Noah's Character

 

Jackie A. Wyse-Rhodes One thing I noticed in both trailers was the emphasis on the title character, Noah -- on his emotions, his inner drama. After watching the trailers, I went back and re-read Genesis 6-9, and unless I'm mistaken, I don't think Noah speaks at all while building the ark or while on the ark ... in fact, he does not speak until he is found naked and drunk by his sons! Then he curses and blesses his sons accordingly. Except for this, the only speaker in the biblical account is God. I find this fascinating. In the popular imagination (or at least in my imagination!) the flood story is quite caught up in the actions of its human characters. How many Sunday School lessons have I heard about having the courage to act radically if God tells you too, like Noah did?! But Genesis 6-9 pivots on God's grief for a corrupted and violent creation and God's subsequent radical and violent decision to push the "delete" button and start over (with the exception of an ark-full of the faithful). This is not a criticism of the film – indeed, how weird and possibly uninteresting it would it be to make a film about the flood from God's perspective! But I find it notable how much the trailers got inside Noah's head – something that doesn't happen in the Hebrew Bible.

 

Ingrid Esther Lilly I agree Jackie, that the focus on Noah's character is striking. I think it's telling that older films of the biblical deluge are always called Noah's Ark or Noah's Flood. This one is just called: "Noah!" On the level of popular culture, I see this as an emblem of our entertainment culture - a fascination with (hyper-)masculine heroism. Does this film pass the Bechdeltest? Or should we see it as one in a series of super-hero films, like Batman, Spiderman, Superman, Captain America, the Avengers, Wolverine...X-Men, Man of Steel...Hyper-powerful, super-human, amped-up masculinity on crack!.

 

Ingrid Esther Lilly I have to flesh out this thought about gender a little further, before I get back to your excellent post!: ...Having thought about masculinity and religion for some time now, I am very interested in discourses about the ideal religious man. It's not the exact same man as popular culture constructs as the hegemonic ideal. The hegemonic ideal in most of these super-hero films is the working class, white, strong individual man who holds unknown powers within him to conquer some illogical or impossible force or corruption. The ideal religious man usually embodies a virtue, often it is faith. It is also often a secret power that he develops as he pursues the course of his life. He is usually softer, but no less buff or triumphant over the forces of evil, perhaps even *more* triumphant over the forces of evil. I can think of several people who would have lots to say on this: Susan Haddox and Tracy Lemos come to mind! 

 

Ingrid Esther Lilly Jackie - on the issue of Noah as a Sunday School model... Ronald Veenker wrote a great essay for the site on the fact that the Bible does not reference Noah the preacher, but many of the post-biblical stories do; in some cases, Noah delivers a lengthy sermon because he loves and wants to save the unrighteous generation! It is amazing how much Noah stands in the 'aggadic' imagination as a model for a righteous prophet who warns his generation of the coming destruction. The only problem is: Noah never delivers such a sermon.

 

Jackie A. Wyse-Rhodes Ingrid - I love what you are are thinking about Noah as a Superhero. In fact, I think the American trailer might emphasize that even more than the British one. Did you notice that the American trailer starts with Noah, a man alone in his tent? The first 15 seconds of the trailer are ALL Noah! The UK trailer, on the other hand, starts with an evocative stream of water, then fire from heaven, then an image of the whole earth, then more fire from heaven, then Akkad, then Noah's family, and only then, at 0:13, do we see Noah. I think the more mythic, cosmic, mysterious opening would speak to a UK audience .... whereas Americans are perhaps invested in the individual heroic man!

 

Erika Fitz I am more intrigued by this movie after seeing the trailer. I think the superhero--but superhero-as-religious-hero--theme is exactly right. I am always drawn to how the biblical stories function as deep-structure-myths. What are they tapping into? When it was told? Or as it is retold?

 

Ronald Veenker Ingrid, you said above: "The hegemonic ideal in most of these super-hero films is the working class, white, strong individual man who holds unknown powers within him to conquer some illogical or impossible force or corruption." This reminds me of the biblical "super-hero" tradition of the "36 Righteous." Well, let me say that the legend only became known as the "36" righteous in the middle ages. Abraham bargains with God to save Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis. "... how many of the righteous [zaddiqim] would it require ...." This tradition is alive in other parts of the Hebrew and Greek Bibles. What brings it to my mind is Ezekiel 14:14: "even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God." The legend which still lives in modern literature and storytelling suggests that there are upon the earth at all times 36 righteous men whose personal merit redeems the earth and stays God's hand from destroying his world. They come back to earth to help the Jewish people when they are in trouble (e.g., Daniel), Elijah who comes back at Passover every year, or in the NT Moses and Elijah meet with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. So, these are ancient strong individuals who have unknown powers with them to deter evil.

 

Ingrid Esther Lilly Ronald - the 36 righteous tradition is so cool. A great connection! Since you mention the Ezekiel 14 reference to Noah, it is striking to combine your two points - that Noah doesn't deliver a sermon in Genesis and that Ezekiel's Noah would only deliver his own life. Noah's life and work are not enough to save the rest of humanity, not in Ezekiel nor in Genesis. I wonder if there is an angle for thinking about why he was associated with saving the animals, aside from the obvious etiological need to explain why they all still live on the post-flood earth. ...and why do both Ezekiel and Genesis seem to share a theology of the impotence of the righteous man?

 

Jackie A. Wyse-Rhodes Fantastic thoughts, Ingrid and Ronald! I wonder if this impotence could have something to do with Noah's subsequent drunkenness in Genesis (survivor's guilt? or was he celebrating?!). I also wonder if Aronofsky picked up on this sense of impotence, and that's one reason why Noah is such a tormented man on board the ark, with murderous inclinations!

 

Ronald Veenker Wow, interesting take on the two passages, Ingrid. I was taking almost an opposite approach to Ezek 14, i.e., when a land acts faithlessly and sins against God, even the three TOP righteous heroes of the HB, those who have redeemed so many, could only save themselves. Noah did redeem his extended family and got them on the ark. Daniel saved the nation during the Babylonian Captivity. But whom did Job redeem? Let me think more about your idea before I address this theme further.