I’ll admit, I have yet to see this new, highly debated movie. I’ve read review after review of it, though. All of them seem to be in one extreme or the other: love or hate.
The two following reviews are by Christians who express these opposing extremes of opinion. Click on the links if you’d like to read the entire review(s).
Austin Gunderson wrote a review of Noah for the Speculative Faith website (one of my favorite websites ever, by the way), in which he claims the movie is “the greatest work of Christian speculative cinema” he’s ever seen. Strong words! He nearly had me convinced to jump up and head to the theater … until I read another review….
This one is by Matt Walsh, radically outspoken conservative/Christian blogger, and he calls Noah a “ridiculous train wreck,” which is amongst the least of his strongly-opinionated views of the movie.
So what’s a Christian to do?
Have you seen the Noah movie? What’s your opinion?
Ashlee Willis, Author of Fantasy 
I haven’t seen it either Ashlee. I may not see it in the theaters and save my movie-going dollars for the likes of Maleficent, The Hobbit, and Divergent. However, as my oldest son mentioned, it would probably be great to see just for the cast. He’s a great fan of Anthony Hopkins in particular. Not to mention for the awing special effects.
I don’t think that seeing a movie like this would cause us to question the infallibility of the Bible. It asks powerful questions, not the usual questions that we might ask in Sunday school. It paints pictures, not the usual sort of whitewashed images we have seen of Noah. But for me, these would only serve to strengthen my faith as I grappled with why I believe in the way that I do. Even if this movie is not portraying the truth as we see it, I believe that even lies tell the truth in God’s reality.
Remember The Golden Compass? Phillip Pulman’s intention in that story is to destroy Christianity, but that is not what I saw at all. What I saw was an authentication of it. (Of course, this is largely because it is fantasy, the symbols of which can be interpreted differently depending on your worldview.)
Then there is the value of teaching, especially to our children. Sometimes children can learn from what is wrong about a story. When my kids were young, if they wanted to read a book I didn’t feel taught the most wholesome values, I wouldn’t necessarily forbid it. Sometimes we’d read it together. The discussions that came out of the lies packaged in those books produced some of the greatest leaps of faith in their young lives. An inaccurate story, told with the guidance of a godly parent, can make us think as deeply as a factual one.
I like what the poet William Stafford says on the subject: “If you live by truth, any thought belongs.”
Movies like The Last Temptation of Christ certainly aren’t for young children (and maybe the Noah movie isn’t either). These movies are probably more appropriate to discuss with my kids, who are 18 and 21. Christian parents’ decisions about books and movies have a lot of variables and certainly require godly discretion. Although I wouldn’t rule out seeing movies like Noah personally, I’m sure we both agree that our standard fare should be media that leaves no question in our childrens’ minds about the truth.
LikeLike