While Glenn didn’t find the environmental themes of Noah as offensive as some of the film’s other plot points, Darren Aronofsky’s action-packed movie adaptation of Noah’s Ark has come under fire for inserting the modern-day climate debate into a Biblical story. During an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, however, Aronofsky defended his decision, claiming there are actually clear environmental themes in the Book of Genesis.
“Did you hear the interview with Aronofsky? This is the director of Noah,” Glenn said on radio this morning. “Think of this: A week ago, Paramount studios was trying to convince everybody this was not an environmental activist kind of film. Listen to this.”
Below is a portion of Amanpour’s interview with Aronofsky:
For anyone remotely familiar with Genesis, Aronofsky’s interpretation is loose at best. While Aronofsky views the stories of Adam and Eve and Noah’s Ark as cautionary tales, so to speak, he fails to recognize the theme at the crux of the stories.
“So what is their discussion… He's saying this is the ‘first cautionary tale.’ 'You are going to just get destroyed.’ ‘You're wicked,’” Glenn explained. “Instead of diagnosing the wickedness, instead of saying, ‘We've got to change the hearts of people,’ he says, ‘We've got to stop people from polluting because this will happen again.’ No, it won't. Will we do damage to the earth? Yes. Will it heal itself? Yes.”
As Glenn explained, the Bible actually outlines the threat of catastrophic events and what will happen. Aronofsky, however, doesn’t seem to have read that part.
“Hey, Mr. Aronofsky, that was also talked about in the Bible. When the people get wicked, there will be wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, there will be volcanoes, and upheavals, but let your heart not be afraid because all of these things have to come to pass,” Glenn concluded. “Look out. Trouble is coming. But instead of going to see an environmental movie, what do you say we just change our lives and start doing the things we are supposed to do.”