I recently saw The Eternals, one of the latest Hollywood blockbusters in the cinema. The movie is part of the ‘Marvel Universe’ series, with that title itself suggesting something supernatural. Expecting an entertaining challenge to my faith, I was not disappointed, though I came away somewhat disturbed.
The basic plot has elements which resonate with Christian viewers. It features a god-figure, Arishem, sovereign creator of good and evil. Arishem has created the Eternals as his agents to combat the evil Deviants. But the Eternals are deceived by Arishem, not realising that they are implementing his ultimate plan to destroy the earth as part of a re-creation process.
The influences and implications of the movie will strike those who watch it critically.
Influences from Hinduism are clear, with the multi-billion-year cycle of creation, preservation, destruction, re-creation, reflecting the roles of the Hindu Trimurti gods. These themes are enriched by a hotchpotch of character names taken from a collage of grand tales: Greek mythology, ancient Mesopotamia, India.
A mixed-race cast is carefully selected to reflect prevalent 21st-century themes of diversity and inclusiveness, with actors representing Hispanic, Afro-American, Indian, Caucasian, and East Asian ethnicities. A key message is woven into the dialogue towards the end of the movie: ‘We are united in Tiamut’ (the Celestial creature designed to replace Earth). When this phrase is pronounced, the movie screen contains four characters: one Caucasian, one Eurasian, one Afro-American, and one Indian. Yet the film ironically demonstrates that, in a global context of racism condemned, the moviemakers are profoundly race-conscious, ensuring that there is a mix of races on the screen at any one time. Furthermore, all these ethnically diverse characters reflect liberal American values, raising the question: though mixed-race, are they really culturally Western liberals?
A couple of other themes will resonate with observers of the march of Western liberalism. The hero Sersi is female and Eurasian. She replaced Ajak, an Arab female murdered by the lead male (Ikaris, a Caucasian) because she was trying to save humanity. The male is ultimately humiliated and destroys himself. Moreover, the film features only a few couples: female heroine with Eternal lover Ikaris; same female heroine with human lover Dane Whitman; gay couple (Afro-American and Arab male partners with a ‘son’). Read prominent themes of serial monogamy and gay relationships.
The film seems to have two overriding intentional motives: entertainment (perhaps the lesser of the two), and social engineering, to shape the audience towards liberal American values. But a third result of this movie is more subtle but powerful: no longer are the masses given the grand narrative of Biblical salvation history. Rather, an alternative grand narrative is presented, shaped by Hollywood and its liberal American context. Based on familiar themes of creation, conflict between good and evil, salvation, and divine sovereignty (though challenged), this movie represents highly effective replacement theology at its most subtle, with the movie enjoying the second-largest worldwide opening weekend in the Covid-19 pandemic for a Hollywood film.
