However, Cecil B. De Mille had already stated his message explicitly in his preamble to the film:
"The theme of this picture is…
'Are men to be ruled by God's law or whether they are to be ruled by the whims of a dictator like Ramses?' Are men the property of the state or are they free souls under God? This same battle continues throughout the world today."
This was a message that was principally conveyed by the character and stature of Charlton Heston who, for all purposes, has become the archetype of "Moses" in the minds of the world public. De Mille was correct in his preface. That battle (of freedom versus tyranny) continues on to this day with the menacing specter of a "Ramesian" global dictatorship looming before mankind.
The inspiration that he instilled in Americans and people around the world, of faith in God, in the ultimate triumph of good over evil, and in "the American way" came to Charlton Heston naturally.
This was an extension of his personal beliefs that our Declaration of Independence, The U.S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights were (along with the Works of Shakespeare) are "Sacred Writ." I heard Mr. Heston cite this list of "Sacred Writ" personally, espoused in New York City, when we met in November 1998 upon the release of the memoirs of his journey to the Holy Land.
In the 1950s, as humanity, still shell-shocked 10 years after WWII, awakened from one holocaust to face the perils of an atomic holocaust, Heston came to the world stage at the very moment when mankind, morally-mangled by WWII, rebuilding a devastated post-war world, direly needed a sign of light, peace, justice and hope for the future.
People today, modern movie audiences, jaded by computer-generated special effects, cannot comprehend the immense psychological impact that "The Ten Commandments" had on the national psyche (and the Collective Unconscious) of the 1950s western mind.
Fewer still realize today the importance of that film in terms of the Cold War's global politics in which religion vs. atheism became a primary theme in determining the superiority of one system of rule over the other. In the end, it was a "God-fearing nation," which won the race to the Moon, signaling the failure of Communist science and atheism in its war for pre-eminence against the West.
The Bridge Builders of "Judeao-Christianity"
"Judeao-Christian" is a common phrase today but it is a term that came into vogue during the 1950s. This hyphenated term, joined 2 previously divided cultures, signaling the creation of a bridge between 2 cultures, one Christian and one Jewish, which had been distinctly separated by a chasm of suspicion and hatred for nearly 2,000 years. Cecil B. De Mille's film and Charlton Heston's charismatic performance in it bridged the psychological gap between them and joined their legends, laws, dogmas, myths and doctrines into "Judeo-Christianity."
A trinity of themes, faith, law and freedom vs. godlessness, despair and tyranny, run throughout Heston's 3 greatest films: "The Ten Commandments," "Ben Hur," and "El Cid."
Ben Hur vs. Roman Fascism
To this day, William Wyler's "Ben Hur" remains an unequalled Hollywood filmmaking masterpiece. Winner of 11 Academy Awards (tied only by "Titanic" in 1997), "Ben Hur" was the first film to illustrate the Nativity of Jesus in graphic terms of a UFO event.
From the opening scene, depicting the Magi chasing a moving "star," leading them to a stable where a beam of blue light illuminates the birth of Christ, the film is unrelenting in its drive to bring together and reconcile the theology and philosophies of Judaism and Christianity into one system, known today as "Judeo-Christianity." This film also ties the 2 great religions subliminally to historical social movements for independence and freedom from fascist tyranny.
In William Wyler's film, "Ben Hur," the symbol of "Rome" represents all forms of fascism and tyranny, all forms of oppression of the human spirit. In an electrifying scene with Stephen Boyd as "Massala", with the two actors embodying the archetypes of love and hate, Christ and Satan, Heston echoes Cecil B. De Mille's message, the promise of law and justice to come when he exclaims:
"On the day Rome falls, Massala, there will be a shout and a cry of freedom such as the world has never seen!"
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