This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Flying the Nest
Plot Overview
Lucky eighteen-year-old Tessa Young
(Josephine Langford) has exchanged her cloying mom (Selma Blair) for
her liberating sophomore roommate and her party crowd. In a game
of Truth or Dare, Tessa declines to make out with rebel Hardin
Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) but later reprises the challenge at an
isolated swimming hole. They had argued heatedly in English Lit. class about the love theme in Jane
Austen's book, Pride and
Prejudice. Hardin thinks love is just a bunch of malarkey,
explainable by physical attraction that can be turned off like
a tap. He reminds me of the Monkees song, “I'm
a Believer” where the singer had “thought love was
only true in fairy tales” until he has an eye-opening experience.
They've got a lot to sort out.
Ideology
The dare part was covered by the English Lit. class, so we'll look for the truth
part in the other class we visit: Econ. 101. Prof. Alexander explains to the class
that they need to pay particular attention to his material. Okay.
Since it's a beginning class, we'll look at Genesis the book of
beginnings. Our economy in the present age started with Noah, (Heb. 11:7) “By faith Noah, being
warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared
an ark to the saving of his house.” Tessa's boyfriend in high
school is also named Noah, and he's a real sweetheart of a guy.
He helped Tessa move to college and he'd helped her mom when she lost
her husband. (Gen. 9:1-3) “And
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth. … Every moving thing that
liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given
you all things.” God gave them the basis of an economy. (Gen. 9:18-19) “And the sons of
Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth:
and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah:
and of them was the whole earth overspread.” These three
guys and their progeny start our global economy.
When Hardin attends his father Ken Scott (Peter Gallagher) the Chancellor's wedding, we learn that he was a drunken father whom Hardin nevertheless covered for. Noah also fell under the influence, (Gen. 9:20-23) “And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.” In the movie Hardin allows Tessa the girlfriend of Noah some privacy when she is changing and gives her his shirt to cover herself with when swimming. Ham in the Bible story observed Noah's nakedness and told his brethren. This resulted in Noah pronouncing a curse upon Ham's progeny, on Canaan in particular, (Gen. 9:24-27) “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” Hardin had tattooed on his arm the three monkeys: Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil. They relate to this particular story if we want them to.
Researcher Bodie Hodge confirms that “As a general trend, Ham is the father of many peoples in Africa” (122). Dr. Ide adds, “Ham sired four sons: Cush (translates as ‘black’) … and Canaan the youngest” (62). (Gen. 6:10) “And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” These three sons of Noah fathered the whole human race alive today. From Shem and Japheth came White Europeans (and others). Ham's descendants settled largely in Africa becoming the black races. Researcher Mark DeWayne Combs posits that, “Although Jasher specifically references the births of Japheth and Shem, there is no such reference to the birth of Ham. … that Ham may have been much younger than his brothers and that he may have had a different mother” (389). Combs also observes, “Fathering a child, particularly a son, through a handmaiden or servant girl would not have been an uncommon or forbidden practice in that time period” (165). Stampp remarks that “Apologists for slavery traced the history of servitude back to the dawn of civilization and showed that it had always existed in some form until their own day” (14).
In our movie Hardin's father marries the white mother of a black college student in their classes—maybe he was adopted—which makes him and Hardin brothers. They take it in stride (“So we're brothers.”) This movie displays the same ease of Hardin accepting a brother from another mother as does the Bible account of Noah and his three sons, the black one coming from servant roots through his mother and continuing the line in this beginning economics.
Production Values
This romantic drama “” (2019) was directed by Jenny Gage. It was adapted by Susan McMartin from a novel by Anna Todd. It stars Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Josephine Langford, and Selma Blair. Both actors and story come across as atypical but consistent with a chick flick written and directed by women, focused on female characters, and discussing an authoress (Jane Austen) known as a trailblazer of feminist notions. The sex scene with the hunk looks like an outright feminist ideal manifest on the big screen.
MPAA rated it PG–13 for sexual content and some college partying. We've seen worse. The book might give the characters more depth, but I haven't read it.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
Whatever else this movie is or isn't, it does portend big changes that occur when mom's precious ones go off to college and form new friendships. It seems to be directed at the mentality of an even younger audience than usual, but it was never boring and even clever at times. I pretty much enjoy all kinds of movies, so I took it in stride but didn't find it particularly memorable. Check it out if it looks like your kind of thing.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: No action, weak adventure. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years with guidance. Video Occasion: Feminist discussion groups. Special effects: Wake up and smell the 1990s technology. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Three stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture is taken from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software, Print.
Combs, Mark DeWayne. End the Beginning. USA: Splinter in the Mind's Eye Pub., 2014. Print.
Hodge, Bodie. Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors. Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Pub., 2013. Print.
Ide, Arthur Frederick. Noah & the Ark: The Influence of Sex, Homophobia and Heterosexism in the Flood Story and its Writing. Las Colinas: Monument Press, 1992. Print.
Stampp, Kenneth M., Professor of American History at the University of California (Berkeley). The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South. Vintage Books, 1955. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org