Kara Walling & John Ligon-Decalogue

John and I were talking about the Decalogue films, first being "No other God's before me". I think in the first film we were struggling with the overall theme. We didn't realize until the end of the film that it was portraying science vs. God as a way to live or value life. Obviously b/c the father was a professor he was reliant on scientific reasoning and practical information, where the mother held a christian faith saying that God was love. Each parent was trying to teach their child what they felt was important, which made it a heart wrenching story when the boy dies in the end. Because of different perspectives of both parents, John and I had were posing questions for the outcome of the film. First off, the film allows an individual perspective/interpretation. For instance, in class John brought up the point where you never officially see the boys body, so from his point of view it could have been anybody. It may have pointed to that direction of the boy, but it was never technically proven. So depending on your own faith or lack there of, your conclusion may be different than others who perceived the film. We also talked about what is the right way to live your life? Both parents offer alternative methods of viewing life, and are steadfast in their beliefs, however they both feel the pain from the loss of their son. The loss made us wonder how this would effect each parent. For instance, do you think the father would become more religious b/c of his sons death or would he continue to believe his own scientific reasoning even though it failed him? Another aspect may be how the death affects the relationship between the father and mother. Will they be drawn apart b/c of the pain, or will they be able to reconcile their differences through the pain? We also talked about the "God figure" in the film. The bum on the street was the apparent representation, however he was silent, sharing no interaction, and just watched the outcome of a tragedy. How does this represent an all powerful, benevolent God when he allows a child to die? All of these things explore the argument of reason vs. faith.