Movie Review: 20th Century Fox’s The Omen, Directed by John Moore
The Omen, Directed by John Moore, a 20th Century Fox film, was greatly anticipated by movie fans who had their appetite for film narratives based on religious legends reawakened by The Da Vinci Code several weeks prior to 6-6-06 release of the remake of the 1976 thriller. Julia Stiles and Liev Schreiber are the parents of Damien, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick who is in the care of nanny Mia Farrow. Could the angelic face of this boy be that of the modern Anti-Christ?
What is the backstory of the Anti-christ? In 64 A.D. the Roman Empire was ruled by Nero, a ruler not wise in his utilization of the total powers he had over the Roman populace and the many subject peoples that they exerted control over. During the long-hot summer the city of Rome had caught fire and burned for a week. Somebody must be blamed and that troublesome group that had spread their doctrine from the provinces to the glorious capital of the Caesars itself, the Christians were available. Blaming the Christians would shift the blame for the once-greatest city in the world not having any resources ready to deal with one of the two common hazards of the time (floods being the other-volcanos errupting were spectacular disasters and capable of wiping out towns situated at their base, but very rare.)
The Christians were becoming more troublesome (and numerous) as time went on. They were prostelyizing the Roman citizens as well as the many slaves they owned. (It has been estimated that there were three times as many slaves as there were Romans.) Caesar Nero had other problems as well, empires have to have a constant infusion of wealth from new conquests to keep the economic system functioning and the citizens content with their rulers.
So Nero transformed the arena into a circus with the rounded-up Christians being mauled by wild beasts. This required that a group of men were designated to go into the forest and capture bears, boars, lions and wolves, bring them back to Rome and keep them alive and in good shape for the exhibition. Christian-baiting became a very popular entertainment with the Romans and diverted their attention from the crumbling empire.
Humans fear of wild beasts was well founded and one of the reasons that the earliest villages were established (thus the birth of civilization); banding together in groups, especially at night, helped provide for safer living conditions. While villagers slept, those standing watch would feed the other great human innovation: the fire. Children wandering into the bushes were often only seen again as picked-over skeletons in the forest. Adult humans alone in the woods were no match for a bear or a pack of wolves.
Many cultural traditions have legendary tales of manbeasts: The Minotaur dwelt in the Labyrinth on the Greek island of Crete and was part of the oral tradition in 2000 B.C. The Minoan’s described him having the body of a man and the head and tail of a bull.
Ancient apocalyptic tales had been told by preceeding generations and transmitted along with olives and wine along the trade routes of the Roman Empire. As a comet appeared over Rome during Nero’s reign it was the Seventh Sign that signaled the arrival of the Anti-Christ. Prophecy had foretold the Christians persecution by the Romans and it had come to pass in 64 A.D.
Rev 3:18 This calls for wisdom, if anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man’s number, his number is666. Revelation is written in Greek, and the cultural traditions of those people in that era are reflected in it’s phrasing. Nero was then associated with the wild beasts set upon the early Christians by their survivors. Rules of numerology derived from the Gematria assigned the numerals 666 to Nero’s name. So his well deserved reputation for cruelity and inept rule of the Roman empire was recorded and transcribed for future generations to ponder.
Rev 13:3One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. Nero had slit his own throat in 68 A.D.
Rev 13:16He causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bound, to receive a mark in their right hand, or on their foreheads. A boy was born on June 6, 1966 who had a birthmark suggesting 3 sixes on his forehead, he was named Damien.
Director Richard Donner’s vision of Damien was told in 1976’s The Omen, 20th Century Fox and is available on DVD. Gregory Peck and Lee Remick played the parents of Damien, who was portrayed by Harvey Stephens.
The sequel was Damien: Omen II, 1978, a continuation of the story. The Final Conflict was released in 2000. This is why I titled this article: Omenous Future for the World’s Movie Goers, with the heightened interest in religious subjects by audiences world-wide, sequels in the Omen’s tale are sure to be told.
