Should I See the Movie NOAH?

That’s the question. It’s a question I have been asked by many friends, including one set of friends who wanted to know if they could take their son to see it.

And you know what? When they first asked my response was, “I haven’t heard anything bad about it yet, except of course that it won’t likely be a true Biblical account, but it doesn’t look BAD.”

And then of course we’ve all seen the reviews going around over the past week that seem to say otherwise. It’s not just “not Biblically accurate” but it’s also not very kid friendly. And it’s that sort of thing that has prompted me to spread the word about the content and feel of the movie, so that my friends and others can make an informed decision about whether or not they want to see it–and more importantly, if they want to take their kids to see it. Information is good, yes?

But it seems, for some people (not all people,) that’s not good enough. Or something? (I’m not mocking, I’m really not sure why it’s not okay to decide that we don’t want to go see it?) The bigger blog reviews of Christians much more knowledgeable than myself aren’t enough for me to base my decisions on. I’ve seen reasons like:

• I’m being judgmental, “judging the book by its cover” so to speak.
• Or, I’m listening to hearsay and not deciding for myself.
• Or, I’m “outraged and offended” just because they didn’t tell the Biblical story.
• Or, I’m being hypocritical or unloving or any number of things.

Now, no one has specifically said those things to ME, per se, but it may have been implied a couple of times. And I most certainly have read the blog posts, articles and Facebook statuses that have spoken out against Christians as a whole for not liking the movie with statements along the lines of “Christians are outraged by a movie that wasn’t supposed to be based on the Bible story anyway– well THAT’s not a very good way to show Jesus.”

Well.

Let me first just outline where I stand:

*I am not outraged, angry, or throwing a fit because they got the story wrong (I’m not surprised, I’m usually surprised when they do get it mostly right.) I am, however, taken aback by the way it sounds like they present God as angry and mean and vindictive. That’s disappointing.

*I already know that it’s not really based on the real story of Noah–and that’s a moot point, because I watch lots of movies that aren’t based on Bible stories.

*It doesn’t look like the kind of movie that I would normally go watch, and I’m usually a pretty good judge about whether or not I will find something interesting (I knew that Frozen was going to be slightly annoying to me and I was right. 😉 )

*I almost never go see movies in the theater anyway, I don’t like to spend that much money. So I’m certainly not interested in spending that kind of money on a movie I might not like.

*There are some controversial movies that you know are worthwhile to go ahead and watch so you may have intelligent, informed conversations with others about (probably later when you can rent them from Netflix,) and there are some that you know (you can get enough information from previews, interviews, and reviews,) that just aren’t worth it.

At first I felt like Noah was the kind of movie that I might want to go watch so that I could discuss it when it came up. I thought I might wait for Netflix though (that whole “expensive movie ticket thing.”

And then, well, I became less and less interested in watching the movie as I learned more about it. I feel like I’ve seen enough to know that it’s not my kind of movie, you know? But now we’re back to where we started. Right?

So.
I’m going to go see it.
Tonight.

I’m going to see for myself, and I’m going to let you know what I think of it, really and truly and fairly and kindly, so that you can keep coming to me asking “Should I see the movie Noah?”

And then, without hearsay or conjecture, I will be able to answer you.