This was not the first film that Cecil B. DeMille titled “The Ten Commandments.” An earlier version in 1923 was purely a morality play. While we know on paper in the 1956 version who the “good” and “bad” guys are, the specifics become more ambivalent. In this episode I take a deep dive into DeMille’s 1956 film, particularly how it influenced me both as a child and later as an adult. I see in the film a desire to propagandize the importance of the adoptive mother. On reflection I find this a strange choice, given that the Egyptians were, in every sense of the word, the villain of the original text. I suggest perhaps watching this film consciously, while thinking carefully about the message that is being constructed about adoption–something that DeMille clearly contemplated throughout his life as an adoptive parent.
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