Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye?

June 25, 2009 Posted by David NcloseAuthor: David N Name:
Email: dvnilsen@gmail.com
Site: http://reasonfromscripture.blogspot.com
About: In 2003 I graduated from high school with no set direction for my life. I spent a year in Iowa before returning to California to attend Junior College. I changed majors 3 times; from Physics to Business to Film (as you can see, no direction). I was a Christian, attending church regularly, but furthering the cause of Christ in this fallen world was not a high priority. In 2005 I picked up an issue of TableTalk magazine, and I was re-introduced to the work of R. C. Sproul (whom I had read once in high school). Later that year, while taking a biology class with an ardent atheist professor, I picked up a copy of Lee Strobel's "The Case For A Creator." In the Fall of 2006 I came to Biola University and was introduced to the works of J. P. Moreland and John Mark Reynolds. My fate was sealed. Just a few years ago, I was passionless. Now I have two passions: Studying the Word of God and engaging in the task of Apologetics. 1 Peter 3:15 exhorts all Christians to be ready to give an answer for the hope that we have. My goal is to be able to give my answer articulately and powerfully, but even more importantly, in love. There are many purposes for apologetics, but by far the most important is the opening of minds and the softening of hearts for the work of the Holy Spirit. If we don't care about and pray for those with whom we engage in apologetics, we fail to fulfill this purpose. As a wise man once said, "Take a stand for the Truth, but do it in love fool!" Education Info: --Currently: M.A. in Historical Theology student, Westminster Seminary California --2008: B.A. in Philosophy, Biola University --2006: A.A. in Liberal Arts, Palomar CollegeSee Authors Posts (75)

This is a post I wrote two years ago when the first Transformers film hit theaters. Since Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen came out yesterday, I thought I would go ahead and re-post it. After I see the new film, I hope to review it as well.

I feel the need to quickly share two things with you. First, Transformers was pretty much the coolest movie I’ve seen in a reeeaaallly long time. I felt like I was eight years old again, watching Jurassic Park for the first time. The movie was truly original in the quality and substance of its special effects, which is unique in this modern cinematic age where it is difficult to find a movie that is not 85% computer generated. It was also very entertaining, a perfect mix of action and humor. (Plus I’m a big geek that watched the cartoon and played with the toys when I was little, so there was a good deal of nostalgia involved as well! )

Second, (as the title of this post suggests) I feel that there is much more to this seemingly simple summer blockbuster than meets the eye. The movie shows quite clearly that, despite the apparent prevalence of naturalism and “postmodernism” in our culture, those worldviews are restricted to only the surface level of our cultural thinking (and reach down to the roots for only a tiny, elite minority of thinkers, most of whom are in the Universities). How did I come to that conclusion just by seeing this movie?

Take a look at some of the major characters and obvious themes of the movie. The good guys (the Autobots) fight selflessly for ideals like freedom and justice. Optimus Prime (the Autobot leader) is willing to sacrifice his own life to save a race of primitive, violent creatures (i.e. humans) for the sake of those objective values, especially freedom (In fact, some of Optimus’s speeches could have been delivered at a Young Republicans rally to drum up support for the war in Iraq!).

Contrast that with the bad guys. The movie’s writers described the character of Megatron (the Decepticon leader) as a “social Darwinist.” It certainly shows. If naturalism were true it would only be logical to conclude that, since the universe is nothing but physical matter bouncing around randomly, there are no objective values. Since this life is all there is, why not live however you want, free of moral restrictions? The closest thing to an objective moral value that naturalism can give us is survival, and Megatron’s philosophy is all about survival of the fittest (since, of course, he believes himself to be the fittest). Moreover, if naturalism were true and there were no objective values, then living creatures, such as human beings, would also have no inherent, objective value. When Optimus Prime says, “freedom is the right of all sentient beings”, you can be sure he isn’t a Darwinian Naturalist.

The same pretty much goes for (what passes, in popular culture, as) “postmodernism.” If postmodernism were true, then we couldn’t rightly condemn Megatron or the Decepticons for their actions. Certain objective values might constitute our truth, within our particular culture and “language game”, but that doesn’t mean they constitute their truth, within the Cybertronian culture and language game. Who are we to judge? But then, it’s hard not to be judgmental when someone’s trying to kill you.

The point is, though a lot of people today are fond of throwing around platitudes about moral relativism, and a lot of people think that science has shown us that the physical world is all there is, very few people actually live that way. Very few people practice what they preach. They still root for the hero. They still hope the villain is defeated. They still believe that beauty, truth and goodness are all worth fighting for. And that gives me a great deal of hope!

…by the way, in case I forgot to mention it, Transformers was awesome, go see it!

As you can tell, I really liked this move, so I have big hopes for the sequel. If you’ve already seen it, let me know what you thought in the comments (please NO spoilers! Thanks).

Related posts:

1. The All-Consuming Self
2. Moving Values from the Freezer to the Medicine Cabinet
3. Book Review: Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey
4. A Case for Beauty
5. ETS 4- John Hammett on the Emerging Church

Posted in Culture, David's Posts