MovieChat Forums > Frailty (2002) Discussion > Was anyone else offended by this movie?

Was anyone else offended by this movie?

posted 20 years ago by mommaslittlemonkeyman
372 replies | jump to latest

I'll start off by saying that I thought this was a well shot, well acted film. I thought that it started off well. The backstory was suspensful and made you think "What if?".

The message that I got from the ending was that there really are demons and angels and that Adam and his father could see them. This is evident by the fact that as soon as Adam touched the agent, the agent could not defend himself and had succumbed to the "power of god", the fact that no one could see the faces on the tape, and could not recall Adam's face. Regardless of the fact of whether he and his father had made up the other backgrounds of the "demons", Adam was made to seem correct.

Is the director telling us that there are in fact, demons and angels? If so, this is not only unfulfilling and sanctimonious, but it is a real cheat for the script.

Please someone write whether I just got the wrong take on this movie and maybe I am incorrect, or if this what one was supposed to take this movie as...

[–] MacMurrah 16 years ago

It would appear that the movie premise was the power of belief.
Belief in God automatically puts people in special light, and their actions are viewed honorably.Now Paxtons character makes the claim, and his children automatically accept his version of things, as his association to God is paramount in that process.

I think Paxton is actually trying to evince the evil that can be harnessed in organized religion, and the shards of belief without compunction or self realization.

[–] wizzykin 16 years ago

Why are you offended? It's still just a movie... So are you offended by any movie that claims something is real, or something isn't? I guess you were offended by Constantine, or The Matrix, or Big Fish, or Harry Potter, or The Da Vinci Code, or Finding Nemo, or maybe Signs etc, etc...

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] wizzykin 16 years ago

Sure it justified it.

"God" apparently hid his identity on all the tapes, and no one could remember his face at all - just his name, which led them to his brother.

Hence, "God" is justifying the murders of these people by saving the murderer from the authorities.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] desiplaya 16 years ago

I am offended....because the original poster never came back to this topic. Seems like he only signed up on IMDb to make this topic lol

[–] Navaros 16 years ago

God wasn't justifying the murder of people in this movie.

Only the destruction of demons.

Huge difference there, but apparently alot of viewers 'don't get it' for some reason.

[–] CapitalP 16 years ago

This was like S7even, but with a more religious tone. Overall, good movie. Definitely one of the best twist in a long time.

[–] Bole_SLO 16 years ago

This "movie" is nothing but religious propaganda, forwarding a message about "demons", "faith", "god", "angels" and other fairytale concepts for nutcases.

Basic message is therefore, if one of your family members goes for a killing spree and is babbling about "demons" you should go along and help him. I am glad I live in a society where this kind of behavior will get you in a prison. Anyway this movie belongs to dark age of 14th century, among inquisition, burning of the "witches" and among other *beep* with which religious nutcases are poisoning human civilization for ages.

Easily among bottom 5 movies i have seen in my life according to given rating.

[–] paynejeremy 16 years ago

"Basic message is therefore, if one of your family members goes for a killing spree and is babbling about "demons" you should go along and help him."

No more than, say, a movie about time travel tells us we should believe someone who says they're from the future.

[–] rwilson580 16 years ago

I absolutely thought this movie had something in it to offend everyone. I made a list once that had about 12 items in it. But as someone who likes to be challenged by my films, that's ok with me. I gave it 5 stars on Amazon.

[–] Liv7885 16 years ago

i just saw this movie for the first time tonight. im not sure whether i liked it or not, and im not sure whether this sentiment has been stated because quite frankly, i didn't feel like reading through ever page of this thread but....

to me i think the theme of the movie is symbolic of the death penalty. is that not the same exact thing that the meiks does in the film? punish those for the crimes they've committed? the fact that he was a sheriff was totally representative of a legalized institution of murder-aka- the U.S. gov't's death penalty. just a thought...

[–] groundunder 16 years ago

I wasn't 'offended' per say, but I understand what ticked you off. In the end, it was a Christian movie with a Christian message that suckered you in with great acting and a good script.

Gives new meaning to "Deus Ex Machina" though.

[–] lwmojo 16 years ago

One of the best movies ever

[–] blackknight273 16 years ago

I think that many are missing the point. The "horror" of the movie was that in the end the father was in fact sane along.

There is also another element to the movie about faith that many people seem to miss. What if you were going about your daily message and you received a message from God (or what you consider "God")telling you to do something that would quickly put you at odds with society? Or what if the message is kill?

To me this movie posed all kinds of fascinating questions, and I don't see how anyone can be offended by it.

People bitch and whine that movies are made that cater to borderline retarded 16 year olds, and yet when one that makes you think comes along they whine. I just don't get it.

[–] Nynaeve 12 years ago

In the end, it was a Christian movie with a Christian message that suckered you in with great acting and a good script.

The "Christian message" isn't one that's endorsed by all Christians, it's a very fundamentalist, medieval interpretation, where the guy who kills "demons" due to a message from God is vindicated in the end and the only person who gets in the way and tries to put a stop to it turns out to be a bad guy (demon) himself. This sort of attitude lives on in the real world, not just fiction, people making decisions according to subjective, potentially faulty, experience - or someone else claiming the experience, not evidence or even a moral code - the movie justifies murder as an act of faith. Witch trials, the Inquisition, extrajudicial assassinations, military invasions have been justified using the logic behind that message

-----
If all
else fails
use fire.
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[–] Blon_DeWig 12 years ago

Hey hey hey, what's all this?? The last entry dated last year?? This will not do.

Not at all.

Bump.

´¨*¨)) -:¦:-
¸.•´ .•´¨*¨))
((¸¸.•´ .•´ -:¦:-
-:¦:-Oooh, sparkly!

[–] Adorably-Obnoxious 11 years ago

Bitch bump

´¨*¨)) -:¦:-
¸.•´ .•´¨*¨))
((¸¸.•´ .•´ -:¦:-
-:¦:-Oooh, sparkly!

[–] Judger 16 years ago

*** Possible Spoilers ***

I think the movie was too clever by half at the end , and I can see where it could be offensive to Christians.

While the end of the movie appears to vindicate the "mission", they still seem crazy as bed bugs. What kind of God are we talking about here?

BTW - My main complaint with the film was that it was ponderously slow in developing

I was born in the house my father built...

[–] eoval 15 years ago

As an avowed atheist married to a preacher's ex-wife, I had to say that it was a movie, and a very good one at that.

[–] cardssoccer18 15 years ago

Really? I'm a christian, and whoever is offended by this is an idiot. This movie does not say that Christians are crazy people and it doesn't imply we are all murderers.

PS. If you believe in God, Santa is real and he is sleeping with your mom.... that doesn't make it true you uptight idiots.

[–] NukedaFridge 15 years ago

I think people are offended because of the way the story is told.

To create an unreliable narrative, the main character describes events to highlight the supposed craziness of his father murdering normal people.

When the coin is switched, because we have had so much insight into these murders to show they are normal people the audience doesn't quite clearly understand that everything is true. They are not people who have committed sins they are in fact Demons through and through.

Always have been demons and always will be demons, whether they know it or not. So it is a story about destroying demons not murdering sinful people.
It's a story that shows demons living

And yea it had strong religious overtones but it was a movie about demons on Earth what did you expect?

Btw I believe in some kind of higher power or existence (Not some old dude with a beard though) but think all religious institutions are a crock of bull. Don't know what you'd call me and I wouldn't care to know otherwise, I don't make a habit of labelling myself to justify who I am.

4 Kinds of man
I Will, I Try, I Am, I Won't.

And they hate each others guts.

[–] mommaslittlemonkeyman 15 years ago

I am the original poster who asked the question "Was Anyone Else Offended by this movie?" I am very proud that i was able to stir up a few emotions with it. It's has been a few years since I have seen this film, but I think I can put my arguments a bit more succinct manner since then.

1.) The movies was really marketed as a crime thriller, not a fantasy crime film and especially not a religious propaganda film.

2.) Throughout 95 percent of the film, nothing miraculous is happening. So when the final resolution presents itself, and is magical, the watcher feels cheated. It is a lazy way that msny film makers close the third act.

3) I felt this movie should be lumped in with the "Left Behind" series, Fireproof, and other Christian propoganda.

THanks for all the posts.
Mike

[–] thewolfchild 13 years ago

Have you ever heard the term "Deus Ex Machina"? It has been around as long as there has been story-telling.

I'm not going to outright insult you, but I do feel that your claim of being "offended" is somewhat... silly. If you didn't like the film, then just say so.

I enjoyed this movie. It's an unusual twist and somewhat re-refreshing I find.

Wolf

"I Drank What?!" - Socrates

[–] tommyboy-16 15 years ago

Yes, you got the right idea.....BUT ITS A MOVIE!

I will Let you in on other ones too:
The Batman movies are telling you Batman is real
Fight Club is telling you that Brad Pitt character really saw the Ed Norton character.
Shrek movies are telling you that Ogres really do marry and do have feelings.
The movie 10 Commandments is telling you that it really happened
All the zombie movies, yep, zombies are real and they really eat brains
American Beauty is really trying to sell liberal crap and that all people that believe the gay or lesbian lifestyle is wrong are all gun packing homophobes.
The Chuck Norris movies are telling you that Chuck Norric can do all that and he really can count to infinity.
Lord of The RIngs and Harry Potter really do exist, because I saw the movie

This was a movie, nothing more. You can love it or hate it or something in the middle. I am shocked at the ones that type to convince everyone the movie lied and the dad was really just a crazed psycho, just what are you scared of? Its a movie and the story in this example, is that its really was God and NOT a crazy single parent. What are you going to tell me next, Santa Clause it not real and that there really were shooters on the grassy knoll because you saw it in a movie. Or are you going to convince me that Godzilla was just the imagination of some Asian writers and that there was not a mutant from a nuclear period in history?

Regardless if you believe or not in the story and/or the source, its just a movie. Sure movies can offend you, but to act like they are true is silly. Do you really think some people watch that movie and suddenly change everything they believe or think and start chopping people up with an ax in the name of God? Just like the other examples of movies and regardless if you believe in Batman, Fight Club, Shrek, Moses, Zombies, Liberal philosophy, Chuch Norris real American Bad Ass, God or athiest, they are telling a story and to be used as entertainment. I hope we don't turn into a world we make entertainment our real world or look to entertainment as our professor, spiritual leader, philosopher, moral guide and history teacher and become like the Jim Carey character that was the original out-of-touch cable guy.