Crowe's Interpretation Of Noah

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It is no secret that Hollywood films are not always true to the stories that they attempt to portray. At the end of the day, the main objective for filmmakers is to create a film that will generate revenue and gain positive ratings from film critics. The film Noah, starring Russell Crowe, fits this stereotype in the sense that it does take liberties with its interpretation of the Genesis flood narrative. The story of Noah, if taken directly, would not make for a very interesting story due to the fact that it is mostly devoid of conflict. Noah is chosen by God because he alone has remained faithful to God and the lord knows that Noah will obediently fulfill his commandments. In the narrative Noah does exactly this, and the building of the…show more content…
In the bible narrative Noah brings his whole family onto the ark, including his three sons and their wives. In the film, only Shem has a wife to bring into the new world while the others are destined to be alone. Ham grows more and more frustrated when God does not give him a wife, prompting him to go search for one on his own. He eventually meets an “innocent” girl who had just lost her family and attempts to take her on the ark. The girl, Na’el, gets caught in a bear trap on the way to the ark and Noah allows her to die. This plotline is important for multiple reasons. The first is that this scene demonstrates the extent of corruption and evil among humans by showing that even the son of Noah began to doubt God’s plan. More importantly, Ham’s loneliness also eventually leads to his rebellion against Noah and God. Ham seeks revenge for Noah’s part in the death of Na’el and allows Tubal-Cain to survive and challenge God’s plans. Ham’s rebellion leads to the climactic moment where man (Tubal-Cain) attempts to disrupt God’s plan and become king of the new world. By removing wives from the story, the film adds some intrigue to the story by pitting father against son. Finally, I would say that the added plotline serves to further question whether or not Noah has made the right choices in his attempt to understand God’s will. By…show more content…
Interestingly enough Genesis does make reference to giants, or Nephilim, saying, “there were giants in the earth”, validating the appearance of giants. The Nephilim were said to be offspring of fallen angels (similar to the watchers) and the “daughters of eve”. The difference of course was that the bible does not say that these Nephilim defended humankind like they did in the film. This interpretation is important to the film because the Watchers play an important role by defending Noah and his family before the floods of heaven can wipe out humans. The Watchers also played a secondary role of showing the divine support enjoyed by Noah. Each giant which gave his life in defense of Noah, and God’s plan, was instantly forgiven for past transgressions and sent to heaven. This showed God’s continuing support of Noah and the plan to flood the

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