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July 22, 2008
Movie Watching Tip: The Death of God Image
At the beginning of most horror movies, when the evil first attacks, it is normal for it to kill a priest, destroy a church, or defile another religious symbol. What is the first thing blown up in Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds? A church. Where does Jim, from 28 Days Later, discover the zombies? A church - and the first person he sees in zombie form? A minister. Even Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit, the first victim of the beast is the town Reverend in the local, you guessed it, church.

This is what I call "the death of God" image. The point of this imagery is to show the evil transplanting itself in place of God who is now absent. This sets up the basis for the horror, because without God there can be no hope. The structure of the universe is transformed to be the same as hell itself, the prisoners have taken over control of the prison. This isolates the hero to fend for himself in a universe where the evil before him is the supreme power.


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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 12:00 PM




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1 Comments:

Anonymous Sammy B. said...

It's funny you mention Curse of the Were-Rabbit, because I thought that scene ambiguous enough it could be interpreted the opposite way. Note that before the were-rabbit attacks the vicar, we see the vicar misusing the instruments of his office: sprinkling holy water on his produce so that he can win a contest. And when he gets attacked, there's a cross within arm's reach on the table, but he instead tries to ward off the monster with a cross of his own creation -- two cucumbers. So it's not that God couldn't save him, it's that the vicar had abandoned God and God withdrew His protection.

And then at the end of the film, when Wallace dies, it's the Church (represented by Stinking Bishop cheese) that brings him back.

It's been a few years since I've seen the film, so I may be off.

July 23, 2008 at 11:54 AM  

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