CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND THE MOVIES
Reviewed by David A. Thomas, Assoc. Prof. of Rhetoric Emeritus, University of Richmond
Terrorism: A Mighty Heart (2007)
Angelina Jolie stars in A Mighty Heart, a movie based on the actual January, 2001 (thus prior to the 9/11 attacks), kidnapping and brutal murder of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal correspondent in Karachi, Pakistan. Jolie plays Mariane Pearl, the victim’s wife. The perpetrators eventually shocked the world by leaking a videotape of themselves beheading Daniel Pearl. That gruesome scene was not reproduced in the movie, though it is strongly referred to. The movie follows the step-by-step efforts of a task force of local and U. S. security officials to catch the kidnappers and rescue Daniel Pearl, so it has been categorized as a “police procedural.” Even though we know how the story ends, the movie is spellbinding and suspenseful. One of its subtexts is hope.
The international supporting cast of actors playing the “good guys” (and also the “bad guys”) is very strong. Primarily for this reason, the movie also qualifies as a thriller, loaded with testosterone. Character actors whose faces you may know from many other movies, but whose names you may not know, are entirely believable. Readers of this journal may recognize Will Patton, from The Spitfire Grill. Irrfan Khan, a well-known Indian actor in Hollywood, also appeared previously as the father in the recent successful American release of the movie, The Namesake, a movie sure to come up in church discussion circles. Others in the cast list are of equal stature and talent.
A Mighty Heart carries some inevitable political overtones. The kidnappers, who were captured and convicted in Pakistani courts, were Moslem extremists. For verisimilitude, it was filmed on location in Karachi and other Pakistani and Indian cities. Much of the location material is shot in the intimate form of handheld cameras. The kidnapping is dealt with as a terrorist act committed for religious and/or political reasons. The terrorists are a shadowy presence for the most part, shown only when they are captured in the end.
The movie’s themes include the elements of a local cop show set within a global political context. Importantly, a careful reading of the movie shows it to be primarily a memoir of Mariane Pearl’s life and her character, as it was tested during that horrible two-week ordeal. Based on her own book recounting her experiences, and allowing for certain dramatic modifications in the interest of narrative coherence and visual possibilities, the movie is told from her point of view.
My take on the movie is that, first and foremost, A Mighty Heart is a dramatic woman’s movie. (This is not to say that it is a “Chick Flick,” or a good teen date movie.) It is a retelling of Mariane Pearl’s bravery and her ability to keep up a public appearance of poise and equanimity, and her refusal to become terrorized by the kidnappers. The movie succeeds in conveying a powerful message. It is about Mariane Pearl’s dealing with the terror in her heart, and ultimately, with her intense grief. She is not a superhero who joins in the pursuit and prosecution of the kidnappers, but she cooperates with the highly competent and powerful men who fulfill that role. She is a victim herself who resists the victimage role.
In the opening scene, Mariane Pearl identifies herself in a voiceover as the wife of Daniel Pearl, five months pregnant. In the same speech, she relates that both she and her husband were there as journalists. But the movie barely shows Mariane Pearl operating in any professional capacity. Later, in the movie’s closing scene, once again in a voiceover, Mariane Pearl dedicates the film to their son, Adam. As an epilogue, the final scenes show Mariane Pearl and her son Adam, now five years old, strolling down a street in their new home town in France, with a caption stating that she is still working as a journalist.
In between, we see how she tries to cope with the mounting tragedy of her husband’s kidnapping, in private and in public.
But the movie is more than that.
The fact that Angelina Jolie is the star in the role is a highly salient consideration. It is true that Jolie was Mariane Pearl’s favorite actress in line to play the part. Given Hollywood’s expertise with make-up and wigs, Jolie bears a strong physical resemblance to Mariane Pearl. And Jolie, a previous Oscar winner, is a superlative actor. She almost channels the real Mariane Pearl’s public and private feelings throughout this entire courageous but heartrending episode. We can expect Oscar consideration, if not a Best Actress win for her this year.
As a social text, the movie is strengthened by the fact that Angelina Jolie is the actor doing this movie. Jolie’s own persona enobles and elevates the significance of Mariane Pearl, while it echoes the strength of the real Mariane Pearl’s character. It is difficult to imagine a lesser actress, say, a Winona Ryder or even a Demi Moore, having as powerful an effect. In her real life, at present, Jolie represents a personage who has risen above the superficial trappings of movie stardom and the fame of celebrity to become an authentic global humanitarian. She and her domestic partner, Brad Pitt, have made major commitments to international programs to aid orphans of AIDS victims in Africa and other Third World countries. She has adopted three such children as her own. She and Pitt donate one-third of their high movie salaries to these charities. They devote time and energy to serving in more personal ways. Jolie has been designated a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. Newsweek magazine recently listed Pitt and Jolie among the “100 Most Important People in the World” based on these factors.
My observation is not meant as an unqualified endorsement of any of these things, though I do find them admirable. I do not hold up Angelina Jolie as a Christian role model in her personal life. I wonder about how permanently she will persist in her charity efforts in the long run. In celebrity column terms, I also wonder how long the Pitt-Jolie domestic partnership will last, given their previous marital track records.
But also understand this: in terms of my commentary about A Mighty Heart, such personal opinions and issues, my own or those of others, are beside the point. My concern, as ever, is with the rhetorical importance of a movie as a social text. And, in my opinion, churches need to take a cue about how deep a commitment it should make, in the name of Christ, to the predicament of the major victims of poverty, sickness and terrorism around the globe.
There’s a clear feminist angle here. In the media’s presentation, and the public’s eyes, Angelina Jolie –in her own right—is a role model for being a successful career woman, a compassionate global influence, and a successful mother. Her participation in A Mighty Heart, and Jolie’s depiction of the real world Mariane Pearl, depict a worthy way of being a woman in today’s world. And incidentally, so does the real story of Mariane Pearl. One might wonder, if given the choice of spending a social dinner evening with either Angelina Jolie or Mariane Pearl, which one we would choose?
