Biblical to Modern Intertextuality

Tom Shadyac's 2007 comedy, Evan Almighty, is a contemporary display of intertextuality through its modernization of the Bible story concerning Noah and his ark, found in the Book of Genesis. The rising action of the film is a series of strange happenstances that occur during the day-to-day life of the main character, Evan, who is played by Steve Carell. The Bible story from which the movie is based tells the story of a man, Noah, who is warned by God that He is sending a flood to wash away mankind for its various sins. God then commands that Noah build an ark out of gopher wood, or modern-day cypress, and bring a pair of each type of animal onto the ark, and He promises that Noah, his family, and the animals will be saved.

         In the film, the weird events start when Evan’s alarm clock repeatedly goes off at 6:14 every morning. The number, 614, begins to appear in multiple areas of Evan’s life. Unbeknownst to him, the number is a reference to the chapter (6) and verse (14) of Genesis in which Noah’s story begins. Older style equipment as well as a shipment of cypress, brought by a company called GO4-WOOD, appears at Evan’s doorstep, obvious references to the Biblical tale. At this point in the movie, Evan has yet to be informed by Morgan Freeman…fittingly played by God…that his life has recently been inspired from an age-old religious text.

         While Evan is still clueless, a state that Carell seems to perform effortlessly throughout the span of his career, intertextuality comes into play as an effect upon the audience’s interpretation of the movie. If the viewer is unfamiliar with the Old Testament, then it just seems like eerie or irrelevant things keep occurring in this man’s life. But for the majority of American cinematic audiences, these specific events are emphatic clues, foreshadowing the entire plot of the movie. Intertextuality is heavily prevalent in modern media because theme and plot ideas have existed for as long as creation, as evidenced by the motifs incorporated from such ancient texts as the Old Testament and the Vedas.

Intertextuality: The Hunger Games

From Fanpop

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a perfect example of a text that has running themes similar to other texts.  Collins wrote about the future where Panem is the only remaining civilization, consisting of the Capitol and 12 districts, formerly 13 districts.  Each district is responsible for contributions to the Capitol.  For example, District 1 is the luxury district and its industry involves producing luxurious items for the Capitol.  Whereas, District 12 is the mining district, so its no mystery that there industry involves providing the Capitol with coal.  District 13 was in the industry of producing nuclear weapons for the Capitol.  In response to the Capitol’s unfair treatment of the districts, District 13 rose up and fought against the Capitol’s authority with the weapons that they were producing.  The war lasted for a while, but eventually the Capitol prevailed and destroyed District 13 in its entirety. 

To remind the remaining 12 districts that the Capitol is all-powerful and will always be in control, every year on the anniversary of the destruction of District 13, the Capitol holds a Hunger Games.  In other words, each district is required to provide two tributes between the age of 12 and 18 (one male and one female) to go to the Capitol arena and battle to the death.  The victor of each Hunger Games is the Capitol’s way to remind each district of the Capitol’s generosity in not destroying every district during the war.  Also, parents and family are forced to watch their young ones die on broadcasted television to remind them that defying the Capitol brings nothing but pain and suffering.

In the Old Testament, as long as the people serve God, then God will provide for them all that they need.  However, whoever defies God has had fair warning not to do so and will be punished.  While reading the Hunger Games, whenever the Capitol talked about providing for the district and intolerance of district’s defiance, stories from the Old Testament would run through my mind.