Bible, Hollywood and News

The bible may be the inspiration for Hollywood horror and brought to life in modern day news events. To research and compare dog eats man, zombies and cannibalism within the bible, movies and news; results in evidence of a connection

Although the bible is studied by Christians as a means of salvation, life answers and peace, it is also chock full of stories that will make one cringe. These tales date back to the beginning of mankind when Adam and Eve’s offspring became the subjects of the first, gruesome murder. Jealousy overtook Cain, as he killed his brother, Abel in cold blood.

Hollywood movies and even some cult practices today are influenced from the bible. The tale of the demon possessed man that went mad and dwelled naked in the graveyard. When Jesus asked “What is thy name?” he replied, “My name is Legion: for we are many” is an example you may recognize in several movies. King Saul ultimately met his doom for summoning the ghost of the prophet Samuel from the dead for advice. The ever popular Harry Potter series and even Mickey Mouse’s character as the sorcerer in Fantasia all go against the King James Bible warnings to avoid occult practices such as witchcraft, soothsayers and sorcerers which are all evident in most forms of today’s entertainment. (King James Bible, Mark. 5:1-13)

Dog eats man or better stated dogs eat woman. The biblical account of the death of Jezebel, was a grotesque end to a deceitful, murderous plotting woman on a quest to please her husband. To avoid her most definite death to come, she painted her face, tied up her hair and sat in the window in hopes of seducing her murderer to convince him otherwise of his mission. He was not to be fooled and commanded she be thrown from her seat in the window. As her body slammed against the ground her blood splattered against the wall and the horses. While her adversary went to dine, he sent his men back to collect her corpse for burial. When they arrived at the site of her death they found only her skull, feet and the palms of her hands. Just as foretold the dogs ate all but what remained. The scriptures state that she would become dung in the field, so that no one could grieve and say this was Jezebel. (II Kings. 9:30-37)

Hollywood versions of dog eat man would have to include the many different versions of the werewolf movies. More specific, canine related movies that likely stemmed from the poor Jezebel’s story could include Cujo. The killer Saint Bernard that became rapid and took out a few characters while keeping a mother and her son hostage in their car. Another to add to the list would have to be The Pack, a story of not just one but a pack of abandoned dogs that turned into vicious killers on the prowl. Undoubtedly this is one plot that will once again show its snarling teeth on the silver screen.

In the news, “A Dingo Ate my Baby!” Over 30 years ago, all eyes were on the news headlines as a woman was convicted of murder while exclaiming a dingo ate her baby. The controversial hearings went on for 4 appeals before the courts finally agreed that dingoes killed her baby. Evidence of the child’s jacket turned up partially buried at the entrance of the dingo’s lair. In addition, in 2001 another dingo attack took the life of a nine year old boy and a few years later, two different incidents of two year old girls, were killed by part dingo dogs. (Whiteman. CNN.)

Zombies in the bible, are you kidding? Scriptures do not quite describe the brain eating zombies we see in movies but definitely lends to the idea of such a thing. In the book of Ezekiel 37:1-13 gives a detailed description of how the undead in the valley of the bones, come to walk again. The old, dry bones reconnect, sinew and flesh grow back over them and by the power of God, the wind blows breath back into the bodies. God adds that He will open the graves and the dead shall rise and this large group of the undead becomes an army.

The current rage in horror cinema has been taken over by the zombie apocalypse. People are fascinated by corpses crawling out of graves, people turning into brain eating, walking dead, monsters upon their deathbeds. The hit television series, The Walking Dead is an ideal example of the dead returning to some type of a zoned-out, former selves. As the addiction to horror and this new craze continues to grow, a new appreciation for the older movies such as the forerunner, White Zombie from 1932 and the 1968 Night of the Living Dead.

What may be even more interesting than Hollywood’s retake on Ezekiel’s dry bones are the delusional folks making new headlines in mental health. Cotard’s Syndrome is mental health issue in which the parts of the brain that recognize faces and processes emotions are out of balance, resulting in the patient not being able to recognize people or themselves. This leaves them with a sense of disconnection to reality and even their own body. Different cases of Cotard’s Syndrome have reported the person claiming their heart was not beating, their flesh was rotting and stinking and loss of blood and organs. The patients with Cotard’s Syndrome often quit eating and drinking, becoming dehydrated and deathly ill, because they believe they are already dead. (Discovery Fit and Health Writers. Discovery Communications).

Speaking of eating, there are extreme cases in which people can be pushed to do unthinkable things to avoid illness and death. One would like to believe however, that cannibalism, is a rare instance based on a mental illness, sadly that is not necessarily true. Cannibalism does rear it’s ugly face in the scriptures of the bible. In II Kings chapter 6, you can study over the story during a time when famine swept the land. During this time of starvation, two women make a pact to eat their children instead of dying a miserable death. That night they killed and boiled the first woman’s son and feasted on his young, tender meat. The next evening the King found the first woman crying on the wall, when asked what ailed her she told him the whole story of their pact. She ended by explaining her torment of tears had come when the second woman hid her son and refused to kill him so they could eat.

There are numerous meaty movies that exploit cannibalism, such as one based on pure survival as in Alive to black comedy of the past as portrayed in Parents. More gruesome depictions are popular with horror fans such as Wrong Turn. Yet gruesome, does not necessarily steal the spotlight from more intellectually stimulating movies such as Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal.

As grossly interesting these movies can be to some, reality is nearly too disturbing to even read about in the news. The story that headlined from San Antonio Texas in 2009, not only draws us back to the two mothers in the bible that ate the one son but also allows the movie made zombies to leak into the mind. Otty Sanchez claimed that the devil told her to kill her three and a half week old baby. The mind twisted mother, mutilated her child, ripped off part of his face, ate part of his brains and chewed off three of his tiny toes. Some would like to think that cannibalism only still occurs in far off jungles or 3rd world countries, but it is taking place in our own backyards. Alex Kinyua, a former Maryland college student pleaded guilty to killing his roommate and eating his heart and part of his brain, in 2012. (Webber. The Huffington Post. Donaghue. CBS Interactive Inc).

The shock value of horror has lost it’s punch with today’s audiences. This world has seen it all and heard it all so many times, in so many forms starting from childhood, that society has become numb. At times, fiction can seem so absurd compared to everyday life that one doesn’t even shiver at the thought of a zombie anymore. However finding these same stories in soul saving, religious material and in the local newspapers as current events, triggers at best a little chill that the nightmares on the big, silver screen, can actually occur.

Barrett, Melissa.“Real Life Zombies: Three Fascinating Cases of Cotard's Syndrome”.

HubPages. March 25, 2012. Web. 11, 12, Nov. 2013.

Discovery Fit and Health Writers. “What is Cotard's Syndrome?” Discovery Communications,

LLC. 2013. Web. 11, 12, Nov. 2013.

Donaghue, Erin. “Alex Kinyua, accused Md. cannibal, pleads guilty but not criminally

responsible in 2012 slaying” CBS Interactive Inc. August 19, 2013. Web. 11, 12, Nov. 2013.

Neumyer, Scott. “Five Killer Movie Canines”. Fear Net. Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 4:23am.

Web. 11, 12, Nov. 2013.

The Official King James Bible Online. © 2013 King James Bible Online

All Rights Reserved. Web. 11, 12, Nov. 2013.

Webber, Paul. “Woman Accused Of Killing Newborn, Ate Brain: Police”. The Huffington Post.

07/27/09 10:31 PM ET. Web. 11, 12, Nov. 2013.

Whiteman, Hilary. “Dingos Ate My Baby”. CNN. June 12, 2012. Web. 11, 12, Nov. 2013.