I just had the opportunity to watch Transformers 3 with a couple of good friends. In keeping with the previous two movies, I could not recommend this movie on account of language, some suggestive humor, and some unnecessary immodesty. That brings me to the story itself which is . . . intriguing to say the least. I would like to note that I will sound like a complete nerd talking about all of the characters and elements of this story. I am, however, writing this not out of some obsession with science fiction; I am writing this with the hope of causing us (believers) to think about the way that the world programs our thinking even in what many of us might consider to be “neutral” ground. After all, how much of a worldview does an action-packed science fiction movie really have? That is a question that I will now try to answer.
As a preliminary note, this post contains a number of spoilers. You certainly do not need to see the movie to understand my perspective, but if you choose to watch the movie and want to enjoy the story as it unfolds, you might wait until after you see the movie to read this post.
That being said, I could not help but notice a number of glaring worldview conflicts. To give a brief but necessary synopsis of the story, the Autobots remain in their alliance with the humans helping them to deal with various national security threats, Deceptacon or otherwise. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that the Decepatcons are far from defeated and now pose a greater threat than ever before. Through a series of intricately planned events, the Decepatcons successfully turn the humans against the Autobots resulting in the Autobots being exiled from earth. In keeping with their normal conduct, the Autobots warn the humans that the Deceptacons will not keep their bargain but peacefully accept the humans’ request and leave. The space vehicle carrying the Autobots is then destroyed by the Deceptacons as it is beginning to break Earth’s atmoshphere. After being rid of the Autobots, the Deceptacons unveil their real plan, just as the Autobots had warned, and begin their destructive takeover of Earth. It is only after the Deceptacons inflict incredible destruction that the Autobots return after narrowly escaping the shuttle. It is here that the Autobots make the key point that I would like us to focus on: humans will only see their plight after they have been ripped from their comfortable, self-indulgent lives. Though my synopsis is does not do the story justice, I believe that the point is sufficiently clear.
As I was watching, I could not help but think of our own country and how we are rushing toward our own destruction but refuse to see it due to our own hedonistic and pragmatic concerns. While our country marches down the path to international impotence, moral inversion, and economic death, its people willingly sit by in a haze of self-absorption. Such a degradation in society makes me wonder if Transformers 3 accurately depicts what a wakeup call really will entail. In many ways, such a depiction might make us think that a return to good ol’ fashion American values is what we really need but here is where the story really gets interesting.
The heroes of the story certainly do “the right thing” and stand up for freedom, stand up against the imminent tyranny and slavery. The flaw is that most of the heroes in this story are motivated by self-interest. The main character and hero, played by Shia LaBeouf, continually demonstrates an attitude of entitlement and self-exalting arrogance. Such an attitude from someone who is supposed to be a hero gives us quite the mashup of worldviews in that he makes some of the right choices for completely wrong reasons. Good heroes are supposed to be willing to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others, not so they can gain some skewed sense of self-worth.
Bringing those thoughts into the context of our own nation,the question that I find to be so thought-provoking is this: how many of us, in our patriotic attitudes, are motivated by similarly wrong motivations? Do we seek our freedom because we think that we have certain inalienable rights or entitlements (which are in reality merely privileges given by God)? Do we seek our freedom so that we may continue to heap to ourselves? Do we seek our freedom because losing that freedom would be ripping away the security blanket of affluence? That is not meant to come of as judgmental in any way but rather to provoke self-examination and make us think about why we so desperately desire the freedom that our Constitution has afforded to us. These are issues that I personally struggle with myself. I do not want to lose any of my freedoms but I have to ask why. Is it because I think that such a loss will inhibit my ministry or because it will just cause me some discomfort?
In the end, both types of people portrayed in Transformers 3 are self-absorbed and neither one reflects what a Christian should aspire to. In our Christian lives, everything that we pursue should be driven by a concern for others and the glory Christ alone. In that, we must always be conscious of the dangers that can happen by going to either extreme; we know that apathy and lethargy are wrong but we should also consider that zeal for the wrong reasons can be just as wrong even if the action itself is right. We do not want end up as the Pharisees who “cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence” (Matt. 23:25).
