An interesting phenomena i am noticing in some movies in the last 10 years is a very welcome erosion of the Myth of Redemptive Violence. The ‘self sacrificing’ figure of Superman is really no sacrifice at all. Despite a brief cyrptonite induced weakness, he ultimately returns to invincibility and violently destroys the bad guys. In contrast, Neo (Matrix 3) finally realises that he can’t beat Agent Smith on his own violent terms and must give up his life to Smith’s violence, and in doing so places a deconstructing virus of peace (Spirit?) into the coding of the Matrix. A similar walking-away (at least a bit) can be seen in the most recent Wonder Woman film, where the villain is actually offered an opportunity for redemption and growth rather than being murdered. In the Marvel Franchise, Tony Stark must ultimately give up his own life in order to reverse a cosmic destroying God. Maybe the Spirit of Christ really is infiltrating mainstream cinema. A good thing.
An interesting phenomena i am noticing in some movies in the last 10 years is a very welcome erosion of the Myth of Redemptive Violence. The ‘self sacrificing’ figure of Superman is really no sacrifice at all. Despite a brief cyrptonite induced weakness, he ultimately returns to invincibility and violently destroys the bad guys. In contrast, Neo (Matrix 3) finally realises that he can’t beat Agent Smith on his own violent terms and must give up his life to Smith’s violence, and in doing so places a deconstructing virus of peace (Spirit?) into the coding of the Matrix. A similar walking-away (at least a bit) can be seen in the most recent Wonder Woman film, where the villain is actually offered an opportunity for redemption and growth rather than being murdered. In the Marvel Franchise, Tony Stark must ultimately give up his own life in order to reverse a cosmic destroying God. Maybe the Spirit of Christ really is infiltrating mainstream cinema. A good thing.