Cosmological and Religious Symbols in the Film Alita: Battle Angel

Abstract

This article aims to identify cosmological and religious symbols in the film Alita: Battle Angel (2019). We systematize the religious symbols present in the film and determine which religious tradition it belongs to. It has been established that the film contains the following early Christian religious symbols. The main character of Alita has common features with the figure of Jesus Christ: 1) the symbolism of baptism in obtaining an “transfigured” Alita’s body; 2) sacrificing one’s body with a future resurrection in a more perfect bodily form; 3) love and willingness to sacrifice oneself for the sake of this love. Just as Jesus Christ sacrifices himself for those he loves, so Alita is willing to give her own heart to the object of her love; 4) the relationship with the Father character. In a relationship with Dr. Dyson Ido, Alita goes through a difficult path from hostility and non-recognition (at the beginning) to reconciliation and recognition of him as a father; 5) the symbolism of the sword. It was also found that the world in which the film’s events take place has distinctive Gnostic features. The Gnostic trope is present, according to the terminology of Pavel Nosachev. The evil demiurge Nova governs this world full of suffering. The main character gradually solves the deceptive nature of reality (by recollection). The use of religious images in popular culture reflects the expectations of modern audiences.

Keywords

• alita: battle angel
• jesus christ
• gnosticism
• religious symbols
• cosmological symbols
• cinema
• the demiurge