Steven Hunter - Decalogue 1

“I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods besides me”

Decalogue is a series of movies that was released in the late 80’s. They were written and directed by a Polish filmmaker. The series consists of ten separate films; each one corresponds with each of the commandments. The first commandment is “I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods besides me.” The movie that corresponds with this commandment has a man that basically places science and technology above God’s power. He uses these things as a false god. The movie shows his son dying because he placed all his trust in science and not God. The man then mourns at an alter after his son had died.

This is a problem that today’s society has in that people only turn to God when there is something bad happening. Why not thank God and appreciate him during the good times? I found the film to be kind of slow and boring because it is an older film, but the moral teachings from it were still relevant. Otto’s “Holy” corresponds to this film because it shows God’s power and ability. God shows the “tremendum” by taking the life of the boy. The symbolism of the “false-god” as a computer is very apparent as the computer even takes on an intellectual being as it asks the man questions on its own. This was a good way to show that the man viewed the computer as something more; something that had all the answers.