"King Kong" and Transcendent Love
I'm not a monster movie fan. I haven't made it through a Jurassic Park flick without a really good nap. Dracula, Godzilla, et. al. do nothing for me. I'm even a tad creeped out by the romance in Disney's "Beauty and the Beast."
So it was with much reluctance that I took my wife to see "King Kong" a few weeks back. The only reason we bothered was that we liked the LOTR films and felt like Peter Jackson had somehow earned the right to take more of our money.
Suffice it to say, I was blown away. I'm fairly certain that Peter Jackson doesn't intentionally put redemptive Christian themes in his films, but somehow ( through common grace) redemption just comes through in good storytelling.
Case and point - the relationship between Anne (Naomi Watts) and Kong. As the relationship develops, Kong becomes the ultimate source of security for Anne, and Anne the ultimate source of significance for Kong. There's nothing "romantic" in their love, but there is certainly something transcendent - not of this world. This becomes all the more apparent when compared to the human love relationship in the film between Anne and Jack (Adrian Brody). It pales in scope, intensity, and depth to her relationship with Kong. Like Aslan, Kong is "not safe, but he is good."
It sounds crazy, but the Anne/Kong relationship provides a beautiful glimpse at the now and future love relationship between Christ and his church. Again, Jackson wasn't going for this, but this redemptive typology literally jumps off the screen.
Anyone who has seen "King Kong" think I'm completely insane? It's ok to say so, I've been called worse........
So it was with much reluctance that I took my wife to see "King Kong" a few weeks back. The only reason we bothered was that we liked the LOTR films and felt like Peter Jackson had somehow earned the right to take more of our money.
Suffice it to say, I was blown away. I'm fairly certain that Peter Jackson doesn't intentionally put redemptive Christian themes in his films, but somehow ( through common grace) redemption just comes through in good storytelling.
Case and point - the relationship between Anne (Naomi Watts) and Kong. As the relationship develops, Kong becomes the ultimate source of security for Anne, and Anne the ultimate source of significance for Kong. There's nothing "romantic" in their love, but there is certainly something transcendent - not of this world. This becomes all the more apparent when compared to the human love relationship in the film between Anne and Jack (Adrian Brody). It pales in scope, intensity, and depth to her relationship with Kong. Like Aslan, Kong is "not safe, but he is good."
It sounds crazy, but the Anne/Kong relationship provides a beautiful glimpse at the now and future love relationship between Christ and his church. Again, Jackson wasn't going for this, but this redemptive typology literally jumps off the screen.
Anyone who has seen "King Kong" think I'm completely insane? It's ok to say so, I've been called worse........
posted by nhe | 2:23 PM
6 Comments:
Welcome to the blog world.
-mike
My best friend, who has rather a thing for seeing christian themes in film (she's so post-modern) agrees with you. She liked the dual roles of Kong/the human boyfriend as in The death of Kong and the sudden appearance there-after of the human boyfriend, so that Anne hasn't lost everything, as she had feared, kind of like Mary Magdalene in the garden. I've not seen the film, so I'm paraphrasing. Thanks for commenting on my blog - dissent is always a little more stimulating than agreement..
Thanks Libbie, I wasn't really dissenting....but I sometimes give in to the urge to push back where I don't see grace.
Again, you were fine, I was reacting to some of the comments you received.
I hadn't thought about the Mary Magdalene connection - that's probably a tad too post-modern for even me!
Do we sometimes confuse "common grace" for "post modern"? I think that finding redemptive themes in creation is residue of common grace, and not necessarily post-modern......
I wouldn't confuse common grace with post-modern. But I am much more likely to use the phrase 'post-modern' sarcastically ;-)
NHE,
Excellent review. It makes me want to go back and see it again with your perspectives in mind.
I'm looking forward to more.
Thanks,
Lee
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