One Night with the King: The romanticizing of Esther

Note: This is not meant to denigrate or criticize anyone’s faith. These are simply my observations on the film and the way it romanticizes the story of Esther.

So. The other night I re-watched One Night with the King (2006). I was struck, as I always am, by the gorgeous costumes and the spectacular setting. I was also struck, as I always am, by how much the film romanticizes the story of Esther and Ahasuerus. To be sure, there is a romantic relationship in the film, and I see the hints of one when I read the original text, but I don’t think it’s a romance in the modern genre sense.

The film certainly plays like one: from the meet-cute where Esther reads scrolls and tells stories, through the black moment when the king thinks she’s betrayed him, to the resolution when he extends the scepter and later pulls Haman off of her. The film’s sub-plot–Haman’s hatred of the Jews and his personal vendetta against Mordecai–is also resolved. This romanticizes the biblical story in which the threat against and eventual salvation of the Jews through Esther is the central plot, not the (possible) romantic relationship between her and the king. I get that it’s a film, and I can deal with that.

What really bothers me, though, is how the romanticizing in the film conceals the underlying ugliness of the story. By this I mean not only Haman’s plot to eradicate the Jews but also the treatment of women. This begins with the removal of Vashti, a queen conscious of her own worth who refuses to be demeaned and is, therefore, summarily dismissed and silenced. Then there is the kidnapping of the young women and their subsequent imprisonment in the palace. It’s a lovely cage to be sure, but even with the fabulous looking food and amazing fabrics and luxurious pampering, it’s still a cage. Let’s also remember the young men who are kidnapped, castrated, and forced to serve the young women vying for the king’s favor.

Moreover, the film glosses over the implied sexual encounters between the young women and the king and the lack of consent. At the very least, consent is blurred. At worst, we’re witnessing rapes. Given the power dynamic, can these young women really refuse? Not all of them could have been willing. One is so terrified in the film that she vomits on the king’s shoes.

Added to that, I just can’t like the king. At best, he succumbs to peer pressure when he orders his wife, Queen Vashti, to display herself before his drunk war council, which is planning a war of which she disapproves. A war, I’ll point out, that Esther isn’t in favor of, either. No matter how much the romance is emphasized, Vashti’s fate is always in Esther’s mind. She says as much. The power divide between them is palpable. He literally has the power of life and death over her. They are not equals. Given that, I admire her courage, her tenacity, her faith.

It’s entirely possible Esther and Ahasuerus loved each other. I hope they did. But I still don’t think the story is a romance. It’s a disturbing story about gender, (planned) genocide, sexual violence, and an unequal marriage, and no amount of romanticizing can fully hide that.