Today I saw the controversial film “Noah.” As my friend said “We should take it with an amount of salt the size of Lot’s wife.” And we did.
The controversy in the film stems from our false assumption that Hollywood producers will actually read the Biblical account and craft the movie accordingly. Newsflash: They won’t. They will take every opportunity to sensationalize it with fantasy and blockbuster special effects regardless of the Genesis account. Consequentially enough Noah’s director, Darren Aronofsky, is an atheist. I, like many others, am still trying to figure out why an atheist would direct a Biblical movie.
I however was unprepared for the first few minutes of the film showing the “Watchers” commissioned by the creator to watch over Cain’s decendants. These Watchers are much like the giant Rock Eater in the Neverending Story, only thinner and more like Transformers.

If you can get past the Watchers, you’ll find the film has some good positive themes to it. For example, to the chagrin of Noah’s wife, snakes were invited onto the ark by the creator. Yes, even God feels snakes are worthy of salvation.
I was under the impression that Noah lived among the people. I had always been told in Bible class that those around Noah probably made fun of him for building such a large ark with no rain in sight. However the movie portrays Noah and his family as vegetarian nomads, avoiding the violent decendants of Cain. This brings to mind the great questions, if you and your family were the only righteous ones on earth, would you still stay faithful?
Another realization was the actual flood was terrible. While inside the ark, did Noah and his family hear the cries of the doomed outside of the ark, as it was portrayed in the film? This Biblical account is much more than just a cute decoration in a nursery and perhaps we should treat it as the disaster it is.
Overall “Noah” is not a DVD I’d purchase, however I’d choose to watch it again if it were on basic cable or if I was planning for a sermon on the subject matter.