The story of Moses is told again, and I join the ‘Exodus’ of reviewers

/ December 15, 2014
(From syracusenewtimes.com)

(From syracusenewtimes.com)

Religion and the big screen.

Namely, Moses and his journey to deliver the chosen people to the Promised Land and his chats with God so he could chisel out The Ten Commandments, a time-tested theme on the big screen.

I went this weekend to watch Ridley Scott’s epic “Exodus: Gods and Kings” for this morning’s edition of my weekly Film Review blog on the Syracuse New Times site.

You can read my review by clicking the link below.

http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/exodus-gods-and-kings/

I must say, I squirm a bit about writing about religion in general, my faith in particular.

Of course, although I did not mention any of this in my review, it must have … may have .. did not at all play a role in what went through my mind as I watched the film and thought about how it affected me in the here and now as I crafted my review.

One of the above. All of the above. Here goes.

I was born Catholic, even attended Catholic school in kindergarten before moving away to the public schools of Long Island but remaining in the steady parade of what was called catechism classes. Every grade, once a week or so — sometimes more — I joined the other public school Catholic kids to visit the nuns or lay people at our local church’s school to make sure we got the lessons of our religion that we needed for the rites of Communion and Confirmation that were bestowed upon, I do believe second- and sixth-graders. I walked to church on Sundays with my grade school friends until we moved again, and the new church was so far from our house that my parents had to drive me there. In my brain, I remember either my mother or father dropping me off and driving off and then returning to pick me up. Both of my younger sisters also did the catechism trail through confirmation. They are eight and 10 years younger than me; for the life of me, I cannot conjure a single memory of all five of us sitting in one church pew together.

Organized Catholicism did not stick with me, petering out after I attended mass sometimes on Saturdays at dusk in the college student union lounge at SUNY Morrisville. Then, at the age of 30, my first wife and I were married in the Catholic Church because it was very important to her mother. And my daughter Elisabeth was baptised and received her communion. My still sporadic visits to Mass made me more sure. I believe in God. I believe in the Son of God. I have faith. I do not so much believe in fear and punishment as the method of furthering these beliefs.

So I decided to handle these beliefs, my faith, my own way. I don’t go to church. But I pray at home daily. And I try to act accordingly to my faith, though I sometimes fall short.

That’s as much as I want to write about religion. But I did review “Exodus: Gods and Kings” today on the Syracuse New Times site, so …

Go ahead and click the link a half-dozen paragraphs above and judge for yourself.

Do you feel comfortable sharing about your religious beliefs on your blog? Do you think it’s important to know a reviewer’s religious base when reading a review about a religious-themed movie? Have you seen any of the Moses-themed movies, and what do you think of them if you have?

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48 thoughts on “The story of Moses is told again, and I join the ‘Exodus’ of reviewers”

  1. When I was doing my clinical pastoral education during my training to become a deacon, I could always tell the lapsed Roman Catholics. I’d walk in, tell them my name, then have to stop while they told me about how long it had been since they were last in church. Don’t beat yourself up – organized religion has been making problems for itself almost from the beginning.

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  2. I came out of an atheist/agnostic upbringing and am actually a convert to Catholicism (after a long and winding road) so I kind of traced your steps walking backwards! I think, in a sense, nothing is more interesting than talking with people about what they believe most deeply, including atheists, but the dialogue can go South so quickly, and it’s so easy to say or take things the wrong way. So I pretty much give up on it, but also find that’s kind of sad. And kind of weird, in a sense. Why not talk about what’s most important? (Meant in a musing way, and directed at myself rather than anyone else.)

    Religious movies . . . Song of Bernadette made a big impression on me. Diary of a Country Priest (1951, French, English subtitles) was excellent, very faithful to the novel by Georges Bernanos. A tearjerker, by the way. These are old black and white movies. The biblical epics never did much for me.

    Often it’s the movies not specifically about religion that are often the most “religious.” Fellini’s La Dolce Vita apparently caused a big ruckus in its time for the content, but I thought it was a deeply religious movie. The first Dirty Harry movie had quite a lot of religious elements in it, in a kind of twisted up Flannery O’Connor type way.

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  4. Well sort of. I have gone to church all my life – mainly non-conformist baptist or evangelical. It is very much a part of who I am and i try to read the bible and pray each day. But my blog isn’t a place where i try to convert anyone. If I’m asked what I believe and why then I’ll give an honest answer but I don’t like blogs that exist to try to get at people. Happily for me the church I attend is full of friends and I am happy there. No guilt. No pressure.
    Thanks for the reveiew of the film – J wanted to see it – we will be having second thoughts now!

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  8. I don’t mind writing about faith. I see faith and religion as 2 different topics. I have faith. I was raised in the Catholic religion, attending Catholic school from preschool through high school. I identify my religion as Catholic. But I am not practicing. The religion that is.

    I don’t think someone’s religion needs to come in to play if they are critiquing a movie based on the skills put in to making the movie. And I wouldn’t ask for someone’s religious beliefs when it comes to it either. There may be some who share that information or have a reason for it influencing their take on a movie, that’s up to them.

    Besides, your reviews are pretty much the only ones that matter any way. 😉

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  9. My religious beliefs are quite similar to what you described above, Mark. I go to church perhaps twice a year. I would probably go more if I found one that I liked, but honestly, it would still probably not be every week. However, I usually do not like to see any religious movies because somehow to me it seems sacrilegious for Hollywood to make money on God, plus, they often put a spin on it (or at least I expect them to). I will see movies such as “Heaven is for Real” because that is about a man’s religious experience, and the actual man had a part in creating the movie, so I assume he helped keep it close to the truth. 🙂 Thanks for sharing your experiences! 😀

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  11. Nice to see I’m in good company here Mark. I guess I’ve never hidden the fact that I’m cradle Catholic, since I speak of my brother, the priest pretty often, as well as the fact that I was the music minister at my parish for many years. I’m still Catholic, which means encompassing all worlds, as far as that goes, but I am not a church going one. My bro is the priest, not I. Once a Catholic, always a Catholic, but not always a practicing Catholic. I believe, I pray in private or in a “natural” cathedral surrounded by trees and grass, but not in one that is man made, filled with symbols of wealth that men think will bring them closer to heaven. My heaven is achieved by my actions, helping other people, being kind to my neighbors, giving until it hurts, not sitting in a room surrounded by marble and gold symbols.

    Okay, I’m off the soap box. I still don’t go to movie theaters because of the noise level, but now I will know to skip renting this one. I loved the original “Ten Commandments” with Charlton Heston, and even now I will watch Ben Hur when I can find a copy of it, but Hollyweird seems to be going overboard when they do remakes. Most of the classics are best left alone, because some things just can’t be made better than they were in the beginning. Our kids are paying a high price because of what the people in Hollyweird are doing to the movies now, and we are turning out a lot of teenage assassins lately. time to step off that soap box now because I could go on and on all day and night about this one.

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  12. Appreciate your honesty and your willingness to ask others, Mark. I’d never mention religious beliefs on my blog as it’s a business thing. But I’d cop to being a fairly “religious” person in the sense that I was raised as a Lutheran and am doing the same thing with my kids. My husband and I met at Lutheran Campus Ministry in college so it’s pretty much who we are. Lutherans are a forgiving bunch–some synods more than others–but I prefer to think way outside that box even. Folks is folks. Hopefully we have Christ in our hearts but it would never be for me to judge who does and who does not. I walked those dark paths we’d mentioned five or so years back and I can honestly say that my faith in God never wavered. Have always believed that Jesus loves a sinner. What makes me nuts is judgy people and also mean Christians, who are usually mean because they are judging. Jesus is not mean. He loves all. And even if Christianity is a crutch (which I do not believe it is), it’s a way better crutch than some as it’s based on honesty and love, etc. My hardest part of living the life of a Christian is that I don’t always want to do the right thing so sometimes I just don’t. (talking minor things like drinking a few too many or not feeling the love, not murder or stealing) But I think there’s a Bible verse about wanting to do the right thing and not being able to do it (Paul?) so it’s an age-old problem. Nothing new under the sun.

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  13. You have spared me from another movie I had planned to see. Fortunately, my son was not as gung-ho as I was. I have a weak stomach for the grisly, so the fish and blood and (if any children are slaughtered) would put me over the edge. We will pass. As for religion, I did not grow up in an organized one. In fact, I didn’t know anyone who did. Austin was such a hippie anything-goes place to live that I yearned for a place where there was right and wrong and consequences. None of my friends would have known words like catechism or confirmation or how to use rosary beads. Still don’t.

    All of my father’s siblings went to Catholic school and immediately turned away from God, most of them forever, perhaps like you say, for the fear and punishment aspect. God is love. But the rules of organized religion are manmade, not from Jesus, and understandably leave a bad taste in people’s mouths. We are free to make our own choices, and I would not “not follow” a person with different beliefs, unless their religion was full of hatred or the blog focused on that belief. We spent two hours at a church worship concert last night, filled with welcoming people, there to celebrate each other’s service and sing and dance and rock out to the drums and electric guitar, and I thought, “Man, if this had been church in the 70s and 80s, a lot more of us would have come.”

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    • I think you are onto something very, very good in your church, Kerbey. Congratulations for your discovery as an adult of what you need in your life in your relationship with God and others who are celebrating God. Wow. Fantastic. Thanks for shining your worship light here, my friend. You are right about my childhood and the Catholic church and how any focus on darkness and fear came from man, not Jesus.

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  14. being born into an irish and italian family, i was raised a catholic, though i decided at age 7 ,that i would no longer be a catholic when i was allowed the choice. i’ve never looked back. i do find the music and rituals pretty, but can’t agree with the doctrine of catholicism or any organized faith, as of yet. the closest i’ve come is to embrace the teachings of buddhism, with it’s message of kindness and compassion, and i find my own way to practice this in everyday life. as for the film, after reading your review, i am comfortable with my earlier decision not to see it. and i do have my history of watching the classic, ‘ten commandments’ on easter, while working in the bar, playing cards and drinking mimosas with my co-workers. so –

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    • Your decision early on in life was wise for your years, Beth. Bravo for your early independence, and I cheer you for charting a course that you find comfortable as an adult. The Easter movie and mimosas, of course, are just brilliant.

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  15. You know Mark it’s a crap shoot….you’re damned if you do and your damned if you don’t! ! If we don’t get it out our thoughts fester inside. …until, well….we write about it and we just hope for the best. I’ve written about growing up Catholic and my views on it now …surprisingly the only ones I’ve received backlash from our my daughter’s.

    You write about what you want….your fans will stand behind you.

    I’m off to read your review….kinda interested in seeing the movie, but wanted to see if it’s worth it.

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  16. Yes, no, no. 🙂 For a very long time, I didn’t mention religion on my blog at all…not because of discomfort, but because it just didn’t come up. Then I got all irritated with some things I saw online and wrote a post about atheism, and I was comfy with it. 🙂 I think your way of partaking in your religion is interesting…it seems true and sincere in a way that church attendance sometimes lacks, if that makes sense at all. 🙂

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    • Thanks, Nerdy. I made it personal. Some people, of course, will greatly disagree with that form of relgion. And so it goes. I would never disagree about atheism, Judaism, Muslims … It’s all personal, and that’s fantastic.

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  17. Your background is shockingly similar to mine. Parochial school, then, public and catechism (aka CCD). Our attitudes are similar as well. Jeezuz. You walk around thinking you’re one in a million and it turns out you’re a dime a dozen. Sad, innit?

    20th Century is happier having this turkey to deal than the tsunami of emails from Sony. Are you following this story thread? It’s delicious fun. Shame on me for enjoying it so much.

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    • I think the “fallen Catholic” train has many of us hanging on to high straps and center poles in the aisles, Mark, believers who still want to sing the hymns but without wearing the church’s robes.

      Yes, I’m following the SONY pirates story. And yes, Captain Phillips did have it really bad on that ship. But the studio heads and such now …

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  18. Where to start? Well first of all, my son was interested in this movie, and not so much because he is interested in the Biblical story, which he is minimally, but because it is presented as an action adventure film. I will definitely discourage him from seeing this one after reading your review.

    As far as religious beliefs go, I don’t mind people talking about religion as a topic (educational, satire, political) but when they start talking about their religious beliefs I am not comfortable. If they are a blogger who I will read otherwise, I will put a like on their blog and politely move on.

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  19. Mark, what stands out in your post to me is the “dropped me off” statement. Yup, that’s exactly what my husband’s Catholic parents did with him too. Absolutely no memory of a shared family experience in Mass. I, on the other hand, was trotted into Mass each Sunday with my four siblings and my parents and pretty much “endured” the experience – that and catechism were not exactly fun. But as an adult, I see how much those experiences shaped me as an adult in many ways.

    Have you heard that MGM is planning a remake of Ben-Hur, by the way?

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  20. Unless it is for a religious publication, I don’t think the religion of the reviewer matters. They may bring it up in context to understanding or applying it to the film, but a bias for/against Christianity is no different (in my super humble opinion) than a bias for/against a director or actor.

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