From: kenrolph@peg.pegasus.oz.au
Newsgroups: aus.films
Subject: The Rapture
Date: 24 Jul 92 06:40:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:peg:506300005:000:4976
Nf-From: peg.UUCP!kenrolph    Jul 24 01:40:00 1992


Review of THE RAPTURE (to be published in On Being Magazine, Australia)
(Writer/Director Michael Tolkin, starring Mimi Rogers)

In the olden days, before deconstructionism, it was a valid beginning of 
criticism to ask what the creator of a work intended. This is probably a 
good place to begin with The Rapture, because we in the christian 
community may have a different vision of the subject matter than that of 
director/writer Michael Tolkin. Yes, this film is about that Rapture, the 
one that is supposed to be spoken about in the book of Revelation. Tolkin 
was inspired by seeing one of those bumper sticker saying, "In case of 
rapture this car will be unmanned". His knowledge of christian things 
comes from extensive listening to the thirty plus christian AM and FM 
shows that you can hear while traveling the Californian freeways. from 
Santa Barbara to San Diego.

Now it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that some christian persons 
in California may have strange or unusual ideas. I struggled a little with 
this film to find something that I could connect with as representing 
evangelical christianity as we know it. It tells the story of Sharon, 
played with suitable gloss and grit by Mimi Rogers. Sharon cruises Sunset 
Boulevarde looking for group-sex playmates (let's call this Rapture A). In 
a motel room, after being unable to shoot herself to put an end to the 
apparent misery of Rapture A, she finds Jesus courtesy of the Bible on the 
bedside table.

The movie takes a fairly quick step from there to having her married and 
settled into comfortable life with husband, daughter and church. That is, 
if you count symbolic discussions about "The Pearl", whispering child 
prophets and chairs in an encounter-group-like circle as church (this is, 
like, California, OK?). Anyway, Sharon's husband is shot by a disgruntled 
employee for whom he has promised to pray, and Sharon sees vision in a 
photo developing shop of God calling her into the wilderness. So she takes 
her daughter into the desert to wait for the end of the world (Rapture B).

Christianity to Sharon is about getting into heaven. You do this by loving 
God no matter what he does to you. And you don't argue. This is stated 
explicitly by the daughter to her mother at one stage. Perhaps Tolkin 
didn't get around to hearing about people like Jacob and Job who did argue 
with God. In the end Sharon gets tired of waiting, "loses her faith" and 
goes off to steal a hamburger. Back in the desert she shoots her daughter 
in the head to queue-jump her into heaven. Sharon tries to shoot herself, 
but again is to do so because killing yourself disqualifies you for 
Rapture B. So she ends up being put in jail by a sheriff who had earlier 
befriended them, and is there when the rapture happens. Sheriff, prisoners 
et al repent, believe and are taken up into heaven. Sharon holds out and 
is left in outer darkness. The rapture features lots of thundering hooves 
and sweaty horses flanks, and you may at this point whisper to each other 
in the cinema, "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse".

That's what a bunch of film critics did at the preview I attended. And 
afterwards they talked earnestly about their childhood faiths and how they 
wished it was still possible "to believe", as if this was a kind of 
circus trick which required special training, but probably made you a 
freak as well. While watching the movie I thought that it embodied all the 
spiritual depth and enlightenment of a Californian Valley Girl. 
Afterwards, I realised that it is made by and for a generation who are so 
starved of authentic spiritual experiences that they wouldn't recognise 
one if it jumped up, godspell-like, said, "Hi, kids, it's me, Jesus" and 
bit them. Not that Michael Tolkin is an amateur. He is the author of the 
book, The Player, on which the recent movie is based. However, he is no 
Adrian Plass. By which I mean that poking fun at something you understand 
can often produce more honest insight than taking seriously something you 
dont understand.

Let Mimi Rogers put it in her own words. To her the film was "a metaphor 
for a kind of social illness, a spiritual malaise, which is particularly 
present in a fractionalised society like ours where people can fall in the 
cracks and nobody would know. So on a religious level I never took the 
script literally. It spoke very strongly to some idea of spiritual nature 
being very important to quality existence".

For sure. So if you must go and see this movie, don't let it make you 
laugh. Pay attention to the audience paying attention, and that may sober 
you up.


_____________________________________________________________________

Ken Rolph                                  Blacktown, NSW Australia
                                           peg:kenrolph
                                           kenrolph@peg.pegasus.oz.au
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Newsgroups: aus.films