April 10, 2006
Live Blogging "The Ten Commandments"
I'm watching the new version of The Ten Commandments (while I finish up my taxes); I'll do my best to live-blog my thoughts. I'll repost new comments at each commercial break.
- Missed the first few minutes.
- The midrash quoted by Rashi about Paroah's astrologers pinpointing a threat from the slaves is depicted as motivation for a baby killing spree that leads to Moses being set afloat on the Nile.
- Some lady called Moses, "The Chosen One." Awesome.
- Lots of backstory thats not in the Chumash, I'm not sure if it's in the midrashim either. Batya's other son, details of the other gods, Egyptian theology.
- Kid Moses is shown Joseph's tomb by other Hebrews. The midrash states Joseph's bones were interred either under the Nile, or by the Egyptians.
- Moshe killed the Egyptian because he was attempting to rape a Hebrew slave, and her husband fought back.
- Moshe's indentification with his people seems to stem from a sense of destiny; he wonders why he was spared, when so many other Hebrew babies were killed. Contrast this to the rest of the Jews; they are all wondering, "Where is God, why has he let this happen to us?" Because of his circumstances, Moshe is the only Jew who feels a sense of Divine Providence.
- Moshe has mad rock-fighting skills, and perhaps anger-management issues.
- Tzipporah is making weird sheep calls. Mazel Tov! They are married. Mazel Tov! They have a baby. Lots of PDA.
- "I name you Gersham [sic], which means stranger, like the stranger you took into your family." Sure, whatever.
- "Horeb, the Holy Mountain; it's not safe to go near there." Like the Elephant Graveyard from The Lion King?
- The Burning Bush: God speaks quietly, almost in a whisper. Moshe's complaints are rather feeble. We only get one sign (the staff to snake). When God is finished speaking, the flames in the bush dwindle and go out. This scene lacked gravitas, there was little to no drama or emotion here.
- Aharon has got a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
- Moshe is not stuttering. Lots of little things wrong here.
- Moshe's snake/staff is supposed to eat the other snakes, not kill them...
- Pharoah seems to be falling back on the Egyptian gods, rather than viewing himself as a god.
- Baltiblogs is hosed, can't update right now.
- I liked how they showed the Hebrews turning against Moses; this aspect is often underemphasised or totally overlooked.
- Blood!
- Frogs here! Frogs there! Actually, I think they could have used more frogs.
- The plagues are shown as cause and effect; blood caused the frogs to leave the river and invade the land, which caused animals to die? Then locusts...Out of order!
- We jump straight to boils, then hail (which was pretty cool).
- Now Pharoah gets his God complex. They are playing up the relationship between Pharoah and his first-born, obviously to lend weight to Makkos Bechoros. Yawn.
- Just filed my taxes; We're getting back over $4K, which is good, because I haven't gotten a paycheck since February.
- Now I'm wishing I had just watched 24.
- Moses: "Tell your children to tell their children. Never Forget!"
- Did they eat Maror in Egypt? I don't think they did.
- Aharon as vekker, going door to door.
- Here come the Mitzrim. They've got like 6 chariots! Run!
- Moshe splits the sea. Lots of inconsistencies here. Nice usage of stock footage. It supposed to be dry land!
- Wait, Moses stayed behind! He's going to sacrifice himself, just like Bruce Willis did in Armaggedon!
And so ends part 1. Thank God. Tune in tomorrow, if I've got the strength.
I haven't watched this version so my question to you is how does this version compare to the orignal?
Posted by: Sara at April 11, 2006 1:31 AMYou wrote - Aharon has got a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Are they basing themselves on Prince of Egypt?
You wrote - The plagues are shown as cause and effect; blood caused the frogs to leave the river and invade the land, which caused animals to die? Then locusts...Out of order!
Without looking it up, maybe they're basing themselves Tehillim (Psalms) 78.
Posted by: soccer dad at April 11, 2006 4:16 AMA few questions:
What is up with the Egyptian men and black eyeliner?
Didn't Pharoh seem a little, um, un-masculine to you?
Also, Aaron's British accent was a bit much.
I just want to know what was up with the Egyptian men and black eyeliner.
Posted by: Lanie at April 11, 2006 9:36 AMthis was one of the funniest posts I've read in weeks! I bribed my coworkers last night so I could run home and catch this, if for no other reason, so I could finally get the image of
Charlton Heston out of my head when I imagine Moses. How did they manage to make Exodus boring?! that must have taken work.
