Violence and Language in
The Book of Eli

The film is rated R and contains graphic violence and language, causing many who are Christians to wonder why a man with such public faith would take a role in a film that contains what many Christians consider objectionable content. Ever since screening the film last month, I've often pondered that question and others related to it.

What's a Christian To Do?

Setting aside the violence and language, the story of a man protecting the Bible makes anyone watching consider what they would protect with their life. What is worth living and dying for?

Screenwriter Gary Whitta wrote the film because of his fascination with questions like these, questions of faith. "I always like the movie [I write] to be about something. For me the big question of faith and believing in something larger than yourself is fascinating.

"The idea of belief in something greater than yourself is the most powerful force in the universe. That's something that can be turned for incredible good or incredible destruction. [It's] an intellectual battle about the preservation of knowledge and sustaining this book that tells us an incredible amount.

"Whether you believe in it or not, the Bible is who we are. It's been a cornerstone of civilization for 2000 years, and the battle over that ideology, I thought, is a really interesting one."

Support Films about Faith

Personally, I want to support filmmakers who explore questions of faith in their films. For me, choosing to see this film is casting a vote for Hollywood filmmakers to keep making films about faith. It is telling them I will buy tickets to films they create about topics I'm interested in.

Will I always agree with their conclusions and their methods? No, but what I do agree with, and get excited about, is Hollywood filmmakers who spend time researching the Bible to make a film. Whitta said he spent a lot of time going through the Bible to find passages Eli could quote at appropriate moments, and that Denzel Washington came to script meetings with his Bible.

Good Battling Evil

The Book of Eli is without question a violent movie. It combines martial arts scenes with Western-flavored shoot-outs, complete with Gatling guns and surface missiles. Almost every conceivable weapon is used in a battle between good and evil, for in the grand scheme of this movie, that is the overarching theme.

For many of us, that raises the question of when violence is acceptable. If I look to the Bible, I see an Old Testament filled with violence as the nation of Israel fights to establish itself and protect itself from its enemies. There are several recorded occasions when God told a king to completely wipe out the opposing enemy.

Chapter 11 of the book of 2 Samuel, which records David's infidelity with Bathsheba, begins with this statement, "In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war,…" And before that, the nation of Israel celebrated David's victories when they sang "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." (1 Samuel 18:7)

Of course, one can argue that is history from the Old Testament, and we are living under the grace of the New Testament and the instruction of Jesus. He instructs us to turn the other cheek and not to resist an evil person when they strike us on the cheek (Matthew 5:39).

The Violence of Eli

When Eli commits violence, he does so from a defensive position. He's defending himself, the book he carries, or helpless people. There is one instance where he steps into a situation from which there is no possible escape other than violence, but he is not the one instigating the fight.

Could Eli accomplish his mission without resorting to violence? I don't know. The world he inhabits is vastly different than the one we live in. His options are extremely limited, and he is facing incredible odds just to survive. In his world, people are killed over water, clothing and shelter, the basic necessities of life.

There is no central civilization, and very few people even remember what the world was like before disaster struck. It's a primitive place inhabited by primitive people, and the niceties and trappings of society have been stripped away to reveal man at his worst.

The Language of Eli

For most Christians, language is a distinctive of the faith, an outward sign of an inward commitment. Foul language is not typically something that's heard in church or in most conversations between Christians. Even more abhorrent is the use of profanity, taking the Lord's name in vain.

To Christians, and those who judge them, language can be a hallmark. But to the person who is not a Christian, language is a reflection of the culture. What does the culture say is acceptable? What are other people around them saying? What do they hear, what do they use?

Regardless of whether we deem it right or wrong, the culture around us uses foul language and profanity, and it will be reflected in the entertainment the culture produces. There aren't any curse words heard in movies that can't be heard in the hallways of our schools, on the streets of our cities, in songs heard on the radio and in programs on the television.

The question I ask myself about the language is how people inhabiting a world without any laws or semblance of civilization would speak? Because Eli is protecting the only remaining copy of the Bible, no one is reading or living by it, therefore man's knowledge of God and his ways is practically non-existent, and the language, and the film in general, reflects that condition.

This film is rated R for violence and language, and is not appropriate for children.

©2009 ChristianCinema.com

Alcon Entertainment's action adventure film The Book of Eli is a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

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