Jenny and I recently watched the movie “The Kingdom” with Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Garner. It was well made, and the acting was decent. So what about this movie is noteworthy? The Director, Peter Berg had some very clear points he was trying to make about Islam, and terrorist.
Through the course of the movie we meet some Arabian guards whom we don’t trust at first. As the movie goes on we see them with their families, playing with their children, and helping elderly parents. This addresses a huge issue (in America at least). In general, most people would say that they aren’t prejudiced (with exception of the ignorant proud). But I will admit that a few scenes in the movie had me on edge because of my own prejudice. Normal people, walking around minding their own business – in Saudi Arabia – looks a lot different than it does here in the states. One scene in particular where Foxx is being escorted through town by a friend, and may people are walking by, driving by, and holding un-marked objects. I just knew somebody somewhere was going to blow something up.
Nothing happened.
And thus my prejudice was realized. Now that’s one point, but another was made by Berg in the last few lines that is much harder. Having realized my prejudice, please hear me out.
At the end, [SPOILER ALERT!!] there is quite a bit of fighting that ends with a dying Saudi grand-father (who is the bomb maker, responsible for killing many people) pulling a grandson close and whispering in his ear. Meanwhile, the American team returns home and someone asks Foxx what he whispered in the ear of Garner’s character before they left. In the Kingdom [Saudi Arabia] the mother of the boy asks him what the grandfather had said when he was dying. It keeps cutting back and forth from the Americans and the Arabians.
The boy answers his mother, “He said ‘don’t worry, we’ll kill them all’”
Foxx answers his colleage as well. “I said we were going to ‘kill ‘em all’”
This was powerful in the sense that we both feel so strongly for each other, and want to kill each other. But my first reaction was “I AM NOTHING LIKE THEM!”. I was angry that Berg was insinuating that I am no different than a terrorist. But as I thought about it some more, I got to thinking that he wasn’t all that wrong. He isn’t right for the same reasons that he thinks he is, though.
I believe that the rebellion in my heart against God is the same thing that drives a man to rape and kill a woman, or for a small boy to lie to his mom. Yes these things have different consequences here on earth, and clearly I would rather a small boy lie than a woman get raped and murdered, but the driving force is the same in both cases. We are all sinful people, and that means the terrorists, and me both. That groups us together as similar. That was a shock to me.
