St. George's Antiochian Orthodox Church Forum

I am not sure how many of you have seen the movie with Will Smith 'I am legend,' we went with a group here in Sydney and found a real strong Christian message throughout the movie. There are little and great points in the movie that really shine.

For those who have watched it, did you notice any?

One of them and most obvious was that the character sacrificed himself to save the only humans left and secondly that his blood was the salvation of the human race... sound familiar?

Let me know your thoughts or any other movies in which you found God in the big screen.

I definitely noticed a lot more Christian vibes throughout it, compared to other Hollywood movies. I don't recall if Will Smith is Christian or not, but I'm pretty sure I recall he has/had some sort of faith.

I think people these days are looking for spirituality more and more, and this is manifested in the movies/TV shows/music/etc, so its no surprise there are is iconographical (sp) type things on the big screen.

Other movies I find culturally relevant spritually:
- Lord of the Rings is story about the journey of a group (12 disciples) helping a single person (jesus) rid the world of a great evil (sin/satan)
- The Matrix is about reality and peoples zombieness and fighting to 'free people' from their shackles. and then the sacrifice of one man (Neo) to rid the matrix of evil

I'm going to leave it at that, because I can't seem to recall all the other movies that inspire me this way.

Hi Deacon,

I watched the movie a while ago and those points never crossed my mind, but now that you have mentioned it I see where you are coming from.

Matrix is a well-known example (my high school chaplain used it a lot); Narnia is, of course, only thinly disguised Christianity.

I know this isn't the most popular opinion, but I'm going to venture it - perhaps part of the huge interest in Da Vinci Code was the popular perception that there is something big that isn't being supplied to the general populace in the places that they might expect?

One can find elements of Christianity in various areas - V for Vendetta and Stigmata did it for me.

Of course how can we also forget the service our soldiers are giving. During our Prayer services we always remember them when the Priest says 'For our armed forces everywhere, let us pray to the lord'. It's amazing every time you see a war movie how sacrifice is depicted. In Saving Private Ryan a dozen or so men lose there lives for the sake of one. In the early days of the church and indeed recently (in Russia) many people lost there lives by confessing their faith in Christ.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Movies can sometimes serve as a reminder for us to be thankful for what we have now.

WARNING- if you havent seen I am Legend or read Harry Potter and intend to... i spoil it.

There is no reason why we can't find Him in everything we watch... even Da Vinci Code. In fact it was by reading Da Vinci code that "broke the camel's back" and pushed me to find out more about Christ. I am blessed that i was born into Orthodoxy and that the answers were satisfying.

I am Legend had a few themes that i picked up and made me enjoy the film even more:
-A poster claiming that "God still loves us" despite the fact that the city was destroyed by somebody playing the role of god.
-The cross on the rear-view mirror. What is normally used to see behind suddenly comes straight to the front
-In one seen the character of Will Smith denies the existence of God. The main actress replies and tells him to listen and he can hear God. later in the act, WS returns and says "I'm listening"
-The family prayer in the chopper
-The sacrifice
-a few more depending on how deep you want to drill

Even popular novels these days have these themes intwined. A good example of this would be the Harry Potter novels. I've read all 7 and the ending of the last novel allows chlidren, young teenagers and even adults to comprehend Christ's sacrifice for us. It helps to make children comprehend- "Why would Jesus be allowed to live if he is going to die?" "How was he cleansing our sinds by dying?", "what was His actual sacrifice simply by dying?", "Why couldnt somebody else die for us?" and "Why did he have to die at all"...

While i wouldnt suggest these be used as primary text, it is a little easier to put into context, rather then asking a child to read the works of our church fathers.

while it is hard to truly comprehend God's intentions, this generation is a cluey one and wont take what their local/village priests word without evidence or a logical explanation. Instead of allowing secular movements to overcome them, we should encourage them to see Christ within it.

YIC, JD

All this talk about the big screen and they just finished playing Stigmata on Foxtel. What seemed like a good movie when I watched it 6 years ago, now feels like it's another attempt at planting the seed of doubt in peoples minds.

To use a quote from Ben Franklin: "Half the truth, is often a great lie"

Good or bad movie, one must always remember what you are watching is just a movie!