Battleangel

As Mel Gibson’s latest movie is just about to premiere worldwide I thought I would share some opinions on this project.
First off, I’d like to say that this is a movie that I will see, even if I’ll probably leech it instead of actually go and pay for it. Second of all I am still and will always be an atheist. Even if I do realize that it would be more balanced to stick with agnosticism, i.e. more “scientific”. But I’ve already had that discussion and I’m tired of it. Sometimes you just have to take a stance.

Basically I think it’s a bit paradoxical that Mel Gibson is himself a Christian. And one that takes his beliefs very seriously it seems. For example, as I recall reading in a recent interview, he is still of the opinion that any nonbelievers are destined for eternal damnation in the fires of hell. Cute.
And even if I cannot prove anything, it seems he has become even more zealous over the course of this movie. It seems to have made him accentuate his faith and become more devout in the process.
Yet, he is exploiting those same beliefs in making a movie about the mythical events that led to the creation of the religion he adheres to. Events that he really knows nothing about. And even if he was the world’s greatest theologist he couldn’t attempt to tell anything but the official version since he is after all biased.
Then again I guess most people in the movies business take on projects that interest them. So in that aspect Mel Gibson isn’t special. It’s just that religion is a tad more complex and smothering than say an actor like Arnold Schwarzenegger that keeps doing action movies. I’d say that the former represents more of a deep personal conviction. One that could be considered to influence daily life and work.

Once more, we can ask ourselves what we can learn from history and how we interpret events long past and shrouded in the veils of time. What do we really know about the origins of this religion?
Every few centuries the bible is reinterpreted and traditions are changed. And if change can happen even in the midst of religious dogma who knows what the founders really did intend for. It’s almost like detonating a nuclear bomb and then try to go back and put all the molecules in place exactly as they once were.

So what the hell. I love historical fiction. You just have to realize the limitations and the fairytale proportions and take it for what it is. A brutal depiction of human life. Not so unlike the present day. That could also be the moral of the story. And possibly the only beneficial thing to come out of religion in general. I.e. fables. But going beyond that is like making a religion out of the instruction manual for the VCR. “Thou shalt not place wet objects on top of the assembly”.