End Of Days Essay Research Paper End

End Of Days Essay, Research Paper

End of Days

The Millennium has had a wide variety of effects on our popular culture, which is evident by how the ideas about the millennium are encoded, perpetuated, and disseminated to a mass adiuence. A large protion of ideas about the millennium are circulated to the population through the use of movies and film. To this end, one movie, entitled “The End of Days”, which was released in December 1999, is an excelent portyal of the American reaction to the Millennium in general. “The End of Days” illustrates many of the fundamental topics relavent to the Millennium, such as the concept of End Time, religion, apocalyptic violence, and culture.

To the general aduience, the synposis of the movie “The End of Days” which is publized by its producers, Universal Pictures, reads as follows:

“Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a beaten down ex- cop, is the reluctant hero of “End of Days.” a chilling, horrific thriller set at the cusp of the millennium. When the ultimate personification of evil is unleashed upon the world, Cane is unwittingly drawn into a heart-stopping supernatural game of cat and mouse. Now as the countdown to the end of days approaches, all that stands in the way of mankind’s destruction is the salvation of one woman, whose fate comes to rest in Cane’s shaky hands.”

From this synopsis the average American notes the ideas of End time and the millennium rolled up into a nice action-adventure film, with really vivid scenes. I believe that the “End of Days” was intentionally created so that it would be appealing to everyone, as it encompassed both truth and fiction, through action, lust (sex), horror, and drama. However, most American do not notice the subtle messages being relayed about end time.

Perhaps the part of the reason for the adiuences inability to pick up on these sublties was due to the fact that the main hero character of the movie was Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is also at least a majority of the reason the critics hated this film. But if one examines the plot and negates who played who, the film’s value of the popluar American cultures views regarding the millennium become apparent. Moreover, there are certain aspects and characteristics of the “End of Days” which speak of the core ideas, fears, and hopes for the millennium. In the “End of Days”, the first scene is a perfect example of this, since it is here where the most basic, age-old struggle begins in the movie.

The first scene, emphasizes the fundamental concept of religion since “The End of Days” begins at the Vatican in 1979 with the declaration being made that the chosen one is about to be born. It is here where the struggle of good verse evil begins, as there is a brief debate between Vatican officials as to whether or not to kill the chosen one at the time of her birth or to protect and shelter her from evil. The debate of this matter ends when the Pope himself decides that she most be protected and sheltered from evil, because as he states, “In killing her we will sin, and there is no redemption for those who violate the laws of God”. He continues by adding that their faith must lie with God to save them. With this the most basic and primial struggle of mankind, almost instantiniously thars the adieunce into the mindset of the classic Good verse Bad scenario.

Continuing along this religious context the next scene in “The End of Days” shift to a hospital, where a baby is being born. As soon as the young child is born she is whisked away by the nurse who states that the child most be cleaned right away. Down to the basement the nurse and baby go, only to find a small cult like gathering in the morgue. You see that the baby has a strange mark branded onto the small of her arm and the cult performs what appeared to me to be some satanic ritual before returning her to her mother. Projected in only this scene is the image of the “chosen one”, Christine York, as being pure and inicent. It is this baby girl who the audience is to later find out who is the “chosen one”. She, discovered to be Christine York, is chosen, as it is succeeding explain who has been chosen because “the stars were right when she was born”, to have sex with satan, when he comes to (every thousand years) to claim his bride, her. Still as it is stated by the clergy of the Catholitc church, “If they are allowed to mate, everything as we know it ceases to exist”. This cases a dark image is around the character of Christine York. Throughout the rest of the “End of Days” the audinces impression of her is not so much evil as she holds a darkened, unpure, delusional, and no virgin characteristics, coupled with the fact that Christine York is an orphaned non-believer. There just seems to be this uncommon shadow around her image.

The final time shift in the “End of Days” occurs in scene three, leaping 20 years into the future, to the year 1999, only days before the turn of the millennium. It is in this scene where the main character is introduced as, Jericho Cane (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Unlike many movie similar to the theme of the “End of Days”, Jericho Cane, the hero is an alcoholic, security agent continually contemplating suicide and who is generally unhappy with life. Jericho’s involvement begins with the attempted assassination of his client, a Wall Street broker, by an old priest (no tongue). In itself this scene in the mov