Hey - saw The Shack with my wife last week - loved it!
Glad to hear that... is it a movie based on Biblical beliefs? If it
is please let us know since it was in the Bible echo.
She had read the book more than once, but I had never
started it. That is now changed. Loved it so much I
wanted to read the book too... :-)
I had a suspicion it would be an uplifting type of movie from what I
saw. I took my little cousins to see the new Beauty and the Beast on reservation since they said one of the characters would be openly gay.
I must have been in the bathroom when it happened but I really didn't
see that.
The cartoon I've showed during many summer children's programs at the
Church, lockins and sleepovers. It does have things that can be
paralleled into the Bible. One being Forgiveness and unconditional
love.
In the cartoon, shortly after we meet Belle, she stops where and sings
to what? She stops at a fountain, and she tells a story in song to a
little lamb. A fountain is like a well, and in the Scripture, it's
typically the place a man and woman have a significant meeting (recall
Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, Moses and Zipporah, Jesus and the Samaritan Woman). Well, in B&B, we see Belle singing to the lamb: "She
doesn't discover that it's HIM till chaper 3"
Betcha never connected that "Mary had a little lamb, little lamb,
little lamb. Mary had a little lamb whose wool was white as snow" is
talking about the Blessed Mother who has a Son who is innocent and
pure.
What about what causes the prince in B&B to be cursed? Wouldn't that
be the sin of pride? Being spoiled, selfish, unkind; and pride causes
us to be isolated to the point that we curse ourselves. Pride was the
Original Sin, and it caused us to be disfigured, naked, ashamed,
lonely and doomed to die. And so after the prince commits this sin, he
becomes a beast: ugly, naked, ashamed, lonely, and doomed to die.
Our sin never affects us in isolation. Sin is like contagion: it
spreads. And so Adam and Eve's sin caused all of us and the rest of
Creation to crash and burn. In B&B, the curse spreads throughout the
castle, infects the servants, the forest, the world around the
property. Sin is never personal; it affects everyone eventually.
And only what can redeem Beast and his servants? Only if he truly
loves and is truly loved in return, right? And doesn't Belle bear that
love? She's the one to break the curse, she must give her love to him,
must give her word to him. Notice later in the film that it's only
when Belle says she loves him is the curse busted. This is so symbolic
of Mary's fiat to the Archangel Gabriel, when she said let it be".
At the ball, notice the colors of Belle's gown: yellow and white.
Those are the colors of Mother Church, the Bride of Christ, the
redeemed. The colors of the Vatican flag hint at this.
When Gaston (whatta jerk,) attacks Beast, where does he stab him? In
the side! The right side! Take a look at any crucifix and you'll see
that's exactly where Jesus was pierced (John 19:34).
And earlier when Beast released Belle after the ball, he in effect
accepted sin (the curse) and death. Recall Beast's response when his
servants warn him of the mob's approach: "It doesn't matter, just let
them come." This is a bit similar to when Jesus accepted our sin
(though he was sinless) and accepted His impending death, even death
on a cross.
But true love breaks the spell (remember that God is love). After Mary
gives her fiat, God is allowed to intervene (allowed to love) at the
ground level of our humanity to redeem us through the Passion and
Resurrection of Jesus. And in B&B, after Belle's fiat, we see Beast
rise from the dead in glorious light. His body shines forth as a
glorified body. This is totally an allegory in the movie for the
Resurrection of Christ!
And Beast's salvation also saves the whole castle (transforms all the gargoyle's too!), all his servants and the world around him.
Beast can be seen as a Christ figure, in that Jesus is also known as
the Lion of Judah, an idea that C.S. Lewis used when writing the
character Aslan in his Chronicles of Narnia.
Found out recently via a comment on an old blog post that the Prince's
name is actually Adam, this further adds to Biblical symbolism, since
the New Adam (Jesus) and the New Eve (Mary) in a perfect way undo the
sin of the first Adam and Eve. We see this played out in Beauty and
the Beast because Adam (the Prince) becomes a new man at the end (a
new Adam), undoing the past sin (most importantly with the love and
help of Belle [who can be seen as a type of Mary, a new Eve.]).
We see an even deeper connection now that we know the Beast symbolizes
Adam, we also can see how similar their reaction to sin is. After the
Original Adam sinned, he felt great shame, thought himself ugly and
hid himself. So too does the Beast do this!
Lots and lots of symbolism in that film... even the stained glass
windows you see :-)
Allen
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