Still Waiting...

Just over 2 years ago I challenged folk to prove God is more likely to exist than fairies and goblins.

Why do we still have to tiptoe around people who believe in Christian or Islamic fairies and lock away people who believe in tiny, early 1900s fairies living at the bottom of their garden?

Since working at the movie house, one thing I've noticed - Hollywood is still flogging the 'just believe and don't trust the scientific meddlers' theme.

Polar Express - the whole theme is about belief. The young boy at the centre of the movie is - horror of horrors - questioning things! He's actually doing research into Santa and finding out the truth. The idiot - doesn't he know ignorance is bliss? A secondary character is an irritating know-it-all who Santa eventually puts in his place (in a very God-like way). They basically made Santa a Christian god in this movie - no suggestion of him being any kind of mysterious Pagan figure. In the end, the hero learns not to question and 'just believe'.

We've had two films which I think are basically the same story - I Am Legend and The Spiderwick Chronicles. In both movies the problem is created by the clever scientist who meddles with things beyond his/her capabilities (I'm not against that as a story idea). Both feature a Hollywood favourite - the reunification of the family unit theme. Both have a house beseiged by evil creatures in which the scientist struggles to develop a solution to the problem they (science) has created.

In I Am Legend the solution has very religious overtones. Although it's the science which creates a serum to kill the virus and save humanity, again it's the hero's scepticism which is shown as his major character flaw and the girl's unwavering belief (in a surviving community of people somewhere) in the face of his torrent of factual evidence against which wins in the end. Will Smith takes one last look at the photo of his wife and child (who have since died) just before he sacrifices himself to save humanity (subtext: he will be reunified with them in the afterlife).

So the girl takes the blood and finds the community - her blind faith is rewarded. And what's the first thing she sees as the gates to the walled village swing open - a church.