Introduction
Signs is one of the most exemplary movies of how people lose and regain faith in God. This movie “uses the threat of alien invasion as a means of eliciting its protagonist’s personal crisis of faith” (Deangelis, 2006, p. 27). Signs presents Graham’s loss and regaining of faith in three key scenes: firstly, when he refuses to pray during the family dinner; secondly, when he yells out about his hatred of God being unable to help his son who is panting because of asthma and the absence of inhaler; and thirdly, when his prayer worked for him and he was able to bring an inhaler to Morgan.
Discussion
What should be mentioned above all is that it was not for nothing that Graham lost his faith in God. He cannot understand why God is punishing him: his wife is dead, his son has severe asthma and needs his inhaler all the time, his daughter is afraid of water which is not freshly from the faucet, and his brother has to stay with him and help him raise children though he could be a good baseball player. This all makes Graham refuse from faith and stop praying, which he does during one of the family dinners (Signs, 2002). This affects the entire family for which praying before dinner has long become a tradition.
In addition, there is a scene in the movie that illustrates Graham’s total refusal of faith and religion. This is the scene when they all are trapped in the basement in their attempt to hide from the aliens. Graham realizes that his son’s inhaler was left upstairs and there is no way he can help Morgan who is suffering from an asthma attack. This is where Graham screams that he hates God (Signs, 2002); at this, he looks so terrifying that his brother Merrill tells him afterward that he never wants to see him like this again. This can be regarded as a culmination of Graham’s loss of faith.
Finally, Graham’s gradual regaining of faith can be traced to the last scene. Graham uses prayer as his last salvation; he prays for his son’s life and realizes that signs have been surrounding him all this time. He understands that his wife prophesized everything that happened. He remembers the fragments of her warnings, such as to tell Morgan to look after his sister (when Morgan kills the dog that started growling at Bo), to tell Merrill to swing away (which saves him during the aliens’ attack), and to see (all the signs that he is supposed to see) (Signs, 2002). All this and the power of his prayer convince Graham that God has been all around him all the time and he regains his faith in him.
Conclusion
In sum, the film Signs is about Graham’s lost and regained faith. A man who has suffered much in his life and who is surrounded by problems only finally cannot handle this and refuses from faith thinking that God has abandoned him and his family. However, afterward, he realizes that he was simply blind and could not see all the signs that supernatural powers have left to him, the signs that eventually saved his life and the life of his family. Thus, Sings is a perfect example of how people can lose and regain their faith in God.
Reference
Deangelis, M. (2006). Star Formations and Alien Invasions: Mel Gibson and Signs. Literature/Film Quarterly, 34(1), 27.
Marshall, F., Mercer, S., Shyamalan M. N. (Producers), and Shyamalan, M. N. (Director). (2002). Signs. United States: Touchstone Pictures.