MovieChat Forums > The Mission (1986) Discussion > The reason I despise this movie

The reason I despise this movie

posted 17 years ago by MaynardisGod
81 replies | jump to latest

This movie was a total glorification of the cocept of "The White Man's Burden." This was a concept that was born around the age of exploration that essentially said that it was the white man's responsibility to convert everyone to Christianity in order to save their souls. I don't really need to point out that this is one of the most disgustingly arrogant and racist concepts in history, basically stating that all non-Christians are heathens and are all going to hell unless they convert to the words of Jesus. Granted, I know that was a different time, but why in 1986 were we still glorifying this concept. In this film, you have these Jesuits who just come into this tribe, force the words of christianity on them, have them build churches and abandon their old ways and beliefs, because their old beliefs obviously weren't good enough. And the film makes it look so riteous and good. I know that one can make the argument that the people were happy to change their lives to Christianity, but in all seriousness, and I don't mean this in any kind of a racist way, these natives had no concept of the outside world, so when this mysterious man with different color skin comes out of the jungle and tells them these things, they're obviously going to be more suseptable to the indoctrination. The Jesuits were essentially exploiting the native's ignorances, which were reasonable for them to have.

"We're going to make Christains out of these people." WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH THEIR OLD BELIEFES AND WHY ARE WE GLORIFYING THIS KIND OF INDOCTRINATION!!!

And by the way, I know I can't spell to save my life, and there's no spell check on here.

[–] yihdzelonh 7 years ago

The movie is somewhat less than the sum of its parts: good cinematography, good acting, but film lags too much; is a little too uninteresting throughout most of the movie; it's also difficult to watch a movie where the 'bad guys win' (the anti-Christian/anti-Jesuit hypocritical imperialistic King's men) and don't get their deserved 'come-uppance' (pardon the seemingly 'un'-Christian viewpoint of not feeling the desire to 'turn the other cheek' or for recognizing 'moral victories' in the death of the good guys).

The issue has never been 'organized religion': It's the contradictions that very stupid and flawed men that supposedly represent 'organized religion' that cause so many people to hate organized religion. Inasmuch as proselytizing occurs amongst Native peoples in a way that doesn't 'force the religion on them' and force them into slave labor and other things of this nature, organized religion is a good thing. It isn't enough to simply be 'spiritual': God did organize a crystallized 'religion' (through Jesus Christ)...though nearly all Christian denominations are 'bastardizations' and 'corruptions' of the church that existed when Christ lived.

Nearly all kings and royalty are contradictory dumbasses who 'claim' to be Christian and serve a Christian God (including dumbasses like Obama, Trump and Hillary Clinton) but are hypocritical retards who, in 'practice' and 'in spirit' are as un-Christian and anti-Christian as can be possible: You can't be a Christian if you believe that the 2nd most serious sin that exists (homosexuality which is worse than adultery and every thing else besides murder) is a 'good' thing and homosexuality should be advocated and legalized. If child molestation is a 'sex crime' then homosexuality should be that much MORE of a sex crime with that much more severe of a punishment.

You can't be a Christian if you believe in Satanic crap like abortion. Nearly all people and rulers of nations are corrupt worthless pieces of garbage who should be assassinated and put in their proper place. Their authority isn't worth anything -they HAVE NO 'real' authority.

From a scientific stand point, the tribe in this movie -culturally, regalia, genetically- seemed (like many or most circum-Amazon basin South American Amerindians) to be nearly purely Austronesian-derived...most closely resembling the pre-contact natives of Philippine Islands.

I give the movie 5 out of 10 stars.

[–] al666940-3 7 years ago

""We're going to make Christains out of these people." WHAT THE HELL WAS WRONG WITH THEIR OLD BELIEFES AND WHY ARE WE GLORIFYING THIS KIND OF INDOCTRINATION!!!"

Not the case here, but switch the people here from people whom practice say human sacrifice (up north, the Aztecs and Mayans) or female circumcision (Africa), and you'll get a clear cut picture of the stupidity of your question.

Plus you clearly did NOT see the movie, for the Jesuits were not pushing the Guarani to absorb European customs/values, they left them to keep their ways and language. If anyone learned a new language, it was the Jesuits.

Just answer this: whom moved and lived among different people here? The Guarani, or the Jesuits?

[–] brux (14666) 7 years ago

You might want to contrapose seeing this movie with seeing a
documentary called "the End Of Poverty". That explains why
the movie is called "The Mission" ... because the mission is really
to destroy other people's cultures, to take them away from the
land that is theirs, and make them dependent on having a slave
wage job and having to degrade themselves to keep from dying
as rebels or criminals.

You are right about what the movie portrays, but I think you are
wrong in how you evaluate it or if you think it is in support of that.
The movie shows you viscerally how disgusting the American
system is ... it is subversive, a stab at the heart of colonialism and
and expose of what it is and how it works.

[–] overseas7 (3523) 4 years ago

The movie is showing us is the thoughts of that time (absolutely mistaken).

There is a scene in the movie where that ambassador of the Vatican wonders something like" by all this devotion I wonder if the best would have been if the sea and the wing did not take us to these people".

I agree with that.

Otherwise I wonder who and when would have, most probably an european country, discover this continent if Spain wouldn´t have in 1492. I know that the vinkings were there before Columbus, but Spain was the country who brought the news of the discovery to Europe.