Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

Cowboys and Aliens (2011)

MOVIE SUMMARY

A spaceship arrives in Arizona, 1873, to take over the Earth, starting with the Wild West region. A posse of cowboys and natives are all that stand in their way.

MOVIE THEMES

The movie starts with a man (Jake Lonergan) who has a piece of alien technology attached to his wrist. Jake walks into town and meets a man who sews up a wound. We discover that this healer is the local preacher (Meacham). Meacham operates as the moral guide for the both the characters and the audience. Two major themes run throughout the movie: redemption and sacrifice.

Redemption

Redemption is a theme that pervades this film. Each major character in the film has a past and the conflict with the aliens allows the opportunity for all of the characters to receive redemption. Meacham’s dying words to Jake, “God don’t care who you were, Son, only who you are”, speaks of the central theme of redemption. The preacher (Meacham) is the moral center which people look to during the entire film. He keeps the posse in unity and he helps each person he meets to discern a higher meaning to their existence.

At one point, Ella Swenson is fatally wounded. After she dies, her corpse is thrown into a fire. As her body hits the fire, she is resurrected. Ella turns out to be a good alien who explains how to destroy the evil aliens. This restores the faith of the group as they learn ways to destroy the evil aliens.

Dolarhyde offers Jake Lonergan a chance to redeem himself. He offers him a job helping to rebuild the town at the end of the film. Although this act of forgiveness and redemption is rejected, Dolarhyde changes from seeking revenge to offering redemption.

These scenes of redemption point to the ultimate redemption we have in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:7). Each of these men and women go through a redemption process in this movie. Ella is sacrificed in sending the message of salvation against the evil alien. She is resurrected (like Jesus Christ). Jake works for his redemption – for forgiveness – of the sin he has done when he stole gold. Dolarhyde acts as a father-figure to Jake. Dolarhyde is willing to pay Jake back for the wrong he accused Jake of doing. All of these characters offer some kind of payment for their sins. These acts of payment remind us of Jesus. He offers the true payment for humanity’s sin. Jesus paid a price for us to have sins forgiven. The work that Jesus did to pay humanity’s sin debt was His death on the cross (Romans 6:23, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8).

Sacrifice

The other major theme is sacrifice. Meacham sacrifices himself to save a young boy’s life. Ella sacrifices herself to destroy the evil alien ship and save Earth. These people illustrate the same kind of sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us (John 3:16).

QUESTIONS

1. How does redemption play out in the film? Can you relate to anyone in the film and their journey for redemption?
2. How do the acts of the cowboys reveal a need for a Savior?
3. Meacham is the moral compass of the film. He has tremendous influence on the men in the film. How can we as Christians fulfill that role to the men and women around us?
4. Everyone makes a sacrifice to save themselves from the alien invasion. What kind of sacrifice have you made to help other people?