Knowing

I usually try to keep this space open to topics related to the Great OutDoors, whether it be a planned event, an interesting natural occurrence, or something that piqued my interest on one of our outings. Today, however, is different.

Valerie and I went to the movies last weekend and we watched a film I had really wanted to see: Knowing.

Now, I have never been a big Nicholas Cage fan, either as an actor (he's kind of "wooden"), or, for the most part, the movies he's chosen to be a part of. At least, until recently. I've enjoyed the National Treasure movies. Knowing looked like another film in that vein, and it was - sort of. In fact, it reminded me of the movie Signs in many ways.

There are a lot of Christian themes woven throughout. They are, in fact, essential to the story. I sat the entire movie trying to decide whether I liked what the filmmakers were doing, or if they were just accurate enough to be trouble; kind of like Satan in Genesis to Adam and Eve, "Did God really say ..."

This isn't meant to be a review, per se, but there are elements that stick out. I had no complaint with the content of the film, but for a film called Knowing, there is a lot in the movie that leaves you un-knowing. There are many signs in the movie, but where do they lead? Do they lead to a dead-end? Or, like Bruce in Bruce Almighty, seeing the signs, but not really seeing them, do I have to say that “I Saw the Sign, but it failed to open up my eyes”? While there are some things we will never be able to know (Is. 55:8-9), the things in this movie shouldn’t have been among them. What follows is a partial list of the things I am still in the dark on.

The biggest one is: What's the deal with the rocks? The filmmakers make a point of showing this rock being passed along (I won't share between whom, in case you haven't seen the movie yet). And yet, there appears to be no real significance to these rocks. When they finally get there, both Valerie and my reaction was, “That’s it?!”

Another thought was: What's the ultimate point of the list of numbers given to the little girl? What's the point of being told of future events if no one could do anything to stop, or alter them? Cage’s character tries to act on them, but he’s really limited by a lack of knowledge as to what they mean. In case you missed my earlier Ace of Base reference, here’s another, "Life is demanding Without understanding." Later in the movie, Cage’s character comes to a realization and makes a valid point: God’s prophecies never fail. If a prophecy fails, you can know it was not from God. So these initial prophecies are all leading up to the final one and because they have all come to pass, this last one can be trusted also. That is meant to be a comfort and a reassurance that God is indeed in control of events.

That seemed to be the dilemma in the first place, as Cage’s character struggled with life. Is there randomness in life and all of creation, or is there design, purpose and order. The events that transpire in the film argue for the latter. And that makes perfect sense because God, the designer of life, is a God of order and He gives purpose to everything.

The next thing I was unclear about: Are they angels or aliens? “Argh, not space ships! Why did they have to do spaceships?” That was my first thought. The filmmakers were faithful to the book of Ezekiel – sort of. Read Ezekiel 1 when you get a chance; I suppose you can see aliens and spaceships there if you wanted to. Though, as Captain Kirk asked in Star Trek: The Final Frontier (1989), “What need does God have for a Starship?” I mean, besides being omnipresent (everywhere, all the time), He can pretty much do what He wants since He is outside of the laws He created. The description of the beings described in Ezekiel really don’t resemble those of the film either. There again, the film’s angels more closely resemble angels as they are described in other places in the Bible.

The final piece I felt should have been clear, but that I left not knowing: How did Cage’s character “know” he would see everyone else again? And similar: Who, exactly, was going to be safely reunited after the final event? If the answer to that one was, “Everyone,” there’s a big problem.

The movie seemed to indicate that that was the case – all dogs go to heaven (well, all people in this case). That simply isn’t the case and that’s one fact I do know (and Cage’s character could actually know also; even though he knew very little else)! The Bible is quite clear about that one: it’s only by faith in the substitutionary death of Jesus for your sins, that you get into the final scene!