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"THE GOSPEL IN DISNEY: POISON APPLES"
(Genesis 3:1-7)
© 2017 Rev. Dr. Brian E. Germano
[PROP NEEDED: Video clip from Disney's movie "Snow White & the Seven Dwarves"]
[LaGrange First U.M.C.; 2-5-17]
--I-1.
[BOTH Services (CEB)] Read Text: Genesis 3:1-7 and Pray.
2.
[WATCH VIDEO CLIP: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves" (1:02:38-1:04:26 and
1:14:51-1:15:39, Total Time: 2:29)]
3.
Walt Disney and Christian faith -- is this really an appropriate topic for a church sermon?
and is it possible that we can learn something about the latter from the former?
A--Well, while Walt Disney (and the company he founded) never made organized
religion an intentional part of the storylines of their movies (mainly for marketing
reasons), nevertheless what I think we find is that the values and lessons of JudeoChristian culture (which Walt himself grew up with 1) are quite often a subtle part
of many of the studio's movies (especially in the early years). 2
B--What's more... consider that throughout his own ministry, Jesus preached & taught
using parables -- stories people could relate to containing truths about God's kingdom.
1--Well, in today's culture, movies accomplish much of the same thing.
2--So, over the next four weeks, I want us to explore a few insights and truths
about the kingdom of God using the "parables" that we today call the movies
of Walt Disney.
--II--
4.
And we begin today with what's often been called "the one that started it all": 1937's
blockbuster hit "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."
A--Now, there's actually a number of themes in this movie that mirror & convey
Christian truths, such as the importance of hospitality, respecting those who are
different; and the importance of praying when we're in need. 3
B--But the theme that stands out the most -- the one interwoven throughout its
storyline -- is the warning to beware of the subtle dangers of sin and evil in the f
guise of envy, vanity, and jealousy. 4
5.
Of course, we find all of these in Snow White's step-mother, the evil Queen, who
becomes so jealous of Snow White's beauty that she changes herself into a decrepit old
hag and (as we saw in today's clip) fashions a magic "wishing apple" for Snow White. 5
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A--But while this apple is deceptively beautiful on the outside, when Snow White takes a
bite, we see that -- instead of all her wishes coming true -- the apple instead yields a
"sleeping death," which can only be reversed through "love's first kiss" 6
B--Now, if you know the rest of the movie, you know that in the end, the wicked Queen
is destroyed, 7 and Prince Charming delivers "loves first kiss," bringing Snow White
back to life, and the two of them are married and go on to live "happily ever after."
6.
In point of fact, though, this movie -- which was based on a very old fairy tale from
Brothers Grimm -- is reminiscent of an even older story: the one we read today from
Genesis 3 of the first man and woman in the garden of Eden, and their fall from paradise.
A--To be sure, the biblical story does not mention an "apple" (merely a "fruit" of some
kind). But whatever it was, it (like the apple offered to Snow White) represents the
subtle temptations of sin & evil in the form of things which are beautiful & enticing -we we all deal with in our own life experiences, as well. 8
B--And so, within Disney's Snow White, the biblical story of Adam and Eve, and life
itself, we find something about the nature of sin and evil in our world, as well as the
solution to overcoming them. 9
--II--
7.
First of all, we find in all three that there are the POISONERS of life: those who seek to
destroy others through subtlety and deception.
A--Obviously in the movie, the "poisoner" is the evil Queen, and in the Genesis story, it's
a snake/serpent, referred to elsewhere in the Bible a "Satan," "the Devil," the
"Tempter" and the generally as the personification of evil. 10
B--Well, we don't have to think too hard to find examples of poisoners of life and hope in
our own world today.
1--From those who sell illegal drugs, to charlatans who prey on vulnerable senior
adults, to individuals and hate groups who preach or merely practice bigotry
and racism in their treatment of others. 11
2--And as author Philip Anderson points out, "The true poisoners of society are
not always the scuzzy and the scandalous. They may sit at the tables of power
and play the games of guile. Some of them are even oblivious to the toxic
consequences of their vanity.… Some of the greatest crimes in history have
been committed, not by disreputable dissenters, but by outwardly respectable
people – driven by emotions such as envy and jealousy and greed." 12
3--A case in point was the 1940 lynching of Austin Callaway here in our own
community -- a 16-year old black youth taken from jail and brutally murdered,
& whose story was swept under the rug for 76 years until last week's
landmark service of reconciliation courageously led by our civic leaders today.
3
8.
But then, Snow White, Genesis and life also teach us about the POISONS of life itself:
the methods that poisoners use to bring about their destruction.
A--In the case of the movie, the poison takes the form of a beautiful apple -- something
which looks attractive and promising, yet delivers something dreadful.
B--That sounds amazingly similar to what happened in today's scripture:
1--In Verse 5, the serpents says that if she eats of the fruit, she will "be like God,
knowing good and evil."
2--But (like Snow White) Eve discovers that the consequence of eating is not
life, but death -- not the fulfillment of her greatest wish, but the awareness of
her own brokenness and shame. 13
C--And so it is with many subtle "poisons" of life itself:
1--I.E., an addictive drug; an elicit romance; a paralyzing fear; an act of revenge;
an uncontrolled passion; a selfish indulgence; prejudice that goes unchecked;
hopelessness that gives rise to despair -- all of these seem to offer delight, but
end up delivering tragedy.
2--As one author put it, "Some promises can seem so alluring – some fruit so
attractive – that we put aside the logic of everything else we know to be true in
order to pursue that promise. What tragedies we crash into when we find that
the promise itself is poison." 14
D--But isn't that so often what we crave as human beings? And isn't that craving at the
very heart of the nature of sin and evil themselves?
1--I.E., We want something for ourselves that we know we shouldn't have, so (to
get it) we reject God and His provision and instead pursue our own way, putting
ourselves at the center of life rather than God, and giving to ourselves the place
that rightfully belongs to God alone -- all in the name of "I deserve it!"
2--And in so doing, we forget that "God alone [NOT us] has the power to make
all [our] dreams come true." 15
9.
Now, thankfully, though, in both Snow White, the Bible, and life there is also always an
ANTIDOTE -- a remedy to redeem the curse of the poison.
A--For Snow White, it's the healing power of "love's first kiss" from Prince Charming.
B--In Genesis, we find that the God of justice is also the God of love -- the one who's
ultimate purpose for us is not poison but compassion and redemption.
1--Adam and Eve, after all, are not destroyed, but offered a new (even if
challenging) life and relationship with God.
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2--And many years later, that life & relationship is given new form when God
comes to earth as one of us in order to finally free us from the various
"poisons" of sin & evil through the life, death, & resurrection victory of Jesus.
3--As Philip Anderson explains, "In Christ we discover that salvation is not some
magic fruit to ingest into our lives for self satisfaction. Rather, it is a love that
already surrounds us wherever we are... and seeks to use us whoever we are." 16
C--You see, if we look at our own lives carefully we may discover that in many ways,
WE have been Snow White -- spiritually "dead" from the various "poisons" of our
world which we've ingested along the way: fear; doubt; despair; prejudice; addiction;
pride; selfishness; and so on.
1--But our Prince Charming (Jesus) has come along and given us the "love's first
kiss" -- a kiss which signifies God our Father's true love for us in spite of our
foolish drinking of poisons for which often knew we shouldn't partake.
2--And in his kiss of love, we are (spiritually) brought back to life again!
3--How does Paul put it in Romans 6:11? "Consider yourselves dead to sin but
alive for God in Christ Jesus."
--III-10.
You see, in the end, both this Disney story and that of Adam and Eve are not merely
about the subtle dangers of the "Poison Apples" of sin and evil in our world, but about the
power of love -- God's love -- to overcome these.
A--So, my prayer is that today we would all receive the love of God's son Jesus as the
antidote to all the guilt and fear and sin that poisons our own lives and relationships.
B--May we receive his love... "not as a magic potion to fulfill our dreams, or to make us
gods, but as a catalyst for compassion [and hope] in the story of our own lives." 17
11.
[PRAYER]
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ENDNOTES:
While Walt was not an avid church-goer in his adult years, nevertheless his background was steeped in
the stories and characters of biblical Christianity from his parents, who had learned a strict faith from both
their Wesleyan Methodist and later a Congregational church background. Walt's father Elias actually even
preached for their local Congregational minister in Chicago when he was out of town, and his mother
Flora regularly played organ in their church. When they moved to Marceline, Missouri, they attended
church only occasionally (mainly because there was no local Congregational church), but when they did it
was to either the local Baptist or Methodist church there.
In his book Walt Disney: An American Original, author Bob Thomas said this about Walt's
connection to organized religion, "Walt considered himself religious yet he never went to church. The
heavy dose of religiosity in his childhood discouraged him. he especially disliked sanctimonious
preachers. But he admired and respected every religion, and his belief in God never wavered" [Mark I.
Pinsky, The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust (Louisville: Westminister John
Knox Press, 2004), p. 17].
Still, even though he never attended church himself, he felt it important enough to drop his two
daughters off at the local Hollywood Presbyterian Church for Sunday School and youth group on a
regular basis. For more about Walt's religious background, read generally Chapter Two, "Walt and Roy:
The Christians," in Pinsky, pp. 15-21.
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2
For more about this, read Chapter One, "The Disney Gospel: Secular 'Toonism"in Pinsky, pp. 1-12.
According to Mark I. Pinsky, in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves," Disney's message was simple:
"welcome the stranger, respect and accept those who are different, pray when you are in need. And avoid
the temptation of the easy solution -- eating a magic apple will never solve your problems" (Pinsky, p.
27).
3
Shortly after the movie was first released, Rev. Charles W. Brashares, pastor of the First Methodist
Church of Ann Arbor, MI wrote an article that appeared in the August 10, 1938 edition of The Christian
Century magazine in which he clearly identifies the presence of sin in the movie: "Where can you find a
clearer delineation of sin than in this tale?" he writes. Referring to the queen's conversation with the
mirror as sin, he goes on, "Self upon the throne is the tap root of all sin. From it grows pride, jealousy,
greed, murder and all the other sins... It is the retelling of truth as basic as sin and salvation." (Brashares,
Christian Century, cited in Pinsky, pp. 26-27).
4
It should be noted here that the evil Queen's desire to rid herself of the competition to her beauty in
many ways parallels the actions of King Herod upon the hearing of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. He,
too, desired to "eliminate the competition" (so to speak) - Read this story in Matthew 2:16-18.
5
With his knowledge of the Bible coming from his own family background, one wonders if Walt
Disney's use of an apple in this script is somehow meant to harken back to the fruit from the "tree of
knowledge" eaten by Adam and Eve in today's scripture from Genesis 3.
6
It's interesting that when they find out what has happened, he angry seven dwarves, birds and other
animals pursue the wicked queen/hag to a craggy mountaintop, where -- when she attempts to crush them
with a bolder -- she herself is struck down by a bolt of lightening in what is understood to be an act of
cosmic, if not divine, intervention.
7
In his book The Disney Version, Richard Schickel writes that "[It is not wrong] to introduce children to
symbolic representations of evil... in the hope that it will provide them with the imaginative tools to deal
with it intelligently when they encounter it in its more dulling manifestations in life" (Schickel, cited in
Pinsky, p. 27).
8
For the following sermon points, I am indebted to Philip Longfellow Anderson in his book The Gospel
in Disney: Christian Values in the Early Animated Classics (Minneapolis: Augsburg Books, 2004), pp.
7-16).
9
"Like the evil Queen in Snow White, the serpent is willing to deceive, poison, and destroy the innocent
for his own selfish ends" (Anderson, p. 10).
10
6
As Philip Anderson says, "There is no shortage of poisoners in our neighborhoods. And sometimes
they could be certified as a queen" (Anderson, p. 10).
11
12
Anderson, pp. 10-11.
"Instead of becoming more like God, they are abruptly and mortifyingly confronted with the truth of
how unlike God they really are.... The fruit they had desired has become poison in their
mouths" (Anderson, pp. 12-13).
13
14
Anderson, p. 14.
15
Anderson, p. 14.
16
Anderson, p. 15.
17
Anderson, p. 16.