The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Elysium

Hello, All. Been a while.

Wondering about this new movie Elysium. Seems like a wonderful analog of the the “Orthodox” Christian view - we’re all up in heaven, while the wretched refuse are condemned to an earthly hell. Is it any wonder that the “Hero” in the story is an earthbound “sinner” trying to overthrow the injustice of this endless and irreconcilable division.

I always say that “The Truth oozes from every pore of the Universe”. So i dont know if the screenwriter is a Christian, or if there was even a purposeful analogy. But i’m looking forward to seeing the movie with my kids and using it as a tool to point out the blasphemy that we, who follow Christ, would happily and willingly live in perfection while anguish, death and endless heartache continued unabated through all eternity…

Peace!

Thanks for the heads-up. I look forward to seeing it too. Of course, few infernalists will see it as anything more than a sci-fi flick, and fewer still will draw the parallel between Elysium = Heaven and Earth = Hell.

Can heaven truly be heaven without all being reconciled?

Sounds interesting, may need to give this a look :slight_smile:

Nottirbd, have you checked out my Gospel According To Movies, etc. thread? May want to give it a look if you haven’t already.

Blessings :slight_smile:

Not for people who love wretched vessels of wrath like they themselves were…

Well, as a believer in the ultimate reconciliation of all people to God, I cannot draw that parallel! For those in Heaven (or a restored earth) will be trying to reach those in Hell, with the expectation that they will repent and be welcomed by God and His children—not making every effort to keep them out, as the film depicts those in Elysium as doing.

Interesting point, Nottirbd. There are a number of layers of irony to unpick here. You’ve got the most money-obsessed industry in the world’s richest country, which itself harbours some of the deepest and most egregious inequalities on the planet, making a product which appears to attack the idea of a ruling elite keeping the good things in life for themselves at the expense of the masses.

I agree there’s a definite analogue here for Christian orthodoxy. Although which is the more morally bankrupt, I wonder - keeping the masses in hell because they’re poor (as in Elysium); or because they believe the wrong thing (Arminianism); or because God hates them (Calvinism)?

Added to which you’ve got the moral bankruptcy of those who perpetuate these three iniquitous and unjust concepts …

Would be interested to hear what people think of the actual movie.

Cheers

Johnny

JP - People who do things very well (make good movies, or sausages, or cars) fairly or unfairly tend to get paid well for them. I don’t know the socioeconomics of all the folks here, but I certainly make more than my “fair share” (Total World Income/Total World Population). It is something that is a constant wrestling.

But if the movie industry makes useless dreck with no coherent message, we will accuse them of being vapid and gratuitous, and if they tell interesting stories that illuminate some problem in the world (that the wealthy within the industry have not themselves solved), we will accuse them of hypocrisy.

I think hypocrisy is under-rated. The selfish dog never risks it - he claims nothing but self-interest, and brooks no criticism that he is not industriously pursuing that simple goal. The hypocrite at least gives a point of entry for criticism - she is not herself living up to her moral aspirations. I haven’t yet met the person who was, and so I have a soft spot for (the humble) hypocrite.

I am looking forward to the movie as a “conversation starter” with some of my friends, though. And as a guilty 2 hours of action and entertainment!

i don’t know if it’d be hypocrisy as such. i think it’s quite interesting when some good point comes out of an environment where you wouldn’t expect it to occur to anyone.

hollywood however is like any other place, i guess…there are goodish people in it that legitimately care about things like inequality. sometimes these big expensive films do make good points. i quite like James Cameron for example trying to get the word out about the Amazon and Brazil’s government’s vile exploitation of it by selling vast bits of it to various companies through the fairly bald-faced “analogy” of Avatar (which i do love…but it’s fairly unsubtle lol).

i think Hollywood, for all its faults, is more liberal than most of America…just like our arty sector is more likely Lib Dem/Labour than Tory in allegiance…

this sounds like an interesting film, at least, and it might raise some good points and make some good observations.