Pop Culture Corner: Ten Commandments
04-21-2006
by Johann Snyder

The Ten Commandments. A film full of splendor, color, life, and excitement. It's an epic telling of a classic tale that's breath taking in its scope and spectacle…oh, wait, that was fifty years ago. This new version of The Ten Commandments that aired on ABC last night and again tonight is none of those things. In fact, I can think of exactly two words to describe this new made for TV version; drab and boring.

Now one of the major concerns a lot of people seemed to have about this new version of The Ten Commandments was how true to the Bible it would be. Well, it's not any more or less faithful than the version made in 1956. Both versions take dramatic license with the story, just in different parts of the story. However, faithfulness to the scripture isn't the primary concern here. I know that's an odd statement to make, but there's a bigger problem to worry about with this new version; is anyone going to want to watch it? The story of Moses is one of the most epic tales in all of history. It's a story filled with amazing, astounding events that surround the compelling story of an ordinary man sent to do the impossible; take on one of the most powerful rulers in the world and get him to relinquish his power. Yet the version I watched last night didn't even begin to compare to the true story of Moses; it was small, dull, underwhelming and boring. Here's just a quick list of some of its shortcomings: The glory of Egypt wasn't all that glorious. In fact, Egypt looked like a backwater desert village instead of one of the most powerful civilizations in the world (and is it just me, or did all the palace scenes with pharaoh look like they were filmed on the same set with rearranged furniture and slightly different camera angles to convince us they were in different rooms?) Moses moped about with hardly any emotion at all. Even his "Braveheart" speeches lacked any real power. Not that I'm suggesting that the portrayal of Moses needs to be one of a confident, heroic stud like the Charlton Heston version. I could buy a darker, more brooding version of Moses…if it was portrayed properly. Dark and brooding doesn't mean lacking energy, intensity or emotion. Christian Bale perhaps demonstrated this best in the recent Batman Begins. The special effects were underwhelming at best, and the miraculous, devastating plagues that eventually brought Egypt to its knees were glossed over so quickly that one barely had any understanding of what was going on, or of why they were such a big deal. Pharaoh, for some reason, was a simpering weakling who wasn't intimidating at all. I had a hard time buying that he was the imposing, powerful leader of one of the most glorious nations in the ancient world. Why Moses was worried about confronting him is a complete mystery. This list goes on, but I think you get the idea.

In every way possible, The Ten Commandments suffers from the Made-For-TV syndrome. It never feels epic. It never feels grand. It truly feels like a small budget, made for TV film. I find it incredible that a version of the same story that was made fifty years ago could be so superior, and yet it is. True the DeMille classic is overly-melodramatic and hammy at times, but it's a bright, vibrant, engaging, epic full of pomp, splendor and spectacle that was most importantly, entertaining. Therein lays my main problem with this TV version. People already think the Bible is boring. Creating a movie version of one of the Bible's most well-known stories that's drab and boring only reinforces that which people already believe. It does a disservice to the Bible and to all whole believe in the Bible. A movie, any movie, needs to be entertaining if it is to succeed, but last night's film was drudgery. If you can't even entertain you target audience (which in this case I would assume would have to be Christians), you can't expect anyone else to enjoy it either. The worst part is we still have whole two-hours to go tonight before we get to the end. If you want to learn about the story of Moses and the Exodus of Israel from Egypt, I suggest you actually read the Bible. Trust me; it's much more exciting than what was on TV. However, if you truly want to see a version of The Ten Commandments, do yourself a favor; go rent the '56 DeMille classic.

Johann "Yo" Snyder is the host of the Mid-day show at M88 radio, 88.3FM in Albuquerque, NM. He writes a monthly blog that takes some elements of current events and pop culture to illustrate spiritual points. The archives for these articles can be found at: http://www.m88.org/yo-duh.asp