On your knees for THE AVENGERS: big movie, puny god
“KNEEL!”
“Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It’s the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation… You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”
While this quote might apply to the Avengers film itself, how it utterly conquered the Box Office record and made all other movies kneel before it, the line is actually a pivotal quote from Loki as he makes an assembled group of humans kneel before him in the film’s narrative. Is there some truth in his claim?
(The Avengers is available on DVD and Blu-ray.)
In what could have been a mess of Marvel characters mashed into a film where all of them struggle to be the center of attention, director Joss Whedon rules and reigns over the various players with a knowledge of comic book art that frees them to serve a great story that is the sum of their cinematic parts. Conveniently, the film itself deals with human nature and what “freedom” means, if we were made to be ruled over and where our identity lies. The villainous Loki’s plans to be god of earth may not be what we need, but does this mean we shouldn’t bow to anyone? Maybe it just means, as the Hulk so aptly puts it, that Loki is a “puny god”.
In this video review, we examine how the Avengers playfully suit up to tackle these themes, hammer on the ideas, shield us from the wrong forms of slavery, and take aim at the “free servitude” our lives should reflect. Over the next three days we’ll address the following three spiritual facets of the Avengers in written review: how Loki is right, how he’s wrong, and why we are like Loki. The we’ll finish up with a curious comment made by the Black Widow.
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Okay, I read your things and I think you’re reading WAY too much into the film. I think it was just another comic book movie that was supposed to kick ass and it clearly did. Loki is just another would be conqueror typical of all comic book villains that have a god complex. Of course the irony is that Loki actually IS a god.
Seriously dude, just enjoy the movie.
Actually Loki isn’t a god, and I think they made that pretty clear in the film. It’s not about reading things INto a film, it’s about letting the narrative points like “people with god complexes” spill into your life and start a train of thought. Don’t think what I’m doing isn’t enjoyment! Some people drink wine to numb their life and others taste it to appreciate the nodes, nuance and implications. Same with movies/stories: some of us just choose to enjoy them as points to engage our life instead of divert it.
Also, you’re totally right: it IS just another in a long line of these tales. So… why do we keep telling these “typical” stories? What is it in us that keeps revisiting these themes again and again? Why do we like comic book characters and their narratives? They strum us like instruments and strike chords of joy in us… some of us get ultimate enjoyment by understanding why these stories play us the way they do. Some think they can only learn, grow and be enriched by a college class, non-fiction book, or a Sunday sermon, but they might just be pigeon-holing where the creator of the universe might be able to shine light on your heart and grow them. Talk about enjoyment!
Great blog. Great Video!