A Yahwist Film?

Thoughts on the upcoming blockbuster, Legion.

God's fed up with humanity, yet again. What's a pissed off diety to do? Send a Great Flood? Maybe, if he hadn't made that pesky covenant. Send plagues? Been there, done that. After two millennia of taking it easy, He needs his 21st century debut to be fresh. How about extermination via a horde of monstrous angels? Now, that's a solution for the ADD generation.

Personally, I want to hurl every time Paul Bettany (Archangel Michael) murmurs "angels" so gloweringly in his fashionable overcoat, protecting the unborn Second Coming of Christ at a rural truck stop that just happens to house a bevy of attractive people (and assault rifles?). What about J though? While one half of me envisions her turning over in her grave, the other half can't help but wonder if she'd enjoy it after being brought up to speed on the last three millennia. Cheesy or not, the movie at least aspires to a form of storytelling not all that different from J's, assuming the removal of historical context. J's storytelling abilities operated through the context of her culture and time, evoking a worldview different from our own. For better or worse (usually the latter), Hollywood narrative is representative of our time, evoking the mainstream worldviews of our culture.

Taking cues from the trailer, God does not seem to be the all powerful creator of the Priestly writer, but rather closer to the faulted, anthropomorphic YHWH depicted by J. The angels themselves appear more physical than ethereal, seemingly vulnerable to human action. Were J and the Yahwists converted to Christian screenwriters still attempting to tell their stories through modern context, such a film of epic extermination doesn't seem too far-off.

Legion on IMDB