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« on: Jun 27, 2010, 06:24 PM »
I rather liked Book of Eli; was prepared to hate it. SPOILERS FOLLOW if you care.
Jack- It's not really about religion and it makes no claims about God or belief-- it's about literacy and how important it is for everyone in a functioning society to have access to all information. Gary Oldman's character was going to use the bible to rule people, in much the way that religion has been used to rule people throughout history-- by keeping the religious texts themselves unavailable to the public, and with them literacy and the capacity for free thought on the issue. Development of the printing press and widespread literacy changed this more than anything else-- that is why the printing press at the end of the movie is so significant.
It's about culture and literacy and keeping information freely available. The fact that the book is the bible is ONLY significant for the historical echoes. Speaking as an atheist with a fair bit of contempt for much of organized religion, I enjoy the movie and I think the message in it is pretty important. It's CRITICAL of Christianity, if anything-- Oldman's character highlights many of the social problems Christianity/religion has caused.
Yeah the dialogue was pretty lame and melodramatic, but I figure that's about par for the course as far as action movies are concerned these days.