What If Superman Bleeds (part 3)
What is amazing is the subtle messages of the enemy one can pick up in the most popular movies these days.
Biblical names and figure being tossed out and around like they are nothing more then mythological characters of no more significance then the pagan god’s of old. And to make matters worse characters of less then honorable Biblical reference are often given the most lofty or honored characterization, such as the prince of persia being correlated to a hero, a savior. Vice versa the more honored characters of the Bible the opposite treatment; the Angel Michael, Noah, being portrayed as overweight buffoon’s.
The devil or at least the powers of darkness, while at least Hollywood thus far very rarely lets them win, it does usually portray them as large, muscular, extremely beautiful, or looking like the classic representation of the devil; red eyes, sharp aggressive features, horns, hoofed feet, red eyes, fire, smoke, all the power he could want or need, charismatic, literally unbeatable, not to mention very real, with the overwhelming advantage.
God, on the other hand, as nothing more then some random lofty idea that is generally only something to be respected, soft spoken, confusing, interested only in His own ideas and agenda’s, yet unapproachable, unavailable, and most certainly not someone you can count on in a tight spot. Most certainly no mention of Jesus in any way, shape or form. Any solution to the pickle the whole world seems to have found itself in, is in the the hand of one or two indestructible stars that manage to either save the day by some genius discovery of the chink in the armor of the destructive force, or manages to survive by the skin of his teeth and save the entire world with seconds left on the clock. Not by anything solution or salvation God might present, but by man’s own hand. A couple people survive happy ever after, lets not talk about the tens of thousands dead.
Movie upon movie of every scenario that might take place soon; “Armageddon” God’s so called judgement is thwarted by a couple of normal oil drilling guys that save the world from a planet killing meteor with a nuclear bomb at the last second. “2012” the end of the world is predicted and avoided by a construction of a modern ark, everyones safe and happy. “War of the Worlds” being compared to the apocalypse or end of time, man wins! “I Am Legend” the last man alive works to find a cure to the plague that has killed everyone, and in the middle of the show is confronted with another person who exclaims that what is happened, the death of billions is God’s will to make the world a quieter place. Oh yah, he finds the cure, everybody happy. Played over and over in movie, video game, cartoon, until there is nothing we haven’t seen a thousand times.
The natural like the supernatural, take any wound and rub it over, and over and over, and you don’t even feel it any more. See something or hear something or taste something over and over again, and eventually it becomes so usual to the environment that it becomes part of said environment and we stop noticing it.
There has been a flood of super hero shows lately, all these powerful beings that can not be killed, god like, protectors of men, hero’s, saviors, and one thing they all have in common, when they come down to earth, become human, they become vulnerable, mortal, just like you and I, nothing special. They can bleed and be killed, and this killing represents a victory for the enemy never a self sacrifice or victory.
In “Ironman 2” during a fight to the death Ironman’s the hero, faces an evil villain that nearly destroys him and at one moment at the end of the fight the villain laughs and says; “If you can make the god bleed, they no longer need him, and they will hate him for it!” and laughs! I was shocked at the subtle suggestive image of word and picture.
In “Superman Returns” my favorite scene superman just comes back on the scene after a being away for years, and the first this he sees is a Pulitzer Prize given to his old girlfriend; “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman”, then he goes on to show everyone all these miraculous things, and why they might need him, just at a point of vulnerability he becomes human, which is coupled by weakness, foolishness, and possibly death. If you can get him to bleed, why do we need him? He is stabbed in the side and thrown to his death, just to be saved by man.
Hollywood would have us believe; “If you could make superman bleed, why do we need him, he is just a man, throw him away!”
By Peter Colla
“Dear Jesus let your people see the lies that Hollywood feeds them, open up their eyes to the subtle messages the enemy would have us believe, and grant us wisdom to discern the implication against Your Son hidden in this message.”