Brushing up on my eschatology, I watched The Omen again. The original, that is. One of the underrated aspects of cinema is that people learn their theology from it. Movies tend to be more memorable than sermons. It is opined among some that The Omen is responsible for the prevalence of dispensationalism among many Americans. I’d put a bit of a finer point on it in that The Late Great Planet Earth was being raptured off the shelves all the way through the seventies (I personally bought two copies) and it caused a feedback loop with The Omen. Many mainstream ministers, without benefit of a Fundamentalist upbringing, were caught unawares, I expect. Scholars of religion have noted how several aspects of the narrative—the character of “the Antichrist,” the rapture, indeed, the Apocalypse—have been read back into the Bible by credulous believers.
What I found interesting in this viewing is the debt owed to The Exorcist. Of the two there’s no doubt as to which is the superior film. The name Damien in The Omen, I read somewhere once upon a time, was taken from Fr. Damien Karras. During the late seventies and early eighties, unruly boys were routinely called “Damien” by frustrated camp counselors and others. Apart from this nod, if true, is the fact that the abruptly introduced character Karl/Carl Bugenhagen is an archaeologist exorcist. (He’s the guy who gives Robert Thorn the knives, if you haven’t seen it for a while.) The scene shot in Jerusalem (said to be Megiddo) underscores that Fr. Merrin is also being channeled here. I suspect that the film was getting a bit long in the tooth and some explanatory material on Bugenhagen was left out.
It has also been suggested that the number 666 entered popular culture because of The Omen. I would temper that a bit with the fact that a lot of people were reading Hal Lindsey’s new apocalypse as well and the two of them got the job done. There’s no doubt that after the film the evil number took off in a direction that would’ve left John of Patmos scratching his head. This brings me back to the point that belief is influenced—sometimes constructed—by movies. The Omen was a huge success at the time, despite the fact that many critics (also not raised Fundie) thought the premise was silly. Most people aren’t film critics. The Bible can be pretty impenetrable as well. Preachers may not be inspiring. Movies, however, wrap it up neatly and tell you what to believe. Perhaps it’s some kind of sign.
