Bella the movie - Christian imagery

My wife & I went to see Bella. We knew going in that it was a more subtle movie, with the pro-life message not being up-front and in your face. In discussing the movie afterward with friends, we all agreed that we liked the movie and discussed some of the obvious symbolism. It wasn't until we were going to bed that night that we started to see another whole level to the movie. You may want to watch the movie first, I don't want to give anything away. If you watch it first, just look for the Christ figure, God the Father figure, Holy Spirit figure, and the Blessed Mother figure.

There is tons of Christian imagery in this movie, which makes it one of my favorite.

Jose has multiple roles. He is the primary Christ figure. After the accident, it seems odd that he should be sent to prison for what truly seemed like an accident. Yet it would have been easy for the director to clean up that storyline. They could have stopped for a celebratory beer before getting in the car. So why didn't the director do that? I think the audience was supposed to be troubled by the outcome and think he was innocent. Because Jesus was innocent, and yet paid the penalty on the cross. At the accident scene, the child's mother is extremely angry at Jose, just as we are sometimes angry with God when tragedy happens. Jose and the mother alternated between embracing (Jose grieving with her and trying to reach out to her), and the mother pushing Jose away, yelling in effect "How could you do this!?!?!" Jesus takes our penalty, grieves with us, and yet we sometimes blame God for the bad things that happen and push Him away.

Jose & Nina, while riding on the subway, represent Adam & Eve - and are eating apples. (by the way, Jesus is the new Adam) The next scene....

God the Father - Jose & Nina join Jose's dad who is building a garden. He says "when it's finished, it'll be paradise."

The Holy Spirit - Jose's younger brother is a free spirit, laughing and dancing. He teaches Veronica to pray in a tongue unknown to her.

The Blessed Mother - The line from the dad "whatever you say my Queen", hints at the intercessory role of Mary. The mother at one point is standing next to a large image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. When Jose weeps in his mother's arms, it is reminiscent of The Pieta.

Jose's manager is representative of the devil. He had red hair. He tempted Jose to leave the scene of the accident. He pulls the mother away from Jose.

An interesting line is when Manny says "How could you walk out on your own flesh and blood" to Jose, when we find out later that Manny was adopted. It obviously speaks to the gift of adoption, but also to our own adoption into the family of God.

After Jose & Manny have their falling out, Jose seeks out Manny for reconciliation. He makes breakfast for Manny. This reminds me of the scene in the Gospels after the crucifixion & resurrection when the disciples go back to what they knew, back to fishing. Jesus is on the beach and makes breakfast for them and calls them in from their boats to eat.

The scene where Nina & Jose are riding on the subway, there is dialog at times even while their lips are not moving. Does this symbolize our conversation in prayer with God? It could have just been an artistic technique of the director with no deeper meaning. Other imagery around hearing God is the two times that Jose whispers, once to Nina at the abortion clinic and once to Manny when he presumably tells him that he's going to adopt the baby.

At his family's house, Jose says to Nina, "I promised you a bath." During her bath, she goes all the way under water and rises up out of the water. This is symbolic of baptism.

During the movie, I imagined that nationwide there could be many pregnant women pondering abortion and this movie would be something they could relate to. Nina's reservations about having a child when she wasn't ready to give her what she felt the child would need, etc. But possibly, there could be even more post-abortive women that watch the movie. I wondered what the message could be for them. The director left the question of whether or not Nina goes through with the abortion ambiguous until the end. At the end, you see Jose on the beach with Bella, roughly five years later. Nina is reunited with her daughter. She says "I'm sorry.... thank you" to Jose. Sorry for disappearing after having the baby and depending on Jose to provide what she needs during that time. However, if she had gone through with the abortion, and later repented, she could be entering heaven at this point. Jose then, in this scene, could really be Jesus, and Bella the baby would have gone on before Nina to heaven. Nina's words to Jesus, would then also be "I'm sorry.... Thank you."

My wife and I suspect there must be some meaning behind the younger brother Eduardo's girlfriend's name of Veronica. Eduardo says repeatedly, "her name is Veronica, don't forget." Could it be related to Veronica who wiped the face of Christ on the way of His passion? I also notice that Eduardo invites Jose to join the dance, but he declines. I don't remember his exact response. If Veronica of the movie, not the legend, is to signify the bride because Eduardo says he thinks he'll marry her, could the invitation to dance mirror the end of the Book of Revelation when the Spirit and the Bride say to Jesus "Come". This one is probably the biggest stretch on my part, it depends somewhat on what Jose said in response.

Butterflies are symbolic of the resurrection.

If anyone comes across this post and you have more insights from this movie, please post them.

We specifically wonder about the meaning of Jose's earlier girlfriends, and possibly the story Nina told Jose about her unhappy childhood.