Recently I went (read: was dragged) to the Ark Encounter museum thing in Kentucky, USA. I didnât really want to go because for one Iâm not Evangelical Christian and for two Iâm in a bit of a âperiod of questioningâ in my faith. But honestly overall I ended up enjoying it, so I thought Iâd post about it.
Hereâs a pic I took of a little bi-coded diorama I saw:
My anxious closeted queer heart stopped when I saw this and how it implies (to my eyes) that the guy in the middle likes both guys and girls. I guess thatâs queer rep but itâs also in the exhibit of the pre-food world, meaning they were all evil and died, and I didnât see any queer rep in after-the-flood exhibits so theyâre probably definitely condemning gayness. which kinda hurt but I think itâs really funny because of their mascots:
Their mascots are literally giraffes, and itâs been a while since I checked my facts but I think I read that 60% of all giraffe...love...is gay? So I was kinda hopeful at first that they wouldnât be homophobic what with that and the rainbow gateway:
If I end up with a girl or a nonbinary person someday I want to get a pic of us kissing under this rainbow right here.
[The photo above isnât mine, I snatched it off google and I think itâs on the official site. I did take my own pics but the ones without my family in them are too blurry because I tried to take them in secret.]
But then there was âtaking back the rainbowâ stuff in the gift shop. Iâve seen queerphobic internet trolls use that phrase a bunch. So I felt sad and kinda panicky but Iâll get over it. (Also my dad was looking at a vaguely homophobic rainbow shirt and I would have d i e d if he had bought one but luckily he chickened out.)
Overall, Iâd say the whole concept is neat, but the lack of details given in the Genesis flood story meant that most of the Ark Encounterâs exhibits were âeducated guessesâ and some was entirely fabricated, like the names of all the female characters onboard. That didnât stop me from appreciating the artistry that went into it though. Honestly the way they did it was a lot like fictional wordbuilding, which is right up my ally so I really enjoyed it. So little is known about the pre-flood civilizations and their technology, or even how the ark was supposedly built, and it was neat to see prevalent hypotheses demonstrated.
In conclusion it was cool if I ignored the homophobia and lack of inclusion for non-Evangelicals and non-Christians who also believe the flood. I liked it a lot more once I suspended my disbelief and treated the whole thing like fiction. I wouldnât necessarily recommend going and giving them your money but itâs not a horrible experience if youâre forced to go. (Oh, if you get overwhelmed easily bring noise blocking headphones, thank me later)
