The Avengers and Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Fr Robert Barron recently reviewed the latest MARVEL movie installment, Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Fr Barron sees in Joss Whedon's latest entry what he describes as:

a sort of antidote to Tolkien and Lewis, shaping the imaginations of young people so as to receive a distinctly different message.

and

Although some have seen Biblical themes at work in all of this, I see pretty much the opposite, namely, an affirmation of a Nietzschean view of life.

I do not dispute with Fr Barron about the "Nietzschean view of life," but I have a somewhat different take on the movie.

I was reminded of the folktale of the Golem of Prague when I was watching "Ultron."

The folktale is displayed in the voiceover portion of one episode of the 1st season of Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles (TSCC).

In the episode entitled "Heavy Metal," the voiceover occurs in the 1st scene and in the final scene.

 

 

 





Two versions of the Golem story appear in Ultron.  The First is the construction of Ultron, and the second is the making of a "Golem" to help defeat Ultron.

I found the voiceover in the final scene of TSCC Heavy Metal telling.  Sarah says:

        "The Pride of man."

and that is finally what Ultron is about, the pride of man running amok.

Fr Barron brings his review to a close by saying:

What the Christian can seize upon in this film is the frank assertion that the will to power -- even backed up by stunningly sophisticated technology -- never finally solves our difficulties, that it, in point of fact, makes things worse. See the Tower of Babel narrative for the details. And this admission teases the mind to consider the possibility that the human predicament can be addressed finally only through the invasion of grace. 

Once that door is opened, the Gospel can be proclaimed.

Yes, it is only through grace that pride can be overcome.

I very much enjoy watching TSCC, especially season one because of the voiceover that accompanies each episode.