Constantine - A Secular Look at the Spiritual Realm

Well, I figure it’s been a while since my last post… I prob’ly ought to post something else, huh? But then I tried to decide what to post on… shopping for jeans is too annoying… my continuing efforts to finish the campaign in “Age of Mythology” are interesting to none but myself… my mom just finished Goblet of Fire, I think, but we’ve already discussed Harry Potter… so it occurred to me to discuss an interesting movie that I finally got around to seeing the other day: Constantine.

First off, Constantine requires a certain… “mental state” to appreciate. Jonathan, I think you’d find it interesting. Carolyn, I highly suggest that you do not watch it; if Signs was difficult, you wouldn’t like this in the least. People who are very strong Calvinists *ahemAshlea* probably wouldn’t like it for different reasons :). The rest of you fall somewhere in between – hopefully, a brief review will let you see where.

Do be forewarned. Some serious issues of the movie include: abundant scary images, visits to hell by living characters, use of occult symbols, and, on the technical side, a ludicrous and difficult to follow plot.

That warning out of the way… The movie is, basically, a secular look at the spiritual realm. It is an attempt by people who have never directly had much or any experience with things spiritual to write a story based on them. Obviously, they get a lot wrong. Amazingly, however, they do get a few things right, and it’s looking for these little nuggets in the midst of the dross that makes the movie interesting to watch.

The overall feel of the movie is, oddly enough, physical. (Course, what kind of action movie would it be if you couldn’t have scary looking demons?) The end result, though, is that you have physical demons attacking and being attacked in physical ways, with the actual spiritual realm existing only on the sidelines as something mysterious in which man does not participate. This, of course, gives the movie a very “material” and secular feel. Yet this exaltation of the material also gives the movie a sort of medieval feel. Physical things (i.e. holy water and light) and symbols (i.e. crosses and occult symbols) are important – they are more than just their material selves. They have a power within them that makes them effective. Then, of course, the medieval feel is helped along by the fact that all prayers are in Latin. (The recurring prayer, interestingly, was “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis… in nomine Patri et Fillii et Spiritu Sanctu.”)

The main character, Constantine (Keanu Reeves), is possibly the most interesting item. He is no saint, literally. He just happens to have a “curse” that allows him to do what he does (see and fight demons) and he is bitter toward God for it. In fact, he’s bitter toward God for a great many things, many of which (as is mentioned at one point) are his own fault. But one man’s “curse” can be God’s gift, if only he could see it that way. This idea is explored from the beginning of the movie to its end and the problem of evil is touched directly at a couple points. Another of Constantine’s issues is that he has committed a mortal sin in the past and, though he is bitter toward God, he’d really rather not end up in hell. So, he decides to use his gift/curse to buy his way into heaven – at which attempt other characters constantly scoff. The conclusion of the movie is that “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

God is never seen (which is just as well), but His presence is felt. Neither Gabriel (who is played by a woman… go figure) nor Constantine’s assistant get away with trying to act on their own, outside God’s power. The movie does walk a fine line near dualism, since its chief protagonist is never seen and the baddies are the main focus. It also holds that God and Satan have made some sort of “deal” whereby they can only influence and not force human decisions for good or ill. Though all this is highly suspect, it’s my opinion that, in the very end, it winds up on the right side.

So, if you have some extra time and the warning up top didn’t deter you, I would suggest watching it sometime. Just make sure you’re in an intellectually curious state of mind :).