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'Babel' - a biblical reference to the Tower of Babel?

posted 10 years ago by Remy_Azhary
7 replies | jump to latest

I'm just going to spitball here and it's just my opinion anyway.

Initially, I had no clue why the title had to be so cryptic that I didn't understand why the movie was called BABEL as it was. But then soon it dawned on me that the name/title "Babel" might have been derived from the biblical reference to the Tower of Babel, especially where the medium of language is concerned.

I mean in the Bible, [the unified] mankind initially spoke a single language but then, by the Lord's Will, they spoke in many different languages.

Now, if that was to be the case then it made sense why "Babel" is the title of the movie since the movie was essentially about four interlocking stories whose characters in each scenarios spoke different languages and they all are about humanity.

[–] jchaven 10 years ago

Doubt it. I believe it's a nod to the barriers between the cultures with Babel specifically referring to the language barriers. Similar to the Babel fish in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" that performed instant translations once put in someone's ear.

[–] yusef-ghanima 9 years ago

he Babel fish in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is referring to the biblical story.

i mostly will not be able to answer your reply, since marissa mayer hacked my email, no notification

[–] AmyJune1989 10 years ago

If you watch the "Making Of" featurette, director Alejandro Gonzales Iñárritu explains that the title is indeed a reference to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel. I'm not sure if it's still up on YouTube, but I watched it while it was and remember that very clearly.

[–] manderstoke 9 years ago

Of course, the title refers to the biblical story. Duh.

[–] LaPuertaDelCielo 8 years ago

Not only that, but the placement of the letters BABEL on top of one another in the film poster also implies so.

[–] zharth 8 years ago

The Tower of Babel is a testament to what humans can accomplish when they work together with a singular purpose. However, God felt threatened by this tower stretching to the Heavens, so He tore it asunder, and split mankind into various cultures, erecting a language barrier between them - dooming us to petty infighting and fatal misunderstandings, such as xenophobic Americans jumping to label a tragic accident as enemy action. As Amelia points out, "I'm not bad, I just did something stupid". Together the human race stands; divided we fall.

[–] palawandy 8 years ago

The word Babel means confusion in old Hebrew and that's why the tower was named so, because it was there that God confused their languages so that they had to leave this attempt at challenging God and scatter over the earth, which was God's purpose for them. This movie was all about problems caused by bad, or a lack of proper, communication and how it affects people.