I wrote this yesterday:
Spoiler Warning
When I first heard about “The Book of Eli,” my first impression was “must-see.” Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman in the same movie? I’m there. I avoided spoilers, but I remember seeing a headline that the movie was “friendly” to Christians and one calling it offensive or insulting to Christians.
I was wary. Was the title alluding to some “lost,” non-canonical book of the Bible called “The Book of Eli,” which would enlighten the post-apocalyptic world? Was it a lost book of the Bible that, if found before the apocalypse, could have prevented it?
Today I saw “The Book of Eli,” liked it, and concluded it’s neither pro-Christian nor anti-Christian.
Story (If you’ve seen the movie, skip this part if you like. Pardon typos!)
A man named Eli walks through a post-apocalypse Mad-Max, lawless world with a mysterious book in his backpack. Water is scarce, and so is human decency. Eli beats back an ambush (understatement!) and witnesses a group of “travelers” shoot a man and rape his female companion (no gratuitous images of the attack). Eli doesn’t stop the attack, because he knows he needs to focus on his mission, which is taking him west.
He stops in a sort of barter town to charge a battery and replenish his water. Gary Oldman’s character, Carnegie, is leader of the town and wants the book Eli possesses and asks Eli to stick around. Eli declines. Carnegie “invites” Eli to stay overnight and think it over. Carnegie sends his blind girlfriend’s (wife’s?) daughter, Solara, to convince him (ahem) to give up the book. Eli doesn’t take the bait.
Eli clearly is on a mission with the book. Although Solara can’t read, he doesn’t want her (or anyone else) to even touch it. Carnegie says if he had the book, people would listen to him. He and his men could establish more towns and run their small new world. What is this book?
Jump-cut to Eli escaping and killing most of Carnegie’s men, and injuring Carnegie in the leg. Naturally, to slow things down plot-wise, Solara follows him out of town from distance. He ditches her but returns to save her from gang-rape. We learn that whatever caused the widespread devastation happened 31 years previous. Eli and Carnegie are old enough to remember a time when people had “more than they needed.” Eli tells Solara a voice told him to go west with the book.
Carnegie and his men catch up with Eli and Solara, Eli is shot, and Carnegie and his men take the book and the girl. At this point I’m thinking Carnegie in fact doesn’t have the book, and Eli pulled a switcheroo. As it turns out, Carnegie does have the book. But there’s a catch.
Meanwhile, on the way back to barter town against her will, Solara strangles the driver, which causes the vehicle to flip over. Not only does she survive, she gets out of the car, unpins a grenade, and throws it under one of the returning vehicles. Boom. Gone. Carnegie decides not to go after the girl. He has the book. That’s all that matters.
Solara returns to retrieve Eli, but he’s gone. She finds him on the road, and they continue west to San Francisco. They row across the bay to a museum-like place, which apparently preserves and restores artifacts from the old world.
Back to Carnegie in barter town. He opens the book and looks at the pages, stunned. The book he risked lives and lost men for is in Braille, which he can’t read. He asks his blind girlfriend to read it, but she claims she’s forgotten how. A lie, obviously. This is her revenge for the way he’s treated her and her daughter.
Back to the museum. Here is the point of the whole movie, the whole journey: the book is the Bible, King James Version. The museum has been searching for a copy of it. Eli has memorized the Bible and begins to dictate it to the museum guy. After his work is done, he dies. The museum guy puts a printed and bound copy of the Bible (dubbed “New King James Version”)next to the Koran and other books.
This is not the full plot, and some of the facts and order of events may not be accurate. These are my recollections based on one viewing a couple hours ago.
Commentary
So, did the voice of…God?…tell Eli to read and memorize the Bible to preserve it, or was he delusional? First, the book is in Braille, but throughout the movie, Eli obviously wasn’t blind. Or was he? Did “God” gave him sight for his mission, or the brief ability to read Braille?
Second, the Bible is the world’s best selling book. It’s not plausible that one would be unable to find a copy a mere 31 years after an apocalypse. If a biography of Mussolini and a copy of The Da Vinci Code are still around, surely one would find copies of the Bible. Then again, maybe there are other people like Eli wandering the planet bringing Bibles and other books to places of restoration and preservation.
Was Eli delusional in thinking a voice told him to go west? He may have heard about the museum, and through years of walking, convinced himself that a voice told him to go. It definitely makes the journey more spiritual.
Why did Carnegie want the Bible? Did he know the book he wanted was the Bible? Why would having it mean he’d rule over more people?
I was pleased when I realized this mysterious book was–lo and behold– God’s revelation. From a Christian standpoint, this is good. Let’s assume Eli was guided by the God of the Bible. He persevered through adversity, memorized God’s Word, and dictated it for preservation. We Christians believe that for thousands of years, God has supernaturally protected and preserved his revelation. The movie gives the impression that Eli is the only person left who knows what’s in the Bible, however, and only he (or another Braille reader) can reveal it.
Hmmm…God, Creator of the universe, has put all his eggs into one basket, so to speak? The Gospel of Jesus Christ would be lost to new generations but for Eli?
I don’t recall if Eli mentioned God at the museum. Who will the museum guy say is the author of the book: Eli or men of old inspired by the Holy Spirit?
When I saw a “rare” copy of the Koran and other holy books, I thought perhaps there were others like Eli, “walking in faith” to San Francisco to help preserve civilizations’ important books. If so, did these people also hear a voice tell them to go west?
The Bible teaches that through Jesus Christ the Son is the only way to God the Father. If this is true, then other faiths claiming otherwise are wrong. If the God of the Bible indeed told Eli to memorize the book and go to the museum and dictate it, would that same God also lead others to do the same with the Koran or the Tipitaka? My first impulse is to say no. But I don’t know. For reasons of his own, God has allowed false gospels to spread, all to his glory. But I can’t believe that God, as revealed in the Bible, would empower and guide someone to risk his life to preserve the Koran.
The movie is neither pro- nor anti-Christian, in my opinion. Preserving important books after an apocalypse is good. Risking one’s life to protect what’s probably the only copy of the Bible is even better.
Head-Shaking-Time-For-Football Moment
At this point, I have to laugh. It’s only a movie, and people will divine their own meaning (pardon the pun) from it.
Based on these and other impressions, here’s my interpretation of the movie:
At an earlier point, Eli decided to go to the museum, because he’d heard people there restored and preserved important books. Walking alone for so many years, traumatized by the destruction of civilization and rampant violence, and having to kill or be killed, Eli convinced himself that a voice in his head told him to keep going west. Over the years, he forgot the specific location, and the journey became spiritual for him.
I can’t remember the last time I blogged a movie. It’s rare that something out of Hollywood makes this kind of impression of me these days. Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman were the draw, and finding out the mysterious book was the Bible was the inspiration.
Rest easy, everybody! Gotta get ready for pre-game.
