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Why a sudden drop in Noah’s movie ratings?

Posted March. 24, 2014 02:51,   

한국어

“Noah is much different from the Bible. If you want an accurate story, please read the Bible,” an Internet user wrote in a movie review on a Web portal.

There is controversy over whether the movie distorted the Bible. “Noah,” a science fiction film that was released in Korea last Thursday, is a Hollywood blockbuster costing 150 million U.S. dollars for production. The movie starring Russell Crowe, Emma Watson, and Anthony Hopkins attracted 790,000 viewers in three days after the release as of Saturday and ranked top on the weekend’s box office. It has attracted viewers in a shorter period of time than Disney’s Frozen, which drew surpassed 10 million viewers (767,000 viewers on the third day of its opening).

Noah, a film that was rated an eight or nine out of 10 in major movie portals before its opening, is rated a five to six on the fourth day of its release. The fall in ratings is apparently because of Christian viewers who are uncomfortable with the movie director’s interpretation on the disaster. The viewers who rated a one pointed out that the movie distorted the Bible. Some Christians said on movie websites, “It is an anti-Christian and new age movie. Those who want to see the movie for their faith should rather not watch it.”

Director Darren Aronofsky added many fictitious people and settings to the original Noah’s ark story in the Book of Genesis to reproduce the 20-page story into a 140-minute long movie. In an interview with a U.S. media, he called the movie "the least biblical biblical film ever made.”

In the Book of Genesis, Noah who got a revelation of God creates an ark to avoid God`s judgment against human beings, gets into the ark with his wife, his three sons and their wives. The movie, however, shows that only his first son’s wife, Ila, is in the ark and even Tubal Cain, Cain’s descendant and Noah’s enemy, sneaks into the ark. Noah in the film tries to extinguish himself and his descendants for God`s perfect judgment against human beings. Noah’s attitude causes conflicts with other family members including his second son Ham, but this is fiction.

Noah in the movie gets help from watchers who are apparently fallen angels when he builds the ark, but this is also criticized for being excessive. A pastor who saw the movie said, “It is a new story completely different from the Bible. I’m concerned that the unverified story titled Noah could give wrong information to those who do not know the Bible.”

The movie was criticized for distorting the Bible when it was previewed by Christians and Jews in the U.S., which will be released nationwide on Friday. The director, however, decided to go with the original movie, without editing it.

Hyeon Gil-eon, a novel writer and former chairman of the Christian Writers’ Association, said, “It is inappropriate to discuss whether a piece that is reproduced based on a biblical material is Christian or not. It should be criticized after an in-depth study, and it is careless to give a critique on the material itself.”