ARK #1: Darren Aronofksy's Set for his Film Noah (March 28) 

Reportedly 75 feet tall, 450 feet long, and 45 feet wide, Aronofsky's ark for Noah went up on ground in New York back in 2012. While building the set for Noah, director Darren Aronofsky tweeted:

"I dreamt about this since I was 13. And now it's a reality. Genesis 6:14."  

Building a physical ark is a dramatic undertaking. When in October, Hurricane Sandy's path ran directly over the Oyster Bay, NY set making it inaccessible, even the cast savored the diluvian realia of thier biblical project. Emma Watson who plays Ila in the Noah movie, tweeted "I take it that the irony of a massive storm holding up the production of Noah is not lost." 

 

The ark for the Noah movie could have been digitally generated. Indeed, digital artists will bring every single bird and beast to life in the film's impressive pilgrimage of the animals. But Aronofsky insisted that there be a physical ark. In a recent article for the Hollywood Reporter, Aronofsky speaks about

"'honoring and respecting everything in the Bible and accepting it as truth.' Genesis describes the ark as a giant box, he says, and that's what he wanted for the film. "Of course, my production designer [Mark Friedberg] had a million ideas of what it could look like, but I said, 'No, the measurements are right there.'"

 

Of course, Aronofsky is here defending against pressures from Paramount studio and all the media worries about whether his film is 'biblical' enough. Aronofsky's repeated references to the biblical text can be seen as his trial-defense in a cultural climate that automatically assumes the entire country is both biblically literate and literal in their biblicism. Come March 28th, we will see where the country stands on these issues. But for now, it is clear, no matter the prosecution, that Aronofsky has an attachment to and a very strong vision for the Noah story and its physical ark.

 

ARK #2: Ken Ham's "Ark Encounter" Theme Park

Ken Ham's "Ark Encounter" promises a life-sized "biblically accurate" ark as theme park. Just recently greenlighted with $73 million in funding, it will receive visitors through its hallways of farm animals, snack bars, and exhibits defending a literalist interpretation of Genesis. With three decks planned, we see a juxtaposition of noctournal mokeys, "cat kinds," and sloths. On the third floor, a visitor can peer into Noah's living quarters right after rounding the corner on "Flood & Post-Flood Geology." At the prow of the vessel, stands Christ's Theater. Jesus did like ministering on boats, after all. 

 

Proximate to its sister Creation museum, Ark Encounter doubles down on the core mission to provide biblical literalists a space to experience their counter-cultural realities. Ken Ham is a 7-day creationist. His organization, Answers in Genesis, affirms a global flood, takes evolution as an enemy of Christianity, and argues that true faith in Jesus Christ requires reading Genesis as literal history. The literal ark is tantamount to the truth-value of Christ's salvific plan. According to the project's vision statement:

To rebuild the Ark, to full-scale biblical dimensions, as a sign to the world that God's Word is true and its message of salvation must be heeded (Romans 3:4, 5:12). Just as the Ark in Noah's day was a sign of salvation, as well as judgment, an Ark rebuilt today can be a sign to point to Jesus Christ, the Ark of our salvation, and to coming judgment (II Peter 3:5-13, John 10:9).

 

Currently hosting 280,000 visitors a year in Petersburg, KY, the Creation museum is actually showing signs of cultural fatigue. Visitor numbers have dwindled over the last several years, prompting park designers to install secular zip lines and sky bridges as carrots.  However, Ark Encounter promises to drive pilgrims using sticks. The flood is a parade example of Christian judgment and salvation for Ken Ham. Fear has always worked well for religion. And so, the Ark Encounter may fare far better than its Creation counterpart. Make no mistake, Ken Ham is using the media about the Noah movie to his financial advantage. He did it with Bill Nye, he's doing it with Aronofsky's ark.

 

Despite the dubious motives of Ken Ham's marketing, these two arks do present us with a new take on the culture wars. I think there's a good chance that Ken Ham will lose this one. He spent his career polishing his war on science. He's not ready to take on artistic genius.

 

A New Culture War

Darren Aronofsky and Ken Ham stand in very different places on the American cultural landscape. Aronofsky is an acclaimed Hollywood director. He went to Harvard and studied Social Anthropology. His films take on violent, disturbing themes and tones of human experience. His Noah promises to be conflicted and weighed down by ehtical conviction about the wickedness of human behavior. Aronofsky is Jewish.

 

Ken Ham is an Australian-born evangelical Christian for whom a radically literal interpretation of Genesis is paramount (pun intended). President of Answers in Genesis, he has long cultivated a leadership position over the faith and business ventures of young-earth Christians. With a bachelor's degree in Applied Science/Environmental Biology from Queensland Institute of Technology, Ham spent his career in organizations devoted to creationist science. His Noah is an obedient, righteous historical figure whose flood realigned the planet's geological strata, repopulated the earth with animal "kinds," and heralded the ancestors of all human population a mere 6,000 years ago.

 

I cannot imagine the occassion where these two men would meet and find common cause. Nevertheless, they are building arks at the same time. They are also making movies at the same time.  Ken Ham, ever the opportunist, plans to release a YouTube film called "Noah and the Last Days" on March 28th to coincide with Aronofsky's film release. He made a trailer. He has seed-money in his sails.