October 25, 2007

• Lonely Angels

  Wow, so I am definitely going to have to watch City of Angels soon.  My Uncle made a comment on the lyrics to "Iris" from the soundtrack that prompted me to do some more research into my favorite song.  I love the song, and now I understand even more why I like the song.  Here's a plot summary from IMDb: "Seth, an angel watching over Los Angeles, begins finding his job
  difficult as he falls in love with Maggie, a beautiful heart surgeon.
  She becomes interested in Seth, and soon his not-quite-mortal state
  seems a barrier rather than a gift. A choice must be made between
  celestial duty and earthly love."

  I love movies and books with themes of forbidden love.  I grew up loving The Bishop's Wife, and this seems somewhat similar in concept.  At first glance, the thought that people in heaven can't have love is strange to Mormons who believe that marriage lasts beyond the grave and into the Eternal Celestial realm.  The concept of an angel being alone, however, fits in perfectly to the doctrine.  Those righteous who die without being married by the proper authority (ie. in the temple) are exalted in the Celestial Kingdom as angels who are alone and who have no spouse nor increase.  In other words, not all couples will be couples in Heaven, and marriage alone may not last forever.

  In that sense the song and movie apply to LDS doctrine/thought in two ways.  One is that it portrays the pain of being alone.  Angelic joy can't conquer loneliness.  That sure encourages LDS kids to get married!  But the reality is that not all people can or will marry in the temple, or maybe not even at all.  That's the second application- Seth has to make a choice between eternal, single, angelic status and temporary, earthly love.  Is a love that ends with the grave worth the cost of Eternal Angelness?  That is a very relevant question to a lot of Latter-day Saints.

  So there we go.  More thoughts to come after I watch the movie.

  • 1:29 pm
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