Ruel B. Ramos Jr.

MW: 12:30 – 2:00 pm

BSCE – 2B

Reflection of the movie Kingdom of Heaven

The fight over land, power, and influence may lead to chaos. The conflict between
Christians and Muslims was given emphasis in the movie “kingdom of heaven”. The brutal fight
over Jerusalem and in maintaining peace. In the movie, both parties thought that they are
fighting for God, but the truth is they are fighting for land and wealth.

The movie centered the plot to Balian, a blacksmith whose father is the Baron of Ibelin.
Before his father died, he was made a knight by his father and left Ibelin under his control.
Balian did not disappoint his father. He became a noble leader. He protects his people and
always thinks about their welfare.

I like the character of Balian, he is a perfect example of a good leader and follower. He
led his people by example. And he has his principle, to do what is good no matter what the
outcome. Moreover, the movie showed that when a leader is not good, his people will suffer
the most. Just like when Guy became the king of Jerusalem. Because of his reckless actions and
poor leadership, his army fell in an instant.

I enjoyed the dialogue and the plot more than the action. “A king may move a man, but
the soul belongs to the man”. This line moved me. I realized that we are all responsible for our
actions even though we say that we are just forced to do it, because we have our own choice.
Take for instance, I am a student and my friends persuade me to hang out every night instead
of studying. They say that if I do not go with them, they will get mad at me. There is a possibility
that my subconscious will think that I have no choice so I should go with them because I don’t
want to lose my friends. The outcome is certain, I will get a failing grade and then I will blame
my friends. As I said earlier, we must not blame others. We always have a choice. Sometimes
we just choose to think that we have no choice. Another example is when your boss ordered
you to do something and he said that if will you do it well, you will be promoted. You know that
what your boss ordered is unethical. You may choose to follow it, or you may choose to do
what is right. Remember that our actions and decisions every day decide whether we are living
a productive and good life, or not.
 Throughout the movie, Balian seeks the presence and voice of God. He thought that
God was not speaking to him because he did not hear God’s voice. The truth is, God speaks to
him. Though, not in words but in actions. God always protects him especially on the brink of
death throughout his journey. I think that it is God’s way to communicate and to connect with
Balian. In life, there are times that we hesitate if God is there or not. We may be blinded by our
problems. At times like these, we should remember all the good things that happen to our life.
The food, water, and shelter we have. We should not be distracted by difficult circumstances
because we might lose our way.

The movie made an impact on my belief, that religion is not part of our salvation. I come
up with a realization that religion divides people. It takes our freedom. Whatever your religion
right now, most of us did not choose it freely. We get it through our parents. Our belief in
religion was programmed by what our parents believe because most of us learn it first from
them. Though it may change as we grow up and learn from life, still it has an impact on who we
are today.

The mercy of the people who lived during that era was the dominant emotion I felt
while watching the movie. I can’t imagine putting myself at that time with lots of murder,
slavery, and using religion or the name God to control people. I think that if the conflict
between Christians and Muslims was solved long ago, we may have a different life today. There
will be no discrimination of belief and religion. Christians will be freely accepted by Muslims and
vice versa, especially in some parts of the world like Saudi Arabia.