This year's craptastic apocalyptic pseudo-horror-thriller Legion has already been widely reviewed online as blasphemous, anti-God, or anti-Christian by several venues; but while the film is obviously all of these things, none of these outlets has provided a satisfactory description of the central deception of the film: the identity and nature of the archangel Michael himself. So, as bad as the film is, it provides a decent platform from which to explore the subject of Michael--one side of this obscure debate may come as quite a surprise to many.
As a brief refresher, it is crucial to remember that the Adversary's modus operandi is to first create confusion, then provide the deception as the answer; this tactic was detailed in the V For Vendetta report--a film often mistaken as an anti-NWO movie. A Biblical warning for this is found in Isaiah 5:20,
"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"The Gnostics believed that the Biblical Jehovah was actually Satan masquerading as God and that Satan was actually the benevolent one, the liberator, only demonized by the evil Demiurge. Then there's H.P. Blavatsky's influential words:
"Thus SATAN, once he ceases to be viewed in the superstitious, dogmatic, unphilosophical spirit of the Churches, grows into the grandiose image of one who made of terrestrial a divine MAN; who gave him, throughout the long cycle of Maha-kalpa the law of the Spirit of Life, and made him free from the Sin of Ignorance, hence of death." (The Secret Doctrine, p.198)Distortion is the central motif of Legion, and the confusion is apparent when reading the reviews, but, as has already been noted, what is being missed is the direct attack on Jesus Christ--nothing new for Hollywood.
Let's start with the title, Legion. This is an obvious reference to Matthew 5:9, "And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many." It's important to note here that this passage describes Jesus Christ against a legion of demons.
Before the fade in, we are shown a verse, Psalm 34:11, "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD." This verse usage is obviously intended to put the viewer in a defensive posture against a Gnostic God who rules by fear and destruction. Most though surely don't know or care that the Hebrew here, Yirah, is probably more accurately translated as reverence as we are told in 2 Timothy 1:7, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
The film opens with an extended shot of the moon, a ubiquitous symbol these days. Coincidentally, this cinematic act of "shooting the moon" fits well within the context of the film; this idiom for taking a great risk is precisely what the hero does.
A moment later a dark figure falls to earth.
It's this guy, the supposed archangel Michael. After landing he cuts off his wings in an act symbolic of his rebellion or separation from God.
With his wings removed a glowing band light descends and frees him from the choke collar around his neck. His rebellion has now freed him from the shackles of God. This reminds us of Psalm 2: "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us."
As with many of the films reviewed here, we once again get the unconscious message that rebellion equals freedom. We'll keep a running log from here on as to the passive attacks on the nature of God according to this film; the first is that God treats his subjects like prisoners (Death Race, et al)
With the wings and dog collar removed, our guy stitches himself up and arms himself to the teeth. We also find that his body is covered with some kind of cryptic writing.
Outside the arms room, Michael walks through a crucifix-shaped burning hole in the wall and runs into to L.A. cops. Michael subdues one of them while the other becomes possessed by a demon. Michael tells the demon, "I'm following my own orders now."
Demon: "Then you will die along with the child."
Michael then kills the possessed cops and drives away in the police car.
We then cut to a small, run-down diner in the desert. This will be the main location for the rest of the film.
Above the diner we see the name backwards: Paradise Falls. A backwards, or fallen paradise.
There is no waterfall nearby so this name is either high irony, or an allusion to Milton's Paradise Lost, the 17th century epic poem regarding the Fall of Man, the rebellion of Satan, Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden.
As a cinematic device, this diner is the isolated environment standard to horror and/or Gnostic films. But this apocalyptic post-Eden locale is also the film's microcosm, the place where the final battle for mankind will be fought. Armageddon (though some believe in a literal battle at the end of days, what is more likely is a prolonged spiritual battle).
The diner owner's son, Jeep, sees trouble on the horizon.
Then, inside, the emergency broadcast system has been activated. The phone lines go down next. They are trapped here.
The waitress, Charlie, is pregnant. The old woman says, "The father must be very proud."
Charlie: "I wouldn't know."
Old woman: "Oh, he's..."
Charlie: "Outta site, outta mind."
This exchange is very interesting, as we already know that Jeep is in love with Charlie and wants to take care of her and the baby. Given that the biological father is outta site, outta mind, there is effectively no father, so what we have here is a representation of the immaculate conception.
So we now understand that Jeep, Charlie, and the baby serve in the film as a reinterpretation of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. The wider implications of this will become apparent as we go.
Michael shows up later. It is from Michael that we learn that Charlie's baby is the only hope humanity has for surviving. How or why this is so we never are told, but we remember that this film is a passive-aggressive attack on God and Christianity.
At this point it seems archangel Michael is in fact intended as a symbolic Jesus Christ. "Michael," meaning one who is like God, is thought by some to be Jesus Christ's Heavenly name prior to his earthly mission. A case for this can be found here. To be clear, NWOIB is not making this statement; only that some people believe this to be the case. Therefore, it is plausible that
Michael is here a covert messiah figure.
So if Michael/Jesus comes and says "that baby is the savior of mankind," he is basically saying "I am not the savior of mankind"--the same thing the Pharisees believed; their savior is yet to come. In fact, the baby seems to serve no other purpose in the film other than to emphasize this very point.
Now there is no reason to believe that the screenwriters or production staff know this information; however, the entities that inspire these works certainly would. And on that note, consider the 1996 film Michael starring John Travolta.
Michael was a film about a smoking, drinking, crude, and womanizing angel who saved a relationship.
However, the reader needn't fret too much over who exactly Michale represents; the fact is, this is merely another distortion of types: in Legion, the rebellious, fallen angel type is recast or melded with the messiah type.
The folks at the diner soon find themselves under attack. A legion of angels sent by God take possession of the humans and they turn into demon-possessed killer zombies.
Michael's explanation: "The last time God lost faith in humanity He sent the flood. This time He sent what you see outside."
The diner's one-armed short-order cook, Percy, then asks, "Are you saying this is the apocalypse?"
Michael: "I'm saying this is an extermination."
So the film's god is not only a prison warden, but now also an exterminator, a trait covered too frequently here in film reports.
After Michael reveals that those zombies are possessed by angels, Percy says, "I don't know what book you been reading, but my version says the angels are the good guys!"
Michael, "The truth, I'm afraid is never that simple." Point being: the Bible is not true.
Later we get this silly flashback to Heaven where Michael and Gabriel provide a bit of backstory; we learn that when God chose humanity as the object of His affection, Michael was the first to bow before them. Now, despite humanity having mad such a mess of things, he can't stop loving them and is willing to defy God in order to protect them.
Back in the diner, he tells Jeep, "I was a general in His army."
Jeep: "What changed? What made you leave?"
Michael: "I was given an order I didn't believe in. He lost faith, I didn't."
Now let's take inventory of the message being delivered here: The rebellious hero defies the fear-mongering, murdering prison warden god to protect the future savior of mankind. Or put another way, Satan is trying to pass himself off again as the benevolent liberator from the demiurge.
The baby is born, then Charlie asks, "Are we safe now?"
Michael: "No, but now at least the child will have a chance to grow up... to lead the world out of darkness."
Charlie: "What happens until then?"
Michael: "We need to show him how."
Wasn't it King Herod under the influence of Satan that massacred the innocents? And wasn't it Satan who tried to kill the child in Revelation 12? So what is being said about God here?
Then Gabriel shows up to do the job himself.
Michael tells him, "I knew He'd send you, Gabriel. You were always so eager to please Him."
Gabriel: "Unlike you, rebellious son."
This is a pretty good indication that Michael indeed represents Jesus Christ--although it could be argued that this son refers to the bene elohim, the sons of God, or angels.
What follows is, of course, a big fight. But as far as the plot synopsis goes, we'll stop here as this is a new release and some readers may intend to see it still. But, aside from being plain stupid, let's just say that the film's ending characterizes God as being wishy-washy on the subject of pronouncing judgment. The ultimate message of this film being that you can stand up to God, rebellion is heroic.
