How 'Saw' is a Christian Franchise

One of my few claims to pseudo-fame is that people frequently ask me which movies they should watch.  They usually do this only while operating under the illusion that I know what I'm talking about.  Nevertheless, some follow-up questions are required.  Say, for instance, someone asks me which horror movies are good.  Well, that depends on what type of horror they like.  Some people like creature-based flicks (The Thing, Alien, Dawn of the Dead); others prefer possession (The Exorcist, The Omen, Insidious), hauntings (The Conjuring, Hereditary, The Witch, The Blackcoat's Daughter), or--in rare cases--torture.  And what films are better for torture-driven masochists than Saw?

The famous (or infamous) franchise has created an impressive cult following throughout its soon-to-be nine-film career.  Love or hate it; cheer or vomit at its sight; everyone recognizes it for the grisly gore-fest that it is.  But what if these films go deeper than the entrails of Jigsaw's victims?  What if--beyond the spilled blood, broken bones, mutilated bodies--we can find timeless truths?  Yes, from watching Saw-Saw VII and Jigsaw, we can find useful life lessons and Christian teachings. 

Before we can understand the Saw franchise, we must first understand its namesake.  John Kramer is a civil engineer who becomes diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor.  With a suddenly shortened life, he develops a keen eye for people who have no value for human life.  These harsh ironies and grave injustices catalyze his rebirth as the torture-device mastermind, Jigsaw.  

With the limited time he has left, Jigsaw is determined to teach people to value their lives.  He does so by creating extravagant torturous traps which his victims can escape only after inflicting excruciating pain upon themselves.  However, in his mind, if his victims survive, they will develop gratitude and appreciation for their lives.  Indeed, they, too, will be reborn.  Just like he told one of his survivors, "Most people are so ungrateful to be alive.  But not you.  Not anymore."  And if they don't survive, well, they didn't sufficiently value their life.  After all, according to John Kramer, "those who do not appreciate life do not deserve to live it."

Likewise, early Christian prophets and philosophers routinely wrote about suffering.  More specifically, they wanted to answer how an all-knowing and all-loving God could allow it.  They concluded that suffering is directly related to sin and that sin comes from being separated from God.  Ergo, man's separation from God leads to sin, and sinning leads to suffering.  It is this suffering that causes our desire to be reborn and cleansed from sin.  Just like mental and emotional suffering leads to spiritual rebirth, Jigsaw believes that physical suffering leads to a renewed appreciation for physical birth.  

And it is in these teachings of rebirth and renewal that we can see discover more parallels to Christianity.  Christian baptism is, among other things, a symbol of burying your old life and emerging from your symbolic watery grave as a newly Christ-devoted person.  Thus Jigsaw's torture traps serve as his perverted baptismal fonts.

Saw can also teach us the truth about tragedies.  We typically use "tragic" incorrectly, often as a more-intelligent synonym for "sad."  However, this is a misnomer.  A situation or decision is "tragic" when there are only undesirable outcomes.  Jigsaw's victims' choices are tragic because their only options are to either, (1) escape by permanently mutilating yourself, or (2) do nothing and die.  Or, as put by Jigsaw, "Live or die.  Make your choice."

Speaking more broadly, the mere existence of Saw's many sequels indicate another life lesson.  Aside from the first film, professional and audience reviews were mediocre as best and scathing at worst.  Yet the sequels continue to be made.  More importantly, each is more extravagantly violent than the last.  In other words, the Saw films are fully aware of their audience.

So many franchises, TV shows, and other media attempt to alter or otherwise manipulate their reputation in an attempt to please everyone.  Yet, in doing so, they end up appeasing no one.  Their original fans abandon them, and any potential new fans left the station long ago.  You do not have to like the Saw films, but you have to respect their self-awareness.

And what does that mean for us?  In a sentence, the meta-message of the Saw franchise is not to pretend to be someone you're not.  That is not to say you cannot improve upon yourself and try to be better--quite the opposite.  Saw III is better than Saw II, and Saw VI is better than Saw IV and V, but they are all true to their Saw roots.  Likewise, 25-year-old you can be better than 20-year-old you, but that doesn't mean you had to switch genres or ratings to be so. 

We should not be asking ourselves, "How can I appease as many people as possible?" because no matter who we are, there will always be audiences who will never want to partake in our franchise of life.  Instead, I hope that we can ask, "What kind of man [or woman] am I going to be?"  After we find our answer, all we can do is strive to make the best yearly sequel as we can and know that, whichever genre we choose to be, there will always be an audience for us.