White's 20 movies and their meanings

Movies of the Last Decade

Armond White had two articles today on National Review Online this morning dealing with movies and a break point for the culture a decode ago.  The first "The Year the Culture Broke" pointed to two movies and stated "All entertainment now reflects our political division."

The second, "Across the Ungreat Divide," lists 20 movies that "effectively destroyed art, social unity, and spiritual confidence. They constitute a corrupt, carelessly politicized canon."

In reading his list of these movies I noted that a few of them have strong characteristics of Christianity, or speak to or about the church. 

White --  2) The Dark Knight (2008) used the Batman myth to undermine heroism, overturn social mores, and embrace anarchy.

It seemed to me that The Dark Knight dealt with the dispute between anarchy and order.  In the end the dark knight takes upon himself the guilt that justly belongs on another, Harvey Dent.  I saw here a reflection of Christ taking the just punishment our sins deserve upon himself.  The Dark Knight didn't die to save Harvey, but he had to run because it was necessary for the authorities to chase him, so that Harvey's good name could be saved.  The consequences of this deception are realized in the movie's sequel, The Dark Knight Rises.

It is true that Heath Ledger's character, Joker, personifies anarchy, and the accolades Ledger received for his portrayal tended to embrace anarchy.  But, the Joker was not the protagonist, nor was he victorious in the end.  His view of the people of Gotham was debunked with the scene involving the ferries.

White -- 3) Ocean’s Twelve (2004) — Steven Soderbergh salutes land of the greedy and home of the depraved in a reboot franchise sequel, scoffing at the post-War conviction of Sinatra’s Rat Pack original.

In this film I saw a story about the Son of Man and his relationship to the Church. At the close of the film, Brad Pitt's character, Rusty Ryan, leads Catherine Zeta-Jones' character,  Isabel Lahiri to her father, whom she has had almost no relationship with since childhood.  This is the story of the Son-of-Man who like Tobiah leads his bride home to meet his blind father, Tobit.  Isabel, an image of the Church, is led home to her father who is God the Father, by her bridegroom, the Christ.

White -- 5) Wall-E (2008) — Nihilism made cute for children of all ages who know nothing about cultural history or how to sustain it.

Though this film is the "Bambi" of environmentalism, I saw in this movie a part of the story of the Church.  The church is represented by Eve as well as the ship, the Axiom.  Eve is sent to look for plant life on a desolate earth.  She doesn't find it.  However, a simple robot named Wall-E, whose job it is to clean up the mess left behind finds growing plant life, but does not know how significant it is.  He, in the process of showing Eve his greatest treasures, shows her the plant.  This causes an automatic response in Eve, and she is reclaimed by the Axiom to bring the object of her search to the Captain.

Wall-E follows.  He is like a bull in a china shop once on the Axiom producing a rag tag group of broken robots that follow him.  He and Eve are labeled rogue robots and are hunted by the authorities.  The autopilot of the Axiom, which runs the ship on behalf of the Captain, has received secret orders to NEVER return to Earth because the automated attempt to clean up the mess, has failed.  Wall-E and Eve bring the good news of the growing plant to the Captain in spite of the autopilot.  Wall-E is seriously damaged in this endeavor.

The Captain asserts his authority and launches the ship back to earth, in order to save the earth.  During the closing credits, the initial plant is shown as the basis for a growing tree and a rebuilding of life on the earth.

The tree is an image of the Church, as is Eve, as is the Axiom.   Who does Wall-E represent?