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Posted on Mon, Mar 09, 2009 at 11:33 p.m. EST

BEST OF

AUG 2007-JULy 2008

RECOMMENDATION:  *** 3/5 rating
WATCH THE MOVIE WITH CAUTION

CONTENT REVIEW:
'Watchmen' is a graphically violent movie not suitable for children of any age. It is also filled with graphic nudity and sexuality that can be avoided if anticipated as I was able to do with the Lord's help. There are certain areas with strong language but not much. It is not a movie that parents should allow their children to watch in any circumstance unless it is edited for television. It addresses issues such as nudity, murder, nuclear holocaust, human nature, existence of God, miracles, rape, etc.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THE MOVIE:

SPOILER ALERT I:

As a follower of Christ, the graphic nudity in the movie was the main problem for me. I had to put my head down multiple times if I suspected a nudity scene was going to occur. Nudity is not something condoned in Scripture and this movie does not come of as a family friendly movie or a movie to watch comfortably with a Christian community.

BIBLICAL INSIGHTS:
"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"  He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" (Genesis 3:7-11, NIV)

Adam and Eve did not want God to see them in their nakedness after their sin was exposed so they hid from God. They both realized the shame of their nakedness. Even in the confines of marriage, they were ashamed of their nakedness when they realized God would see them as they are. For their own non-shame, God took the initiative and gave them a better clothing than fig leaves.

 "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them." (Genesis 3:21, NIV)

When God made 'garments of skin', that became the first sacrifice and first killing that God had to do in the Garden of Eden, to cloth Adam and Eve. This was to foreshadow what Christ would do when He became the ultimate sacrificial Lamb to cloth us in our nakedness of sin that has been exposed and only Christ's cleansing blood can cover over it and cloth us.

The themes of sin are so prevalent in the movie starting with not only murder but nudity, anger, revenge, etc.

"And do not go up to my altar on steps, lest your nakedness be exposed on it." (Exodus 20:26, NIV)

God does not want people to look at others nakedness when it is not in the confines of marriage, etc. 'Watchmen' violates that principles by exposing the nakedness of certain characters time after time.

The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the plunder they clothed all who were naked. (2 Chronicles 28:15, NIV)

Here too we see that nakedness is something the Israelites did not want their enemies to even be exposed in shame. It is God who put it on their hearts to cloth the naked too though they were enemies of God.

"Behind your doors and your doorposts you have put your pagan symbols. Forsaking me, you uncovered your bed, you climbed into it and opened it wide; you made a pact with those whose beds you love, and you looked on their nakedness." (Isaiah 57:8, NIV)

This verse should put to rest when Christians try to reason and tell themselves it is ok to watch  movies with nudity in them. It is not okay. God is not pleased with those who looked on their nakedness.

"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers,.." (Ezekiel 16:36a, NIV)

"Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbors, pouring it from the wineskin till they are drunk, so that he can gaze on their naked bodies." (Habakkuk 2:15, NIV)

God does not want us to gaze on other people's naked bodies which the movie portrays in all its scenes of fornication.

"Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:18-20, NIV)

Scripture is clear about staying away from pornography and this movie does not adhere to that principle.

SPOILER ALERT II:

I did not like that millions of people were massacred to save billions of people from destruction. It is one thing for millions of people to agree to sacrifice themselves to save millions of people but that has to be a choice and not forced upon them. It is not up to any one individual to decide to kill millions to save billions.

What Jesus did to save humanity, by sacrificing Himself, was an act of free choice unlike what happened in the movie. Jesus did that so those that would come to Him would be saved from the deadly virus known as sin.

"Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:23-24, NIV)

Jesus was foreshadowing what He would do to save humanity. Jesus was the 'kernel of wheat' and out of that seed came all who would one day believe in Him for all He had done out of free choice. Jesus chose to die for humanity and it was not forced upon Jesus to die. 

SPOILER ALERT III:

I don't like what happened to the Comedian because he found out what was going to happen. But more than that, it was terrible to see Rorshach murdered to cover up the death of millions to save billions.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THE MOVIE:

SPOILER ALERT IV:

No matter how terrible the circumstances, Rorshach had a philosophy of 'NO COMPROMISE'. It did not matter whether he would live or die to him because he wanted to get the truth out at all costs. It eventually led to his murder but not before standing on the ground of 'it is not okay to kill millions to save billions' just because certain peopled wanted peace to be achieved that way.

This reminded me about Jesus who had a philosophy of 'NO COMPROMISE' when He preached and took action. It also reminded me of the Apostle Paul who stood on the ground of 'NO COMPROMISE'. Paul was not going to compromise the Gospel at any cost no matter what. Paul had a good teacher and mentor in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

"The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help given by the Spirit of Jesus Christ, what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." (Philippians 1:18a-21, NIV)

SPOILER ALERT V:

I loved how Rorshach came to the conclusion that there must be a God after seeing human wickedness. He came to the conclusion that there must be someone out there who is the opposite of human nature that is inclined for evil. He attributed that someone out there to God.

This reminded me of what God thought when He looked at human nature:

"The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air—for I am grieved that I have made them." (Genesis 6:5-7, NIV)

SPOILER ALERT VI:

I loved how Dr. Manhattan responded to the nuclear crisis that would have decimated humanity. Dr. Manhattan responded, 'I can change anything but I cannot change human nature'. Dr. Manhattan understood that no matter how powerful he was that sin was more powerful and he had no power to change human nature. Rorshach understood that too when he said, 'The people will cry out 'SAVE US' and there will be no one to save them. Rorshach understood that sinful human nature cannot save sinful human nature.  There has to be an outside force intervening if human nature is to be saved.

This reminds me of what God's Word tells us about human nature and Salvation. Human nature is evil and cannot save itself but God intervened to save humanity through Jesus Christ.

"There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:22b-26, NIV)

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation." (Romans 5:6-11, NIV)

SPOILER ALERT VII:

I loved how Dr. Manhattan made Jupiter see how precious and special she was even though she felt yucky because she was a result of rape. This scene was one of the best moments of the movie for me because Dr. Manhattan made Jupiter see that a miracle is when 'something so good' comes out of something so chaotic. In this case, the act of her mother being raped was the chaotic event, but something good came out of that which was her being born and becoming a superhero. Her mom responded more powerfully by stating that she loved the man that raped her because of the daughter she came to have. That is powerful. The movie downplayed abortion in case of rape too because it showed a human being is so precious and special no matter how they were conceived.

This reminded me of God's Word where it talks about 'what the enemy meant for evil, God turned it out for good' and also the value of the culture of every life.

"And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you." (Genesis 45:5, NIV)

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book  before one of them came to be. How precious to  me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake,I am still with you." (Psalm 139:13-18, NIV)

QUESTIONS TO PONDER:

1.Why should you not watch scenes in a movie that depict explicit nudity or sexuality?

2. If you were put in a position to save billions of people's lives if you massacred a million people's lives, will you do it, why or why not? What do you think the Bible has to say about this scenario?

3. What would you do if you were told to 'cover up' an action when you knew the action was wrong even though you were told nothing good would come out of exposing the wrong action?

4. How can you live a 'NO COMPROMISE' life and where should you draw your strength from?

5. Dr. Manhattan did not believe he could help human nature because it is responsible for so many evils that occur in society but you can. What is the only way to combat human nature, why or why not?

6. Rorshach understood no human being can save another human being no matter how super they may be so where can Salvation come from and why is that significant?

7. What do you think about women bearing children if it is a consequence of rape and why do you feel that way? No matter how you feel can it be reconciled with Scripture, why or why not?

Express Your View

.Click picture to read my dad's memoriam:

Nov 01, 1941 - Dec 17, 2007

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