In an era without computer special effects, it was still shocking that the movie had such a momentum. BEN-HUR's whole life has been holding people's attention tightly, and it doesn't make people feel that the movie is too long. But what interests me most about the film is its depiction of Rome. I don't know if it's historically accurate, but let's assume it's relatively faithful to history.
First of all, the Romans seemed to be godless at the time, thinking that Caesar was the symbol of supreme power. Westerners seem to always think that people who do not believe in God are terrifying and immoral, so when they hear the atheistic COMMUNISM, they feel terrified.
Secondly, the warship that BEN-HUR stayed for 3 years and 1 month reminded me of DEMOCRACY. If a warship is a country, it must have a dark bottom and a "free" deck. If there is no inhuman treatment of death row prisoners in the bottom, the warship will have no combat effectiveness. In Rome, too, the liberties and rights of citizens could not be guaranteed without the sacrifice of numerous slaves. The same is true in today’s society. It’s just that people have invented various machines to do things that people used to do, and people may be freed to pursue higher-level things. So the degree of industrialization and the progress of democracy are closely related.
There is also the treatment of lepers. BEN-HUR thinks it is very inhumane and angry that the Roman government isolates lepers in the Valley of Leprosy, does not allow them to have contact with the society and does not give them any rights. This should be a no-brainer. Any government in any place treats infectious diseases like a formidable enemy. Until there is no definite cure, only isolation can prevent the spread of the disease. Of course, it may be possible to build some leprosy hospitals with better facilities for them, but isolation is inevitable. The fact that he brought two contagious people to a densely populated city is actually quite irresponsible, although it is also quite touching.
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