MovieChat Forums > The Rapture (1991) Discussion > Target Audience for 'The Rapture'?

Target Audience for 'The Rapture'?


The film seems to elicit mixed reactions. So who is likely to like it? First, how will atheists respond? Presumably the committed atheists will be turned away because they find the theme fundamentally uninteresting. If they like it, it may be in a negative way (that is, they'll interpret it as putting religionists in a bad light). How about Christians (and perhaps Jews) who are clear in their dogma? These people may be turned off because the film differs from their beliefs in essential details. They may find it irrelevant and maybe even blasphemous. So who's left? I'm guessing that the people who may actually like the film are the sympathetic agnostics. That is, people who are inclined to believe that there may be a divine spark to life, but they haven't managed to wrap their heads around a detailed dogma. So they may relate to the structural quest of the film: A woman in search of a pathway.

I wonder where auteur Michael Tolkin stands. I'm sure somebody has written about it somewhere; I'll have to look that up. I guess he's Jewish (ethnically if not religiously) and presumably not an atheist; I wonder what inspired him to undertake this project?

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Hi David,

Just thought I'd respond as I am an atheist, and I LOVED this movie. One does not have to believe in the Rapture or be an evangelical Christian in order to be entertained by the concepts illustrated in this film, any more than you have to believe that our lives are controlled by machines in order to be entertained by 'The Matrix.' Through most of the movie, I thought Sharon was a nutcase with her extremist beliefs, but then when it turned out she was correct, that made for an interesting twist. There is a similar surprise in "Frailty."

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[deleted]

SPOILERZONE!

I thought Sharon was a nutcase with her extremist beliefs, but then when it turned out she was correct, that made for an interesting twist. There is a similar surprise in "Frailty."
Absolutely! I'm in that agnostic-ky ' GOD MAY JUST BE A GIANT ORGANIC MACHINE THAT JUST MAKES COMPLICATED STUFF OUT OF LESS COMPLICATED STUFF WITHOUT THINKING MUCH ABOUT IT OR CARING ABOUT WHAT ITS CREATED AFTER ITS CREATED IT. WHY? NO WHY, IT JUST DOES!' school of thought. So rapture movies, or angels battling demons movies, or exorcist stuff, all works for me as sheer entertainment. That twist you speak of, totally 'makes' this movie. ( and Frailty as well) Its an interesting transition. She's a nutjob! She just blew her own kids brains out! No wait! GODS REAL AND LET HER SUFFER CUS HES JUST A BIG PRICK, and when shes finally standing in pergatory, with an open hand held towards her to take her up to heaven, she tells him to ,more or less, GO *beep* HIMSELF!! One of my favorites.


"Pffft, my suspension of disbelief has higher standards than that"

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