Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter Point To Jesus | A Bee Interview With Frank Turek
Frank Turek hangs out with The Babylon Bee to talk about how all your favorite Hollywood blockbuster movie heroes like Iron Man, Frodo Baggins, and Harry Potter will point you to the ultimate hero: Jesus Christ. Kyle and Jarret ask Frank about how hit movie franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings reveal God, the battle between good and evil, and the true savior of all mankind. Frank Turek is the founder of the Christian apologetics ministry CrossExamined and the author of the new book Hollywood Heroes. You can listen to Frank on CrossExamined Radio Program and the I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist podcast. CrossExamined on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CrossExamined.org CrossExamined on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrossExamined Get your copy of Hollywood Heroes: https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Heroes-Favorite-Movies-Reveal/dp/1641583517
Me, Kyle, and my friend Jarrett were just hanging out here when we heard a knock on the door and we learned that Frank Turek was going to be in the studio with us today.
That's another objection that some atheists have.
How do we know we're not in the Matrix?
And the answer is we don't.
We could be.
I love the line.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
You can say it better.
Go.
You're a voice actor.
Are you fine?
Nope.
I just did Gandalf.
Yeah, that's why that's fine.
We encourage you guys to check out Frank Turek's stuff on the internet.
Check out the new book Hollywood Heroes.
And here we go.
All right.
Come on in, Frank.
Welcome back, Frank Turek.
It's great to have you again.
In the new studio, ladies and gentlemen.
Yeah, I say welcome back, except this is your first time here.
It is Babylon B headquarters.
Yeah.
You have the honor of being like the second person here.
So you were second on our heart.
Why didn't you invite me first?
You're second in our hearts.
Second.
But we're going to dive in with a fun discussion today.
We've done apologetics discussions with you and all that boring stuff.
But today we're going to talk about Hollywood superheroes.
So you have our new book, Hollywood Heroes, talks about how movies point to Christ.
Yes.
That's right.
The subtitle is How Your Favorite Movies Reveal God.
And my son, who's in the Air Force and also a seminary grad, he got his seminary degree from Southern Evangelical Seminary where I went.
While he was still in the Air Force, he's like a movie buff.
And about five years ago, we were talking and I said, Zach, there's so many things you know about these movies that point to Christianity that point to Jesus.
We had to write a book.
It only took us five years to pull it together, but here we are.
All right.
So co-written.
That's awesome.
Yeah.
What was that process like?
Well, he wrote it all and then just left his name on.
Yeah, that's right.
No, it was the other way around, actually.
I mean, he knows the movies inside and out.
So we're doing Captain America, Iron Man, Harry Potter.
I know that's controversial among some Christians, but we'll talk about that.
Oh, yeah.
Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman's in there too.
A little bit about Spider-Man.
And then the ultimate hero is, of course, this man named Jesus.
And so it all.
That's what you're going to say, Captain America.
Yeah, no, he, well, that's Zach's favorite character.
My favorite character is Iron Man.
This is Jesus.
Which phase of the Marvel cinematic universe was Jesus?
I don't remember.
Yeah, well, he's kind of the, they're borrowing from Jesus everywhere, all of these guys.
I mean, are we going to spoiler alert now and talk about the end of Endgame?
We'll do that later.
We'll get there.
I think Endgame is past the statute of limitations.
It is.
Yeah, spoiler alert.
If you haven't seen it.
Yeah, Endgame is like, it's already been memed to death, you know, so it's once it's in the memes, you're safe, I think.
I mean, Thanos is part of common language now.
Well, people always ask, like, what's the common thread through all these superheroes and even fantasy stories that point to Jesus?
The number one common thread is sacrifice, right?
They all sacrifice.
So Tony Stark, he sacrifices himself.
Well, spoiler.
I'm sorry.
Man, I blew it.
And Darth Vader is spoiler alert.
Is what?
Luke Skywalker's father.
No.
Wait, what?
Yeah.
So, but anyway, we go from Tony Stark, because I just love Iron Man.
He starts as a billionaire, Playboy, amoral arms dealer.
And you'd think this guy would be happy, right?
I mean, he's got the big three that we always say people think they need to have to be happy.
Sex, money, power.
He's got it all.
But he's miserable.
Why is he miserable?
Because he doesn't have purpose.
He doesn't have identity.
He doesn't even know why he's here.
Why is he here on earth?
And then, as you know, this weapon that he sold to terrorists blows up near him.
It puts shrapnel in his heart near his heart, and then he has to have this device installed right in the center of his chest to guard his heart from encroaching shrapnel.
Now, just like Jesus.
Perfectly.
Just like Jesus.
I can see that.
No, it's just like Proverbs 4, 23, which I think is the second most important verse in the Bible other than the gospel to today's culture.
And that is, guard your heart because everything you do flows from it.
In fact, it says, above all else, guard your heart.
The culture says, what?
Follow your heart?
But we really need to guard our hearts because if we just wantonly follow our hearts anywhere, we're going to wind up like the early Tony Stark.
He's going to be anxious.
He's going to be depressed.
He's going to not have any direction.
He's going to suffer from all PSTD or whatever it is.
PTSD.
PTSD.
Thank you.
Whatever that thing is.
He's just, he's whacked out, right?
And it's only when he guards his heart and he focuses on what's really important can he then become a hero who at the end of Endgame sacrifices himself to save the world.
So the Frank or the message translation of Proverbs 4 is install an arc reactor in your heart.
Right there.
Right there.
And if that thing fails, right, he dies.
That's right.
So if you don't guard your heart, you die.
And he gets upgrades on it, too.
So maybe that's like sanctification.
Sanctification, upgrade your arc reactor.
It is true, man.
There's sanctification throughout Iron Man.
There's no sanctification in Captain America, right?
He's perfect in the beginning.
He becomes a new creation.
Who does?
Captain America.
That's it.
Well, yeah.
He's got a glorified body.
He does.
He does get that.
You're right.
But he's the guy who's going to jump on a grenade for you from the beginning, not Tony Stark.
Well, which I love this because it's, I think that's, I love Captain America because it seems like human beings have to start in weakness.
This is the way God designed us.
And you probably already answered this question, but I would say like human beings sort of start in weakness and then we, there's something about weakness that God values.
And so he gives us these weak bodies.
He gives us a super serum.
And then he gives us super serum in our new bodies.
And if we get the super serum without having the weakness, maybe we wouldn't understand our new glorified bodies or something.
If you were born with a super.
It seems to make sense to me.
If everybody's super, then nobody is.
I like that.
There's a TV show there.
You're like a philosopher over there.
It's from the Incredibles, man.
Oh, that's right.
From the Incredibles.
Goodness.
Yeah, is that in your book?
The Incredibles?
No.
No Incredibles, but you just mentioned weakness.
You know, that's a big theme of Lord of the Rings.
If you're like me, the first thing you do when you get up is you pull out your phone and you start playing a video game or you start scrolling Facebook and Twitter and it starts infecting your brain.
And instead, you should consider opening the Abide app and starting your day in the spirit and peace of Christ in the Bible.
Abide is the number one Christian meditation app.
Abide users report less stress, lower levels of anxiety and depression, and better sleep.
For a limited time, our listeners get 25% off a premium subscription when you visit abide.co slash Babylon.
Whether it's the start of the day and you want to start the day right by getting some scripture in your mind or it's the end of the day and you want to just kind of doze off while you hear God's word and some meditations from scripture.
We encourage you to join the millions of people using Abide.
You can get started now with 25% off a premium subscription by downloading the Abide app at abide.co slash Babylon.
You'll get additional stories and meditations, premium music, soothing sounds.
You can support the Babylon Bee podcast and get 25% off by going to A-B-I-D-E dot CO slash Babylon, where you can download the Abide app and get 25% off your premium subscription.
Right?
Who are the real, who's the hero Lord of the Rings, according to Tolkien?
Who do you think it is?
Well, he is.
Sam Wise Games.
You're on it, man.
Jarrett, you're on it.
Well, he wrote a letter kind of to that effect, but he had some conflicting thoughts on it, I think.
Who else would have been?
Well, Frodo?
The problem that when people talk about it.
Yeah.
Frodo is, to me, is the hero of Lord of the Rings.
And Tolkien kind of said yes and no.
He does fail in the end.
Yeah.
I don't want to step on your tip.
No, no, it's perfect.
But Providence takes over, right?
That's why, and we're jumping all around here, but that's where Gandalf at one point says to Frodo, you got to tolerate, you got to tolerate this hobbit who's been giving you a lot of trouble, Gollum.
You got to just tolerate him.
Who knows what's going to happen in the end, right?
Turns out that Gollum in trying to get the ring actually completes the mission and falls into the pit or the lava with the ring.
Inadvertently.
And they should have gotten rid of Gollum a long time ago because all the evil he was doing, but they don't.
And it turns out that one guy trying to do evil actually results in good, which is.
All from the act of mercy that Bilbo had done.
And then Frodo had done.
And Frodo at the beginning says, why didn't Bilbo kill Gollum when he had the chance?
That's right.
And then when he has the chance to do it, I think he has two chances to kill Gollum, and both times he has mercy on him.
Which is, you know, when he's actually in the spot on the shoes, he realizes the conflict that was inside of Bilbo.
Because there's a ripple effect that happens.
And a lot of times we can't see it, right?
We can't see the ripple effect.
Why did God allow this evil thing to occur?
But sometimes allowing an evil thing to occur or someone not getting punishment when they should will ripple forward to actually bring forth good later.
That's what happens in Lord of the Rings.
And Tolkien uses the weak characters to succeed.
Why is weakness?
Why does Paul say, well, when I'm weak, I'm strong, because then I depend on God.
When I'm strong, I don't depend on God.
I got this, God.
I don't need you.
I can do it myself.
But what do Frodo and Sam have to do?
They got to rely on everybody else to accomplish the mission.
You got to rely on Gandalf.
Got to rely on Aragorn to make sure the orcs are out of Mordor.
Got to rely on other people to get things done.
That's what we have to do, too.
People who are stronger than us or God, we have to rely on to get things done.
If we think we got it, we don't.
But the Hobbit movies are from Satan.
I agree.
Right.
Did not like Saturday.
Just like Harry Potter.
That's right.
Just like Harry Potter.
So satanic.
And what do you think?
The Amazon Lord of the Rings?
How's that going to be?
Satan.
Oh, all directs from Satan.
Yeah, also Satan.
That's like somebody trying to redo a classic like Pilgrim's Progress or something.
You just can't do it.
The hubris.
Yeah, the hubris.
So somebody that would try and do to do something like that is pretty, a lot of arrogance there.
Yeah, everything I've read from the people who are working on the Amazon Lord of the Rings is like, you know, they're talking about the theme.
These are the themes of Tolkien.
And they're like, diversity and inclusion.
And I'm like, what?
I'm like, really?
Like diverse groups of people coming together to, I'm like, well, there's that theme is there, but it's not like even in the top 20, you know.
There's a reason for it.
Yeah.
So it makes me think they don't understand Tolkien at all and they just wanted their version of Game of Thrones and they slapped Tolkien's name on it.
So mark my words.
Yeah.
No, it's going to be terrible.
Yeah.
Mark those words, right?
You're going to ruin.
The words have been marked.
All right.
Well, let's back up, though.
So we jumped right into all the movies and stuff.
But because you like to just jump right in, that's what you do.
But I don't know.
There's a little bit of goofiness sometimes when I read it.
I don't know.
There's an instant eye roll, like when a pastor is like, we're going to show the Captain America clip, and now they'll use that to, I don't know.
And maybe that was just me growing up and always seeing Braveheart played on the Braveheart.
He still does that.
Does Pastor Glenn still do that?
Pastor Glenn still does that.
So I love you, Pastor Glenn.
I love your playheart about twice a year.
The church we grew up, you know, there's always like, I don't know, maybe we had an instinctive visceral reaction to that.
We're like, oh, you know, that's you're just using the Hollywood stuff.
There's a little cheesiness that comes with it where you kind of think, like, really, were they really?
So, what's the balance between, like, you know, actually, obviously, people do borrow from the Christ myth, or I say myth, but it's not a myth.
It's true, but that's the one true myth.
So, what's the balance between the value of looking at stuff created by secular Hollywood, you know, versus versus, I don't know, go ahead.
Well, I think Paul does that in Acts 17 when he goes to Mars Hill.
He starts quoting from the philosophers, the Greek philosophers.
Like, for example, you say that in Zeus we live and move and have our being, but I'm saying in Yahweh we live and move and have our being.
He's quoting from them because that's the way he can have a bridge to the gospel by taking stories and beliefs that they have and say, just like you believe this, this is really the truth.
And so I think you can do that.
I also think that Jesus, through parables, is using fictional stories to communicate a moral or theological truth.
For example, if we were back with Jesus right now and he just told us the Good Samaritan parable, if we said, hey, Jesus, what was the Good Samaritan's name?
He'd go, what are you talking about?
I mean, there's not, this didn't really happen.
I'm just telling a story to illustrate a moral or theological point.
So he's, in fact, this is one of the ways he could get away with not being killed so early because the Pharisees could say, well, he's just walking.
He's just telling stories, right?
These aren't really true.
I mean, they have a true point, but he's telling stories.
He's communicating in parables in order to bring people to where he wants to bring them without alerting the authorities to say that, oh, this guy's claiming to be God right here.
I mean, he does that when he's under oath, but along the way, he's doing it in a much more subtle way.
So just like Jesus, just like Paul, we can use fictional stories to communicate a moral or theological truth.
The Good Samaritan's name was Bob.
Bob the Samaritan.
Bob the Samaritan.
Yeah.
Bob Samaritan.
Bob from Samaria.
There are some who call me Bob.
And some call me Tim.
His name was Tim.
That's what I was going to say.
Tim.
Finding God in Monty Python.
I love it.
It's the next book.
I like it.
When did you first see Star Wars?
I was 15 when the first movie came out in 1976.
Let's see some math now.
How many times did you see Star Wars in the theater?
Probably twice.
Yeah, when it first came out.
That was an event.
My son, Zach, whom I wrote this book with, Hollywood Heroes, he was like nine when the Phantom Menace came out.
And he said, I remember people were dressed up in these costumes.
So when people are getting dressed up for a movie, it's a cultural phenomenon.
It's not just a movie.
And they were doing that back in 1977.
They already did it.
Yeah.
Yeah, I went to the Chinese, The Man Chinese Theater, Man's Chinese Theater downtown to watch the Phantom Menace.
And I dressed up.
You did?
Yeah.
As what?
I was a Jedi.
Yeah, as Leah Thomas.
As Princess Leia in the Job of the Hut scene.
Yeah.
Job of the Hut outfit.
Job of the Hut.
It was fetching.
So generic Jedi.
You were just generic.
Yeah, because I had a friend that made Jedi costumes.
So I wore it, and it wasn't a specific Obi-Wan Kenobi or something like that.
I dressed up for Revenge of the Sith.
I didn't dress up for the other two, but I did see all of those at midnight or something.
Yeah, no, I just did the Jedi robe, like the generic Jedi robe and Target.
I wore Indiana Jones to the Indiana Jones 4.
Very disappointed.
Yeah, I was not worried.
There were four.
Is there a four?
What's the four?
The crystal skull.
There was no four.
Yeah.
Crystal skull?
There is no Spain.
There were three movies.
The Crystal Skull.
There were three movies.
The third one was with Sean Connery.
Last Crusade.
Nothing.
It was the Christmas.
There was no kingdom of them.
We don't talk about it.
We don't talk about it.
Okay, it doesn't exist.
It was the kingdom of the crystal skull about the aliens.
We don't talk about it.
Spoiler.
I mean, nobody's going to see it.
It's not like anyone's going to watch it.
Anyway.
But it brings up a good spiritual point.
It's like the false gospels that come.
Yeah, it's kind of like false messengers that will bring false gospels.
Yeah.
Like Kingdom of the Crystal.
Indiana Jones is healing kids.
Is that in your book?
Do you talk about recreating no Indy in our book?
No.
No.
Hey, everyone.
Right now, there's a situation brewing in the men's basics department.
Men are being held hostage by overpriced brands that simply aren't mission tested.
That's why we're excited to tell you about Undertak, the only brand that's literally been battle-tested by special forces.
These have to be the greatest boxers ever made because they cover all the bases.
High-quality material that's antibacterial, anti-pilling, and moisture-wicking, so you stay fresh and dry all day.
A quick release fly and a secret pocket in the extra wide waistband for cash or tactical necessities.
Undertak is durable, ultra-light, fade-resistant, and shrink-resistant.
And here's the best part: they're almost 30% less than the competition.
Go to getundertack.com.
That's getundertech.com right now.
And you can save 20% off your order with the offer code B20.
That's B-E-E20.
Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back.
This is a great American company that's unapologetically pro-America, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-military.
GetUnderTech.com.
That's getUnderTach.com.
And your offer code is B20.
Is there any Star Wars in your book?
Yes.
A whole chapter on Star Wars.
Okay.
Yeah, we love Star Wars.
Oh, good.
We've got a question on Star Wars right here on the teleprompter.
Where's the line?
You can't read it?
Huh.
It's there.
There's a lot of Star Wars.
I was going to ask something else, though.
Are you.
So who's the Christ figure in Star Wars?
Who is the Christ?
There's no real central Christ figure, but there's redemption.
Okay.
You got obviously Darth Vader, but also Han Solo, right?
Han Solo is we call him Han.
You call him Han?
I say Han.
I don't know if that's correct or not.
It's a perfect name for him, Solo, because he's just in it for himself, right?
For sure.
He doesn't want to be part of the team.
Solo.
Solo.
That's right.
That's right.
Let's just get one thing straight, your worshipfulness.
I'm in this for the money.
I expect to be paid handsomely.
Right?
I'm edited for your little, for your little who are you calling scruffy looking?
Yeah.
That was pretty good.
Did you go out for the part when the solo movie came out?
I was only 15.
I would have to go.
No, when the solo movie, you could have.
Oh, but it was solo?
But it was young solo.
You didn't?
Yeah.
Young solo.
Young solo.
Anyway, he has the best lines, don't you think?
Oh, for sure.
By far.
Beloved character.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah, your worshipfulness.
Yeah, that's great.
Great.
It's great.
Anyway, but he's a rule-bending skeptic.
And in the beginning, he says, Kid, there's no force.
This is all simple tricks and nonsense.
It's all mumbo-jumbo, right?
You got to have a good blaster at your side, kid.
Paraphrase, paraphrase, but just paraphrase.
And then what happens to him?
I'm going to get angry comments.
Actually, what he says.
Technically, that's not what he's saying.
Quite different.
Greedo.
Greedo.
And then Job of the Hut, who's way bigger than a hut, you know, has him and puts him in carbonite, freezes him in debt.
And then who shows up?
Luke Skywalker to redeem him.
Yeah.
Get him out of debt.
He's got a thermal detonator.
That's pretty good.
We're going to do it.
He's holding a thermal.
He's holding it.
Yeah, that was a paraphrase too.
That was paraphrased.
Don't quote it if you're going to get it.
Does anyone have a good Darth Vader?
Can you do a good Darth Vader?
I mean, I could, but you do.
I don't have a good one, but I love the line.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
You can say it better, go.
You're a voice actor.
I farmed.
Nope.
I just did Gandalf.
Yeah, that's fine.
Gandalf just came out.
That's a long movie.
Yeah, that's a officer swear.
Well, quite fair.
I find your lack of faith disturbed.
I find.
I've actually never.
I've never, you know what?
I've never been good at the royal person.
No, lack of faith.
This is quite so.
Quite so.
Quite disturbing.
Dah.
It's almost C3PF.
No, I've actually never been able to do Darth Vader.
It's too deep.
It is.
James Earl Jones is a voice beyond.
It's a voice beyond.
So for the record, in my opinion, salacious crumb is the Christ figure.
Salacious crumb, really?
In strong voice.
I think, well, look, they even have, oh, let's go back to Han Solo.
We got diverted from your British-minded British, from the worst Darth Vader impression of all time.
I find a lack of faith.
Now I need to see the movie edited with your voice jumped over your turn to me.
It just instills terror in anyone who's listening.
It's not even better.
So anyway, after he's redeemed by Luke Skywalker, and then he witnesses with his own eyes the force actually working, then he becomes a believer.
He says, it's all true, kid.
All of it.
How?
He comes through the evidence.
That's how we're supposed to come to faith.
Come through the evidence.
At least look at the evidence and see it's really true.
In fact, when we do, we're going to do a podcast on Kyle's arrogant new book.
What do you call it?
Upris the postmodern pilgrim's progress.
There's a guy in that book that is looking at the evidence and basically saying, who is it?
Mr. Meteor or something?
Or Mr. Mayer.
Yeah, the mayor of the city of destruction.
Yeah.
The meteors are flying at their town and their town's about to blow up and his hair's on fire.
And he's like, there's no destruction.
What are you talking about?
There's no fire.
Not saying it.
And so when you look at somebody like Hans Solo, he sees the evidence and he believes.
But there are people who will see the evidence and not believe.
It could be staring them in the face.
They don't want to believe it.
That's why I always ask young people on college campuses, if Christianity were true, would you become a Christian?
Many of them will say no.
It has nothing to do with evidence.
They're not on a truth quest or on a happiness quest.
They're just going to believe whatever they think is going to make them happy.
They don't want there to be a God because they want to be God of their own lives.
And so it's good to see somebody who sees the evidence and believes, but you can also show a lot of evidence to people and they'll go, I won't believe no matter what you do.
I'm going to do my own thing.
This makes me wonder if in the Star Wars universe, there's like atheist societies that like get together and they wear fedoras and they like neck beards.
The force is a miracle.
It's all a lie.
It's all a lie.
That's right.
All a lie.
The Jedi making up to control it.
Absolutely.
Yeah.
I don't know what I just said.
It's ridiculous.
It's so, so crazy.
Well, okay, but so that, I mean, that brings up some of the barriers that you run into with some of this stuff because the force, you know, growing up, like my parents let me watch Star Wars, but it was like, but be careful because it's, you know, Eastern mysticism.
You know, he got it all from New Age philosophy.
I think there's truth to that.
Sure.
Where's the balance for Christians?
Because you talked about how Paul used it on Mars Hill.
Right.
You know, but that was to speak to a culture.
So is that the primary thrust of these kind of things, is to reach out?
Or like, what value does it have for the believer, you know, to contextualize the story?
Well, one of the things I think, one of the values it has is that, first of all, everyone knows something about Star Wars, right?
And so you can use elements of Star Wars.
First of all, just as Lucas himself says, even though he doesn't think there's any way to ground morality, well, he's not a philosopher, but he just assumes the Jedi are the good guys and the Sith are the bad guys, even though he says the Force has no authority or it's not personal.
It doesn't tell you what to do.
It can't.
It's an impersonal force, so it can't tell you what to do.
You're not obligated to obey the Force.
It just turns out that people who do obey the light side turn out in better position, turned out in a better position than those that don't.
In fact, even physically, Darth Vader and the Emperor are both physically deformed because they follow the dark side.
Whereas Luke and Leia and others have no blue volcano, which he did, but it was because of his own slide into sin.
In fact, Luke has the high ground.
Lucas actually sat.
I have the high ground.
I'm just going to keep.
Don't do this, Anakin.
I have the high ground.
It doesn't matter who the character is.
It's some British, high-minded.
I need you to dub the whole movie to us.
Obi-Monkenobi was.
Don't go against the councilman.
Not again.
Now it's closer, but it's still.
All right, all right.
That's the one like that.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, derailing you.
Should we tag Adam in?
Yeah, let's tag him in.
Tag him in.
Treasure in Heaven is great, but it's not going to buy you a tank of gas.
So let's take a moment to briefly review the current state of our economy and the global effect the war between Russia and Ukraine has had.
We're in for a tough year here, and Biden's printing and spending could be catastrophic for the U.S. dollar and the market.
That's why a growing number of financial analysts are recommending you diversify with gold and silver now.
And the only company we recommend is Allegiance Gold.
Our friends at Allegiance Gold can help you protect your IRA or 401k with physical gold and silver and have it delivered securely right to your door.
The team at Allegiance Gold takes the time to educate their clients on the importance of having a financial portfolio that's diversified with gold and silver.
Allegiance Gold has been one of the top precious metals firms in the nation for their commitment to protecting your hard-earned savings.
They have an A plus from the Better Business Bureau, a five-star rating with TrustLink, and they're AAA rated with the Business Consumer Alliance.
If you act now by calling them and you mention Babylon B, we'll even give you $500 of free silver on a qualified purchase.
Call 844-790-9191 to get this exclusive offer.
Or you can visit allegiancegold.com/slash B. That's B-E-E.
Call 844-790-9191.
That's 844-790-9191.
Or visit allegiancegold.com/slash B-E-E.
All right, go ahead.
So, where were we?
I don't know.
His slide into sin.
He slides into sin.
In fact, when.
And lava.
And lava.
He slides into sin and sin.
Which represents sin.
Yeah, right.
Which does represent sin.
Puts the lava in your life.
That's right.
Yeah.
Jesus can take the lava from your life.
The lava planet that you live on.
That's right.
That's right.
So I can't remember what point we were looking at.
Oh, what happens when Anakin actually is tempted by the emperor before he becomes the emperor?
He actually tells Anakin, I'm a Sith.
And Anakin says, Okay, I'm with you now because you can help me protect my family.
You can give me the power that I want.
And Lucas, in an interview, said, This is when Anakin actually succumbs to the devil when he slides to that point.
And then he becomes Darth Vader, and he's put back together by the emperor.
And as Lucas says, you know, he's half man, half machine.
There's not much human to him left.
It's more machine than man.
More machine than man.
How does he actually say that?
But all bad.
We need to be able to do it.
He's actually more machine than man.
Who said it?
Who said it?
It doesn't matter some British high minded royal.
Go ahead.
He's actually more machine than man.
That's not the exact line.
That's not the exact line.
I'm just saying.
I fail every time.
If R2D2 was going to say it, how would he say it?
So anyway, there is this good and bad theme, obviously.
We have going through all these movies, but Lucas admits it.
It's a morality play.
And you can, in fact, we have a chapter, a chapter.
We have a section in the chapter on Star Wars.
Can bad people go to heaven?
Someone like Darth Vader, who has slaughtered innocent people.
And of course, our answer is: only bad people go to heaven because there are no good people.
We're all fallen.
We all need a savior.
In fact, in Star Wars, you know, they have this kind of little transfiguration scene.
Who's in the transfiguration?
You've got Anakin, Yoda, Yoda, and Alec Guinness.
Yeah, Obi-Wan can.
And it's their afterlife.
It's very reminiscent of the Transfiguration.
Jesus?
They replaced the old Elijah Darth Vader character with the new Anakin character in the special edition.
Yeah, Lucas went back and digitally put in the younger Hayden Christian.
That's really disrespectful to the I think so too.
I actually hated that.
I hated that.
I think he was disturbing the force right there.
It was a choice.
He made some choices in the is that like when the Jehovah's Witnesses edit the Bible and change things?
They do.
You're absolutely right.
So similar to that.
Very similar.
When the pink-haired lady in episode eight, The Last Jedi, sends her Mon Calamari cruiser into Lightspeed to collide with and destroy the pursuing First Order fleet, thus breaking the entire lore of Star Wars and basic rules of hybrid.
Was this pointing to Jesus defeating death by sacrificing himself on the cross?
I don't know.
I went to the bathroom.
Okay.
Yeah.
All right, next question.
In Lord of the Rings, Gandalf is typically viewed as a Christ figure.
Does that make Shadow Facts the Holy Spirit?
Wait, is that blasphemy?
Did you guys just write notes to make me blaspheme?
How does Tom Bombardil fit?
How does who?
Tom Bombadil.
He's in the books.
Oh, he's in the books.
Well, we didn't.
He's also in The Hobbit.
We're going the movies.
No.
This is all more movies than books.
Okay, but I will say this: that Tolkien spreads out the Christ figure among three characters: Gandalf, Aragorn, and Frodo.
So each one of them has some aspects of the Christ figure.
In fact, Gandalf is a messenger.
He's an angel, according to Tolkien.
So he's sending a message.
Aragorn is the returning king.
And of course, Frodo is the one that's going to actually accomplish salvation.
This is kind of like a Trinity.
You know, the Father plans salvation, the Son achieves salvation, and the Holy Spirit inspires salvation among the people.
So you've got Gandalf planning it, Frodo achieving it, and Aragorn inspiring it among the people.
It's kind of a Trinity thing going there.
Damn, knock three times if that was heresy.
Where's the heresy jar?
That's right.
Put a dollar in the middle.
We are here in the new Babylon B studios, and we do not have actual, we don't have comms with the control room.
It's all it's like a tap code that's going on.
It's like when your neighbor's too loud and you try to shut the music up.
Hey, can we talk Harry Potter for a minute?
Sure.
Please.
Blasphemy.
We've covered some good franchises, so let's talk about Harry Potter.
Yeah, a lot of people were really upset with Harry Potter.
Some people are upset that we have it in the book, Hollywood Heroes, because it's got magic in it.
But I noticed there's kind of a bit of a double standard when it comes to Christians and magic in movies because they didn't like the magic in Harry Potter.
But why are they fine with the magic in Lord of the Rings and Chronicles and Arnia?
Because they're good books.
That's it.
Or Star Wars is kind of magic, too.
There's magic.
Well, some Christians had a problem with that.
But I mean, look, Gandalf, Gandalf is a wizard.
Yeah.
I mean, Harry Potter's a wizard, too.
You're a wizard, Harry.
That's right.
Can you say that?
Who said that?
Hagrid.
Hagren.
You're a wizard, Harry.
No.
Darth Vader said it, actually.
Sorry, you keep talking.
All right.
Sorry.
So, in any event, quite the wizard, Harry.
The kind of magic in Harry Potter isn't necessarily a kind of a cult that the Bible talks about.
This is made up stuff out of J.K. Rowling's head.
We don't see, we don't think anybody can get on a broomstick and fly around and play a modified game of soccer in the air.
I always kind of say it's like a superhero.
They're kind of like superheroes.
Yeah.
You know, they have powers, but it's not magic where it's like occult, where it's like this transaction between a devil.
Although, in the last Harry Potter movie, they did try and contact the dead once, but that didn't go anywhere.
So there's not a lot.
Well, they have like the crystal ball things, like the divination stuff that kind of borrows from.
I mean, I don't think it's done in the same way that we would try to do it in the real world, but she borrows that stuff and makes it part of her magic system or whatever.
Well, cards and tarot cards.
Yeah, but the idea here is that this is supposed to be fantasy.
This is not supposed to be real world stuff.
Now, I'm for parents.
You know, if parents say, I don't want my kids watching that, you know your kid way better than I do.
I'm simply saying, in fact, we say this in the chapter on Harry Potter in Hollywood Heroes.
We start out by saying this: arguably, Harry Potter has more in common with Jesus of Nazareth than any other character in modern fiction.
Coming up next for Babylon B subscribers, is Superman literally Jesus?
Well, actually, the creator of Superman really designed him to be a mythical version of Jesus.
He's not upset that God hasn't stopped him, Lex Luther, from doing evil to other people.
And isn't that true today, right?
We never say to ourselves, God, why don't you stop me?
I want you to analyze my tattoo.
What are your thoughts on that?
Always.
What do you think it's referring to?
It's not feminine hygiene.
This has been another edition of the Bee Weekly from the dedicated team of certified fake news journalists you can trust here at the Babylon B, reminding you that someone out there knows something about Carmen.