Warning: the following analysis contains spoilers for the werewolf film, Skinwalkers.
The first time I saw the movie, Skinwalkers, it was approximately six-and-a-half years ago, just before my Freshman year of college. I remember seeing it in theaters and thinking to myself, “there was a loooot of symbolism there. I really did not expect to see the message of Christ in a werewolf film.” Last night, I again chose to watch the movie and, sure enough, I picked up on even more symbolism than the first time. But before I can adequately explain the symbolism, let me explain the crucial points of the movie for you.
The movie consists of two factions of “skinwalkers,” or werewolves: those who have not tasted human flesh and, as such, are good (despite the desire to hunt human flesh during the full moon), and those who have tasted human flesh and, as such, become corrupted, reveling in hunting humans in their werewolf forms. Into this mix is a young boy, about to turn thirteen years old and, as prophesied, he is a hybrid half-werewolf (werewolf father and human mother). According to the prophecy, his thirteenth birthday will mean an end to werewolves everywhere, though no one quite understands how. He spends his childhood protected from the bad werewolves (who want him dead so as to continue their ways) by the good ones (who wish to become humans).
The movie progresses like your average action movie, with gunfights, explosions and overturned vehicles. One good werewolf is captured and forced to feed, which turns her against the other good ones. And finally, in the end, the boy survives to see midnight on his thirteenth birthday, at which point his father (who turns out to be the leader of the bad werewolves) bites him while in werewolf form. It is then revealed – as his father becomes both human and good – that his son’s blood has become a cure for werewolfism, and for the evil that feeding on human flesh creates.
Early in the movie, there are hints at a messianic quality to the boy. When the bad werewolves catch a family of good ones and kill them, the bad leader refers to the good ones as “having faith” in the boy, even going so far as to call them martyrs. This becomes more blatant as the movie comes to its conclusion, at which point the father’s wrath is literally quelled by the shed blood of his son. But in a more overarching sense, I see werewolfism as the human tendency to sin, temptation, if you will. And when it is indulged in, when the wolves feed, their whole minds become infected and they revel in the evil of the werewolf, even to the point of trying to kill the one person who can bring them out of it: the son. Then finally, when the son turns thirty – excuse me, thirteen – he begins his crusade to cure the werewolves (sinners) by the power of his blood. The movie even ends with the boy narrating that “to some, I am salvation, and to others, destruction,” thus introducing a vaguely apocalyptic overtone, for in the Christian book of Revelation, Christ returns with a dual role: to save those who have been cleansed from sin by the power of his blood, and to destroy the evil who oppose the goodness of him and his father.
To me, I cannot watch this film without seeing the symbolism. While I don’t know if the Christian message was the original framework on which the story was drafted – or even if anyone who worked on it was a Christian – I enjoy it as a gospel message hidden within an admittedly fun-to-watch action/werewolf flick. It just goes to show you: you never know where you’re going to hear Christ speaking to you, so always keep your mind open!
Until next time, friends…
Stay tuned for my next blog post, in which I discuss a book in the Bible which references a non-Biblical book as if it’s scripture! Crazy, huh?
The Outside View 