I liked it. It made the contrast between the locals and the outsider more pronounced.
shareIt's not just does he contrast in belief, but intensity of how he practices his religion. Him being brought up where homogeneity to himself was assumed, his background in worship is comparatively weak, thus his prayers and curse can seem ineffectual as he's unpracticed.
shareI never took him as being all that in-your-face until they started toying with him. At first, he seemed to silently disapprove but said very little except for the times when he was directly engaged. It wasn’t until they started screwing with him that he began to go off the rails but at that point, it was warranted as he had good reason to suspect the entire island was in on the “disappearance”.
shareWrong. The film is about the toxic aspects of religion. The final moments of Howie screaming Christian proclamations while the cult sing their cheerful song as their sacrifice burns alive is key. Notice how the wicker man collapses to reveal the sun, the first thing to be worshipped by man, as the film ends.
Howie’s religiosity is an essential part of the film’s theme, and explains why he’d be a virgin.
“Notice how the wicker man collapses to reveal the sun, the first thing to be worshipped by man”
Great observation. Thank you for posting this.