Lesson from a Movie and a Salmon

For better or worse, movies can teach us many things we never knew before. But a salmon? What is this lesson from a movie and a salmon?

When you get the chance, watch “Niagara” (1953), starring Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotten, and Jean Peters. The setting is Niagara Falls. There is a lesson in the movie.

For whatever reason, “Rose Loomis” (Marilyn Monroe) married a painfully dull and boring man. Well, as you might imagine, with all her beauty and energy, she continually flirts with other men and is actually having an affair with one who is strikingly handsome and much more exciting to hang out with.

No longer able to bear her torturous infidelity, the husband, “George Loomis” (Joseph Cotten) steals a pontoon boat with the intention of committing suicide by aiming it toward the cliff of the tempestuous Niagara Falls.

Unknown to George, however, another tourist, “Polly” (Jean Peters), who had previously befriended the troubled couple, follows him onto the boat to intervene. She pleads with him to turn the boat around and turn himself in.

He refuses, but moving toward the deadly falls, George manages to steer the boat toward a very large and solid rock that she can cling to until the Coast Guard arrives to rescue her.

The current of the water pulled George over the Falls to his death.

Unless one chooses to be in denial, it is obvious, even to the casual observer, that our society is headed at breakneck speed toward the devastating precipice of the Fall.

Jesus told us that, before His imminent return, many would be offended and lawlessness would abound.

So, as Christians, what are we to do?

Here is a quotation from the “Life Application Study Bible” in its Introduction to the book of 2 Kings:

“Sparkling as it crashes against boulders along its banks, the river swiftly cascades toward the sea. The current grabs, pushes, and tugs at leaves and logs, carrying them along for the ride. Here and there a kayak or a canoe is spotted, going with the flow. Gravity pulls the water, and the river pulls the rest downward.

“Suddenly, a silver missile breaks the surface and darts the other direction, and then another appears. Oblivious to this swirling opposition, the shining salmon swim against the stream. They must go upstream, and nothing will stop them from reaching their destination.

Now let’s tie this back in to the “Niagara” movie. One of the things that caught my attention was how beautifully calm the waters were while yet a distance from the precipice of the Falls. But as the boat got closer and closer to the that precipice, the pull of death became much more violent. The boat became less and less controllable – until there was no more hope of turning it around.

“The current of society’s river is flowing fast and furious, pulling downward everything it can. It would be easy to flow with the current. But God calls us to swim against the flow. It will not be easy, and we may sometimes feel like we’re alone, but it will be the right thing to do.”
(Life Application Study Bible, Third Edition, Tyndale House Publishers, 2019)

“Oblivious to this swirling opposition, the shining salmon swim against the stream. They must go upstream, and nothing will stop them from reaching their destination.” (Ibid.)

The tide of moral decay is sweeping many toward the deadly precipice. We need to be wise enough to swim against the stream.

Instead, let us go in the opposite direction of this pull. Let us “turn the boat around,” head back to our destination who is God, and instead pursue the best He has in store for us!

In the “Niagara” movie, the woman who was on the boat was saved by exiting the doomed boat to cling to the large rock until she was finally rescued.

In our lives, the Rock to which we must cling is Jesus! If we cling to Him each day, we will be saved from the inevitable death that will come when those who “went with the flow” go over the precipice.

As the Life Application Study Bible points out, “It will not be easy, and we may sometimes feel like we are alone, but it will be the right thing to do.” (Ibid.)

It’s not too late to turn yourself around and go against the current tide. The place to begin is by getting yourself back in the House of God on Sunday mornings. It is there that we exit the doomed boat and enter the Ark of Safety.

To learn how to cling to the Solid Rock and enter the Ark of Safety, click here.

“The Lord is my Rock, and my
fortress and my deliverer:
My God, my strength, in
Whom I trust;
My shield and the horn of my
salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:2