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Extra Websites
ALL
ABOUT THE BIBLE
- meditations,
Moses, maps,
St Peter, angels,
childbirth,
dogs in the
Bible, human
sacrifice, why
David beat Goliath, war,
food and meals
..
BIBLE ARCHAEOLOGY:
is the Bible true?
BIBLE ART - paintings with
commentary & information
TOP TEN LISTS - films,heroes,
heroines, villains, bad women, ways to hell
BIBLE ARCHITECTURE -
houses, palaces, fortresses
BIBLE LANDS - maps,
photographs, stories, gossip
WOMEN IN THE BIBLE -
stories from the Old and New Testaments
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Abraham
 Journey
Films
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Last
of the Mohicans:
a journey/quest to save his people
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Finding
Nemo: a
father's only son is lost, then found
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Thelma
and Louise:
trying to find who you really are, what God means you to be
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Ice
Age 2: a
'tribe' makes a long journey to find a place where they will be safe
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Lord
of the Rings: a
journey/quest to defeat evil and restore harmony
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Adam
 Creation/Garden
of Eden films
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Apocalypto: Paradise (the pristine jungle) is ruined when sin/violence enters; man and woman must fight to survive
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The
Time Machine: the hero leaves an idyllic landscape to try to start the human race again
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Battlestar
Galactica: exiled from the Garden of Eden (Earth) but still searching for it; the main character is Adama
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A
New Leaf: a man has a perfect life, loses it, must accept reality and adapt to it
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Quest
for Fire: people in prehistoric times are forced by circumstances to become creative and inventive
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to 'Adam' page
Bathsheba
 Power
struggles/adultery/hubris of a king
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The Lion in
Winter: the members of a royal family try to outmanouvre and destroy each other
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Camelot: the prettyfied re-telling of a destructive tale of adultery and betrayal
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Rashomon: this film asks the same question as the story of David and Bathsheba: whose version is true?
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Ran, a Japanese version of 'King Lear': the struggle for power destroys a whole
kingdom
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Godfather: who succeeds the leader? the eldest? or the most competent?
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to 'Bathsheba' page
David
 A
complex man struggles to use power properly
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The
Godfather: the corruption of power; the king is trapped by his own
power
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Man For All
Seasons: like David, Henry VIII unscrupulously kills anyone who gets in his way
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The Postman Always Rings
Twice: lovers murder the woman's husband, but ultimately suffer for it
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Citizen
Kane: his power distances him from reality, and even from his
family
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The Man Who Shot Liberty
Valence- a David takes on a Goliath
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to 'David' page
Delilah
 Films
about 'Fallen Women'
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Samson and
Delilah- the Hollywood version of the story
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Butterfield
8: Elizabeth Taylor as the
high-class mistress/call-girl who wants love and respectability
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Breakfast
at Tiffany's: Holly Golightly
wants true love, not the erratic life of a successful call-girl
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Pretty
Woman: the reluctant whore who
wants respectability, love, marriage
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Fatal
Attraction: the vengeful woman
who attacks the man who has been her lover
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Deborah
 Women who take up
a cause and fight for it
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Gone With The Wind:
Scarlett may wear a crinoline, but she can fight better than most of
us for what she wants
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A League of Their
Own: some strong determined women stand together to get the
recognition they deserve
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Terminator:
woman as warrior, fighting to save humanity (read the Israelites)
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Boudica:
woman/queen rebelling against oppression and brutality
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Silkwood: woman
with a cause she is ready to die for
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Alien: woman
who eventually dies (unlike Deborah) to save her people
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to 'Deborah' page
Esther
 Royal Women,
Women with Personal Power
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Elizabeth: like
Esther, Elizabeth I must tread a careful path to avoid the plots and
counter-plots around her - and to maintain her own power
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The Queen: this
film shows the nuanced way that power can be used by those who know
how
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Absolute
Power explores the themes of corruption and power - a
dangerous mixture
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Charlie Wilson's
War: in her way, the heroine is an American queen; she knows how
to wield power and make things happen, even though her power is not
official as Esther's is
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The Slipper and the
Rose: the young woman in this re-telling of Cinderella behaves
just as a queen should, with honour and dignity
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to 'Esther' page
Isaac
 Families that
Quarrel
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The Godfather: one loud boisterous
brother, one quiet intelligent brother: Esau and Isaac are models for
Sonny and Michael in this film; if Jacob deliberately lets himself be
duped by Rebecca and Isaac as some scholars maintain, then he is as
wily as Don Corleone as well
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Ordinary People:
a tragedy exposes the cracks in this family's relationships with each
other
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Little Foxes: a
family in which almost everyone thinks of their own self-interests and
deceit is a way of life
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The Family Stone:
how not to have a happy family
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Jacob
 Lies,
destructive lies
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Atonement: a
single lie destroys the future and eventually the life of an admirable
young man
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Rashomon: who
is telling the real truth? do we ever know?
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Fight Club: at
one level you can read the story of Esau and Jacob as a conflict
between the two sides of one personality: active v. passive, the doer
v. the thinker, the pragmatist v. the idealist, etc.
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Shawshank
Redemption; an evil man's motiveless lie robs an innocent man of
his freedom
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The Count of Monte
Cristo; the hero of the story is robbed of his beloved and his
future by the lie of an envious rival
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to 'Jacob' page
Jephtah/Jephthah
 The Tragic Hero
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A Place in the Sun:
a young man from the wrong side of the tracks almost escapes his
origins, but gets sucked back into poverty because of one mistake he
makes
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Braveheart: a
leader of outlaws who loves one woman and loses her to a sordid death
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The Last Samurai:
a disillusioned man struggling to find a new life, but eventually
overcome by the evil he encounters
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The Seven Samurai:
violence can be used to right wrongs, but it is never the best answer
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Gladiator:
though he is a good man the hero has lost his family, the one thing he
truly loved - just as Jephtah lost his only daughter
Back
to 'Jephtah/Jephthah' page
Jezebel
 What Power Does
to People
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Jezebel: this film's heroine is extraordinarily foolish and headstrong rather than
wicked, but the result is the same, since she does great damage to
herself and her family
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The Lion in Winter:
power destroys the people who hold it, and ruthless rulers have
children who are no better than they - perhaps even worse
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Rashomon: whose truth are we hearing in the story of Jezebel? whose version of
the events that happened?
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Mildred Pierce:
the woman who seems to have everything ends up with nothing
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The Godfather:
power corrupts the whole family, through the generations
Back
to 'Jezebel' page
John the
Baptist
 The
Prophet
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Silkwood: a lone woman blowing the
whistle on sloppy safety procedures at a plutonium plant
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Erin Brokevitch: a woman fighting
the cover-up of contaminated water
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Amazing Grace: William
Wilberforce's fight against slavery in England
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Abraham Lincoln: leads the fight
against slavery in the US
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Veronica Guerin: an Irish
journalist fighting entrenched drug dealers
Back to
'John the Baptist' page
Joseph
of Egypt
 Getting the Best
from Yourself
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Ben Hur:
a Jewish man unjustly enslaved survives adversity and eventually makes
good - just as Joseph did
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The Pursuit of
Happyness: the story of Chris Gardner who like Joseph started with
nothing (Joseph as a slave in gaol in Egypt) and went on to become
rich and respected, as Joseph did when he became overseer of Pharaoh's
granaries
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North By Northwest:
a man unjustly accused of spying and murder (in Joseph's case, of
adultery) must try to prove his innocence, and when he cannot is
hunted down (Joseph was put in gaol)
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Gladiator:
Maximus has a good life, but he is abruptly plunged into the brutal
world of a slave/gladiator; despite the sordid world he now lives in
he maintains his integrity and in a sense conquers the Roman world
from within - just as Joseph rose to prominence in Egypt.
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Metropolis:
asks the question what, after all, is slavery? aren't modern workers
as enslaved, as shackled to their jobs, as ancient slaves?
Back
to 'Joseph of Egypt' page
Joseph
of Nazareth
 The
Quiet Hero
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It's a Wonderful
Life: man spends his whole life in a small town and doesn't
realize what a profound impace he had on the people around him
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The Quiet Man:
a man who must come to terms with his own inner struggles and doubts
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Shawshank
Redemption: he is not seeking the limelight and never sets out to
be a hero, but circumstances force him to be one
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The Man Who Shot
Liberty Valence: he believes in the accepted way of doing things,
the Law, but finds he must stand by what he believes in, whatever the
cost
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High Noon: when
the chips are down and the world seems to have abandoned him, he
stands alone for what he believes is right
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to 'Joseph of Nazareth' page
Judith
 Women with
Courage
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Gone With the Wind:
Scarlett will do almost anything to hold her family/tribe together and save their
them from their enemies
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Terminator: Sarah Connors,
the heroine of the film, is a woman who learns how to be tough so she can save her people
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Alien: the
woman Ripley is prepared to give her own life in order to save mankind
from a terrifying enemy
Back
to 'Judith' page
Mary
of Nazareth
 If
this Woman was a Tree, she'd be an Oak
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Paradise Road: Women survive a terrible situation by supporting each other - as Mary and Elizabeth did
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Starman: The wise, innocent being from
another world survives with the help of a human woman
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Random Harvest: The heroine knows the identity of the man, but remains silent and allows him to find the truth himself
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Babette's Feast: The food Babette offers these quarrelsome people calms
and satisfied them and makes them better people - a symbol of Eucharist
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to 'Mary of Nazareth' page
 Mary
Magdalene
The First Apostle
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Random Harvest: the competent woman behind the Great Man
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Paradise Road: A group of women support each other through thick and thin
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The Passion of the Christ - Mary Magdalene as a desperate young woman unable to stop the carnage
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Electric Horseman: honest man depends on a woman,
a journalist, to carry his message to the world
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to 'Mary Magdalene' page
Moses
 'Let My People
Go' - the Reluctant Leader
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Norma Rae: there
are similarities between the stories of 'Norma Rae' and Moses. Both
feel inadequate to the task, and struggle against terrible odds to
unite a group of 'slaves' and lead them to a better world
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Poseidon Adventure:
An oldie but a goodie, 'Poseidon' steals many of its
themes from the Moses story: the people are in the wrong place, and
must escape by going through water, facing many dangers; their leader
is reluctant to take on the task and does not make it out of the ship;
the people who climb up through the Christmas tree are saved; some
decide not to go
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The Truman
Show: Truman lives in a false world; he must cross the water, even
though he is uncertain and afraid, to get to the real world where he
is meant to be, to freedom
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Shawshank Redemption: Andy is a convicted murderer and prisoner
who fights his way to freedom and shows his friend the way to a
Promised Land
Back
to 'Moses' page
Noah
 Saving the World
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Lord of the Rings:
the ring is the source of Evil and has brought Evil into the world;
only by destroying it can the world be saved and renewed
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Battlestar Galactica:
a spaceship transports a select group of people from a dying planet to a new world
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War of the Worlds: a man struggles to save his family in a world-wide catastrophe
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Ironman: fighting Evil, saving the world;
only by using his ingenuity can the man build something that will help
him save humanity
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to 'Noah' page
Rachel
 Making
the Best of a Bad Deal
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Random Harvest: they
are in love, they marry and have a child, everything looks perfect
just as it did for Rachel and Jacob - then everything changes
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The Blind Side:
knowing you've been give a raw deal, but getting on with it, making
the most of the good things rather than dwelling on the bad
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Big Love: the
problems of a family with multiple wives
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Shrek: the two
main characters genuinely love each, but things do not turn out as
they expected; they must be patient if they are to achieve happiness
together
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Forrest Gump:
love between a boy/girl or man/woman can be enduring, even when there
is no conventional 'happy ending'
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to 'Rachel' page
Ruth
 Courage
and Loyalty
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As Good As It Gets:
an over-burdened young woman finds love with a wealthy older man; she
is advised and helped by her unglamourous but sensible mother, who
tells her that the 'perfect man' simply does not exist
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Norma Rae: two
women, mother and daughter, argue with and support each other when the
going gets tough; both are fighting for a better life, using the
weapons they have
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Mrs Miniver: a
woman and her daughter-in-law must make the best of things when the
men in their lives are absent; they develop loyalty and affection for
each other
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to 'Ruth' page
Solomon
 Guiding
the Ship of State
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Saving Private Ryan:
an educated, intelligent man trying to lead and protect his soldiers
(his nation) in a world full of pitfalls; diplomacy and politics
(Solomon) as a form of war
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Indiana Jones and
the Last Crusade: what is true wisdom? see the scene where the
hero must choose 'Holy Grail', the chalice of Jesus
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Rain: a good
man destroyed by a 'wicked woman'
Back
to 'Solomon' page
Samson
 Flawed
Heroes
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Rocky: a
violent, flawed hero who is nevertheless an indomitable hero
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The Searchers:
a deeply flawed hero whose relationships with women are problematic;
he tries to kill his niece because she has been polluted by the
embrace of an enemy
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The Unforgiven:
a violent hero who enjoys the company of 'fallen women'
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Stagecoach: the
hero loves a woman with a past - but can he trust her?
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Dirty Harry:
like Samson, Harry feels completely justified in killing his enemy
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Absolute Power:
Clint Eastwood's character is an unrepentent criminal, yet he is the
hero of the story. Like Samson, he is an avenger.
Back
to 'Samson' page
Tamar
 Adapting
to the Situation
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Hobson's Choice:
the head of a family is not what he should be, so his daughter takes
the law into her own hands, doing his job for him; it's a comedy, but
the message is clear
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The Family Stone:
a young woman battles against the hostility of the family she want to
marry into; she does all the normal things and they do not work, so
she resorts to an innovative solution
Back
to 'Tamar' page
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