A lot has already been said about the movie Noah, and much will continue to be debated on this piece of film. My feelings have gone from one end of the spectrum to the other and I have come to the conclusion that there are a few good things to be said about this polarizing movie. There are also plenty of reasons not to watch it, but we’ll start with the positive aspects.
First of all, the acting was great. Russell Crowe’s portrayal of Noah’s descent into madness and Jennifer Connelley’s portrayal as his faithful wife working to keep him sane in the midst of more than just a flood were believable and amazingly well played. The CGI and graphics were as good as any Transformers movie that’s out today; the film certainly didn’t lack any quality in this area. It was plain to see that millions of dollars were spent to make Noah and there was nothing second-rate about it. The story line was edge-of-your-seat exciting. God was evident in the movie even though he was called the “Creator” instead of God. I didn’t have a problem with this. He was portrayed as a God of wrath and justice and also as a God of grace for providing a way out for Noah and his family.
I generally love disaster movies and had I gone to the theater just to watch another movie about a world-ending event, I probably would have loved it. But I went for more than that. I went, hoping that just like back in the days of Ben-Hur and The Ten Commandments, Hollywood would get it right (and it’s been about that long since it has!) I came away disappointed and feeling a little deceived.
I don’t think we can discuss any of the negatives of Noah without first defining the term artistic license. According to Dictionary.com, artistic license is the freedom to create an artwork, musical work, or piece of writing based on the artist’s interpretation and mainly for effect; also called poetic license, creative license, etc... In the case of movie-making, artistic license falls into the hands of the script writer and, ultimately, the director and the producers.
I think in any movie that’s based on an actual text (whether it’s the Bible or a popular fiction novel), that some amount of artistic license is not only to be expected, it’s necessary. You can’t condense all 960 pages of Gone with the Wind into a 3 1/2 hour movie without using a little artistic license to fill in the blanks about what must be skipped for time’s sake while still holding true to the original spirit of the story. There’s just no way to fit every amazing detail of the book into the movie without the movie being ten hours long. And a ten-hour long movie isn’t cost-effective for movie theaters who shuffle thousands of people into and out of their venues every night as quickly as possible.
So, back to Noah. I must say that I didn’t go into the theatre with high expectations that every detail of the story would be portrayed accurately- we are talking about Hollywood, after all. I went knowing that there would need (yes, need) to be a lot of artistic license taken with a story that is only three chapters long in the Bible. Characters would need to be developed, plausible story lines created, and enough conflict built to sustain a two and a half hour movie. Honestly, I expected the timeline to be off- no one wants to watch a 500-year-old Russell Crowe build a boat (Can I get an amen, ladies? We want young, beautiful, strapping Russell Crowe, not an old, stooped, wrinkly Russell Crowe!)
But I did hope that the main points of the story would fall in line with scripture. Here are just a few of the items that bothered me enough to remember as I write this almost a week after seeing Noah:
- The movie made it seem as if the earth was being destroyed because humans weren’t being good caretakers of the world and respectful of its animal inhabitants, not because “the Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on earth, and that every inclination of the human heart was only evil all the time.” (Gen. 6:5)
- Noah’s sons should have been old enough to be married when they were on the ark (Gen. 6:18)
- The three son’s wives should have been with them on the ark (Gen. 6:18, 7:13)
- We aren’t told in scripture that Noah received any outside help building the boat, especially from the Nephilim, though they are mentioned in the story. (Gen. 6:13)
- In scripture, Noah and his family were on the ark for seven days before the rain started (Gen. 7:1-4)
- Rock Monsters. (Isn’t that all I need to say about that one?)
- There was no stowaway that was able to hack his way onto the ark.
- There is no indication in scripture that the animals were the “innocent ones” to be saved and that God intended for Noah and his family to die with the other humans.
- There was a definite nod to the evolution theory when Noah tells the creation story to his family while on the ark.
Honestly, I could go on and on, but it isn’t worth it. The movie isn’t Biblical. Artistic license could have been taken within the framework that the Scriptures give us, but it wasn’t. A whole new blueprint was created that was not necessary.
The thing I really want to discuss is the promotion of this movie. There was not one trailer before the movie came out that showed the use of the rock monster/nephilim people. Not one. They were carefully edited to appeal to a Christian audience by looking very Biblical. I believe that it was surmised by the writer/director/producers that this laughable detail would forewarn that the movie maybe, just a teeny bit, wasn’t too concerned with staying within the framework of scripture. I find that tactic deceptive.
All in all, I'm not surprised by Hollywood's portrayal of Noah. This is how the world will present the "truth..." skewed and distorted, but wrapped up in a pretty package (Thanks, Russell Crowe!) We must learn to decide for ourselves what we will believe. Granted, the story of Noah is pretty fantastical and can easily lend itself to embellishment, but I know a God who brings the fantastical to life... real life. To my life and your life. This is what I choose to believe, and what I know to be true.
As The Pastor said, if the movie was titled “Bob and His Boat” and wasn’t billed as an epic Biblical feature film, it may have been enjoyable on a fairy tale/Lord of the Rings level. Other wise words of advice from him: “Wait until it comes out on Redbox.” I agree. :)
