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The Giver: Giving A Review


Utopian communist futures are the bread and butter of Hollywood these days. From The Hunger Games to Divergent, people have caught the bug of totalitarian future fiction. The latest adaptation is The Giver. On many levels this film will resemble Divergent, but to be fair The Giver book predates Divergent. 

The Giver takes place in future that resembles the film Gattaca almost too much. People are genetically engineered, and those who are too weak are removed from society. The Giver then is similar to the film Equilibrium and Fahrenheit 451 in that the communities (districts or factions) are not allowed to have emotions. All feelings have been banished by an injection like Prozeum in the film Equilibrium. 

The story begins when teenagers go to a ceremony to receive their occupation (like the ceremony of choosing in Divergent, only students don't get to choose). There we meet Jonas who does not know what he should be. Jonas is not assigned a position like lawyer or drone pilot, he is honored with the position  of the Reciever, The Keeper of Memories. Jonas begins his training right away, he meets the older Reciever (Jeff Bridges) who becomes The Giver. The transference that goes on between The Giver and Jonas is akin to Spock's mind meld. The Giver uses his wrist and touches Jonas' and the memories and their emotions are transferred to Jonas. 

To be honest, there are many opportunities to Christianize this film via possible allegory. The Giver can be interpreted as God, The Reciever either the Body of Christ or Jesus Christ Himself. Lines like, "You are chosen.." And "we need love because it brings forth hope and faith." Jonas at one point carries his discarded baby brother Gabriel into the rural regions of Elsewhere and the scenes could make one think of how Jesus carries us like a child beyond the borders of darkness. 

Alas, I did despite a Christmas Carol and these possible allegories disapprove of this film entirely. For one, in a scene showing faith, it focused on Muslims praying in Mecca. There was I am told a baby's baptism, but the Muslim prayer got more focus and time. Secondly the Humanism was stark. Emotions and the need to feel became paramount. While The Creator gave us feelings and we should not ignore them, emotions left unchecked can control us as much as the regime of Eldars and serum in this film! Should we love? Yes. Should we feel joy and sorrow? Yes. But to live for these feelings alone is Humanistic. Feelings can be false and if we feel like loving someone more than Christ than we are in error! 

The problem with our world now is not a lack of emotions, but rather an excess of emotions. People want to feel ecstacy, lost, happy, content, important, and etc. While not evil in of themselves, each in the right light of Christ's morality is good, wanting to feel no matter what and risking your soul to do it via drugs, adultery, alchole, debachery, murder, and etc is wrong! 

To be frank, The Giver gave me the creeps. While if had redeeming qualities like appreciating creation, color, love, music, compassion, and protecting innocence babies; it also taught pacifism in a scene when Jonas experiences the war in Vietnam. Thus scene is meant to illicit feelings that all wars are evil and selfish. What about wars of defense? What about when peace loving people are attacked by terrorists and murderers? Should not they protect themselves?  

The Giver film gives a mixed cocktail of philosophy and religion from  every source. On one hand if can be interpreted as Christian allegory or a commentary on Communism, but in the end the message of mixed fire assaults the soul and should not fester in a Christian's heart. I do not recommend or endorse this film. I cannot explain the poison of its philosophy with logic and reason, but rather ironically like the film itself's message, it is something I feel in this film that is not in union with Christ and the Holy Spirit. Refuse to be a receiver of this  gift, for if is laced with something sinister in the guise of entertainment and philosophy.  

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