Many movie goers have come up short after watching M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller, The Happening. They come away believing it’s one man’s sermon on Global Warming, and the evils we humans have performed at the expense of the plantlife of this planet and now it’s their turn to retaliate on us.
However, this is not the whole case. Like all of Shyamalan’s films, there are many layers of storytelling and a much deeper meaning/theme to The Happening.
Let’s first go over the plot: people begin to commit suicide in the north eastern part of the United States. They begin to talk funny, pause in their walking, walk backwards then find some way to kill themselves.
Mark Wahlberg plays high school science teacher, Elliot Moore, who becomes the main character. We also meet Moore’s teacher friend, Julian (John Leguizamo), Julian’s daughter Jess and Moore’s wife, Alma (Zooey Deschanel). We follow this small group as they flee Philly (as typical found in a Shyamalan film) to escape what they believe to be an act of terrorist.
Throughout the movie, people are trying to understand what exactly they’re dealing with and what caused the event. While they come to their own conclusions, the careful movie goer will realize they have missed the true explanations.
First of all, this is not a movie about plants wanting to kill humans because of how we treat the planet. However this may be a thin layer within the real reason.
Elliot believes that the toxin which causes these mass suicides are targeting people in large groups and so they much get into smaller and smaller groups in order to escape and survive. This is also only partly true. By the end of the film, a lone woman they board up with falls victim to the toxin. And she was only one person. The true explanation is that anger and hatred trigger the effect. Moments before her death, this woman is yelling at Elliot.
Elliot and his wife are not affected by the toxin because they are peaceful and almost childlike. This comes across in their actions and dialogue. Critics have panned their acting as horrid but I believe it is all part of the show. All part of the story Shyamalan wants to tell.
The message of this movie is that we need to stop being such an angry race/culture. We need to return to being peaceful and embrace love for one another.
Last night I had a dream that we took in two kittens in our place. That would give us a total of three cats in an apartment. I like kittens as much as the next person (unless you hate kittens, then I don’t) but three seems to be too many. The smell of just one causes me great grief.
I remember having to search under every cabinet and dresser, looking for these new residents…then I woke up.
You know the feeling where it seems as if you have too many responsibilities; without sounding like a whiner right?
I posted a while ago that I was going to create a vision with small goals leading upwards. This hasn’t had the chance to happen. My days have been filled doing pretty much everything else. Maybe this is what a homemaker (aka housewife) feels like when her husband comes home and all he can do is complain about his stuff not being ready for him.
I seriously had thoughts of quitting my job today. I had thoughts of wishing that I could take a moment and wreck my office – I’m talking, throwing everything out of it’s place while I scream like a banshee.
My body may be heading towards shut down. At least my mental abilities have been causing me grief.
What I would really enjoy is the responsibility for just one major task. As of right now, I’m handling four or five job descriptions. But I suppose I really have no room to talk as there are many of you who are crashing from the job responsibilities you wrestle with.
If I were to quit my job, I know I could find work anywhere in the country. The place I am at right now would probably suffer for a while – trying to plug the holes that would be reopened with my absence. Does that seem egotistical?
If a new job were offered would I jump for it? I think I would. I’ve already jumped at one before but I haven’t heard anything further.
I need someone to lay out a vision. For the longest time, I’d say almost five years, I’ve been waiting for my boss to share the vision with me. In these five years I have received the same response and it is not satisfactory. I want a vision!! I want to see what goals we can reach on our way to making this vision a reality. I want to be able to sell this vision to everyone I come in contact with. I’m pretty confident, if given the task, I would be able to spread this sucker like wild fire with the people. Yet I have no vision to run with.
So maybe I’m supposed to implement my own vision with the group I’ve been assigned. Will this be seen as not being part of the team? Perhaps this is the incentive to get us going.
The thing with me is that I feel I am more of a subordinate than a leader. I have no aspirations to be the CEO/head honcho of the company. I want to take someone’s vision and sell it. But I suppose that with this lack from the top; this silence is my cue to launch my own.
I will set short-term goals and an all-encompassing vision. I will share it with the team and regularly encourage them to reach the goals and come up with new and bigger goals.
I dreamed I was trying to get into a cabin. My in-laws were at some sort of sporting events (there were bleachers) and I got a key from them. Then I located my spouse and we started walking toward the area that our cabin was in.
On the way, I ran into some of my highschool friends. I just remember being hugged from behind by one of them and when I turned around, I woke up.
Tell me what you think of this idea. It’s been simmering in my mind for a few months now. I think I read about it in a book and it’s never really left my psyche.
Imagine going to church but it isn’t to a church. Imagine not having to pay church bills or a pastor’s salary. Imagine the money you give in tithing and offerings to be used for the poor, or the homeless.
I’m thinking of having people gather in someone’s home. They sing, pray, hang out and discuss parts of the Bible. Kinda like a sermon but not as formal. I guess it sounds a lot like a small group. (or Cell Group)
The big difference is money. Most of our churches finances go towards upkeep and bills for the building right? Not to mention the pastor’s salary. What if you didn’t have to worry about that? You could be confident that the money you give will be used for biblical uses. (giving to the poor, orphanages, prisons – it would get more specific if this were to begin to happen)
People gathering together and growing in their faith journey together. Would this get the real Christ Followers away from the “safe” mega churches?
Things would have to be worked out as far as, what do they do if they get too big for a home? Do they begin another house church?
If anything else, think about it and let me know what your reactions are.
I think my troubles may be from a change in routine. I have been waking up at 5:30 in the morning for two weeks now. It doesn’t matter what time I go to sleep, 5:30 rolls around and I’m up. It’s really having an effect on me. I’ve noticed how lethargic I’ve become. I was at a party the other day and I could only think about getting home and sleeping. Then yesterday, three people made comments about how I looked sad.
I watched the pilot episode of a new show called Swingtown. I seriously cannot believe this thing make it on the air. It’s about married couples who are swingers. They place it back in the 70s to, I guess, make it more agreeable…I don’t know. It is awful, and not just because of the heavy sexual content. It’s created by the guy who made Big Love who seems to want to push boundaries for the heck of it. All Swingtown will become is a 70s era Desperate Housewives rip-off. Leave it to network television to become the trash of the airwaves…
This morning I was awake early. (before the sun came up) And after using the bathroom, decided to fall back into bed. Luckily, I was still tired and fell back to sleep.
Ever have that feeling where your eyes are just so heavy you don’t want to open them? Or maybe it feels like you can’t open them? That’s what I was dealing with. I would wake up sporadically and each time my eyes felt like they weighed a ton. They were just too heavy to open.
And for that morning, the feeling of complete surrender to tired eyes, was the best feeling to experience.
Time for one of my first being internet real. Is that even possible?
Anyway: My confession is that I am extremely jealous or insecure when it comes to my spouse. I always dream of being cheated on. I dream of my spouse being with someone else and I’m trying to find them or I’m getting really angry and screaming. (Sometimes I wake up and I’m out of breath)
It’s almost I want this to happen so I can feel righteous or vindicated. Even though the cheating hasn’t happened in reality.
Have you ever experienced that deep-seated emotion where you want what’s causing that emotion to be true so you can feel better about yourself feeling that way? Say, for example, you really want to be angry at one of your close friends. Or you have this thought that they’ve stolen something from you. You don’t know it to be true but it sure feels good to be angry at them. Doesn’t it?
Maybe it’s a situation where you want someone to like you so you create these fantasies where they do and you feel fantastic. You feel great. But the truth is that you have no idea how this person feels about you. Or maybe they can’t feel a certain way about you because they’re too old or too young or married, or any number of things to keep your fantasies from reality.
Have you noticed that, over time, your fantasies will begin to affect your reality? Your relationships with that friend will start to go south because you’re always angry. You may start some inappropriate, whatever, with someone else because your brain, emotions, feelings wherever these things happen are altering your reality.
eltonllin, how right you are. It’s very easy to follow the messenger isn’t it? Or in this case, a teacher (Rob Bell). Everything in moderation. I shouldn’t get too enthusiastic over a person for fear of creating an idol. Incidentally, someone else to check out is a Canadian named Bruxy Cavey. He’s written a book called, The End of Religion. Worth checking out and maybe giving to a friend who is totally against institutional church .
How many Christians find their identity in what they’re against instead of what they’re for?
Many movie goers have come up short after watching M. Night Shyamalan’s latest thriller, The Happening. They come away believing it’s one man’s sermon on Global Warming, and the evils we humans have performed at the expense of the plantlife of this planet and now it’s their turn to retaliate on us.