Kingdom of Heaven Analysis
This is my longer analysis of the Kingdom of Heaven. Appreciate any feedback. [SPOILER WARNING]
The Kingdom of Heaven is an anti-religion humanist epic. The moral of the story is that humanism is better than religion. KOH uses a traditional storytelling formula designed to convince people to reject a particular belief or worldview. A sympathetic hero begins the story believing in the worldview the screenwriter wants to discredit. After seeing the worldview for what it really is (according to the storyteller at least), the hero reluctantly rejects that worldview in favor of one the screenwriter wants to endorse. In this case the hero, Balian, starts as a Christian. Through the tribulations of a crusade, he bravely and nobly becomes a humanist.
Humanism is an ethical philosophy that involves the search for truth and morality through purely human means in support of purely human interests. In focusing on man´s capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects transcendental justifications, such as the supernatural and divine revelation (such as the Bible). Humanism also tends to be egalitarian, seeking to make all people equal in terms of wealth and societal status. The movie advocates all of these features of humanism.
It should be noted at the beginning that the movie does portray many real problems in Christianity and religion. For example, the real world has religious hypocrites, crimes done in Christ´s name, and dangerous theology (eg. the Roman theology of suicide or the burning dead bodies). The failing with KOH is its solution to these problems. The hero´s victory does not come by convincing the hypocrite to be authentic, reforming bad practices in religion, or reforming theology. Rather, KOH advocates the rejection of religion altogether. This statement by one the knights depicted by the movie as wise sums up the whole film: "œI put no stock in religion."
The movie starts with Balian as a blacksmith in a small French village. His beloved wife
The Kingdom of Heaven is an anti-religion humanist epic. The moral of the story is that humanism is better than religion. KOH uses a traditional storytelling formula designed to convince people to reject a particular belief or worldview. A sympathetic hero begins the story believing in the worldview the screenwriter wants to discredit. After seeing the worldview for what it really is (according to the storyteller at least), the hero reluctantly rejects that worldview in favor of one the screenwriter wants to endorse. In this case the hero, Balian, starts as a Christian. Through the tribulations of a crusade, he bravely and nobly becomes a humanist.
Humanism is an ethical philosophy that involves the search for truth and morality through purely human means in support of purely human interests. In focusing on man´s capacity for self-determination, humanism rejects transcendental justifications, such as the supernatural and divine revelation (such as the Bible). Humanism also tends to be egalitarian, seeking to make all people equal in terms of wealth and societal status. The movie advocates all of these features of humanism.
It should be noted at the beginning that the movie does portray many real problems in Christianity and religion. For example, the real world has religious hypocrites, crimes done in Christ´s name, and dangerous theology (eg. the Roman theology of suicide or the burning dead bodies). The failing with KOH is its solution to these problems. The hero´s victory does not come by convincing the hypocrite to be authentic, reforming bad practices in religion, or reforming theology. Rather, KOH advocates the rejection of religion altogether. This statement by one the knights depicted by the movie as wise sums up the whole film: "œI put no stock in religion."
The movie starts with Balian as a blacksmith in a small French village. His beloved wife