20 June 2021

Fading morality in American Biblical film adaptations

It seems only natural that films (or any other media) devoted to retelling Biblical stories would, first and foremost, exalt their moral virtues. Like the Bible itself, they are often regarded as didactic tools with which to educate people on ethics while reasserting the Biblical god’s authority. However, this is no longer the case in American cinema. Overtime, the genre’s didactic function monopolizes what little attention it still commands from American audiences, while America’s film industry itself seems to have lost sight of the genre’s devotion to the monotheistic Biblical god. The exclusivity that makes morality in Bible adaptations “Biblical”--the willingness to proclaim God as the ultimate moral authority superior to those of every other belief--has disappeared from mainstream cinematic productions almost entirely. The result is a conflation of Biblical morality in these films with that of a more universal, humanist, and less religiously-bounded sort in the American audiences’ collective consciousness. 

For the first half of the twentieth century, American Bible film adaptations strictly adhered to the conservative notion of Biblical morality by using the faith-duality plot device. This plot device juxtaposes the virtues of the Biblical god and the irredeemable wickedness of other faiths’ deities (usually exemplified by generic paganism and idols), thereby reasserting the former’s moral superiority. Three of the period’s most famous, and expensive, films--Samson and Delilah (1949), The Ten Commandments (1923) and The TenCommandments (1956) all utilize this convention. The Ten Commandments (1923) has the golden calf and the film’s main antagonist--the godless, capitalist Danny--epitomizing the evils of a pagan faith. The first half of the film highlights the sin of idol-worshipping by cutting off the plot thread involving Moses and the Hebrews right at the iconic golden calf incident. The second half then propels itself forward from this point, using the first half as a cautionary tale to extol the virtues of the Ten Commandments. Likewise, the film’s 1956 remake also puts great focus on the dichotomy between Jewish monotheism and Egyptian paganism, but also adds to the reaffirmation of Biblical morality’s superiority by having the pharaoh’s last words be: “[Moses’] god... is God.” Samson and Delilah also uses similar tactics for the same end of putting Judeo-Christian monotheism and its values on a pedestal. Instead of punishing individual antagonists, however, it condemns all Philistines as an evil, paganist collective. All Philistines, including Delilah and the primary antagonists Ahtur and the Saran of Gaza, are ultimately killed by the film’s hero--Samson.

   
 

The latter half of the 20th century, however, saw this faith-duality plot device’s steep decline in popularity, as Biblical morality in Bible adaptations gradually phased into more secular ethics. Two iconic films of the genre belonging to this period--The story of Ruth (1960) and The prince of Egypt (1998)--exemplify this trend. The story of Ruth in particular, provides is a good analogy of this transitional period. It is the first time the book of Ruth from the Bible, known for its theme of acceptance and benevolence towards outsiders to the Judeo-Christian faith, received a cinematic adaptation. This denotes a possible sign to the American film industries’ budding tolerance for alternative beliefs. While The story of Ruth, like its predecessors in the genre, still persecutes the majority Moabite pagans and only rewards Ruth for her successful conversion to the Judeo-Christian faith, its emphasis is not the dichotomy between faiths. The film ultimately focuses on compassion towards others, especially foreigners over dogmatic loyalty towards Biblical law. In doing in so, it also brings into question the rigidity of said law and calls for flexibility in passing judgment. If The story of Ruth is still partially trapped by the convention of demonizing non-Judeo-Christian beliefs, then The prince of Egypt is entirely divorced from this trend. Faith and morality are addressed, but nonetheless take a backseat to human drama. The Hebrews’ struggles and the crumbling glory of Egypt are simply backdrops to the tragedy of severed familial bonds and diverged paths between former brothers Moses and Ramses.

   

By 2000, not only have theatrically released films disappeared almost entirely from the American market, ones that were made take on neutral to even negative attitudes towards the Biblical aspect of Biblical morality. While some theatrical productions belonging to the period from 1970 to 1999 still exhibited at least ambivalence towards Judeo-Christian monotheism, those produced after 2000 either portray the Judeo-Christian god in an exaggeratedly negative light or go out of their way to distance themselves from the Bible. They also make no attempt at portraying morality but, like The prince of Egypt, use Biblical themes to narrate human drama.

The newest remake of The Ten Commandments (2006) by the same name and Exodus: Gods and kings (2014) exemplify the first trend of portraying the Judeo-Christian god as a hostile, amoral entity. The Ten Commandments (2006) shows how violent, unsympathetic and needlessly cruel God can be. He punishes the innocent Egyptians, some of whom are Moses’ loved ones. A controversial detail from the original Biblical story that is often omitted in film adaptations is also included: God orders half of the tribe of Israel murdered for refusing to follow Moses. Among the executed, the deaths of women and children receive extensive focus. At the end of the film, Moses is banned from entering the Promised Land in his old age, seemingly without explanation.

Likewise, Exodus: Gods and kings discusses little morality while emphasizing this violent, even vengeful, aspect of God to account for the violence shown on screen. It even attempts to secularize the protagonist’s motivation. Moses is introduced as an atheist who is knowledgeable about the god of the Hebrews but chooses not to believe in him at first. He is then forced into the task with broken legs and a concussion. Ultimately, Moses liberates the Hebrews as a war general (not shepherd) commissioned by God, but his actions are motivated by basic compassion and a secular sense of justice, not religious devotion.


While it does not treat Judeo-Christian monotheism with contempt as the previous two films, Noah (2014) makes efforts to distance itself from the religiosity of its source material and even the world which we inhabit, then discusses morality in entirely secular terms. Its world building is evidently meant to be fantastical, with the word “God” replaced by “the Creator,” a cast in ethnically and historically ambiguous costumes, and a landscape occupied by fantastical animals. Noah then goes on to use its vaguely Biblical setting to discuss environmental concerns and tell a story of ideological conflict, none of whose opposing sides are religiously motivated.

   

 Biblical morality can be distinguished from the common sense understanding of morality in that, instead of an innate sense of right and wrong, it is derived from the Judeo-Christian god. Thus, ethics must go hand in hand with reverence towards God in order to be Biblical. But mainstream American film adaptations of the Bible have shown an evident decrease in this devotion since the latter half of the twentieth century. Morality in these films as of recent years, is either secular or omitted from the discussion entirely. This is likely the result of the religious pluralization of American audiences after the end of World War II, which has discouraged Hollywood studios from including the sort of religious exclusivity for the sake of heralding Biblical monotheism known to Golden era films. With this audience pluralization also came decreased Bible literacy. The result is that in order to avoid alienating non-Judeo-Christian viewers, Biblical elements in modern films are either used as mere backdrops for the drama being told, treated with contempt or indifference. This is not to say that Biblical morality has disappeared completely from this genre of American cinema, as old conventions and a focus on religious reverence remain prominent in independently produced productions. However, with the drastically low number of theatrical releases by big studios and a shared apathy among them towards Biblical morality, this trend in mainstream media will likely persist for years to come.

[This essay was written by Vy Nhat Tran as part of her graduation research at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Japan. The undergraduate thesis upon which the essay is based received recognition as an Outstanding Thesis for the 2018 graduating class.]

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