I am Legend! I am Atheist! (spoilers)
Jan. 7th, 2008 02:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackOmega Man
I didn't realise until after, that the story I Am Legend was adapted from, was the same as Omega Man was. What's interesting, is that they seem different. Contrary to what people on message boards say, it seems like they're based on it in different ways, and differ somewhat, as opposed to most remakes which seem to be copied from the most recent film, exaggerating the most iconic aspects. (I may be wrong, it could be adapted from Omega Man.)
Religion
I didn't consider it before, but I might as well. Everything was near the end of the film, it wasn't mentioned in the first two hours. The references I recall in the film were:
* The woman says God got her to hear his radio message
* And to go to Virginia (or somewhere)
* Will Smith says God can't have, he can't have let most of the world's population be killed and still be guiding people.
I don't know what it was intended to say, if anything, but it worked for me, against my cultural background.
* Will Smith's observation seemed pretty cogent. As you know, I already disbelief God's intervention, partly for similar reasons, *before* a global apocalypse.
* On the other hand, if you take the bible literally, there *was* the flood.
* It was a little surprising to have the woman be so certain, and be right
* But it was uplifting that she *was*. Even secular stories have their own sorts of miracles, and they are good to experience.
But it seems some people think the film was actually saying:
* Will Smith tragically lost his faith when he couldn't cope with what happened
* But he was wrong because the woman had faith and it turned out all right.
I guess it could be. I think it depends what background you expect to come from. If you live in a culture of expecting God's active minute-to-minute physical intervention, and some people doubt, it sounds like it is in support of that.
On the other hand, it seems likely the woman's experience was less revelatory than she thought -- eg. she was prompted to listen to *another* message on the radio about the sanctuary.
In which case, nothing impossible happened. But she found a path laid for her, which she faithfully followed to salvation. In which case, the film just seems a stark reflection of a question in real life -- in real life bad things happen, and some people are spared, but not all.
Of course, another view is that Smith hallucinated the ending. That could support pretty much any view.
I didn't realise until after, that the story I Am Legend was adapted from, was the same as Omega Man was. What's interesting, is that they seem different. Contrary to what people on message boards say, it seems like they're based on it in different ways, and differ somewhat, as opposed to most remakes which seem to be copied from the most recent film, exaggerating the most iconic aspects. (I may be wrong, it could be adapted from Omega Man.)
Religion
I didn't consider it before, but I might as well. Everything was near the end of the film, it wasn't mentioned in the first two hours. The references I recall in the film were:
* The woman says God got her to hear his radio message
* And to go to Virginia (or somewhere)
* Will Smith says God can't have, he can't have let most of the world's population be killed and still be guiding people.
I don't know what it was intended to say, if anything, but it worked for me, against my cultural background.
* Will Smith's observation seemed pretty cogent. As you know, I already disbelief God's intervention, partly for similar reasons, *before* a global apocalypse.
* On the other hand, if you take the bible literally, there *was* the flood.
* It was a little surprising to have the woman be so certain, and be right
* But it was uplifting that she *was*. Even secular stories have their own sorts of miracles, and they are good to experience.
But it seems some people think the film was actually saying:
* Will Smith tragically lost his faith when he couldn't cope with what happened
* But he was wrong because the woman had faith and it turned out all right.
I guess it could be. I think it depends what background you expect to come from. If you live in a culture of expecting God's active minute-to-minute physical intervention, and some people doubt, it sounds like it is in support of that.
On the other hand, it seems likely the woman's experience was less revelatory than she thought -- eg. she was prompted to listen to *another* message on the radio about the sanctuary.
In which case, nothing impossible happened. But she found a path laid for her, which she faithfully followed to salvation. In which case, the film just seems a stark reflection of a question in real life -- in real life bad things happen, and some people are spared, but not all.
Of course, another view is that Smith hallucinated the ending. That could support pretty much any view.