In this section of our Colossus Movie Guide for Babylon, we will discuss the meaning behind the movie’s title.
Cast:
- Nellie LaRoy – Margot Robbie
- Jack Conrad – Brad Pitt
- Manny Torres – Diego Calva
- Lady Fay Zhu – Li Jun Li
- Sidney Palmer – Jovan Adepo
- Elinor St. John – Jean Smart
- George Munn – Lukas Haas
- Ruth Adler – Olivia Hamilton
- Max – P.J. Byrne
- Robert Roy – Eric Roberts
- James McKay – Tobey Maguire
- Don Wallach – Jeff Garlin
- The Count – Rory Scovel
- Otto Von Strassberger – Spike Jonze
- Written by – Damien Chazelle
- Directed by – Damien Chazelle
Why is the movie called Babylon?
Background
For such an epic movie, the use of the word “Babylon” feels appropriate. It’s a complicated word.
On the one hand, Babylon was a very real city in ancient Mesopotamia. It’s considered one of the world’s first great cities and often hailed as a bastion of science and art. It was eventually conquered by the first Persian emperor, Cyrus the Great, in 539 BC. Then by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. But after Alexander passed, the region became a political minefield and the population evaporated. Over the next century, it hung on, but it was eventually torn apart, literally brick by brick, and the materials used to build other towns and cities like Hillah and Baghdad. There are still legends of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, immortalized in the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Contrasting the reality of Babylon is the Biblical references to the city. It shows up in the Book of Genesis and is famously associated with the Tower of Babel.
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the world earth.” The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the LORD said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused (balal) the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Even though there’s no specific mention of a formal Tower of Babel, the reference to Babel and its tower became a frequent target for mythologizing. The typical idea is that God punished humans for reaching too high. That the tower was a demonstration of humanity’s hubris and also a challenge to the divine. It’s essentially the original “Icarus flew too close to the sun”. Icarus is the city, and the tower is the act of flying, and God is the sun.
The reality and mythologization of Babylon has led to a polarized legacy. Sometimes the city is held up as an ideal, representing a kind of utopia where people are united and galvanized. In other cases, it’s thought of as a place of ego and blasphemy, a selfish culture that “decent” people should not only fear but reject.
Application
So Damien Chazelle could use the title Babylon as a reference to the literal city. A place that once thrived but slowly wore down. Which is kind of what we see. The Golden Age of Hollywood is a romanticized place that our main characters thrive in. But that empire comes to an end. And a new one takes its place, built on the ruins and legacy of what once was.
He could also be referring to the Biblical story. That Hollywood essentially built an industry that was the equivalent of a tower reaching to the heavens, and God came through and struck it down and scattered the people. That also tracks, as we see the unsustainable, reckless decadence that Nellie and Jack and so many others pursue. Eventually, there’s a comeuppance.
But it doesn’t seem to be as simple as that. As those readings fail to account for the fact that Hollywood has continued to thrive. It’s a vital part of modern culture. In the climactic visual jazz sequence, Chazelle bridges the divide between Hollywood’s Golden Age and modern times. So Babylon isn’t necessarily only about the gloom and doom aspect. Or simply a chastisement. Hollywood is still a place of wonder. A haven for emotion and imagination and dreams.
Like Babylon, Hollywood is complicated. Simultaneously real and unreal, caught between history and mythology. A giver of marvels. A consumer of souls. It balances wealth and ruin. Hope and tragedy. Hell and immortality. It takes what it gives. But always, always, always, gives what it takes.
The babel part
It’s worth pointing out that the Biblical story talks about the breakdown of communication. When the people in Babel all speak the same language, they can do much. So God strips them of that ability. Now they speak different languages. Communication fails. And the unity ends. It’s fitting that Babylon explores the transition from silent pictures to talkies. Before, no one had a voice and that silence was shared and unifying. Then, suddenly, everyone had a voice. And it caused upheaval that completely changed Hollywood forever. There’s no better example of this havoc than that painful, painful sequence where Nellie tries to film a scene where she arrives at college. What was once simple now demands dozens of takes and causes such stress and rage that people are on the brink of mauling one another.
For a time prior to this, our three main characters, Nellie, Jack, and Manny, all enjoyed a kind of unity. But after the transition to talkies, they all go their separate ways. And even when Manny tries to maintain a relationship with Nellie—it’s impossible. The trio can never regain their common ground. Which begs the question, can those in Hollywood ever rediscover a singular language? If so, what greater achievements could they reach? And would it only lead, once again, to a kind of divine smackdown?
What are your thoughts?
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