Abstract
Cronenberg’s A History of Violence is a film about dichotomies which are not really dichotomies. Wholesome Americana seemingly opposes seedy, urban America, religion seemingly opposes violence, and myth seemingly opposes parable. These oppositions are revealed to be two sides of the same coin. Using the Moebius strip to re-conceptualize the relation between myth and parable, both types of religious stories, this essay reveals the ways in which myth and parable exhaust each other in a cycle of powermaking violence. This exhaustion reveals myth and parable to be inadequate, necessitating divine intervention.
Recommended Citation
Cooper, Rich
(2010)
"The Divine Exhaustion of Myth and Parable in Cronenberg’s A History of Violence,"
Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 14:
Iss.
2, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol14/iss2/4