Is There A Religious Theme To Movies Like Divergent And Hunger Games

[Stone holm]

Watched Divergent yesterday with my wife who is a fan of the book series, and also the Hunger Game series, am more excited about the upcoming How To Train A Dragon 2, but she is more sensitive to religious themes than I am.

[thesometimesaint]

Never watched Hunger Games, and didn't see much of a religious theme in How to train a Dragon 1. Have yet to see Dragon 2.

[Stone holm]

Never watched Hunger Games, and didn't see much of a religious theme in How to train a Dragon 1. Have yet to see Dragon 2.

Never read the books either? Oh my pop culture deprived.

[altersteve]

There's a religious theme in anything if you look hard enough for it.

[thesometimesaint]

There's a religious theme in anything if you look hard enough for it.

 

 

Particularly if I take off my glasses and squint.

Edited April 28, 2014 by thesometimesaint

[EllenMaksoud]

Watched Divergent yesterday with my wife who is a fan of the book series, and also the Hunger Game series, am more excited about the upcoming How To Train A Dragon 2, but she is more sensitive to religious themes than I am.

Many people are frightened about the unfolding of present history, and perhaps rightly so. I just do not understand these post apololyptic movies, though I have watched "Divergent". Perhaps, more rightly so, they are a social commentary on our culture. We are so controlled and manipulated and have been for a long time. These days, it is the Media and Marketers who are doing the governing of the world. Anything for money, right?

 

http://mytwistedwall.blogspot.com/

[Stone holm]

Many people are frightened about the unfolding of present history, and perhaps rightly so. I just do not understand these post apololyptic movies, though I have watched "Divergent". Perhaps, more rightly so, they are a social commentary on our culture. We are so controlled and manipulated and have been for a long time. These days, it is the Media and Marketers who are doing the governing of the world. Anything for money, right?

 

http://mytwistedwall.blogspot.com/

I think there is a religious point, just haven't quite fathomed it yet.

[EllenMaksoud]

I think there is a religious point, just haven't quite fathomed it yet.

One time I heard a famous philosopher, an athiest, whose name now escapes me, say that every successful story or movie follows the model of Jesus Christ in that there is a birth, a gradual building, a pinacle, then the death of a vision, and finally re-birth. Every writer I know, if he is aware of the model, uses it for the framework of his stories.

[Stone holm]

One time I heard a famous philosopher, an athiest, whose name now escapes me, say that every successful story or movie follows the model of Jesus Christ in that there is a birth, a gradual building, a pinacle, then the death of a vision, and finally re-birth. Every writer I know, if he is aware of the model, uses it for the framework of his stories.

Interesting

[seriously honestly]

Not that the authors have said, although (kind of like what Ellen mentioned) the story of the Passion often finds it's way into the books we love even if the author doesn't necessarily intend it to.  The notion that someone would have such a pure, complete and powerful love for another that they would willing to risk everything and/or sacrifice themselves for the other's sake is an idea that we are perplexed by and yet strongly drawn to (maybe even a little obsessed with).

 

Harry Potter, however, was one that did have intentional religious themes and undertones to it 

[saemo]

Watched Divergent yesterday with my wife who is a fan of the book series, and also the Hunger Game series, am more excited about the upcoming How To Train A Dragon 2, but she is more sensitive to religious themes than I am.

The "Hunger Games" books remind me of godless communism, with ideas/approaches from secular humanism, not religious.

[Stone holm]

The "Hunger Games" books remind me of godless communism, with ideas/approaches from secular humanism, not religious.

Godless humanism, I sometimes wonder how really godless humanism is. It has done so much good in the world.

[saemo]

Godless humanism, I sometimes wonder how really godless humanism is. It has done so much good in the world.

It has a major flaw: reliance on humans.

[altersteve]

It has a major flaw: reliance on humans.

 

Humans are pretty freaking great, though. We do some pretty cool things sometimes.

Edited May 2, 2014 by altersteve

[Stone holm]

Humans are pretty freaking great, though. We do some pretty cool things sometimes.

I tend to agree. Much of our social progress has been dependent on humanism during the last couple centuries especially, that is why I am not sure how godless it is.

[thesometimesaint]

It has a major flaw: reliance on humans.

 

Humanism is the idea that human problems are caused by humans and must be solved by humans, if they're going to be solved at all.

[saemo]

Humanism is the idea that human problems are caused by humans and must be solved by humans, if they're going to be solved at all.

I was a secular humanist for the majority of my life. It has its plusses, but is a flawed ideology. It is more than obvious to me that human caused problems cannot be solved by the same humans who caused them, alone, without God.

[thesometimesaint]

I was a secular humanist for the majority of my life. It has its plusses, but is a flawed ideology. It is more than obvious to me that human caused problems cannot be solved by the same humans who caused them, alone, without God.

 

I believe God can inspire us to do great things. But the actual implementation of that inspiration is up to us.

[Stone holm]

Humanism is the idea that human problems are caused by humans and must be solved by humans, if they're going to be solved at all.

 

Some of the early proponents of humanism were actually religionists, I think the idea of labeling humanists as atheists or antagonistic to religion was a fairly late development.  It was the guiding principle behind the Enlightenment, and has been very beneficial in the last couple centuries in avoiding having debate and thinking regarding social reform and improvement getting bogged down in sectarian squables -- unfortunately, the Christian Right has condemned it as atheistic, and we see what a splendid impact dragging sectarian religious views into the public political forum has had on American politics.