Unfortunately, and rather obscurely, this movie has no men on fire (I don’t recall any, but I was rather drunk when we watched this). But like any movie in the action genre you have hyper-masculine, masochistic, wounded protagonists spinning off cheesy one-liners as they kill everyone and everything in their way – in an often convoluted manner.

Even more unfortunately, the plot for this movie was stolen directly from Rambo II. John Creasy, ex-CIA (Rambo, ex-army), depressed at the failings of his previous occupation, takes a new job in hope of redemption, fails new job, goes on redemptive killing spree. But whereas Rambo was inspired by post-Vietnam America, Man on Fire is inspired by Bush-administration family values.

With this in mind, one shouldn’t be surprised at all the random cross-and-crucifixion shots dished out. The problem is that appealing to family values and Jesus is more difficult when you’re trying to make a gory, sadistic action film.

Firstly, the ‘bad guys’ are in an organised religion. Institutionalised enemies are good bad-guys, because even if their motivation is the same as the good-guys, their deeds can be rationalised within a hierarchy. The bad guys are pointed out always saying “we’re professionals – we’re just doing our jobs”, implying some Nazi–bureaucracy where no single person thinks that they are to be held responsible. In this film, it is the individual that is responsible – for his own salvation, for the family (that he represents) and for justice itself. Welcome, protestant audience.

There are obvious verbal pushes to indicate how personal justice (ie. Vengeance) is more efficient than organised justice. The police point out that Creary is doing more to remove corruption in the force than they could hope to achieve in years of organised work.

The problem, as it normally is in these types of movies, is where does the justification for this overkill arise? This is especially problematic when there is also a Christian theme. The injustice of the seedy Mexican underworld is made out to be the construction of a chain of corruption: man-made evil. The free-will defence is being applied here. There is no injustice in the natural scheme of things, but the actions of free men imposed it regardless. So technically, it’s up to men to fix it, right?

Here is the scary crux of the free-will argument. The divine punisher, the imposer of God’s will, is no longer God. Men must take up God’s will, whatever religious creed they have been indoctrinated into. The bible says to forgive, and only God can pass judgement. So says an old man to Creary. But, Creary says, they have an appointment up there – and he’s just pushing them to the front of the line.

And this line of reasoning is what made this movie so fucking scary to me. The way that these action films are meant to work is that we, the audience, are supposed to empathise with the protagonist and his struggle, and cheer his overkill, revel in his Dionysian bloodlust. But this is the deus-ex-machina of religious fanaticism. This is the hundreds of martyrs and saints killing the heathens in hope of apocalypse.

This is a reminder of the dangers of religious justification and its implication to everyone in a free society.

        The sitcom has been one of the most popular genres in televisions history. Australia has only produced a handful of lasting sitcoms (Acropolis Now, Kath and Kim), so all the sitcoms that make it down here are either American or British. Europe has a Catholic majority, so it’s no surprise to see shows like Father Ted gaining popularity and Catholicism populating a majority of BBC sitcoms. But what I found odd is that I cannot think of one instance of a Protestant church appearing in an American sitcom. Everyone is Catholic. From Malcolm in the Middle to The Nanny, alters and priests abound. Scrubs, New Adventures of Old Christine, Friends, Everybody Loves Raymond – why is it that a largely (fundamentalist) Protestant audience has sitcoms set in a Catholic environment?

         My first thought was to the nature of the genre. A sitcom sets out to ridicule and is often very camp and exaggerated. Physical characteristics such as age, race, gender and deformities are prominent in sketches. Protestantism sought to break with the perceived out-dated traditions and rituals of Catholicism to focus more on the individual’s relationship with their deity. But these traditions make for excellent ridicule: think of all the things that happen to the holy water! Making fun of Catholic rituals has long been a Protestant tradition in itself. And in my personal experience, Catholics are very fond of making fun of Catholic rituals as well.

        My second reason was based more on personal experience. Protestantism seems to take itself and its deity very seriously. Jokes about Jesus getting nailed don’t go down very well with a Protestant audience. Which can make it even funnier to others around - but that’s irrelevant. In the Catholic sitcom setting there is room to mock organised religion without offending any serious Protestants. There is even room to throw in a theistic moral to the story, like the one in the Scrubs episode I looked at last. “Churches are made up of bumbling fallible people, but if we trust in God we’ll be fine!” You get the idea.

 

         I’m waiting out for a sitcom that can poke fun at all religions. If you can think of one don’t hesitate to tell me.