{"id":8523,"date":"2013-06-06T19:02:24","date_gmt":"2013-06-07T02:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/?p=8523"},"modified":"2013-06-08T21:19:51","modified_gmt":"2013-06-09T04:19:51","slug":"noah-possibly-psycho-definitely-not-benevolent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/filmchat\/2013\/06\/noah-possibly-psycho-definitely-not-benevolent.html","title":{"rendered":"Noah: possibly “psycho”, definitely not “benevolent”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>This blog has spent quite a bit of time speculating on the broad narrative contours of Darren Aronofsky\u2019s Noah<\/a><\/i>: What mix of biblical and apocryphal texts will it use? Which characters will it include? What connections will it have to the flood mythologies of other religions, such as Hinduism<\/a>?<\/p>\n

But one thing I haven\u2019t looked at much is how the film will depict Noah himself. I have<\/i> quoted something Aronofsky said six years ago<\/a> \u2014 long before the movie was in active development \u2014 about Noah being a \u201cdark, complicated character\u201d with lots of \u201csurvivor\u2019s guilt\u201d. But that\u2019s been about it.<\/p>\n

Now we have some new insight into the character, courtesy of Russell Crowe, who told Entertainment Tonight<\/a><\/i> recently (while promoting Man of Steel<\/a><\/i>) that the Noah he plays will not be the \u201cbenevolent\u201d figure that some viewers might expect:
\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe funny thing with people, they consider Noah to be a benevolent figure because he looked after the animals: \u2018Awww, Noah. Noah and the animals.\u2019 It\u2019s like, are you kidding me?\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cThis is the dude that stood by and watched the entire population of the planet perish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darren Aronofsky directs the biblical epic in which the classic character is given a divine mission: to build an ark to save creation from the coming flood, and Crowe continues, \u201cHe\u2019s not benevolent. He\u2019s not even nice. At one point in the story his son says, \u2018I thought you were chosen because you were good?\u2019 And he goes, \u2018I was chosen because I can get the job done, mate.'\u201d . . .<\/p>\n

Looking forward to people\u2019s reactions to the new movie, Crowe says, \u201cI think people are going to be judging where their questions are coming from. I think they\u2019re going to be quite surprised what Noah<\/i> actually means; what it means to be in that position.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now, it could be that Crowe is just playing with our expectations, the way he did when he told reporters, in 2007<\/a>, that the Robin Hood movie he was starring in for Ridley Scott would look at how a dastardly figure called \u201cRobin the Beheader\u201d had morphed into the heroic figure we now think we know and love. When the finished film came out nearly three years later, it didn\u2019t have anything to do with that at all.<\/p>\n

Of course, when Crowe spoke about that<\/i> film, it was still going through rewrites \u2014 whereas Noah<\/i> has already been written and filmed and is now just going through the editing process. So presumably Crowe has a better sense of how this<\/i> character will be portrayed when the finished film comes out in March of next year.<\/p>\n

The other thing that comes to mind is that Christian novelist and screenwriter Brian Godawa wrote a lengthy critique<\/a> of Aronofsky\u2019s screenplay just over seven months ago which included a section headlined \u201cPsycho Noah\u201d. That section begins:<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of the Aronofsky\/Handel script is its portrayal of God in the moral worldview of Noah. I\u2019m not talking about the fact that Noah is sinful in the movie or that he gets drunk. That is in the Bible. That\u2019s not the problem. The problem is that Noah is depicted as attempting to follow God\u2019s will in the script, a will that includes the complete annihilation of the human race, as opposed to the Genesis depiction of starting over with eight humans to repopulate and ultimately provide a Messiah.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I have not yet gotten around to reading Godawa\u2019s critique in detail, but if you want to get a sense of what Crowe is hinting at here, you might want to check that out.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Russell Crowe says the protagonist he plays in next year’s Bible epic is “not benevolent.” One critic who has seen the screenplay says the character might even be “psycho.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1241,54,55,63,1243,1242,174],"class_list":["post-8523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-brian-godawa","tag-darren-aronofsky","tag-noah","tag-noah-2014","tag-robin-hood","tag-robin-hood-2010","tag-russell-crowe"],"yoast_head":"\nNoah: possibly "psycho", definitely not "benevolent"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Russell Crowe says the protagonist he plays in next year's Bible epic is "not benevolent." 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