{"id":2226939,"date":"2024-04-22T08:22:03","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T12:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/netflixs-story-of-moses-series-takes-creative-liberties-that-just-dont-work\/"},"modified":"2024-04-22T08:26:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-22T12:26:21","slug":"netflixs-story-of-moses-series-takes-creative-liberties-that-just-dont-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/netflixs-story-of-moses-series-takes-creative-liberties-that-just-dont-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix&#8217;s &#8216;Story Of Moses&#8217; Series Struggles with Creative Liberties"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fnetflixs-story-of-moses-series-takes-creative-liberties-that-just-dont-work%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2226939&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Netflix&#8217;s docuseries &#8220;Testament: The Story of Moses&#8221; portrays a blend of entertainment and frustration by creatively interpreting\u200b the Exodus narrative.\u200b The choice of commentators and deviations from the traditional\u200b biblical account\u200d adds \u2063a\u2062 modern twist. The series challenges <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/after-banning-free-movies-china-sends-communist-propaganda-to-hong-kong-theaters\/\" title=\"After Banning Free Movies, China Sends Communist Propaganda to Hong Kong Theaters\">historical accuracy<\/a> while exploring creative freedom, sparking varied interpretations\u200c among viewers. The docuseries &#8220;Testament: The Story of Moses&#8221; on \u200cNetflix offers a mix of entertainment and frustration through its creative take on the Exodus story. By incorporating\u2064 diverse commentators and straying from the traditional biblical narrative, the series brings a contemporary touch. It navigates a fine line between historical accuracy and artistic \u200dliberty, encouraging \u200cdiverse perspectives among its audience.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Netflix\u2019s docuseries <a href=\"https:\/\/www.netflix.com\/title\/81341795\">\u201cTestament: The Story of Moses\u201d<\/a> is both entertaining and frustrating. On one hand, the documentary series takes some valid creative license with the story of Exodus. On the other hand, the series diverges from the Bible strictly for the sake of politically correct sensibilities (I mean, after all, this is Netflix).<\/p>\n<p>The choice of commentators studiously avoids stodgy white males, a staple of the biblical docuseries genre. In fact, the choice of commentators ranges from biblical scholars to airheads. The series perhaps accurately judges that its audience is not up to the English of the King James Bible and so eliminates the \u201cthees\u201d and \u201cthous.\u201d (Yes, I\u2019m aware Moses didn\u2019t speak English.)<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-2135597214\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-fb05e00760fa62601ceae0acbab6b4e6 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-fb05e00760fa62601ceae0acbab6b4e6\"><\/div>\n<p>Lastly, if we\u2019re going to get technical, the Bible refers to Moses as \u201cfourscore years old\u201d at the time of the burning bush. In \u201cTestament\u201d he looks about half that age.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Zipporah<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>One of the key departures from the text of the Bible comes in the chapter in which \u201cMoses Takes a Gentile Bride\u201d (Exodus 2:21). Moses takes a wife named Zipporah in a land called Midian, which, according to my Bible\u2019s annotations, is \u201ca land closer to Canaan than Egypt.\u201d Therefore, Zipporah would have been a woman of Middle Eastern extraction, unlike the black actress (Dominique Tipper) director Benjamin Ross cast as Zipporah.  <\/p>\n<p>After God appears to Moses in the burning bush, Moses resolves to go back to Egypt to free the Hebrews. Moses does indeed bring Zipporah and his son: \u201cAnd Moses took his wife and his sons, and set them upon an ass, and he returned to the land of Egypt: and Moses took the rod of God in his hand\u201d (Exodus 4:20).<\/p>\n<p>After they arrive in Egypt, Moses\u2019 wife rarely appears in the Exodus account. Yet in \u201cTestament\u201d we\u2019re led to believe she\u2019s running the show, as though she\u2019s the brains behind Moses. She relentlessly nags Moses to the point where he has to remind her, \u201cI am your husband.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-51fb799acb7c4b003cee6e08f47e47f0 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-51fb799acb7c4b003cee6e08f47e47f0\"><\/div>\n<p>After that, he more meekly cajoles her: \u201cWith you at my side,\u201d Moses feels he can complete the task appointed to him by God to free the Hebrews. Let\u2019s call this highly speculative at minimum and highly convenient to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/how-johnny-depp-and-amber-heards-relationship-epitomizes-our-cultures-sexual-dysfunction\/\" title=\"How Johnny Depp And Amber Heard\u2019s Relationship Epitomizes Our Culture\u2019s Sexual Dysfunction\">feminist narrative<\/a> in which women must be central characters regardless of what the historical record tells us.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Slavery<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>It is perhaps the logical conclusion of multiculturalism that the series would include the ancient Egyptian perspective, rather than strictly providing the point of view of the Hebrews. It\u2019s funny that this foundational story of both Western civilization and Judaism is deconstructed in this manner.<\/p>\n<p>At one point in the Netflix series, an Egyptian commentator asserts that there wasn\u2019t actually slavery in ancient Egypt, perhaps eager to avoid the recriminations leveled against the U.S. founders. After this assertion, she is directly contradicted by a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/blm-co-founder-buys-1-4-million-home-in-virtually-all-white-area-black-commentators-slam-her\/\" title=\"BLM Co-Founder Buys .4 Million Home In Virtually All-White Area. Black Commentators Slam Her.\">black commentator<\/a> who suggests there was slavery.<\/p>\n<p>When Zipporah, who is played by a black woman, looks at the situation of indentured Hebrews in Egypt, we are meant to think of a parallel with American slavery, as though to see it through her eyes is to somehow engender white guilt regarding the Exodus story (or history, if you like). But this implication seems dissonant with the rest of the documentary.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9b3e14fa20d69c2f45b3a6b6318b5b53 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-9b3e14fa20d69c2f45b3a6b6318b5b53\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Creative Licenses vs. Historical Realities<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Nonetheless, there are creative licenses in the series that work. It is interesting to see the pharaoh portrayed as agonizing over the predicament with Moses and the Hebrews, quite reasonably not wanting to lose face in the standoff. In the Bible, the pharaoh is a kind of stone of a man, immovable and impenetrable.<\/p>\n<p>In the Netflix series, the pharaoh steals the show with Mehmet Kurtulu\u015f\u2019 churlish depiction of the Egyptian king. Though the pharaoh claims to be a god, we are presented with someone all too human. At one point the pharaoh refers to the Hebrews as a \u201cskilled, resourceful people,\u201d and one can\u2019t help but wonder if these are the sentiments of director Benjamin Ross rather than the sentiments of the tyrant who enslaved them.<\/p>\n<p>There is also a certain cultural relativism in the portrayal of the God of the Hebrews (simply \u201cGod,\u201d if you are a Christian) and the pantheon of gods of ancient Egypt. Just as Moses appeals to God for the miracles and plagues, the pharaoh has his \u201cmagicians,\u201d as they\u2019re called in the Bible, who can also turn rods into snakes (albeit snakes that get eaten by Moses\u2019 rod-turned-snake).<\/p>\n<p>All this speaks to the reality that the religions of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nation-building-101\/\" title=\"Nation-Building 101\">ancient world<\/a> were much less monotheistic than today\u2019s principal religions. In Exodus, God even refers to Himself at one point as \u201cLORD God of the Hebrews\u201d as he advises Moses to represent Him as such to the pharaoh, rather than just \u201cGod.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Similar to the pharaoh, Moses has some inner turmoil. In the Bible\u2019s stark prose, we do see some of Moses\u2019 doubt when he expresses his skepticism to God about his ability to persuade the pharaoh to release the Hebrews. Yet in the Netflix series, Moses is in anguish and in a sense traumatized by his killing of the Egyptian guard who had struck a Jew. This is a psychological dimension not present in the Old Testament \u2014 though the Bible does not rule out that Moses might feel this way.<\/p>\n<p>Suffice it to say, then, that \u201cTestament\u201d brings up some interesting questions about the drama that lies beneath the story presented in Exodus. It is a given in Netflix that the casting is going to be historically inaccurate in a manner that strains credulity and takes away from the verisimilitude of the entire production. This is not to disparage the actors in question who don\u2019t look like they hail from the Middle East region circa the 13th century B.C. <\/p>\n<p>But if you can get past that, \u201cTestament: The Story of Moses\u201d might renew your interest in this timeless story of when Moses told the pharaoh, \u201cLet my people go.\u201d <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d9cfa61c27401851c6baa439abc59af4 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d9cfa61c27401851c6baa439abc59af4\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Netflix&#8217;s docuseries &#8220;Testament: The Story of Moses&#8221; balances entertainment and frustration. While creatively exploring Exodus, it occasionally strays from the Bible for politically correct reasons, in line with Netflix&#8217;s style<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2438,"featured_media":2226940,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-19-at-7.23.55%E2%80%AFAM.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2226939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Screenshot-2024-04-19-at-7.23.55%E2%80%AFAM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2438"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2226939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2226940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2226939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2226939"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2226939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}