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The List: The Good God
What does God look like? Is He really a cuddly old man with a long white beard, peering over a fluffy cloud? It's a question that has plagued countless generations of believers. Of course, when in doubt about the appearance of something or someone, it's always possible to see what Hollywood has come up with, though for some reason there are far more representations of the devil in movies than there are of the All-Knowing. Maybe the big bad is just more photogenic. Here are our favourite portrayals of God in film.
God - Dogma (1999) It's difficult to decide what religious groups found most offensive about Kevin Smith's Dogma, given the wealth of possibilities, but surely no one could have objected to Smith's vision of the Creator. Having finally been located after going missing, God is forced to step in and undo a massacre caused by two angels wanting to abuse a religious loophole. This God is no wrinkly OAP, but Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morrisette, tiny and cute as a button in her silver jacket and tutu. There's a sense of fun and light-heartedness as she does handstands against a tree, seemingly oblivious to the horror that has preceded her arrival, and seems totally harmless and utterly adorable, even though she's just made someone's head explode - literally - with a shout.
God - Bruce Almighty (2003) We really wouldn't be that surprised if we got inside the pearly gates and discovered Morgan Freeman really is the Man Himself. It's nigh on impossible not to warm to the freckled man, who simply gets more pleasant with age. He's starting to rival the legendary Sir David Attenborough as the calming voice of authority, so naturally we are perfectly content to accept him as God in Bruce Almighty first, and again in Evan Almighty, both contemporary tales of belief on a biblical scale.
God - films by Monty Python (1974-1983) John Cleese and the gang have incited the wrath of Christian groups many times over the years, often because their point has been completely lost (he's NOT the messiah. Get it?). In one form or another, religion has played a big part in all of their films, and the mastery of Terry Gilliam's iconic animation perfectly captures God looking exactly how we expect - white, old, male, with a beard. God has turned up in each Monty Python film, but our pick is the brief shot of Him holding both a square Earth and a round Earth, looking a bit puzzled, in The Meaning of Life. What if he'd picked the wrong one?
Finger of God - Super (2010) Okay, so it might be more of a hallucination than an actual vision of God, but we love that Frank (Rainn Wilson) decides to tell crime to "shut up" after being touched by the Almighty in an all too literal sense. After being pinned to his bed by his vine-like sheets, Frank is subjected to tentacles enveloping him, slicing his head open and exposing his brain so that a giant, glowing finger can come and give him some much needed enlightenment. The result? One of the most violent, twisted and hilarious non-super superheroes around. Kick-Ass who?
God? - Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989) If anyone's going to successfully find God, it ought to be the intrepid Captain Kirk. In fact, now that we think about it, how has William Shatner not portrayed the Omnipotent One? We need to start a campaign, pronto! In Star Trek V, however, we are reminded that just because someone claims to be God, it doesn't mean they actually are. As Spock (Leonard Nimoy) logically enquires, "why does God need a spaceship?" Why indeed.
Becky Bartlett
