Spidey

(Thought I'd try a title for once)

Two weeks ago we caught "Spider-Man" on TV. I enjoyed it so much, I couldn't wait for a free night to rent the sequel, so we finally discovered we had Sunday evening available. After watching "Spider-Man 2" two nights ago, I liked it so much that I watched it again last night! Now I do have a slightly embarrassing history of enjoying (in my youth even obsessing over) superheroes, I'll admit, but I was particularly curious to see "Spider-Man 2" in light of this brief analysis:

Spider-Man 2
directed by Sam Raimi
In some ways, this film is The Passion redux in its allegorical imagery. Peter Parker goes through his own Gethsemane: Does he really want to go through all the suffering to be a savior? There's even a "demon" (a doctor dressed in white) who tempts Peter to give it up and just be a regular guy, and a "ministering angel" (Luke 22:43) who shows up as gawky girl next door with milk and chocolate cake. But the most stunning allegorical image comes when Spidey saves a runaway train, arms outstretched in a crucified position, holes in his wrists and a wound in his side. When the train stops, Spidey's head drops, chin to chest, lifeless. Witnesses carry his prone body over their heads, into the train (a tomb?), and place him gently on the floor. "Is he dead?" someone asks. Then Peter wakes up--"resurrected"--with more lives to save and an 8-legged demon (aka Doctor Octopus) to defeat.

That excerpt can be found at the following link (which lists, as you can see, the ten most redeeming films of 2004, as decided by folks at Christianity Today magazine):

http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/tenredeemingfilmsof2004.html

At first I wanted to say in response to that Christianity Today writer, "Come on, man, you're reading way too much into it." But frankly, after watching it, it's there. I'm not going to say that Sam Raimi purposefully placed them there, because I don't know, but those connections to Christ are all represented--even the "ministering angel." The "crucifixion" scene is clearly intentional, so it's not too outrageous to consider the possibility that they wanted all those elements in the film. Spidey as Christ-figure? It's there.

So while I still love films like "Hotel Rwanda" (which appears on the same list of redeeming films) there is something deep in my psyche that gets sucked into a larger-than-life superhero movie. Apart from all the Christian symbolism and analysis, I thought Tobey Maguire was genius casting and played Spidey/Peter perfectly, the story proved to be strong, and I can't wait for "Spider-Man 3."

Unfortunately, I have no choice but to wait, and wait for some time: It doesn't come out until 2007.