Saturday, February 26, 2005
Spiritual Battles and Comic Books
Today I saw Constantine for the first time - the movie based on the Hellblazer comic. It really blew me away the level of detail taken into consideration. Hellblazer is about a Hell bound guy who is trying to earn his way into heaven by sending demons back to hell. He feels caught in a battle between Satan and God and is slowly dying of lung cancer from his smoking. He is almost annoyed about his circumstance more than compelled to be involved.
Theologically is was a blur of theologies - Catholicism, Protestantism, Satanism, Hedonism, and a touch of Black Magic. We see the Catholic Church in a losing battle to the demonic world while for the first time fighting to help people in a positive light. We see both sides of Satanism the serious cultic practices with demons and the humoring mocking of the devil and God. We see hedonism as just living it up "'We eat, we drink, the next day we die' and that's all there is to it". We see a Christian call to salvation through God through receiving grace and not by works and we see Black Magic yielding and being weak to the powers of darkness.
The ultimate point comes of course at the climax where Constantine discovers God's grace as he discovers what Jesus said - "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat - I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is not help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self." I won't tell you the end but it leaves room for a sequel as Jesus didn't come back during the film and the film recognized the sanctity of Jesus.
What moved me most about this film is John Constantine is the most anti-hero I've ever seen on film. He hates his powers. He hates God, the devil and the demons and angels equally - only he feels called to help people when he can't help himself. The film grows as we watch the world he lives in that makes what a Batman, Daredevil, or Hulk look luxurious. Constantine must delve into the spirit world in order to solve cases and recognizes both God and the Devil are ones to fear. What we later discover is his doubt in actually trusting God that keeps him from taking a side and the irony is the Angel Gabriel still thinks that he/she (androgenous) has influenced Constantine's choice in the end.
Theologically is was a blur of theologies - Catholicism, Protestantism, Satanism, Hedonism, and a touch of Black Magic. We see the Catholic Church in a losing battle to the demonic world while for the first time fighting to help people in a positive light. We see both sides of Satanism the serious cultic practices with demons and the humoring mocking of the devil and God. We see hedonism as just living it up "'We eat, we drink, the next day we die' and that's all there is to it". We see a Christian call to salvation through God through receiving grace and not by works and we see Black Magic yielding and being weak to the powers of darkness.
The ultimate point comes of course at the climax where Constantine discovers God's grace as he discovers what Jesus said - "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat - I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is not help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self." I won't tell you the end but it leaves room for a sequel as Jesus didn't come back during the film and the film recognized the sanctity of Jesus.
What moved me most about this film is John Constantine is the most anti-hero I've ever seen on film. He hates his powers. He hates God, the devil and the demons and angels equally - only he feels called to help people when he can't help himself. The film grows as we watch the world he lives in that makes what a Batman, Daredevil, or Hulk look luxurious. Constantine must delve into the spirit world in order to solve cases and recognizes both God and the Devil are ones to fear. What we later discover is his doubt in actually trusting God that keeps him from taking a side and the irony is the Angel Gabriel still thinks that he/she (androgenous) has influenced Constantine's choice in the end.
