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"Surviving Armegeddon, Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Apocalypse"

by Rita Coriel

What do fundamentalist Christianity, the U.S. 'War on Terror' and the hit movie 'Signs' all have in common? Everything. It is a movie that promises to be about the enigma of crop circles but turns out to be an insipid morality play; a cinematic trojan horse that delivers a subliminal attack on our collective psyches. It has been several months since I left the theatre feeling intellectually insulted and spiritually violated, and yet I still feel a deep sense of malignment and outrage whenever I think about it. So why does a movie that has all the passion, sophistication and emotional depth of Pat Roberson's '700 Club' elicit such a powerful response?

'Signs' is a propaganda film. But unlike the pentagon financed Black Hawk Down, which is a straight forward piece of revisionist history, 'Signs' goes much further. There is something really scary and malevolent about this movie; not because of its content, but because of its intent. It is an insideous psycho-spiritual manipulation that echoes the tone of the post 911 American zeitgeist. This movie evoked the precise feelings I had when George W. Bush announced his war on terror. In fact, I believe that this film is actually part of the arsenal in that 'war'. And it mirrors that same dissonace which tells us to be very afraid, while telling us there is really nothing to worry about.

'Signs' is the story of a recently widowed ex - minister who lost his faith in God, and his younger brother, an ex -baseball player , who lost his faith in himself. They live in an isolated farmhouse with the minister's two young children. The world is being attacked by aliens from outer space. Strangely enough, these aliens have no weapons; nothing high tech here. Their entire arsenal consists of a poisonous white powder reminiscent of the anthrax we saw ad nauseum in the news last year.

The 'aliens' or 'alien' ; (we really see only one, however we assume they all look alike), appears as a dark skinned man with sharp fangs and claws; like the pictures of satan in vacation bible school coloring books. And they have an incredibly primitive strategy for beings capable of extraterrestrial travel. They land on roof tops and break into homes late at night. We never know "why". It doesn't seem to matter. That question is never even raised since CNN is our only source of information throughout this crisis.

What does matter though, is that the minister's faith in God is eventually renewed. After consuming their 'last supper' and 'securing the homeland', the family hunkers down for the night in their basement, courageously awaiting a terrorist attack. When the alien finally arrives, we 'witness' a full- blown resurrection. The 'father' literally breaths life into the body of his young son, after feelings of terror trigger a near fatal asthma attack. We later watch as our ex- ball player beats the creature with his prize baseball bat, right in the middle of the living room. But the demon cannot be destroyed until a glass of water accidently spills on its head. By this time it is morning. The sun is shining when we learn that the international crisis is ended. We know this is true because CNN, the voice of authority, reports that all the spaceships are gone and the world is in massive celebration. The brother has reclaimed his self esteem through his heroic deed. The children have been "saved". We know that the 'father' has been 'born again' because we watch him don his starched white collar for the first time since we've met him.

I was all set to exit about halfway through this film. It was during the only scene where the family actually leaves their house. The minister's brother visits an army recruitment center in search of a meaningful direction in life. (We later see him poring over the military brochure). The minister goes to a pharmacy where one of his teenage congregants asks him to hear her confession, since the world may be ending in a day or two. Her worst sin is that she called her boyfriend bad names. The kids go to a local bookstore where they are told , "We don't carry books on occult subjects like u.f.o.s." But they happened to have one in stock for "some city folk". And then I remembered. ....

I had read a short piece in the New York Times last spring about the the Christian Coaliton opening an L.A. office to financially back certain movie projects. Some were already being touted as "summer blockbusters". And I thought about the best selling "Left Behind" series of novels and self help books written by 'Moral Majority' founder, Rev.Tim LaHaye. The theme of this series, which includes top selling videos and children's books, is "surviving armegeddon". And it all started to make sense. I stayed in my seat because I wanted to "see" for myself what was turning out to be a bizarre and souless fable for the new state religion. The religion where demons are hiding on every corner and even have their very own lair, a.k.a. the "axis of evil". I was desperately hoping to find even one moment of real heart, intelligence or substance in this flat, lifeless tale. But there wasn't.

When the movie ended I felt a gut level sense of foreboding. Deep feelings of dread and anxiety informed me that something surreal was happening. I had experienced phase two of the 'war on terror'. It is being waged against our souls, our reason, our wisdom. It comes cloaked in a neo-religious mythology that actually champions the cause of cataclysmic global warfare. This is the 'End of Days' as defined by evangelical Christian theology and sponsored by George W Bush, John Ashcroft and Jerry Falwell et. al. It is the 'final conflict' : the battle of "good vs. evil", the war between "heaven and hell". The 'good news' is if you are a "born again" Christian you need not fear. You will be 'saved' because you are on the 'right' side. It is all part of 'God's plan' for humanity. Pre-emptive global annihilation has become an acceptable and credible option for the first time in history. Bush's agenda is God's agenda. It is called "armegeddon". And it is not a movie.

Rita Corriel is a clinical psychologist and peace activist in Allentown, Pennsylvania. E-mail: rcorriel@fast.net