriousness, you could look at "The Passion..." in a totally non-religious way and view it as a depiction of the execution of a political prisoner. Just sayin`.

[spacemonkey]

In Conan, Thulsa Doom was meant to be a manipulative cult leader paralleling Donald DeFreeze of the Symbionese Liberation Army. The film has strong anti-marxist views. Followers of Thulsa are shown to lack freedom, individuality, and self-worth, infact they're shown as hypnotized. That parallels to people under communism having to obey the ideology of state with no freedom of democracy, e.g the Cuban people unable to vote.

I guess you could see it that way too. But you could also defenetly see it as a criticism to dangerous mind controlling religious cults like Jonestown, David Korech or Charles Manson. Where the religious leader (much like Thulsa Doom) takes complete control over his followers lives and they blindly and unquestionably give their lives over to their religious leader who is often times a mad man with delusions of grandreur, also known as megalomania.

But seeing as how religion and politics are extremely similar in nature, I can defenetly see how Conan The Barbarian can be viewed from both of those points of view.


I'm unsure of the reason why so many films address the matter of false gods

Probably because they are criticizing how often it has happened through out the history of the human race and sadly, it just keeps on happening.

[spacemonkey]

Heavy Spoilers Ahead!!! *********************************

I guess it was ambiguous, but my point was that it was man meddling with science that caused the creatures to be born. They didn't just appear. So, in effect, she makes a good argument that the doom was caused by man's pride.

It wasnt that ambiguous though, theres a scene where one of the military guys in the supermarket confesses to knowing about the experiments in the "Arrowhead Project", he says the military was trying to open windows to other dimensions and thats how the creatures got in. He says it was "those scientists" who did it. So it was men, medling with the interdimensional portals, It was not "the end of times" as Mrs. Carmody was leading everyone to believe.

My point is, it has nothing to do with "god" bringing forth the end of the world, it was just something cause by man himself. Mrs. Carmody gives the creatures a spiritual meaning in her speeches, in fact, theres a scene in which one of the flying creatures hovers in front of her and she starts talking to it as if it was some holy thing. Saying something like "I live only to serve you" or something to that effect. This happens a lot to religious fanatics, everything that happens in their lives immediately has some sort of spiritual meaning, as if it had something to do with god or the devil or some invisible forces making things happen in their lives, when in reality, its just things that could happen to anyone, be they religious or not.

In my point of view, all hell broke loose in that small town, but the religious fanatic got people riled up and confused, agitated, something they did not need at a time like that.

And lets not forget that it was her religious craziness which got that soldier killed. She threw all fault for the creatures on him, when in fact he was just a soldier who was doing his job, who wasnt even completely aware of what was really going on inside the military facilities, but Mrs. Carmody decided everything that was going on was his fault and as a result one of her followers visciously stabbed and killed the soldier in the stomach.


I don't think she was right, I just don't think the film made a definitive point condoning religion. You are making it out to be a parable, and I thought that while it made commentary on how society at large acts, it didn't teach any lessons.

I feel just a bit differently there then you Bubba because in my opinion I think its preatty obvious the movie completely and wholeheartedly criticizes religion. Theres many scenes that let you see this:

1- Mrs. Carmodys scene in the bathroom. Shes praying to god (or at least she thinks she is) when Amanda walks in and offers her help, telling her its alright to be scared and that if she ever needs her help shes there for her and Mrs. Carmody rejects another human beings help because god is the one who will help her. I think this is criticizing how religion can alienate people, make them rely too much on the idea that god has everything covered and they dont need any other humans help cause god will solve everything for them. I mean, here is a human offering her help and warmth and she gets coldly rejected by Mrs. Carmody.

2- The Killing of the soldier. He didnt really know what the "Arrowhead Project" was about, he simply worked in the military facility doing his job as a soldier of the US Army. But Mrs. Carmody makes her followers believe he is the one to blame for the whole thing. As a result one of her followers kills the soldier. This scene clearly criticizes blind religious fanatism. Whatever the religious leader tells his followers to do or believe, the will do or believe. In this sense it can be a very dangerous thing, specially if the religious leader is a nut like Mrs. Carmody.

3- When Mrs. Carmody suddenly decides that they need to sacrafice the boy. WTF? If you watch that scene carefully, Mrs. Carmody gets her followers riled up against the other group of people simply because they dont think like her. "They dont believe in God, we must sacrafice the boy" What the hell? Thomas Janes character Dave simply wants to have the freedom to leave and do something different then what Mrs. Carmody had in mind, but she wont allow it because "its gods will" to stay in the supermarket. He clearly tells her, that he has no problem with her wanting to stay, but he simply wants to leave, she doesnt let him. In this scene, the film is commenting on how many religions simply have no tolerance for other ways of thinking. And this is true of almost 99.9% of religions. They all believe to be the one thats right. They all think they have the one and only answer to the secrets of the universe, and those other guys from that other religion, or those other people who dont believe in anything are WRONG. Thats one of the worst things about religion, they have no tolerance for other ways of thinking, if you dont think like them, they might very well kill you for it. It has happened. And if they dont kill you, they will either shun you or simply think you are "crazy"

4- When Mrs. Carmody gets shot in the head. This scene is extremely similar to the ending scene in There Will Be Blood and I find it extremely interesting that two movies in these past two years have the same fate for the evil religious fanatic. This scene obviously says "fuck religious fanatics" more then any scene, same as There Will Be Blood. On that scene, Mrs. Carmody and her followers are visciously trying to kill Davids son, so of course David and the others have to retaliate, they have to take matters into their own hands because their lives are in danger. Mrs. CArmody and all her followers have knives in their hands are trying to "sacrafice" Davids son and kill him at which point Mrs. Carmody gets shot right in the head. Now this might have been an extreme move, but they were simply acting on self defense against the religious nutcase and her followers. This scene lets us see just how far an extremely religious person can go. They are willing to kill for their beliefs, and this has happened many times through out history. People get decapitated, their hearts get ripped out, their sons and daughters get sacraficed to their god, they die for their believes and are willing to kill others for them. Its the truth, this has happened in many religions...and is in great part why this movie criticizes it in such a way.


Not one single character in that movie ended up changed from when they were when they got introduced to us. I mean, the ones that lived.

Dont agree with you there Bubba. If you remember correctly, Mrs. Carmody converts many of the townsfolk into her religion in a matter of hours, simply because they were scared and Mrs. Carmody got them to think her way through her never ending speeches, which are compared to Fidel Castros speeches. Very convincing, repetitive and commanding. Almost like a political leader rather then a religious one. In those scenes, they are criticizing how fast a way of thinking can spread and how easily a person can be converted when they are going through hard times or are simply scared.


If you are going to go that direction with the story, the final line is that the crazy religious fanatic and her followers most likely survived, while those who found her crazy were all killed because of their pride.

Thing is Bubba, that this is the kind of movie that gets its protagonists to do what is wrong so you can see that its wrong and you dont do it. Its tragic in that sense. Of course David was wrong in killing his son and everyone in the car. But thats the point, to get us to understand that suicide shouldnt really be an option, cause no matter how bad things get (and they get preatty bad in the movie) the solution could be waiting for you just around the corner.


I don't think King was condemning religion as much as pride. In no way do I see the story uncovering any false gods, because it was never made clear where the monsters came from, what they were, or anything... You are inferring that God had nothing to do with it, and that's an assumption

Im not inferring that god had nothing to do with the creatures Bubba, and its not an assumption either, its clearly stated in the film that the creatures come from the scientist meddling with rifts to other dimensions. Mrs. Carmody says the creatures come as a part of "the end of times" which is of course false, if it was really the end of times, then why could the US Army destroy the creatures with flame throwers and tanks?

The biblical end of times is something that god starts, not something that man does with their science.


All that being said, you keep saying "they wanted to sacrifice the kid!" --- Well, they didn't. It was the other people, the people who said those who wanted to sacrifice the kid... They were the one's who sacrificed the kid. As best as I can tell they put a bullet in the back of the kids head. They put a bullet in the kids head! I don't understand why you aren't factoring that into your analysis.

I am factoring it into the analisys Bubba, like I stated before, this is the kind of movie that shows its protagonists solving problems in the wrong way, so you can see that its wrong.

I love how The Mist is also a symbol for confusion in the movie, all the confusion in the world. More then anything, I really think this movie is making a comment on the confusion out there. Be it religion or politics, the world is in a huge mist of confusion in these two areas, and all the problems in the world simply add to that confusion creating scared and angry people. Whats really going on out there, its never really clear to any of us. We have a vague idea of whats going on, but we really dont know, we feel confused and scared, and as a result we might often times make the wrong decisions. But for me, the ultimate message this movie has to give us is, survive, wait it out, the solution is right around the corner, and things just might get better if we dont give up. Though the movie gets to this point in a rather bleak way, it sticks in your head and the message gets through, if you can see through the mist.

[spacemonkey]

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p106/protosyke/sauron.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee221/grimdeath159_2007/a.jpg

Title: Lord of the Rings Trilogy

False God: Sauron

Why was he worshipped? Well, basically he is one of the most powerful beings in all of Middle Earth. The all watching, all powerful Sauron. If you ask me, people just followed and worshipped him because they feared him.

How does he fall? When Frodo (a measly, humble and seemingly harmless hobbit) destroys the ring by throwing it into the fires of Mordor, when the ring was destroyed so did "the all powerful" Sauron.

Review: The story of how the humble Hobbits end up possesing one of the most important articles in all of Middle Earth: The Ring of Power. This ring was meant to rule everyone in middle earth. But it was lost through the ages...until it came upon Frodos hands. He decides to destroy it in the fires of mount Mordor. With the destruction of the ring comes the destruction of Sauron, the evil god like being who is spreading his rule across Middle Earth.

[The Postmaster General]

Heavy Spoilers Ahead!!! *********************************


You know, you brought up some events in the film that I totally forgot about, but my interpretation is still the same. Maybe I can explain it better though, and figure out exactly where we aren't seeing eye to eye.



Heavy Spoilers Ahead!!! *********************************

It wasnt that ambiguous though, theres a scene where one of the military guys in the supermarket confesses to knowing about the experiments in the "Arrowhead Project", he says the military was trying to open windows to other dimensions and thats how the creatures got in. He says it was "those scientists" who did it. So it was men, medling with the interdimensional portals, It was not "the end of times" as Mrs. Carmody was leading everyone to believe.


See, I forgot the details of the soldier's confession. I don't see the difference though, because she was saying that it was man's pride that was causing God to punish everyone. All those people who wanted to kill the soldier and the kid already knew that the creatures were from another dimension. They knew what we the audience knew, so if it was a false god they already knew they were worshiping a false god.



My point is, it has nothing to do with "god" bringing forth the end of the world, it was just something cause by man himself. Mrs. Carmody gives the creatures a spiritual meaning in her speeches, in fact, theres a scene in which one of the flying creatures hovers in front of her and she starts talking to it as if it was some holy thing. Saying something like "I live only to serve you" or something to that effect. This happens a lot to religious fanatics, everything that happens in their lives immediately has some sort of spiritual meaning, as if it had something to do with god or the devil or some invisible forces making things happen in their lives, when in reality, its just things that could happen to anyone, be they religious or not.

This is still not revealing that there's just some guy behind a curtain making all of this happen. If you believe that God had nothing to do with it, Mrs. Carmody would believe that God created the creatures in another dimension and man's pride led to the tampering that caused the creatures to be unleashed, by God's Will. When she was talking to the creature like it was some holy thing, she was praying. The lady talked nonsense through the whole movie, and when she was getting attacked by a giant insect thing it was no different. I'm pretty sure what she was doing there was meant to be some thing where she's asking God for The Glow or something.


In my point of view, all hell broke loose in that small town, but the religious fanatic got people riled up and confused, agitated, something they did not need at a time like that.

The 4 adults in the truck at the end had things figured out, and were relatively cool. I mean, that is until they believed they had nothing to live for and blew their heads off after sacrificing the kid that they saved from the fanatics.

And lets not forget that it was her religious craziness which got that soldier killed. She threw all fault for the creatures on him, when in fact he was just a soldier who was doing his job, who wasnt even completely aware of what was really going on inside the military facilities, but Mrs. Carmody decided everything that was going on was his fault and as a result one of her followers visciously stabbed and killed the soldier in the stomach.

It was the other people's lack of faith (that they will survive) that got the kid killed. He was the most innocent person in the whole movie.


I feel just a bit differently there then you Bubba because in my opinion I think its preatty obvious the movie completely and wholeheartedly criticizes religion. Theres many scenes that let you see this:

1- Mrs. Carmodys scene in the bathroom. Shes praying to god (or at least she thinks she is) when Amanda walks in and offers her help, telling her its alright to be scared and that if she ever needs her help shes there for her and Mrs. Carmody rejects another human beings help because god is the one who will help her. I think this is criticizing how religion can alienate people, make them rely too much on the idea that god has everything covered and they dont need any other humans help cause god will solve everything for them. I mean, here is a human offering her help and warmth and she gets coldly rejected by Mrs. Carmody.

2- The Killing of the soldier. He didnt really know what the "Arrowhead Project" was about, he simply worked in the military facility doing his job as a soldier of the US Army. But Mrs. Carmody makes her followers believe he is the one to blame for the whole thing. As a result one of her followers kills the soldier. This scene clearly criticizes blind religious fanatism. Whatever the religious leader tells his followers to do or believe, the will do or believe. In this sense it can be a very dangerous thing, specially if the religious leader is a nut like Mrs. Carmody.

3- When Mrs. Carmody suddenly decides that they need to sacrafice the boy. WTF? If you watch that scene carefully, Mrs. Carmody gets her followers riled up against the other group of people simply because they dont think like her. "They dont believe in God, we must sacrafice the boy" What the hell? Thomas Janes character Dave simply wants to have the freedom to leave and do something different then what Mrs. Carmody had in mind, but she wont allow it because "its gods will" to stay in the supermarket. He clearly tells her, that he has no problem with her wanting to stay, but he simply wants to leave, she doesnt let him. In this scene, the film is commenting on how many religions simply have no tolerance for other ways of thinking. And this is true of almost 99.9% of religions. They all believe to be the one thats right. They all think they have the one and only answer to the secrets of the universe, and those other guys from that other religion, or those other people who dont believe in anything are WRONG. Thats one of the worst things about religion, they have no tolerance for other ways of thinking, if you dont think like them, they might very well kill you for it. It has happened. And if they dont kill you, they will either shun you or simply think you are "crazy"

4- When Mrs. Carmody gets shot in the head. This scene is extremely similar to the ending scene in There Will Be Blood and I find it extremely interesting that two movies in these past two years have the same fate for the evil religious fanatic. This scene obviously says "fuck religious fanatics" more then any scene, same as There Will Be Blood. On that scene, Mrs. Carmody and her followers are visciously trying to kill Davids son, so of course David and the others have to retaliate, they have to take matters into their own hands because their lives are in danger. Mrs. CArmody and all her followers have knives in their hands are trying to "sacrafice" Davids son and kill him at which point Mrs. Carmody gets shot right in the head. Now this might have been an extreme move, but they were simply acting on self defense against the religious nutcase and her followers. This scene lets us see just how far an extremely religious person can go. They are willing to kill for their beliefs, and this has happened many times through out history. People get decapitated, their hearts get ripped out, their sons and daughters get sacraficed to their god, they die for their believes and are willing to kill others for them. Its the truth, this has happened in many religions...and is in great part why this movie criticizes it in such a way.


It's not that I don't think the movie criticizes religion, I guess. I just don't think the final line is a condonation on religion. Even more so, I don't think there was any Zardoz or Wizard of Oz in this movie. I didn't think There Will Be Blood was an indictment of religion either. My take was that it was about how greed destroys people. Only the greedy were doomed in that movie. Plainview's boy was one of main characters who was shown as not being motivated by greed, and ended up in the best place. You can criticize something without condemning it.

Dont agree with you there Bubba. If you remember correctly, Mrs. Carmody converts many of the townsfolk into her religion in a matter of hours, simply because they were scared and Mrs. Carmody got them to think her way through her never ending speeches, which are compared to Fidel Castros speeches. Very convincing, repetitive and commanding. Almost like a political leader rather then a religious one. In those scenes, they are criticizing how fast a way of thinking can spread and how easily a person can be converted when they are going through hard times or are simply scared.

I mean no one learned a lesson, or became a more tolerant person. No one decided to finally write that novel they'd been talking about, or to see the country. I mean there was no change in characters, only what motivated them. Case in point, the dumb ass guy in overalls was still a dumbass after he converted, the only difference is that he did dumbass stuff following crazy lady's lead instead of smug guy's lead.


Thing is Bubba, that this is the kind of movie that gets its protagonists to do what is wrong so you can see that its wrong and you dont do it. Its tragic in that sense. Of course David was wrong in killing his son and everyone in the car. But thats the point, to get us to understand that suicide shouldnt really be an option, cause no matter how bad things get (and they get preatty bad in the movie) the solution could be waiting for you just around the corner.


I agree with that, but for me to be a false god moment, you have to have some sort of reveal that what was said to exist does not exist. I don't see The Mist having one of these. The reveal in this movie was that the military would soon be there and everything would be okay, not "There was no god!"

Im not inferring that god had nothing to do with the creatures Bubba, and its not an assumption either, its clearly stated in the film that the creatures come from the scientist meddling with rifts to other dimensions. Mrs. Carmody says the creatures come as a part of "the end of times" which is of course false, if it was really the end of times, then why could the US Army destroy the creatures with flame throwers and tanks?

The biblical end of times is something that god starts, not something that man does with their science.


Part of my reasoning here is the lady's concept of God would exist the same in this other dimension, and that just as she believes and convinces other's to believe, it is God's Will that their wrath in unleashed on our dimension as a punishment toward Man's Pride.

Nothing happened in the movie that would make her say, "Oh, my bad."

You are confusing a false prophecy with a false god. If anyone worshipped that nutjob as a god, then you would have a false god.


I am factoring it into the analisys Bubba, like I stated before, this is the kind of movie that shows its protagonists solving problems in the wrong way, so you can see that its wrong.

I love how The Mist is also a symbol for confusion in the movie, all the confusion in the world. More then anything, I really think this movie is making a comment on the confusion out there. Be it religion or politics, the world is in a huge mist of confusion in these two areas, and all the problems in the world simply add to that confusion creating scared and angry people. Whats really going on out there, its never really clear to any of us. We have a vague idea of whats going on, but we really dont know, we feel confused and scared, and as a result we might often times make the wrong decisions. But for me, the ultimate message this movie has to give us is, survive, wait it out, the solution is right around the corner, and things just might get better if we dont give up. Though the movie gets to this point in a rather bleak way, it sticks in your head and the message gets through, if you can see through the mist.

I think it touches on a lot of things, religion and politics being one of them. Sociology another. Race relations, gender roles, and effective parenting a few more specific ones.

Ultimately though, I see false prophecies, but no false gods. I do see where you are coming from, where that whacked out lady's thoughts on what her idea of god was doing, but I don't see where all of her followers would rule out their Concept of God - some might even think that because they killed the soldier and believed in his power that they were sparred, and he sent soldiers to rescue them, and that their leader was shot in the head for preaching a false word.

This just seems like such a far off examples from the movies you started off mentioning. It really infers a lot from assumptions about everyone's frame of mind at the end of the movie.

My take on the movie is that we as a society need to learn to come together as one before giant monsters attack. You should have faith, but not be a dick about it.

[spacemonkey]

***********Heavy Spoilers Ahead******************************

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a0/The_Village_movie.jpg/200px-The_Village_movie.jpg

Title: The Village

False "Gods": Those We Dont Speak Of

Why where they feared? Technically, they didnt worship the "creatures" in the forest, but they feared them like gods. You arent supposed to question their existense, theres a whole mystery sorrounding these creatures, no one has ever spoken to one, you arent supposed to try and encounter them, basically you live your life as quietly as possible without questioning the order of things, the "elders" tell you how to live your life, what you can or cannot do. The creatures were feared because they are supposed to be dangerous. Dead animals are found around the forest, and the villagers are lead to believe that it is "Those We Do Not Speak Of" that killed them.

How were they unmasked? It is later revealed that the creatures in the forest werent really any kind of creatures or monsters at all. They were simply "the elders" in the town who dressed up as the creatures and lied to the townspeople and lead them to believe that these creatures existed and were dangerous. The elders final purpose was to keep the townspeople away from the "evils" of the real world outside by trying to create their own "perfect" little society.

Review: For me this whole movie is a great analogy to how certain religions try to alienate people from the real world. In the movie, The Elders have created a society apart from the real world and lied to their villagers, they dont inform them that theres a real world out there, they make them believe that The Village in which the live in (which is a natural reserve forest hidden deep with trees and mountains, hidden away from the modern world outside) is all there is, and they shouldnt look further then that. Many religions take you, put certain restrictions upon you, "dont talk to these people" "only socialize with members of the church" "the world is evil" "theres demons out there" and all that and basically try and "protect" you from the "dangers" of the "evil" world out there. And the problem comes when somebody starts to question the creatures (a.k.a. Angels, Demons, God, Satan, or whatever deity you prefer) and tries to go outside of the "protective bubble" that the religion offers. They dont like it when you go against them as we can see in the film, the elders go out of their way to get you to stay in their "perfect" little world, even going as far as liying to everybody and making up these "dangerous creatures" that were not supposed to even question, because if you do, if you dig deeper, if you try and rationalize things, their dangerous creatures fall apart, and eventually you discover, non of it is real, its all a lie, youve been taken for a fool all this time.

[spacemonkey]

Heavy Spoilers Ahead!!! *********************************

See, I forgot the details of the soldier's confession. I don't see the difference though, because she was saying that it was man's pride that was causing God to punish everyone. All those people who wanted to kill the soldier and the kid already knew that the creatures were from another dimension. They knew what we the audience knew, so if it was a false god they already knew they were worshiping a false god.

Thing is that in the movie, Mrs. Carmodys followers knew that the creatures were because of the scientist meddling with the dimensional rifts, but they still believed this punishment came from God because of man dealing with things that only god should now. Mrs. Carmody mentions various things that are considered mysteries that "only god should know about" like splitting atoms, researching DNA strands and she even mentions abortion. So basically, she is saying that the creatures are really a punishment from god, which of course it isnt because if it was, men couldnt destroy them with their weapons.

This is still not revealing that there's just some guy behind a curtain making all of this happen.

I agree, but there is a scientific explenation to it all. The creatures are here because of man scientific curiosity, not because its "the end of days" as she first starts saying. Its weird because first off she starts saying that the creatures are here because its the end of days and then she switches her story around starts saying its because of man meddling in things that they shouldnt. So I guess what the filmakers want to show is how certain religious leaders will change their story around according to world events and according to what they perceive to be "the truth" not what actually is the truth.

The 4 adults in the truck at the end had things figured out, and were relatively cool. I mean, that is until they believed they had nothing to live for and blew their heads off after sacrificing the kid that they saved from the fanatics.

Well, yeah, the movie wants to make a point. Dont kill yourself!

It was the other people's lack of faith (that they will survive) that got the kid killed. He was the most innocent person in the whole movie.

Yeah, they simply got desperate. They didnt try and find another solution, they simply let dispear get the better part of them. Thing is, this happens in the real world, people dont see a way out (when in fact there is) and take their life away, when all they had to do was think a little harder, not let depression take hold. But the reality is that in life things can get quite grim, suicide is sometimes a solution that people consider. Good thing about the movie is its telling not to go that way.

It's not that I don't think the movie criticizes religion, I guess. I just don't think the final line is a condonation on religion. Even more so, I don't think there was any Zardoz or Wizard of Oz in this movie.

Well thing is, for me, its not so much about the movies final line, its the movie as a whole that speaks against religion. I mean, come on, its quite obvious the main "villain" in the movie (apart from the creatures) is really Mrs. Carmody and the confussion and fear she spreads all through out. She kind of throws wood at the fire in a way, which is not really what people need in a moment of despair.

You are right, The Mist is not like Zardoz or Wizard of Oz (with the great lie at the end being revealed) but it does so on a more concrete and direct manner. It doesnt even use that many symbolisms the way those other movies do, it is more direct with its message. Theres very few symbolisms on it, but by far the best symbolism is The Mist itself, symbolizing the clouded mind, the confusion as to whats really going on. Also, the creatures of different sizes, which is really whats most feared in the film represents the problems in our lives, some big some small, but they all cause frustration, desperation and fear. Its how we deal with them that matters.

Interesting thing with this movie (same as with There Will Be Blood) is that it speaks about many themes, religion being just one of them. Pride as you mention is defenetly a big theme, ignorance is another. Many of the characters in The Mist simply want to ignore whats really going on like Brent Norton (Davids neighbor) who simply doesnt want to believe theres really creatures from another dimension attacking them.

I didn't think There Will Be Blood was an indictment of religion either. My take was that it was about how greed destroys people. Only the greedy were doomed in that movie. Plainview's boy was one of main characters who was shown as not being motivated by greed, and ended up in the best place. You can criticize something without condemning it.

The religious guy in the movie Eli Sunday, he was a religious leader, but was he truly a man of "God"? Did he really care for his people? Nope. He wanted to be the one who got all the glory when they were going to inagurate the oil well, he wanted to be the one who gave the oil well to his people. He wanted Plainviews money. Thats all he cared about. And thats a major criticism on religion because thats what 99.9% of religions are about. Getting your money. In one way or another they will want to get it from you, be it by selling little books or magazines or simply by downright asking for it saying its "for god" or "for the church". Hell just the fact that the false religious leader got clobbered in the head and killed shows you how the filmakers feel about the subject matter. Funny how in the Mist same thing happens, the whacky religious leader gets shot in the head as if saying "fuck this evil that we have in society", in fact, Mrs. Carmody not only gets shot in the head, one character slaps her in the face, another old lady tells her to shut up. Its pretty obvious how the movie feels about that.

I mean no one learned a lesson, or became a more tolerant person. No one decided to finally write that novel they'd been talking about, or to see the country. I mean there was no change in characters, only what motivated them. Case in point, the dumb ass guy in overalls was still a dumbass after he converted, the only difference is that he did dumbass stuff following crazy lady's lead instead of smug guy's lead.

I think the characters in The Mist changed for the worst. Its the kind of movie that changes its characters in a negative way as if to say "dont do this". The dumbass in overalls is dumb for one reason, to show you how ignorant people are easily misled. Specially by somebody who can persuade them with the talk. That guy wasnt religious...but suddenly Mrs. CArmody starts talking and suddenly his screaming "hallelujah" at the top of his longs and clapping at everyword Carmody says.

I agree with that, but for me to be a false god moment, you have to have some sort of reveal that what was said to exist does not exist. I don't see The Mist having one of these. The reveal in this movie was that the military would soon be there and everything would be okay, not "There was no god!"

Well, for me the big reveal is that Mrs. Carmody is saying that its all "end of days" relating everything to the bible, when in reality its not. So for me the unmasking is really Mrs. Carmody, who says shes "gods word on earth" that she "proven herself to be gods vessel" when she was everything but. She was misleading people. Its all about science which you know is an interesting angle and one that exists in the real world as well: religion vs. science.

Part of my reasoning here is the lady's concept of God would exist the same in this other dimension, and that just as she believes and convinces other's to believe, it is God's Will that their wrath in unleashed on our dimension as a punishment toward Man's Pride.

Thats true, she applies her religious beliefs to whatever her life experience is. She might win big in the lottery and shell say it was god who gave her that money. That much is true. But ask yourself this question, why would mans curiosity, mans interest in science be considered something evil? Why is it pride for man to meddle with the time rifts? They are simply exploring the world they are living, why consider that to be an evil act? If there is a god, he gave you a brain, to use it, to analize, to question. He shouldnt feel it was evil for us to explore the world he put us in. I mean, if you explore the jungle and suddenly come upon a den of lions, and the lions attack and kill two of your friends, would you say that it was guys way of punishing you for exploring the forest? No way man, its just something that happened cause your walking amongst lions! You better watch out!

The real danger with the creatures coming out of the inter dimensional rifts is that we didnt know anything about them, it ignorance thats the real enemy. Same as if you walk into a lions cave cause you didnt know they were there.

Nothing happened in the movie that would make her say, "Oh, my bad."

If your talking about Mrs. Carmody, the soldier died because of her babbbling. And the kid was going to die to because of her babbling.

You are confusing a false prophecy with a false god. If anyone worshipped that nutjob as a god, then you would have a false god.

Many religious leaders are worshipped in our world. Their perishioners bending to their every whim, feeding them, giving them their money, their whole lives revolving around everything they say. In essence, they are worshipping, just not directly. Same with Mrs. Carmody, she says "kill the kid" they do it. Its just that the leader hides behind the idea of god to be worshipped.

I think it touches on a lot of things, religion and politics being one of them. Sociology another. Race relations, gender roles, and effective parenting a few more specific ones.

Agree with you there man, its one of the things I love about the movie.

I don't see where all of her followers would rule out their Concept of God - some might even think that because they killed the soldier and believed in his power that they were sparred, and he sent soldiers to rescue them, and that their leader was shot in the head for preaching a false word.

But they believed in everything she said. If she got shot in the head for preaching false prophecies, then everything she had lead them to believe in was a lie? The creatures were not punishment from god? It wasnt the end of days? Then their whole belief system would crumble cause they wouldnt know in who to trust, maybe they would even decide to stop following humans cause they are just that, humans. And we can all succumb to the desire for power and money and we can all make mistakes, be wrong, sin, or even misinterpret everything we read.

This just seems like such a far off examples from the movies you started off mentioning. It really infers a lot from assumptions about everyone's frame of mind at the end of the movie.

Its true, if your religious you might side with Mrs. Carmody, think she was right all along and that it was wrong for her to die or you will be offended by the film (like a coworker of mine who wont even go near it) and turn it off half way through. Or say that shes a nut case and not a good representation of what a good christian is.

If your not youll side with David and the rest of the people who left the supermarket and ventured into the mist, trying to discover the realities of life, only to find out its not so happy at all. Cause lets face it, once you cut ties with any religious faith, and try and find the real truth, your left with the reality which is far grimmer then any mythology that religion can offer you. The reality being that no one knows jack shit about anything, and that in the end, death is the end of it all and you will cease to exist. But who knows, for all I know is that I know nothing. And thats the truth.

My take on the movie is that we as a society need to learn to come together as one before giant monsters attack. You should have faith, but not be a dick about it.

Amen to that brother! :D

[Tony_Montana]

I watched The Man Who Would Be King with Sean Connery yesterday. Connery sets himself up as some kind of god-king amongst some remote Afghan tribes in the 19th century. Needless to say, this doesn't fare well for him at the end.

[spacemonkey]

Hey Tony, thanks for mentioning that one, Id never heard of it and sounds interesting, Ill have to add that one to my must watch list!

[Leonidas.300]

Ra's al Ghul

[The Postmaster General]

Thing is that in the movie, Mrs. Carmodys followers knew that the creatures were because of the scientist meddling with the dimensional rifts, but they still believed this punishment came from God because of man dealing with things that only god should now. Mrs. Carmody mentions various things that are considered mysteries that "only god should know about" like splitting atoms, researching DNA strands and she even mentions abortion. So basically, she is saying that the creatures are really a punishment from god, which of course it isnt because if it was, men couldnt destroy them with their weapons.

I agree, but there is a scientific explenation to it all. The creatures are here because of man scientific curiosity, not because its "the end of days" as she first starts saying. Its weird because first off she starts saying that the creatures are here because its the end of days and then she switches her story around starts saying its because of man meddling in things that they shouldnt. So I guess what the filmakers want to show is how certain religious leaders will change their story around according to world events and according to what they perceive to be "the truth" not what actually is the truth.


That's what I'm saying. She was false in her prophecies, but I don't think her followers changed the god the worship for her sake. They became confused about how that god wants them to live their life. I think the people who did things out of fear of God weren't like, "Oh, that god doesn't exist." they were probably like, "Damn bitch be crazy."



Well, yeah, the movie wants to make a point. Dont kill yourself!

Yeah, they simply got desperate. They didnt try and find another solution, they simply let dispear get the better part of them. Thing is, this happens in the real world, people dont see a way out (when in fact there is) and take their life away, when all they had to do was think a little harder, not let depression take hold. But the reality is that in life things can get quite grim, suicide is sometimes a solution that people consider. Good thing about the movie is its telling not to go that way.


Well, why are you interpreting all of these things about the religious group, but not the group that blew their head off? Why isn't your final line for Mrs. C, "Don't listen to women that tell you to kill people!"?

I think the movie states that religious fanaticism can drive people to make rash decisions, and also that a total loss of faith can do the same thing. It seems like you are weighing too much from just one side.


Well thing is, for me, its not so much about the movies final line, its the movie as a whole that speaks against religion. I mean, come on, its quite obvious the main "villain" in the movie (apart from the creatures) is really Mrs. Carmody and the confussion and fear she spreads all through out. She kind of throws wood at the fire in a way, which is not really what people need in a moment of despair.


I kind of feel like this is concluding that Ferris Bueller's Day Off or The Breakfast Club speaks against high school principals.

Mrs. C was crazy, no doubt. I hated the lady. She made me mad.

What you seem to be concluding though, is that she was the ONLY religious person in the whole movie. I don't even know if any of the people in the truck at the end believed in God. You don't either. They could have been just as religious as she was, but didn't go ape shit when it hit the fan and try killing everyone. I think this is one area where you and I are taking totally different vantage points. Just because anyone was against Mrs. C doesn't mean they were against religion.

You could take that breakdown of Mrs. C as solely representing religion and apply it to any of the other characters, which is what I was leading to in earlier responses. Wasn't the old lady in the truck at the end a teacher? Saying she was, you could say the movie was an indictment against the public school systems or something, because of her fate. You are just choosing to make everything about the religious aspect of the movie.

You are right, The Mist is not like Zardoz or Wizard of Oz (with the great lie at the end being revealed) but it does so on a more concrete and direct manner. It doesnt even use that many symbolisms the way those other movies do, it is more direct with its message. Theres very few symbolisms on it, but by far the best symbolism is The Mist itself, symbolizing the clouded mind, the confusion as to whats really going on. Also, the creatures of different sizes, which is really whats most feared in the film represents the problems in our lives, some big some small, but they all cause frustration, desperation and fear. Its how we deal with them that matters.

How can you say The Mist does it in a more concrete and direct manner? Zardoz, look it's a bunch of guys moving around a giant head! Oz, it's some guy hiding behind a curtain! The Mist, it's... exactly what we learned it was the exact same time as all of the characters. Zardoz and Oz are about as concrete and direct as you can get.

What you are doing with The Mist, is the same as saying Oz is about the midwest's conflict with progress. It's not wrong, but it's still an interpretation (one I agree with) but it's not concrete and direct, which is where I see it differently than revealing a false god.

Interesting thing with this movie (same as with There Will Be Blood) is that it speaks about many themes, religion being just one of them. Pride as you mention is defenetly a big theme, ignorance is another. Many of the characters in The Mist simply want to ignore whats really going on like Brent Norton (Davids neighbor) who simply doesnt want to believe theres really creatures from another dimension attacking them.

The religious guy in the movie Eli Sunday, he was a religious leader, but was he truly a man of "God"? Did he really care for his people? Nope. He wanted to be the one who got all the glory when they were going to inagurate the oil well, he wanted to be the one who gave the oil well to his people. He wanted Plainviews money. Thats all he cared about. And thats a major criticism on religion because thats what 99.9% of religions are about. Getting your money. In one way or another they will want to get it from you, be it by selling little books or magazines or simply by downright asking for it saying its "for god" or "for the church". Hell just the fact that the false religious leader got clobbered in the head and killed shows you how the filmakers feel about the subject matter. Funny how in the Mist same thing happens, the whacky religious leader gets shot in the head as if saying "fuck this evil that we have in society", in fact, Mrs. Carmody not only gets shot in the head, one character slaps her in the face, another old lady tells her to shut up. Its pretty obvious how the movie feels about that.


Eli didn't die because he was religious. He died because he was greedy - as he said he made bad investments and spoiled money on hookers or something. Then as a further acts of his greed, Eli tried chumming up with Plainview again, and ended up feeding the delusion that Plainview was all powerful.

I think you and I had this discussion before, and you disagreed, but I was always under the impression that Plainview's son, HW, had integrated into the church. He married that girl from the church, and was shown practicing along with everyone else. That didn't matter because he wasn't greedy. Just as it didn't matter for all the other religious folks in the movie who didn't end up bludgeoned to death.

Also, I don't see how it was exactly a happy ending for Plainview. He was alone in his mansion, with unjustifiable blood on his hands (compared to all the other blood he had on his hands through out the movie that wasn't done through pure maliciousness) and he may or may not be going to prison.

HW, on the other hand, instead of being greedy and trying to suck from Daniels' tit, like Eli was, saw the wickedness in his father and left to be his own man. He was married, running his own show, and didn't end up a murderer or being murder.

Eli used religion as a tool for his greed, and Daniel used business as his tool for greed. In the end, it was the greed that did them in, not religion or business. If I'm remembering correctly, you don't agree with me that HW was a amalgam of both things, minus the greed, and in turn a happier ending.


I think the characters in The Mist changed for the worst. Its the kind of movie that changes its characters in a negative way as if to say "dont do this". The dumbass in overalls is dumb for one reason, to show you how ignorant people are easily misled. Specially by somebody who can persuade them with the talk. That guy wasnt religious...but suddenly Mrs. CArmody starts talking and suddenly his screaming "hallelujah" at the top of his longs and clapping at everyword Carmody says.

Yeah, but that dumb guy was also the first to believe it was monsters attacking. Again, though, where do you get that he wasn't religious until Mrs. C? You seem to be equating religion to meaning you want to kill kids and feed soldiers to monsters.


Well, for me the big reveal is that Mrs. Carmody is saying that its all "end of days" relating everything to the bible, when in reality its not. So for me the unmasking is really Mrs. Carmody, who says shes "gods word on earth" that she "proven herself to be gods vessel" when she was everything but. She was misleading people. Its all about science which you know is an interesting angle and one that exists in the real world as well: religion vs. science.

That was a reveal? I mean, you believed that Mrs C. was right up until the end of the movie? That would have been a reveal. Otherwise, we saw things happening as they were happening, and nothing was unmasked or revealed by the end of the movie. That's where I see it differently than Zardoz, Oz, The Village, and pretty much every movie brought up here. The crazy lady was clearly crazy at the start of the movie, and clearly crazy up until her end. It wasn't like at the end, everyone is slapping their heads saying, "Oh, that crazy Mrs. C was crazy after all! There is no god!"


Thats true, she applies her religious beliefs to whatever her life experience is. She might win big in the lottery and shell say it was god who gave her that money. That much is true. But ask yourself this question, why would mans curiosity, mans interest in science be considered something evil? Why is it pride for man to meddle with the time rifts? They are simply exploring the world they are living, why consider that to be an evil act? If there is a god, he gave you a brain, to use it, to analize, to question. He shouldnt feel it was evil for us to explore the world he put us in. I mean, if you explore the jungle and suddenly come upon a den of lions, and the lions attack and kill two of your friends, would you say that it was guys way of punishing you for exploring the forest? No way man, its just something that happened cause your walking amongst lions! You better watch out!

This is like watching Silence of the Lambs and asking me why Hannibal likes human meat so much. I mean, these questions you are asking are better suited for Mrs. C, and not me, because I didn't agree with her reasoning. That doesn't mean the movie revealed a false god. Like I said, there's a difference between a false god and a false prophet and even more so, there's a difference between a rational religious person and a religious nutjob.


The real danger with the creatures coming out of the inter dimensional rifts is that we didnt know anything about them, it ignorance thats the real enemy. Same as if you walk into a lions cave cause you didnt know they were there.

Yeah, but just because you can take a lion down with a rifle doesn't prove anything to the people who say God made the lion. If a religious person says you shouldn't go in the cave because God will punish you for being prideful, thinking you won't get eaten, then you do get eaten, but another person goes in a shoots the lion --- that doesn't really prove anything about God.

If someone says, God made the lion and we need to throw a kid into the den to keep the lions happy, but someone decides not to, and the lion comes out and gets shot - that proves that you can deal with the lion, not that God doesn't exist.


If your talking about Mrs. Carmody, the soldier died because of her babbbling. And the kid was going to die to because of her babbling.

Let's get one thing straight. The soldier died because he was a cocksucker and had it coming to him.

I'm just joking. That just seemed funny to say.

Yes, the soldier died because of her babbling, and the kid was going to die because of her babbling. She was a crazy person with faith who was going to kill the kid.

The people who lost faith actually DID kill the kid though. I don't understand why you keep taking on a totally incongruous train of thought with this side of the story.

It was a condemnation against suicide? What? The kid didn't kill himself, he was murdered. He was murdered because people had no faith, no differently than the "what if" you keep mentioning about him being killed because people had faith.

If you are going to deduce that one event was happening due to faith, you have to stretch it across the board, and not just say, "Oh, well that one part that made faith look bad, THAT was a commentary on faith, but the reaction to it, the event that also led to bad things happening, well, that had nothing to do with loss of faith. It was commentary on suicide."

I mean, if them killing themselves and the kid was a commentary on suicide, then on that level, everything Mrs. C did was a commentary on trail by assembly.



Its true, if your religious you might side with Mrs. Carmody, think she was right all along and that it was wrong for her to die or you will be offended by the film (like a coworker of mine who wont even go near it) and turn it off half way through. Or say that shes a nut case and not a good representation of what a good christian is.

If your not youll side with David and the rest of the people who left the supermarket and ventured into the mist, trying to discover the realities of life, only to find out its not so happy at all. Cause lets face it, once you cut ties with any religious faith, and try and find the real truth, your left with the reality which is far grimmer then any mythology that religion can offer you. The reality being that no one knows jack shit about anything, and that in the end, death is the end of it all and you will cease to exist. But who knows, for all I know is that I know nothing. And thats the truth.



Yeah, but here's the thing... What's the difference between the people following Mrs. C and the people following David? Both sets were doing things because of survival, and both ended up not doing right. Both sacrificed someone's life because of their belief, and both ended up having their leader shown to be wrong.

I didn't really side with either side. Surely, Mrs. C was far more despicable, but in the end, I wouldn't want either person planning my salvation, whether it be from some crazy god or from the crazy monsters eating people.





I mean, it's hard to debate like this, because I agree with your take on things, and no doubt the movie criticizes many things. Like I keep asserting, though, I don't see this movie as something that reveals a false god. To me, there was no reveal, unless there was a moment where you consider Mrs. C might be the reasonable, person and, if anything, I think the movie did a fine job never showing her to be the least bit reasonable.

[spacemonkey]

Hey, Bubba, Ive never said the movie is about "God not existing" Im saying the film is criticizing religious fanatism. They are two different things for me. Believing in God is one thing, and following a crazy religion is another. I think you can have one without the other which is a point the movie makes constantly. Various character in the film mention they believe in god, but not in the way Mrs. Carmody does. Not so "old testament". I think you can believe in God without having religion.

The False god in the movie for me is Mrs. Carmody. Im not saying the creator of the universe is false, Im saying Mrs. C was. And she is proven to be false because her prophecies werent true. She attributes herself with supernatural abilities, she says shes got a direct line with the god and that his talking through her which is of course non sense as we have already said. Her followers kneel before her and hang on her every word as true, they completely give into her and her teachings which are misleading. So in that way, shes a false god to me. Im not attacking god or whatever force created the universe. But thats just my take on it man.

Im not only interpreting the religious side of things in the movie, if you check out my previous posts you can see that Ive also mentioned that what the "non believers" did was wrong and that the movie is trying to make a point about not giving up. Not only the religious folks are interpreted as being wrong or barbaric. The movie talks also about how barbaric humanity can be as a whole, how we are self destructive and that we as a race aint happy unless we are at each others throats. David the main character says he has no faith in humanity because if you take away all our comforts like electricity, cars, gasoline, food, we would turn savage and barbarian like. The movie criticizes humanity for not being as civilized as we think we are, we could turn barbaric at the turn of a switch. Which I happen to agree with, so Im not only making the religious fanatics look bad, everybody in this movie is wrong cause thats what the movie is trying to say, we as a race are fucked up and need to work on things, change things if we are going to survive.

I agree with you, not everyone who was against Carmody was anti religious, they just werent such assholes about their beliefs. They kept their beliefs and points of views to themselves, they werent shoving it down other peoples throats or making you feel bad for thinking differently. Various people in the film state they believe in God, but not in the way the crazy religious lady did. Its an interesting point the movie makes, coexistense, religious tolerance. Cause lets face it, when it comes right down to it, we gotta come up with our own conclusions about life and what its all about, cause nobody really knows. Its one of the reasons why I believe there are so many religions, everybody comes up with their own take about the origins of the universe and what happens after we die and all that.

I think The Mist was more direct because it has a religious character, shes made out to be crazy and evil, and they directly reference religion and its negative sides in the movie. In one scene a character says that humans love to fight each other and that this is the reason why "we invented religion and politics". Religion, cults and fanatism are not directly addressed in The Wizard of Oz. In fact, you can watch the Wizard of Oz and not know what its really about. Most people think its just a pretty movie about Dorothy wanting to go back home, when in fact its true meanings go far deeper. But on that movie its symbolic, while on The Mist they are constantly talking about religion and politics. Zardoz is far too trippy to understand what its about right from the get go, usually when you watch Zardoz for the first time the reaction will be "What the fuck did I just watch, and what the hell was that all about??" :D In this sense, its also not as direct as The Mist which is pretty clear with its themes.

There Will Be Blood is much like The Mist. Both sides are wrong. But through both characters many things are addressed. Eli and Plainview were both consumed by Greed, what made Eli's case different is that he hid behind his followers, religion and god to try and get the money he so coveted.
Um, about HW, I do think he did have a happier ending, I always have. He rejected his fathers greed and way of life and business, he went for love in his life, he went for doing things in an honest fashion, thats great and is one of the great points There Will Be Blood makes. In this sense, TWBB has a less darker ending then The Mist which is just completely depressing, save for the fact that David survives. TWBB at leas has HW finding true love and happiness.

The dumb guy in the Mist played by the great William Sadler didnt show any signs of being religious at the beginning of the movie. In fact, he was shown to be somewhat of an ignorant asshole. He certainly wasnt a religious fanatic. Somewhere around half way through the movie, when he gets really scared and also starts to listen to Mrs. Carmodys teachings, he suddenly is seen jumping up and down with the holy spirit and screaming hallelujah at the top of his lungs.

About Mrs. C not being a false god, I mean that in the sense that she gets worshipped blindly by her followers. Surely they are not worshipping god, they worship Carmody and everything she says. They kneel before her, and praise her every word as true. But thats just the way I see it, for me Carmody is the false god, cause Im pretty sure her followers werent worshipping god with what the things they did. They might have thought they were, but they really werent. It was Carmody they followed.

The people who lost faith actually DID kill the kid though. I don't understand why you keep taking on a totally incongruous train of thought with this side of the story.

I havent ignored that side of the story Bubba, Ive mentioned many times it was wrong and that the movie was making a point with the death of the people in the car.


It was a condemnation against suicide? What? The kid didn't kill himself, he was murdered. He was murdered because people had no faith, no differently than the "what if" you keep mentioning about him being killed because people had faith.

Yes, its against suicide. Though it was David who shot everyone, they agreed to him doing it, so it wasnt murder. They wanted to die. I guess its a form of assisted suicide. And had David had more bullets he would have shot himself, as you can see in the film, he puts the gun in his mouth and pulls the trigger repeatedly, but since he ran out of bullets, it didnt happen. So yes, the movie is commenting against suicide.

Except for the kid who was sleeping and unconscious. He was murder, but David killed him because he'd rather kill his kid then have one of those creatures dismember him. It was a mercy killing if you will. I think he shouldve given the kid his own choice about what he wanted to do with his life...but I also understand why he decided to do what he did. Think about it, if you knew for sure that you were going to die at the hands of some alien creature from another dimension, wich way would you rather go? Let the monster munch and slowly dismember you and tear you apart, or a clean shot through the head which is quick and easy?

I didn't really side with either side. Surely, Mrs. C was far more despicable, but in the end, I wouldn't want either person planning my salvation, whether it be from some crazy god or from the crazy monsters eating people.

I agree, you gotta figure things out for yourself, not let others make choices over what you are going to believe in or do with your life.

Hey Bubba, I think weve handled this conversation in a very civilized matter, its great we can discuss these matters without going ballistic about things, instead, I like the idea of being able to listen (or in this case read) what others have to say about a given subject with out getting all crazy. Its been a good discussion.

[The Postmaster General]

Right on, spacemonkey. I see where you are coming from in that Mrs. C misled everyone, but whereas in Oz or Zardoz, it's done for power, she is just plain crazy and really believes her nonsense. I guess that's just how I see it differently. To me, it's just a different affect than in those other movies, that's all.

I do look at the murder of David's kid as a sacrifice, not for a god, but more like they sacrificed their protection of the kid's life for the sake of not getting eaten alive. A different sort of sacrifice, but I'm really sure there was meant to be a parallel drawn there for the sake of creating a sort of irony.

[Jig Saw 123]

Even though the movie has yet to be released, you'll know the character if you've read the graphic novel.
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e143/Spiffmaster5000/1217335284766.jpg

[Kevin Lockard]

It does fit if he can prove Jesus is not God. Otherwise he's merely opposing the faith of Christianity, in a stand off where neither position can prove their belief.

Well, so long as he doesn't see the Christian Belief as being any different in form, origin, destiny, or actual truth than every other form of strange, once believable mysticism, then I'd say it fits.

[nhinz]

hello

[The Postmaster General]

spacemonkey -- what about... Bad Santa???

[spacemonkey]

Even though the movie has yet to be released, you'll know the character if you've read the graphic novel

http://media.movieweb.com/img/5/i/n/PHgf4jiktaN5in_m.jpg

Dr. Manhattan is defenetly god like, because his power is limitless and all, but he is not worshipped. He isnt proven to be false either, in fact, he remains all powerful after the story is over. So in reality, he isnt false at all, he is a true god. He can defenetly solve all of humanities problems if he chose too, he can do anything he wants! And in the story, he is real. Nobody can destroy him, and he can destroy anybody, so as far as Im concerned he isnt a false god in the story, he's the real deal. But he isnt worshipped so in that sense he isnt a God to anybody, his just a really powerful guy.

Though Im 100% sure that Alan Moores intentions where for Dr. Manhattan to represent God an all powerful being who could do so much for humanity, but for some reason chooses not too. He remains more of a watcher even though if he wanted to, he could fix things up or change them.

[Leonidas.300]

Well, so long as he doesn't see the Christian Belief as being any different in form, origin, destiny, or actual truth than every other form of strange, once believable mysticism, then I'd say it fits.

You're allowing your personal dislike for Christianity to cloud your judgement. A false God must be proven as such. Jesus and, or the Abrahamic God has not been proven false. It is therefore not a false deity. But neither has it been proven true, so its not a belief system we must believe in, or one where we must value the philosophy above any other.

[spacemonkey]

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/indianajones/images/thumb/d/d7/Temple1.jpg/250px-Temple1.jpg

Title: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

False God: Kahli

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s286/CrazyReed/2049b3adb0f184b9a91b5c4b2fbfcc74.gif

Why was it worshipped: The Thuggee cult led by religious leader Mola Ram worshipped her as the goddess of destruction, with human sacrifices, and sought to rule the world in her name, using a concoction called the Kali Ma to brainwash people to their cause.

Why is it a false God? Well, basically Kali does nothing in the film. Indy infiltrates the sacred Temple where Kali is worshipped. The titular "Temple of Doom". Once there, he stops a human sacrafice, frees the children who were being used as slaves. Kali is simply represented by a huge statue that looks like a giant zombie with human skulls all over it. Obviously, its a statue entirely man made. Nothing god like about it save for its size. "Kali" simply watches over all the events that occur in the film doing nothing. The only ones that do anything in this film are Kalis followers, the Thugee cult. In Kalis name, they rip hearts out and burn people alive! They are the true evil in the film, specially Mola Ram, their leader who instigates them to sacrafice humans to a freaking lifeless statue that does abso-fucking-lutely NOTHING for them.

[Elgyn]

hello

Hey how`s it going.

[spacemonkey]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/kong.jpg

Title: King Kong (2005)

False God: Kong

Why was he worshipped: Uh...cause he was big? And he growled really loud?

Why is he false? Well, basically, his just a giant ape. Not a God. His really big, really strong, and can defenetly wipe you out if he sneezed on ya. But his got the mental capacity of a five year old kid with learning disabilities. But the natives of Skull Island chose to worship him in spite of that. Guess they were just scared of it. And they figured if they fed it a young blonde american girl, that would calm him down a bit. And another little thing, Kong is not eternal, he dies. Gods arent supposed to die, they are supposed to be all powerful and live forever. Hell if I was a native of Skull Island I would have done a religion that worshiped the T-Rex, cause you know Dinasours are cooler. :)

[spacemonkey]

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/indianajones/images/thumb/d/d7/Temple1.jpg/250px-Temple1.jpg

Title: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

False God: Kahli

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s286/CrazyReed/2049b3adb0f184b9a91b5c4b2fbfcc74.gif

Why was it worshipped: The Thuggee cult led by religious leader Mola Ram worshipped her as the goddess of destruction, with human sacrifices, and sought to rule the world in her name, using a concoction called the Kali Ma to brainwash people to their cause.

Why is it a false God? Well, basically Kali does nothing in the film. Indy infiltrates the sacred Temple where Kali is worshipped. The titular "Temple of Doom". Once there, he stops a human sacrafice, frees the children who were being used as slaves. Kali is simply represented by a huge statue that looks like a giant zombie with human skulls all over it. Obviously, its a statue entirely man made. Nothing god like about it save for its size. "Kali" simply watches over all the events that occur in the film doing nothing. The only ones that do anything in this film are Kalis followers, the Thugee cult. In Kalis name, they rip hearts out and burn people alive! They are the true evil in the film, specially Mola Ram, their leader who instigates them to sacrafice humans to a freaking lifeless statue that does abso-fucking-lutely NOTHING for them.

Um theres something weird about this movie, on the one hand, Kali is not present or "alive" in the film, the "goddes of destruction" really does nothing in the film and is portrayed as lifeless, only his followers are shown to be alive and doing evil things. BUT there is a magical aspect to this movie.

Mola Ram opens up the chest of that poor dope they are about to sacrafice. And rips out his heart, and the guy continues to live even though his heart has just been ripped out! Thats some sort of magical supernatural power right there. Was it Kali who gave Mola Ram the power to do this? What about that magical black juice that Indy drinks and turns suddenly evil? What was that all about? Some magical potion to make people evil? What the hell is "the black blood of Kali"?

Also, the shankara stones are magical, they glow with a supernatural glow, and suddenly burst into fire some reason. Plus, the stones are supposed to bring Shivas (the good goddess) protection over the small town. Still, this movie does portray an evil cult and just how far they can go in their evil acts of faith.

[orgy316]

My avatar is THE TRUE god. ;)

[spacemonkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/d5/Kingdomofthecrystalskull.jpg/200px-Kingdomofthecrystalskull.jpg

**************Heavy Spoilers Ahead!!!*************************

Title: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

False God: The Aliens

Why were they worshipped: The Mayan Indians thought the aliens were gods because they came from heaven in a spaceship. Also they had a deeper understanding of the universe. So of course, they arent human, they come from heaven on a shinny glistening vehicle, and they are really smart, they gotta be gods right?

Why were they false? Well, they aint gods, they are aliens from another dimension yeah, but they are just beings from another planet. They arent all powerful because if you disconnect their skull from their bodies they become lifeless, until their skull is placed back on their necks. Gods dont need spaceship to travel the universe, cause like Capt. Kirk mentions in Start Trek V: The final Frontier: "what does god need with a starship?"

http://media.movieweb.com/img/y/B/z/PHxUqyyypzlyBz_m.jpg

Review: The thing with this movie is that thematically, it goes entirely against the rest of the Indy movies. In the first three Indy flicks, the divine is real. In Raiders of the Lost Ark, the sky opens up and gods divine power devours the nazis, angels are shown to be flying around when they open up the Ark of the Covenant. In Temple of Doom, The devine Shankara stones bring Shivas protection to the people of a small town in India. And in The Last Crusade, the holy grail is the cup from which Jesus Christ himself drank from in the last supper and it can give you eternal life and heal you if you drink from it.

But on Crystal Skull things are a bit different. What is thought to be devine is really not. The Mayans think the Skull is of devine origin belonging to a race of beings thought to be gods. But we soon learn once Indy enters the "kingdom of the crystal skull" that the skull really belonged to alien beings from outer space who came down to earth on their spaceship to help humans evolve with their knowledge of the universe and life.

I really find it interesting how the whole film speaks about religion. The Russians are after the Skull because it can control peoples mind, and once they control peoples minds they can make them think exactly they way they want them to (these are practically the exact words that come out of Spalko's mouth) same as a cult or religion can do. And lets face it, thats what most religions want to do with you, convert as many people as they can so they can all think the same way, and then they Got you.

Spalko can be seen as the religious leader who wants to control peoples minds. Spalko, just like some religious leaders out there, is after "the ultimate knowledge" She wants to know everything about life and the universe and what it all means. She wants to know it all. When the alien gives her that knowledge it ultimately ends up being a bit too much for her and she ends up blowing up into a million pieces and desintegrating. The ultimate message of the movie being, maybe you dont want to know the secrets of the universe, maybe your just supposed to enjoy your life, be happy and exist in the world, stop trying to look for the answer to everything cause maybe that knowledge is not something you want to find out. Maybe its too grimm and too dark and you wont stand it!

[spacemonkey]

My avatar is THE TRUE god. ;)

Yoda as JEsus...hilarious avatar!

[spacemonkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/fc/Masters_of_the_universe.jpg/200px-Masters_of_the_universe.jpg

Title: Masters of the Universe

False God: Skeletor

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b300/spacemonkey_fg/godskeletor.jpg

Why is he worshipped? Well, he invades Castle Greyskull and takes the thrown room with his soldiers. He awaits the moment in which the powers of the universe will be bestowed upon him, and consequently he awaits to become "Master of the Universe". Which he achieves of course, for a couple of minutes before He-Man kicks his ass all over chinatown. I mean, Eternia.

How is he unmasked? Well, he proclaims himself "More then man...more then life...I am A GOD!" and then the powers of the universe come upon him and transform him into a shinny golden god. He becomes "Master of the Universe", well, at least for a couple of minutes. Everyone stands in awe of his awesome power. Golden Lightning Bolts come out of his eyes and hands. Apparently he is incredibly powerful, but apparently not all powerful, because in comes He-Man and breaks Skeletors golden "god staff" returning Skeletor to his regular form. Skeletor no longer a god, battles He-Man in anger and falls down a pit, presumably to his death.

[cerealkiller182]

The Greatest Story Ever Told
The Ten Commandments
Jesus of Nazareth
The Passion of The Christ
The Nativity Story
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
Diary of A Country Priest
The Message
Kingdom of Heaven
Kandahar
Paradise Now
Malcolm X
Yentl
Fiddler on The Roof
Water
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and Spring

HaHa lol :D

SPOILER for The Nines


The Nines is kind of about a false god. Hes not THE god but he acts like it

[LordSimen]

I'm incredibly confused with this thread now. Is it about movies where THE GODS presented in the movie are revealed within the movie to be false, or is it about movies that happen to include gods and godlike figures and you personally believe they don't exist in real life and therefore are false?

Because those are two very different things.

[Tony_Montana]

The former.

[spacemonkey]

I'm incredibly confused with this thread now. Is it about movies where THE GODS presented in the movie are revealed within the movie to be false

Yeah you got it.


or is it about movies that happen to include gods and godlike figures and you personally believe they don't exist in real life and therefore are false?

Because those are two very different things.

Yeah, I know they are two different things, but this threads about people who fancy themselves to be gods, or proclaim themselves to be gods...but really end up not being so because they are somehow proven not to be. Be it that they are not as all powerful and all knowing as they lead everyone to believe...or because they simply arent, even though people choose to believe in them.

Like Kong who isnt a god...but the Skull Island people choose to worship him even though his just a big gorilla.

I know what confused you, it was the inclusion of Skeletor right? He was like Master of the Universe (god like defenetly) but only for a few minutes, so whats so all powerful about that? If a guy can take your god like powers just by breaking your staff, then your not really a god.

[LordSimen]

I know what confused you, it was the inclusion of Skeletor right? He was like Master of the Universe (god like defenetly) but only for a few minutes, so whats so all powerful about that? If a guy can take your god like powers just by breaking your staff, then your not really a god.

It was a couple movies actually. First, The Passion of the Christ (which was probably a joke anyway, but I'll include it none the less) because as far as the movie was concerned, within the movie it was perfectly clear that god and the devil were meant to exist. Temple of Doom because while the god himself is never shown, the magic behind the religion praising him seemed to be real enough (guy's heart gets ripped out and lives through the process?) so it is incredibly plausible that the god they worshiped could be as well. And yeah, Skeletor was the other one. Haha.

[spacemonkey]

It was a couple movies actually. First, The Passion of the Christ (which was probably a joke anyway, but I'll include it none the less) because as far as the movie was concerned, within the movie it was perfectly clear that god and the devil were meant to exist. Temple of Doom because while the god himself is never shown, the magic behind the religion praising him seemed to be real enough (guy's heart gets ripped out and lives through the process?) so it is incredibly plausible that the god they worshiped could be as well. And yeah, Skeletor was the other one. Haha.

Well, somebody else mentioned the Passion of the Christ, I didnt agree with the inclusion of that one in the list because in those movies, Jesus is portrayed as being real, so it doesnt fit the rhyme scheme.

Temple of Doom I retracted on, saw that post where I mentioned how I felt my own inclusion of it was wrong? But Crystal Skull on the other hand I think fits perfect on this list.

And finally Skeletor was a god, but not a real one, he only took the god like powers on loan from the universe for a couple of minutes.

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

Skeletor will always be God to me. :p

[spacemonkey]

His dialog on those scenes in the movie is awesome, I love that scene where he says "Everything comes to he who waits...and I have waited so long for this moment.." Good stuff, he defenetly had the right attitude to try and be a god.

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

Yoda as JEsus...hilarious avatar!

Thx! As co-creator of Yoda-Jesus, that means a lot to me.

(Orgy said one day that my signtature looked like it said Yoda-Jesus, and it just took off from there. :D Orgy made that particulair picture of Him though.)

[spacemonkey]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/2/25/Fantastic_Planet_2.jpg

Title: Fantastic Planet (1973)

Director: Rene Laloux

False Gods: The Draags

How are they prove to be false: Well, the giant aliens (called Draags) are gigantic in stature when compared the humanoid beings called Oms which are miniature sized and seen as little pets to the Draags. The Draags rule and are all powerful. They see us as minor distractions, like little pets that amuse them. Here the Draags can be compared to the gods of Greek Mythology, who play around with humans as if they were pieces on a board game. Problem comes when one of the Oms steals one of the knowledge machines from the Draags and begins to educate himself about the way things really are. He begins to educate other Oms. When they become educated, the Oms start forgetting about the Draags and living their own lives, creating their own societies, buildings, politics and communities. Soon, the Oms decide to go against the Draags, effectively killing them, thus realizing that the Draags werent as all powerful as they first appeared to be.

Mini-Review: What I loved about this movie was how knowledge and education is what frees the Oms from the Draags. The Oms steal a machine from the Draags, essentially, the machine is a gold ring tha the Draags put on their heads to learn stuff, like an encyclopedia. Whats extremely symbolic is that the Oms forget about the Draags upon education, they begin to live their own lives, construc their own societies and become free.

This movie is very symbolic and can be seen from both an anti-religions and anti-totalitarian point of view. Basically, anything that controls you can be symbolized by the Draags so its also anti-authoritarian. But the fact that the Draags are gigantic, and alien like and apparently know it all, is what leads me to belive that this film is really an anti religious film. In fact, the first appearance from the Draags is a giant hand that descends from the heavens, a reference to the divine. The Draags put a collar on the Oms, and whenever an Oms gets out of line, the collar activates and brings the Oms to the Draags by force, stopping the Oms from trying to get away. Same as certain ideas in religion can put a collar on you and not allow you to do certain things...but really as is the case with many of the films on this list, this movie can be seen as a film that criticizes any control system, be it political or religious.

Aside from that, the film has some really incredible visuals. I became a fan of it instantly the day I saw it. The Draags look so freaking spooky and scary with their blue skin and red eyes. Its one of the best animation movies ever made, and its story is an extremely interesting one! Goverments tried to stop this movie from being made! Its production started in Russia and had to finalize in France because goverments thought its message where being to subversive. But its amazing, amidst all the chaos, a truly beautiful and intelligent film emerged, one that is not only stimulating for the eyes, but for the mind and soul as well. Honestly, anyone out there who loves animation, likes surreal dreamlike films and enjoys feeling like they are on an acid trip while watching a film then by all means, check out Fantastic Planet!

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k161/IllMakeItOutAlive/fantasticplanet3.jpg

[orgy316]

Thx! As co-creator of Yoda-Jesus, that means a lot to me.

(Orgy said one day that my signtature looked like it said Yoda-Jesus, and it just took off from there. :D Orgy made that particulair picture of Him though.)

i worship yoda jesus!! haha

[Elgyn]

"Fantastic Planet" is such an awesome movie. Haven`t seen it in years though.

[Jig Saw 123]

http://media.movieweb.com/img/5/i/n/PHgf4jiktaN5in_m.jpg

Dr. Manhattan is defenetly god like, because his power is limitless and all, but he is not worshipped. He isnt proven to be false either, in fact, he remains all powerful after the story is over. So in reality, he isnt false at all, he is a true god. He can defenetly solve all of humanities problems if he chose too, he can do anything he wants! And in the story, he is real. Nobody can destroy him, and he can destroy anybody, so as far as Im concerned he isnt a false god in the story, he's the real deal. But he isnt worshipped so in that sense he isnt a God to anybody, his just a really powerful guy.

Though Im 100% sure that Alan Moores intentions where for Dr. Manhattan to represent God an all powerful being who could do so much for humanity, but for some reason chooses not too. He remains more of a watcher even though if he wanted to, he could fix things up or change them.

He was not a God though, his greatest and only weakness was his remaining connection with human emotions. He is worshiped in the way that he is needed for the basic improvements of the United States technological advances and teleportation. When he was being accused of being a cause of cancer to certain people he had personal relations with he gets backed into a corner and acts how a scared animal does, angry. So he isn't a God he's just a man with great power.

[spacemonkey]

"Fantastic Planet" is such an awesome movie. Haven`t seen it in years though.

Saw it for the first time this week, blew me away! Everything is amazing on that movie, the animation is top notch. True artistry at work, I mean, the images are so original, I can honestly say Id never seen anything like it. Its truly unique from a visual standpoint.

Thematically its a very heavy movie, I applaud it for what having the guts to adress the themes it addresses.

The music is excellent and sets such a spooky mood, which by the way I thought was awesome. How this movie manages to conjure up such a strange, hallucinogenic, dream like and sometimes horrifying atmosphere. Eerie, and spooky. Otherworldly is another word that pops to mind when I think about this movie.

A great movie watching experience, for those who like their animation with a little substance.

[spacemonkey]

He was not a God though, his greatest and only weakness was his remaining connection with human emotions.

Yeah, but he also wants to disconnect from humanity, get away from all the violence and judgement humanity throwing at him. He infact was not going to do anything about what was happening on earth. In fact, he went as far as asking his girlfriend for a reason why he should interfere with humanities impending nuclear meltdown.


He is worshiped in the way that he is needed for the basic improvements of the United States technological advances and teleportation.

He wasnt worshipped, he was being used by the goverment. He was living like a caged animal on that military based even though he had the power to do whatever the hell he wants (which he does eventually)


When he was being accused of being a cause of cancer to certain people he had personal relations with he gets backed into a corner and acts how a scared animal does, angry. So he isn't a God he's just a man with great power.

He is very much like a god, though in the end, he's just a guy with lots of power. But doesnt that power make him a god? Thats why I used the term "god-like", cause he was really a man at first, a scientist to be precise, but in essence, if you get right down to it, he has the powers of a god. He can do whatever pops into his noggin, I mean thats defenetly god like.

I do remember from the graphic novel that certain people couldnt deal with the fact that there was a being with so much power, some people died of a heart attack upon seeing a display of his powers on tv and all that, I wouldnt be surprised, if Dr. Manhattan had exposed himself more to the masses, that a religion would pop up with him as a god like figure, or Christ like figure.