Oblivion (2013) – one of the most Pagan movies with zero axes or mead

This movie seems extremely important to me – in fact, it’s more Pagan than most Viking-inspired flicks with actors in war paint wearing biker jackets.

Pagan media literacy time (Spoliers inside!)

The movie is one giant metaphor for European culture and history that’s been hijacked by Christianity.

Oblivion does a great job capturing the spiritual transformation of the modern European man – the realization that the entity you’ve been considering as the ultimate good has enslaved you and is blocking your way to truth.

That’s a precise metaphor for the Judaic god that Abrahamic religions worship. The movie shows an evil controlling entity that’s producing brainwashed clones to extract Earth resources, and it hits a nerve!

At some point Jack finds out that everything he followed all his “life” is a lie and joins the resistance movement, sacrificing himself to destroy Tet.

There’s a lot going on, and the movie is clean – not much sex, gore, swearwords, or cheesy fear-mongering. Here’s the Pagan view on it:

Leaving monotheism

This is one of the central themes of the movie – the emotional and logical process of anyone waking up from monotheism.

Realizing you’ve been hijacked by an alien entity as a human battery, a slave.

The deception is deep. Jack has to turn his worldview upside down.

An NPC clone like Victoria is the ideal monotheist.

Awakening memories

Jack has memories of pre-brainwashing. He loves nature and living things, he is curious, inventive (fixes a drone with chewing gum) and sentimental (he brings a potted plant back home but Victoria freaks out).

Style matters. Things matter. Objects can be sacred. Jack’s hideout by the lake is filled with relics of the old word that help him undo the erasure.

His secret cabin near a lake is his museum – and we know how old objects help us awaken deep memories in our blood.

This is your friendly reminder to be taking your kids to archaeological museums more often!

Even more importantly, ALL Jacks can wake up.

Jack #52 Wakes up after fighting Jack #49 – and in the end that’s the main Jack that will now continue to care for his child.

This is a clear metaphor for remembering our past lives and unlocking the treasures that thousands of generation of winners have accumulated in our blood.

Oblivion has nearly identical in messaging to the Edge of Tomorrow – another Tom Cruise movie where a hero destroys an evil alien entity by using his memory and multiple incarnations.

Adam and Eve?

Jack and Vicky were the first (and only) humans the evil entity Tet has encountered – and they were the foundation for an army of clones.

This is absolutely identical to the Christian story of creation of Adam and Eve – modified hybrids that a new god relies upon (the Bible clearly mentions there were other peoples at that time).

Homeric Europe

Although not specifically named that way, we get a massive reference to the true European values of heroism, glory, and willpower.

Jack finds a book with poems by Thomas Macaulay and keeps repeating this excerpt from “Horatio on the Bridge”:

“To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late;

And how can man die better than facing fearful odds,

For the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods,”

As a little hint when the big battle with the drones goes on we see this frame:

I’m not 100% certain what statue it is, but it resembles Achilles from Hyde Park in London.

“Going to Titan”

There is definitely a message with the name choice for the made-up final destination that Tet feeds to its’ clones.

Going to “Titan”, of all things, shows the anti-Godly nature of everything that happens. Titans are rivals of the Gods, and titanic activity is everything ungodly that humans do – e.g. changing genders, changing river directions, draining swamps, and so on.

The “going to Titan” lie is the same “waiting for paradise” illusion that Abrahamic religions feed their followers. Victoria is a typical NPC who “can’t wait”, and Jack is questioning it – “we won the war, so why do we leave?”

There is no Titan. The Earth is our world, it’s both paradise and hell, we live here, and each time we reap what we sow.