By: Dukemich
Instead of leaving this really long comment on The Book of Eli analysis, I thought I might as well just write a post. During this post I will often refer to ssjrem’s post. You might want to read that first so click here. WARNING!!!This post will be filled with SPOILERS.
I’ll start with ssjrem’s discussion about the religious warrior. Denzel’s name is Eli hence the title. Eli received a message from a voice, which is either God or a message from God, to take the Bible and journey west to find a place where it would be needed and protected. Also on his journey he would be protected. In ssjrem’s post he talks about how Eli is selective in his killings. He does kill people who stand in his way and leave an innocent woman to be raped but he is human. What God presented Eli with was choice. God does not tell Eli not to help people along the way but Eli feels protecting the Bible comes first. He chose. God was not selective. Eli was selective. In believing this Eli was wrong. He realized this as the movie progressed. He realized that he lost his humanity. He wanted no connections with anybody and he didn’t feel that saving people was his job. Then he met Solara(Mila Kunis). As their relationship developed he realized that he could protect her and complete his mission. He also knew that it was the right thing to do. Protecting her and protecting humanity was just as important as delivering the book itself.
As for Eli murdering people, well I think that needs to be rephrased. When I think of the word murder I think of hunting an innocent person down and killing him. Eli killed in self-defense. He never wanted trouble. If he could’ve he would’ve walked west without anybody getting in his way and he would’ve been fine with it. Now here in lies a flaw in the movie. If God said Eli would be protected on his journey, then I am wrong when I say it was ok to kill. He does survive a gut shot toward the end of the movie and still keeps walking. However, if he was to be protected why did the bullet hit him? Of course he lived so maybe he was being protected. But the bullet leaves me to believe that he would have died had he been shot in the head. This would permit him to defend himself. However, had what God said been true then Eli shouldn’t have killed anybody because God would be protecting him and he would not die.
As for the protection of the Bible, if you believe in God then I feel the protection of the book is self-explanatory. However, if you don’t believe in God the protection of the Bible may seem pointless but I don’t think it is. Ssjrem makes my point for me even though he states that he doesn’t see the reason to protect the book. Religion is power. Had the book fallen into the wrong hands it could be used for the forces of evil. Had Carnegie(Gary Oldman) been able to utilize the book he might have been able to rule more and more territory as a military dictator. Carnegie was evil and powerful. A book of that magnitude could not fall into his hands. In his civilization humanity is barely present. Without the book his operation remains small and his power would not be able to spread.
I believe the end of the movie reaches out to all audiences whether you’re religious or not. If you take the religious portion of the ending Eli could be compared to Moses. He brought the Bible to the “Promised Land” after he traveled for 30 years. Everyone rejoice! The Bible has been preserved! Then upon arrival he dies after he memorized the Bible and had someone write it down. You would have to assume he went to heaven where he exchanged a big high five and a chest bump with God. Moses trekked across the desert for 40 years and did not enter the “Promised Land.” He also died after his mission was complete.
All right let’s take it back. The ultimate theme I see at the end of the movie is hope. You see the land that’s back to normal in San Francisco. You see the preservation of books. You see the printing press that’s fully operation. You see the slow regaining of what the world had before the war. You also see this hope in Solara. A non-religious hope at that. Does she know how to read? No. Can she learn how to read? Yep. Does she? No. So she doesn’t care about the book that much but she respects it. She doesn’t respect it enough to read it though. Therefore, she doesn’t know religion. But I believe the book and the journey itself provided her with hope that had nothing to do with what the book said at all. At the end of the movie she leaves San Francisco to go back to the town to help her mother. I believe she wants to help more people. Most of all she will go on and she will not quit. That’s hope.
The bad part is that the movie did not explain any of this, which leaves it open to interpretation. I believe the movie tried to get a message across but wasn’t sure what it was. Let’s talk about another flaw.
As I left the movie theatre, I thought that God guided Eli through everything he did because he’s blind, which you don’t find out until the end of the movie. But that probably wouldn’t make sense considering that Eli killed all those people. I don’t think that would be the path God would take. So because he was blind all his life(I’m assuming) Eli was Daredevil. I like Daredevil as a comic book superhero. He’s a very interesting character. The movie unfortunately sucked but I personally found it enjoyable. The only thing is that I might have been the only person who enjoyed it. It’s a great soundtrack though. Anyway, Eli is pretty much Daredevil. Both are blind and are really good fighters. Of course one is a religious warrior and the other is a vigilante. However, both mastered their other four senses, which allowed them to be able to live life as if they could see. So is Eli superhuman like Daredevil? Do his other four senses function extremely well like Daredevil’s or did he just master them through a lifetime of blindness?
They don’t explain this. They don’t explain anything and they don’t know what message they are trying to send. Still I enjoyed it and liked the ideas incorporated in the film. It would have been better had these things been explained.
As for ssjrem’s “bashing” of Christianity, I say he has every right to do it. He is absolutely right about that. However, I feel a lot of ssjrem’s problems discussed in his analysis lie in Christianity and not in the movie itself. As far as the movie goes the depiction of God was pretty sound. He presented Eli with a mission. He gave Eli the free will to do what he wanted. He said that Eli would make it to his destination(because He knew because He’s God) by saying he would be protected. You’ve got the comparison to Moses in traveling for years and Eli keeping his faith. That’s the Christian God.
That’s my analysis. See ya.
hydro033
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ssjrem
mikexuanle
flash427
dukemich
Lundin' Bridge
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redfox13b
he gets shot in the gut because, I assume, he already memorized the bible.
By: John on June 30, 2010
at 5:15 pm
i dont believe that eli was blind. yes his senses were a bit hightened; he does catch the smell of the robbers on the side of the road behind the sign (but remember soap and shampoo were extremely rare items not to mention water so they could have really really stunk being in that hot desertlike place) but just because he can read braille does not make him blind. another example being the use of sunglasses. if you are blind why use them outdoors but not indoors? if you watch the movie again and try to see the contrasting opinions of the blindness theory, you find that the most likely conclusion is that he is not blind.
By: dcab on June 28, 2010
at 1:36 pm
[...] to some of my points and making his own arguments. Here’s a link to mine and here’s Dukemich’s as well in case you feel compelled to read those, though it is by no means necessary, as this third take is [...]
By: The Book of Eli Analysis: A Third Take « TheChez.net on June 24, 2010
at 2:39 am
I think in the movie the bible was really the quran, then the producers or the writer decidedto change it because, eli then would have been a repersentation of mohamed, which he really was.although mohamed was also a fictional character
By: eli on June 2, 2010
at 11:45 pm
We have more than four senses.
I liked Daredevil too.
In your post, you’re assuming we have free will – but we definitely don’t.
By: hydro033 on February 20, 2010
at 3:05 pm
I agree that much of my analysis was more bashing Christianity than the movie itself. I curse myself for being unable to remain more objective. That said, this was a good post. It is true that in the context of the movie, God gave Eli a mission and then set him off on his own. But I still don’t understand why he would tolerate Eli’s killing of people. It’s not what Jesus would’ve done. Though, I suppose one could argue that God didn’t want to interfere with Eli’s free will and would rather have him learn his own lessons about morality. But if he (I hate so much that pronouns for God get capitalized) knew how it was going to end up all along, did Eli really have free will at all?
To be perfectly honest, I believe that both of us are digging too deeply into this movie. I don’t think that the film-makers really wanted to embed so many messages or invoke so many discussions. The message is relatively simple in the end. Said message is going to work for you if you believe in a god, especially the Christian one. If you don’t, it becomes much harder to swallow the message That’s why I do like that shot near the end of the Bible simply put on the shelf with the other “holy” books. I will concede that the Bible probably should be preserved in the future, apocalypse or not, for the tremendously large impact it had on humanity. But it shouldn’t be taken literally, nor used as a moral guide. But here I go again, criticizing Christianity as opposed to the movie. Sorry, I can’t stay on task here. I’m out, I guess.
By: ssjrem on January 28, 2010
at 2:12 pm
I think that Eli’s “blindness” was a literary tool. Although I don’t think it was explicitly stated, Eli was supposedly physically “blind” in the movie. But the inconclusiveness of the blindness is telling. For instance, when he entered Carnegie’s town he walks straight into the place where his battery can be charged. Sure his super hearing could have perhaps heard the guy tinkering with something, but nevertheless he finds his way right to that shop. Is he really blind? The only thing that leads to that conclusion is that he reads braille. A person that has physical sight could just as easily read braille as well. But even if we accept this premise of blindness, I would contend that the blindness is a literary device. He may be blind to the physical realm, but he percieves the truth. Or at least his version of it as it relates with his mission. Even though he is blind, Eli can read the book. He can understand God. Carnegie can see the physical world. However, his perception is so warped by power and greed that he cannot understand God. That is how the blindness works as a literary device. Eli can see the truth, therefore he is not blind. Carnegie, however, cannot read the book, and therefore cannot see the truth. Carnegie is spiritually blind. He wholeheartedly accepts the world he sees through his physical eyes while simultaneously attempting to capitalize on the situation for his own gain. Eli, however, learns to “Do for others more than you do for yourself.” He is directed by some kind of spiritual guidance or vision. How does he see Alcatraz? Is it his hearing? His enhanced senses? I think not. He can see it. Eli is not blind. But almost everyone else is.
By: J Menace on January 28, 2010
at 4:08 am
yo i totally agree, so many people hear the word christianity and go crazy and turn a whole bunch of stuff in the movie the wrong way to suit there own believe, but like you said God never made eli do anything and all he did was give him a task, but it was up to eli to do or not do it. but people want to say ” o God made him kill, or God didnt let him save the girl” no he didnt he just gave him a message. if you honestly beleive God can make anybody kill then you my friend have way more faith in Gods power than me, and im a christian. becuase he will never effect your will. he will just talk to ya.
By: william short on January 28, 2010
at 12:17 am