LETTERS: HALLMARK FAR AFIELD ON NOAH'S ARK

To the editor:

Normally, I would look with great anticipation to the Hallmark Hall of Fame programs, as they are usually excellent family-type shows. However, Hallmark should take its own slogan, "When you care enough to send the very best," and apply it to the upcoming program, "Noah." This is the official description of the plot line of the show: "The story of Noah's ark is one of mankind's oldest tales. Hallmark Entertainment adds a dramatic new version of the famous story in a made-for-television miniseries. When the twin sin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are in the midst of battle, God warns Noah to take his family and leave. Noah tries to warn others, but only his best friend, Lot, takes his advice. Although Lot escapes the city, his wife is turned into a pillar of salt. Lot eventually gets involved with a gang of thieves and becomes a sinner. "Years later, God plans to destroy the world and make a fresh start with Noah's family and divinely selected animals. He instructs Noah and his sons to build a boat large enough to hold two of every animal. As Noah builds the boat, villagers mock him because they are in the midst of a long drought. But with God's help, the ark is completed before the rain begins to fall. As Noah makes sure that the animals are in place on the ark, the villagers are terrified by waves that rush in and engulf the city. The ark rises with the flood and floats across miles of water as it rains. "When the rains cease and the sun comes up, the crew of a pirate ship led by Lot attacks the ark. The animals join in the fight against the pirates, and God destroys the pirate ship. Those safe aboard the ark are now the only people on Earth. Noah and his family go stir-crazy as they try to fend for themselves and search for dry land without God's divine intervention. As the ark drifts endlessly, Noah and his family must fight off a giant squid along with the increasing madness and mental exhaustion that rapidly spread on board. "Noah eventually cries out for God, and, in response, the ark sails into a rainbow. They come upon a forest, atop Mount Ararat, where there aren't any sounds, birds, beasts or insects. Both man and beast disembark ready to begin anew."This description is so far afield from the Bible that it will raise the ire of Christian and Jew alike. The Bible says that Methuselah was the oldest man at 960 years, but it looks like Lot might have beat him by at least 40 years, as Lot and Noah were at least 1,000 years apart. Another item not mentioned in the outline above was that Noah, his wife and sons and their girlfriends entered the ark but were only married later by Noah himself (authorized, I suppose, as the captain of the ship). Needless to say, the whole story line is ficticious except the names of Noah and Lot. Why declare it a biblical epic? View it at your own risk.

RALPH FLORI SR.

Cape Girardeau