Genesis, Matthew and Jim Carrey
Last Saturday I watched The Truman Show for the first time. Then on Sunday I went to church with the family for the first time in a while. Why would a heretic go to Church, you ask? Good question. First the church is on the left side of liberal protestantism. They don’t even make you agree to the Apostle’s Creed. My wife likes it, too. Also, I didn’t grow up in the town or even in the state, for that matter, so it is also nice to get to know some people in the town.
What does the movie and the church have to do with each other? Well, the pastor’s sermon on Sunday discussed the temptation of Eve in Genesis and the temptation of Jesus by Satan in Matthew. Being a heretic with gnostic tendencies, I always get uncomfortable when they talk about the Old Testament. I do not believe that Yahweh or Jehovah of the Old Testament and the being that Jesus refers to as “The Father” are the same being. For thousands of years that could get you burned at the stake. But anyway, the pastor was saying that humans make bad decisions like eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after being told not to do so by “God.” Adam and Eve would have had everything they needed to be happy if they had just obeyed. Furthermore “God” told them that if they ate the fruit of that tree they would die. Only after eating the fruit they didn’t die, but they got some disturbing increase in awareness, leading to fig leaves and such. Jesus in Matthew, was also tempted, this time by Satan promised Jesus that he could have all the kingdoms of the world if he would just bow down and worship Satan. Jesus said no and the rest is history. Now what disturbed me listening to this in church is that if you compare the two stories, the behavior of Jehovah and Satan are EXACTLY THE SAME. Both promised the humans that if they worshipped and obeyed them and didn’t step outside the bounds, they would receive everything they needed and would be protected. No one seemed to notice the parallel.
Here is where the movie came in. The Truman Show is a perfect allegory of Gnosticism. For the Gnostics, there is a sub-creator who created a sort of fake world to put humans in and who is unreliable, unpredictable, violent, and who does not have the best interests of humans at heart. The biggest fear of the subcreator is that the humans, who actually come from the true creation but have forgotten it, will wake up and remember where they came from and where they belong. In the movie, the subcreator is the Ed Harris character, Christof, the director of the ultimate reality show. He has created a superficially nice fake reality for the Jim Carrey (Truman) character to inhabit. Truman has been planted there from birth and provided with a fake family, fake job, a fake best friend, in short a fake world that Christof believes is superior to the real world. Christof, of course is making millions on the show, money that would be threatened if Truman ever wises up (imagine the lawsuit!). Isn’t this the exact same story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis?
What does the movie and the church have to do with each other? Well, the pastor’s sermon on Sunday discussed the temptation of Eve in Genesis and the temptation of Jesus by Satan in Matthew. Being a heretic with gnostic tendencies, I always get uncomfortable when they talk about the Old Testament. I do not believe that Yahweh or Jehovah of the Old Testament and the being that Jesus refers to as “The Father” are the same being. For thousands of years that could get you burned at the stake. But anyway, the pastor was saying that humans make bad decisions like eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil after being told not to do so by “God.” Adam and Eve would have had everything they needed to be happy if they had just obeyed. Furthermore “God” told them that if they ate the fruit of that tree they would die. Only after eating the fruit they didn’t die, but they got some disturbing increase in awareness, leading to fig leaves and such. Jesus in Matthew, was also tempted, this time by Satan promised Jesus that he could have all the kingdoms of the world if he would just bow down and worship Satan. Jesus said no and the rest is history. Now what disturbed me listening to this in church is that if you compare the two stories, the behavior of Jehovah and Satan are EXACTLY THE SAME. Both promised the humans that if they worshipped and obeyed them and didn’t step outside the bounds, they would receive everything they needed and would be protected. No one seemed to notice the parallel.
Here is where the movie came in. The Truman Show is a perfect allegory of Gnosticism. For the Gnostics, there is a sub-creator who created a sort of fake world to put humans in and who is unreliable, unpredictable, violent, and who does not have the best interests of humans at heart. The biggest fear of the subcreator is that the humans, who actually come from the true creation but have forgotten it, will wake up and remember where they came from and where they belong. In the movie, the subcreator is the Ed Harris character, Christof, the director of the ultimate reality show. He has created a superficially nice fake reality for the Jim Carrey (Truman) character to inhabit. Truman has been planted there from birth and provided with a fake family, fake job, a fake best friend, in short a fake world that Christof believes is superior to the real world. Christof, of course is making millions on the show, money that would be threatened if Truman ever wises up (imagine the lawsuit!). Isn’t this the exact same story of the Garden of Eden in Genesis?
posted by Donald Hunt at 8:58 AM
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