The Prince of Egypt 1998

"Who made man's mouth, who made the deaf mute the seeing in the blind. Did not I?"


"When all you got is nothing, there's a lot to go around."

There are many events in our lives that we certainly regret. Though these events do not define who we are and, they do not determine who we can be. Life is difficult and it has many challenges though we cannot allow these challenges to overwhelm us and deny us our dignity as sons and daughters of God.
It is these difficulties in fact that often allow us to realize the very dignity that we so often forget. Perhaps that truth is what makes the Prince of Egypt so compelling as an adaption of the biblical story of Moses. The film drives home the weight of that dignity, of being a child of God. In the process it effortlessly integrates that reality with our human nature. In other words it beautifully illustrates how God is always with us through the hardships of life.

"You must look at your life through heaven's eyes."

The Prince of Egypt is a film built on human weakness and our need for God. I certainly don't want to generalize here. Though it seems to me that these types of films. Films of the religious variety often present their main characters as self-righteous warriors for God. It is in this characterization however that these films stumble. They offer us a God that is weak. A God that needs our help, instead of us needing Him. In these instances it seems "The self" overpowers the righteous acts that we are able to accomplish in almost every case.
God is not a God of self-reliance nor is he a God of abandonment. That is why The Prince of Egypt is so transformative in its portrayal of Moses. The film offers us a Moses who is weak and faulty just as we are. Those weaknesses and faults however, allow Moses to grow, to change and to realize that he has the ability, through the grace of God, to be better.

"Who made man's mouth, who made the deaf mute the seeing in the blind. Did not I?"

God may choose the weak because they are greater avenues to show forth his power to others. Though, He also chooses them because He loves them and he made them. To put it another way, He made us all, with our capacity to face difficulties and struggles, born of our free will and human nature. Though these abnormalities do not make us any less to Him. We are all equal in dignity in His eyes, and we all have the ability to succeed in His plan for our lives. No matter where we begin.
On its animation pedigree alone The Prince of Egypt is a worthwhile moviegoing experience. As an added bonus directors Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner and Simon Wells, with the entire team at DreamWorks animation. Offer us an extraordinary human glimpse into a journey from slavery into freedom. A journey enriched, as all human lives are, by the power and wonder of God.

Rated PG for intense depiction of thematic elements

I found The Prince of Egypt to be extremely entertaining, inspiring, meaningful and thought-provoking. I hope in some way you do too.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My Top 5 Films of 2024

Image
5.  Twisters 2024 “Nature's masterpiece.” If you feel it, chase it” “You don't face your fears you ride them” All right, I'll just say it, Twisters is an exhilarating experience. It is one of the most well orchestrated summer blockbusters that I have seen in years. Yet, it is also a film that never forgets the vehicles of utter power and destruction that it illustrates on-screen. Perhaps that is the film's strength: it is able, in a real tangible way, to convey these acts of God with respect and reverence for their awesome power. It does this, without losing, for one second the thrill and wonder of the chase. Twisters is a roller coaster ride in the best sense of the phrase. It has heart, meaning and poignancy in every inch of its special effects filled plunge, into the thrills and difficulties of storm chasing. On that note it is a movie that uses all of the available filmic and auditory tools to the greatest effect. At least to my ears Twisters is an exh...
Read more

Who Made Man's Mouth: Recontextualizing Disability as an Ordinary, Every Day, Purpose Driven Life

Image
Michelangelo's Moses c.1513-1515 Who Made Man's Mouth:   Recontextualizing Disability as an Ordinary, Every Day, Purpose Driven Life     "I want to live in a world where we value genuine achievement for disabled people, and I want to live in a world where a kid in year 11 at a Melbourne high school is not one bit surprised that his new teacher is a wheelchair user. Disability does not make you exceptional, but questioning what you think you know about it does." -Stella Young, TEDxSidney 2014      When you realize that perhaps you've been misunderstanding a core tenant of  yourself for a better part of your life, you begin to deconstruct the factors that brought you to that realization. Now, before we start this journey I want to say that I am not a theologian nor am I trying to be one. This endeavor is as much a journey of discovery for me as it is for you. It is a recontextualization of ...
Read more

The Boys in the Boat 2023

Image
 " It's called Swing, when all eight are rowing in such perfect unison that no single action is out of sync with the rest of the boat. Then you aren't fighting each other, you're moving less effort. Each one of your strokes is worth one and a half of the other boats. Most groups never find it, but when they do, rowing is more poetry than sport.” What does it take to be one? How do we overcome our innate desire to be loners, to fend for ourselves? These are questions that The Boys in the Boat attempts to answer. As a film the story of the 1936 Washington State Crew team brings us back to essentials. What is Sport? Is it a singular endeavor or does it require a team? The truth is, even when a singular person is on the field, their skills are still being honed by many hands. This is the essential aspect of Sport that we are asked to recall in thls engaging journey of the Washington Crew team, as they seek for Olympic Gold. It may seem like you've seen ever...
Read more