Hollywood’s latest Bible epic, Exodus: Gods and Kings, opens to a nationwide audience this weekend with mixed reviews and heavy criticism of a mostly-white cast representing Biblical characters.
The film stars Christian Bales as Moses and Joel Edgerton as Ramses and tells the famous Exodus story when Moses is chosen to lead the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt. The story joins other Bible-themed movies, like Noah, that are bringing the stories to life on the big screen in new ways with action and special effects.
The movie by director Ridley Scott is sure to dazzle with action and adventure and titillate the senses in 3D. But many criticize that the story strays from the Biblical account. Some groups are encouraging a boycott of the film.
But the director has answered the criticism quite succinctly:
“I say get a life.”
– Ridley Scott
CBS News
There are sure to be comparisons to the classic movie that depicts the same story, The Ten Commandments. Directed by the late Episcopalian Cecil B. DeMille, that movie also had a white cast, lead by Charleton Heston as Moses.
Movies like Exodus and Noah pose the question as to whether Hollywood is expected to accurately tell the stories of the Bible, or should people just remember it’s just a movie and not Sunday school?