Sexism

Nowadays calling someone a "confirmed bachelor" usually implies a dedicated gay orientation rather than simply referring to a male who simply chooses not to be married

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RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

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I just saw it again and I have to say that nah, it didn't bother me. Not in the sense of being sexist or anything, anyway. On the other hand it did seem unfunny and a waste of time.

It helped set up the characters and made the end more endearing, not a waste of time in my opinion, and some of the lines are funny like the reference to Lindenbrook checking out the sounds his wife heard in the attic.....or, "Oh you should see your face"...

What I *did* find annoying--and this is going to piss people off--was all the God references coming so freely out of the mouths of scientists. For example, when they're about to take the great altar ride, Alec makes some reference to God being the Lord of all the Earth (or something similar--I don't have the words here) and Lindenbrook the ultra-rationalist tells him he's being too limiting, since God runs the entire universe. I don't remember that stuff from the first time I saw the film.

I think this is the only reference to God in the entire film, so it hardly has references flowing freely as you have indicated.

Something else that struck me was that I've just seen the documentary *beep* which is about the F word. Pat Boone's interviewed in it (opposed to its use by civilized people, of course). Seemed weird that he was alive and healthy in both films, given the great time span between them. I mean, yeah, the math clearly works out, but to me Journey seems like from before the start of time.

I was alive and healthy in 1959 and I am alive and healthy today. So are millions of other people worldwide. I saw the film first run and remember the occasion fairly well.

Oh Lord, you gave them eyes but they cannot see...

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I started reading this thread about 1/3 of the way through my umpteenth time of watching this. I heard:

A "moment of silence" for Goteborg when they find his body;
A "Good God" as the stalactite falls from the ceiling;
A "Thank the Lord" as they escape through the hole of said stalactite;
A "No, thank God" that the dimetrodon cannot swim;
Mention of the "sacred flame" when they found the alter dish;
An "if God is with us" when referring to the old gunpowder;
A prayer just before lighting the fuse to the gunpowder to blow open a passageway to the top;
Alec has a rather short conversation with several nuns as he falls naked from a tree;
Mention of a church wedding by Jenny;

There also was a derogatory remark toward "Church bells" by Lindenbrook after a good night's rest.


Now, since I do not have an atheistic allergic aversion to all thing Christian or religious, I suppose I may have missed some. But with the exception of the prayer, which was offered up by the yet young student Alec, I find the exclamatory use of "God" to be nothing more than that...an exclamation.

You must be a hoot at parties. It's a movie. Get over it, or don't watch them. I'd be curious if you are offended by the endless spewing of g dammit in the trash which is poured out today.

Also, if you'd look, I think you would see there are a number of "healthy" stars from the late 50's/early 60's born in the mid 30's who are still kicking dirt. 75-80 may be old, but it's not all THAT uncommon.

I would say "here endeth the sermon," but you might rip your hair out.

jonesey65244

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Some historical facts:

First, it was not at all uncommon for scientists in the 19th century (which is the period in which the story takes place) to be very religious people. It is true that the 19th century saw the rise of the aggressive, atheistic sort of scientist, but such scientists were not the majority. Most scientists, like most people back then, were more or less religious believers.

Second, it is always good to remember that modern science grew up in a Christian culture -- the earliest great modern scientists -- Kepler, Newton, Boyle -- were almost all religious men, and often attributed their interest in nature to the desire to think God's thoughts after him. This continued into modern times -- though in the 20th century it became more common than previously to see atheistic scientists. In the 19th century James Clerk-Maxwell, one of the greatest physicists who ever lived, was devout; so also even in recent times we have Damadian, inventor of MRI, Townes, inventor of the laser, Polkinghorne, great Cambridge physicist turned Anglican priest, Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project (and now of the NIH), James Tour (reputed to have been short-listed for the Nobel Prize in chemistry a year or two ago), and many other deeply religious scientists. Many of the NASA astronauts -- well-trained in science and engineering and certainly people with rational minds -- were devout Christians. And these examples are only a very small sampling. The idea that being rational about the study of nature and being religious are incompatible is a fundamentally wrong idea, promoted by people like Richard Dawkins.

And getting back to the movie -- I find Prof. Lindenbrook a far more appealing human figure than Dawkins or Stephen Hawking or any of our other angry, religion-hating scientists. His religion gives him a sense of humility which the militant atheist scientists of today utterly lack. If only all scientists could be the humble gentleman-scientists we see in the old movies!

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[deleted]

What a fantastic post and I agree 100%. Very well said.

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So much for the film being sexist eh! Good points Steve. In fact when I first saw this film years ago I thought she was too aggressive for her time - and by that I mean the period of the movie.

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He was probably just jealous he couldn't get some. She was absolutely gorgeous.

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