What's in a Movie?

Most people who know me, know that I enjoy watching movies.  As I think through what kinds of films are my favorite, it's hard to come up with a specific genre that I like best.  The best way to describe my favorites might just be saying something as simple as the films that are well-made and thought out.

Unfortunately, as simple of a statement as that is, it's hardly easy to come by in today's culture.  Maybe I shouldn't say that it's hard to come by but that you need to do some searching to find it.  You're not necessarily going to see trailers for these kinds of films during primetime television.  These films are not the ones with the highest weekend gross.  Oftentimes, these films are not the ones that are garnering major awards or critical reviews, but they are the ones that, in my opinion, can best be defined as "art."

I must admit that there are times when all I want to do is laugh.  Laughter is therapeutic, a salve for my wounded soul, and finding a silly or stupid comedy that can have me fully engaged in side-splitting laughter is a necessity at times.  But even the answer to the question of what is funny has significantly changed.  The latest string of "funny" movies seems to be more about sexual and gross-out humor than anything else.  Once upon a time, not too long ago, it seems that we could be a little bit more creative than that.  While Steve Martin had his fair share of crudeness, there are few things that can get me laughing like the line, "He hates these cans" from "The Jerk."  Once upon a time, we were able to be funny without having to delve into new and deeper levels of crudeness.

Recently, some friends of mine watched a film that stirred them enough to have posted to the Facebook world about what they had seen.  I was inspired when I saw these posts, realizing that they had been touched by creativity and art, they had experienced poignancy within film that does not happen as often as we would like it to.  It's helped me to realize the need to reboot my movie blog, where I would review films that moved me or inspired me in some way.

The problem is, there are crummy movies coming up on every side.  I won't even get into some of the movies that are offered by the Christian community as art.  Every time I think about those films, I remember back to history class when the center of art and culture was the church, providing creativity that set the pace for culture.  It can hardly be said that this is the case for today.  We're pulling decent films off of the shelf because of "objectionable content" and thinking that our own little whitewashed worlds paint more of a reality than someone who was born into circumstances far beyond their control.

To find good films, one has to look.  I have often been surprised, pleasantly so, at where I have found these kinds of films.  Sometimes I have found them in the bargain bin of a retail chain, other times it was through the recommendation of an acquaintance, still other times it was during a bout with insomnia on late night television.  Regardless of how I found them, they were there, waiting to be discovered and appreciated.

The advantage of living in an age of technology is that we don't have to settle for what some try to pass off as art when in reality is it just mindless drivel.  Instead, we can take to the internet and discover things for ourselves, branching out to find things of beauty and creativity, not with the latest actors making their millions, but with artists who simply have a story to tell.  If you seek it, you can find it.

Now, don't get me wrong, I like a good action film, comedy film, adventure film, or thriller just as much as the next guy, but sometimes, I actually want to watch a film that will stretch my mind and make me think.  Thankfully, they're out there waiting to be found.  I'm going on an adventure to see what's out there.

In the World

Lifeway’s recent decision to pull “The Blind Side” from their shelves has been troubling me since it started showing up in the press last week.  There have been varied numbers of people within the Christian community who have shared their views on this issue.  They have expressed themselves well and I would encourage you, if you are so inclined, to read them.  I have put links below:

http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/19736

http://rachelheldevans.com/christian-bookstores-chokehold

http://www.eyvonnesharp.com/what-i-dont-want-to-say/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-upset-over-lifeways-removal-of-the-blind-side-77806/

http://www.christianpost.com/news/new-sbc-president-supports-lifeways-the-blind-side-removal-76920/

If you are not familiar with what happened, here’s the brief story.  The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) recently resolved at their convention meeting at the end of June to remove the movie, “The Blind Side” from their denomination’s bookstore’s (LIfeway) shelves.  As soon as the press got a hold of it, they all told the story, painting Lifeway and Southern Baptists as ignorant prudes who miss the point of a good, redemptive story by focusing on the “impure” aspects of it.

After doing some research on this whole story, I’ve discovered a different side of this story.  Turns out that the pastor who made a big deal about the movie, although I still don’t agree with him, began a resolution within his own state’s Southern Baptist Convention back in 2010, the same year that Lifeway began selling the movie.  So, in fairness to him, his objections to the film’s sales seem to have occurred fairly quickly after the chain began selling the movie.  But why did it take two years for it to get to the national level?  Other than selling tons of copies of the film, what else occurred during this time within Lifeway?

Like I said, I don’t have a problem if people choose to filter the things that they watch, listen to, and read.  In my opinion, we need to be careful about doing this as it can certainly promote a very one-sided viewpoint of issues.  But the removable of objectionable material within stores and especially homes, I understand and even support that.  To that end though, I question as to what caused Lifeway to have allowed the film to be sold in the first place.  If someone within the organization had viewed it prior to the chain agreeing to sell the film, would this whole situation have been eliminated?  Did someone watch it?  I would hope that Lifeway has learned a valuable lesson through all of this: monitor and approve what you are selling to avoid embarrassments like this in the future.

As I stewed over this situation and this post, I began to think about the things that the chain sells.  To be honest, there are things that are being sold in there every day that are objectionable to me.  Some of the T-shirts, bumper stickers, movies, and books are downright offensive to me as a follower of Jesus Christ, but that’s really another post.  Part of this Florida pastor’s objection was probably due to the store’s association with his denomination, which I can somewhat understand, but don’t be surprised when a world that desperately needs to hear about Jesus turns a deaf ear to Christ followers after instances like this.  While I’m not encouraging us to all go out and watch films depicting gratuitous amounts of sex, violence, and language, anyone who steps into a mall, a school, or even a place of business knows that things are far from sanitary in those places.  Depending on the neighborhoods where you reside, it might just be a matter of stepping out your front door to hear things that you don’t necessarily promote within the confines or your house.

My biggest struggle with this is that it comes across as a promotion for a “better time” when Leave It To Beaver and Father Knows Best ruled the airwaves, when family conflicts were resolved in half an hour.  Life can be very messy, I have experienced that firsthand over the last 18 months.  Things don’t always fit neatly into a box.  Sometimes things spill over and they’re not pleasant, they offend, they hurt.  Sometimes, while attempting to filter out certain offensive aspects of mediums like movies and books, we miss the greater story and the greater good that is being portrayed through it all.  As some of my fellow bloggers have written, there are some fairly objectionable stories within the Bible that could easily be sanitized and actually have been.  How much of the story of Jonah do kids really get?  It usually has a happy ending.  Ever read the end of the Book of Jonah?  It’s far from a happy ending?  Ever read the Book of Judges?  Tent stakes through a man’s head.  A knife thrust into the obese belly of a king and the fact closing in over it.  I just wonder what happens with these stories.

Throughout the narrative of Scripture, the people of God are called to be different, to act differently, to speak differently, and to live differently.  The New Testament writers speak of not being conformed to the pattern of this world.  Theologians have written books about Christ and culture.  There is to be a difference between those who consider themselves followers of Jesus and those who don’t.  My concern is that sometimes those differences look foolish not because of Jesus but because of us.  It’s one thing to look foolish over the radical and reckless message of the Cross, it’s another thing to look foolish because, well, we just look foolish.

There’s so much more to say on this and I hope to in days to come.  In the meantime, there are a few takeaways that I see from all of this.  First of all, be informed.  Make sure that you do your best to get the whole picture of the story.  It’s easy to think that everything I need to know I can learn from Fox News, CNN, CNBC, or even Yahoo! News, but we really need to explore further to get a broader picture.  If you own a store or promote something, make sure you are informed as possible about it.  Second of all, think about your reactions to things, they may look perfectly acceptable to you, but think about the message that might be conveyed through you reactions.  Not to say that you back down from reactions based upon how others view them, but there might be a different way of conveying it that maintains a witness without losing face with those who we are trying to be a witness to.

As long as we live in this world, we will constantly struggle with how to live.  I am sure that many of us will have our differences in this area.  The key in all of it is to try to keep the conversation going, we can all learn from each other in the midst of it all.

Do They Know It's Christmas?

I had a timely phone call from a good friend while on my way to school in the D.C. area the other night. I had had a fairly long day which had started around 5 AM and would not end until close to midnight. I was feeling tired and worn out and had probably even begun to feel the need to stop so as not to fall asleep and he called. We talked for a long time, but it was one of those conversations that didn't feel long and that is even longed for once it's over.

He was lamenting to me of his church's lack of focus on Christmas and Advent in their Sunday morning worship services. There was really no evidence that the Advent season had arrived. The latest praise choruses were being sung with no interspersion of Christmas or Advent focused music. He was pretty frustrated that the focus that he was longing for was being dismissed by his local church.

I jokingly told him that I could come with my band and play "Do They Know It's Christmas?" to perhaps inject a little meaning into both his and their season. As I thought about it later and as I continue to read his laments/ravings on Facebook about his frustration, I have tried to reconcile what is happening.

As a worship leader, I can honestly say that I have been on the side that my friend is railing against. I take no offense in what he is saying because I would consider that I have grown a tremendous amount since that time. Once upon a time, I probably fought against the idea of incorporating Advent focused music into the Sunday morning worship services at my church. It's somewhat ironic that this would be the case with me considering that I generally start listening to Christmas music back in August or September.

I'm not completely sure what would have caused me to have such disdain for the inclusion of this kind of music into a worship service. Maybe I felt as if some of the music was dated. Maybe I felt as if it played too much to the nostalgia and emotions of the congregation. Whatever reason I may have had to do this, I was wrong. I now see this, especially in light of the overwhelming takeover of consumerism within our culture.

Once upon a time, the holiday-heavy Fall was filled with holidays that seemed significant enough to be celebrated on their own. As the consumerism has become more and more rampant, some of those holidays have dropped in significance and even in existence. Do we really understand the significance of Labor Day? I don't, other than the fact that I get a day off. Columbus Day hasn't been celebrated by me for a fair amount of time. Shamefully, I even forgot to acknowledge Veterans on the Sunday after Veteran's Day. I was given grace and made up for it the following Sunday, acknowledging my mistake and exercising the escape clause that allowed for a statute of limitations within a week's time.

This year, more than ever, I was very aware of the transition from Halloween to Christmas. It was almost as if Thanksgiving had dropped from our calendars. My boys like to dress up in superhero and Star Wars costumes and, frankly, I'm not a fan of paying $20 or more for costumes. So, while shopping the 90% discount costume rack at Target, I was very aware of the Christmas section having popped up overnight. What had happened to Thanksgiving? Well, the commercialism of Thanksgiving might seem self-serving, especially considering what the holiday itself signifies. There has been no icon, other than a turkey, for Thanksgiving. Other than people gorging themselves on turkey and other delicacies and a few Virginia Tech fans relishing a holiday that celebrates their precious mascot being eaten, there's not much commercialism on which to capitalize. Why would we actually encourage families to spend time together when we could instead encourage them to spend money for the self-perpetuation of big industry and commercialism?

But I digress. If there was ever a time for followers of Christ to be more focused on celebrating Advent, it would seem that now would be that time. Problem is, instead of being counter-cultural, we have embraced the elements of culture that conveniently fit into our own ideologies and lashed out against the ones that would make a mockery of our beliefs. Can we really have it both ways? Perhaps. Paul was a fan of using culture to speak the message of Truth. While I wouldn't say he embraced culture, he appreciated it and understood that it was an opportunity for an inroad conversation with people about the significance of Christ in his life.

With everyone else having successfully forgotten exactly what Christmas and Advent are for, it would be in the best interest of those of us who consider ourselves disciples of Christ to not necessarily rant and rave against a culture that has forgotten, but instead to lovingly point the way by living out the values that we claim as our own. In other words, doesn't it seem that a good way for us to focus others on Christ during this season would be to focus on Him ourselves?

This Advent season at my church, we decided to forego a "special" Christmas concert during a Sunday night or other night of the week and focus our efforts on our Sunday morning worship times. All of the special elements that may have been reserved for a concert/program are being incorporated into what we do on Sunday mornings when we gather. With only one week of Advent in the books, the result was fascinating and the responses were overwhelmingly encouraging. My hope is that these times and experiences on Sunday mornings will act as a means for our congregation to focus on the significance, importance, and relevance of Advent amidst a culture that is desperately trying to take our eyes off of those very things.

I am not supporting the boycotting of culture, WalMart, Target, or any other organization or system that is perpetuating a misguided focus during this season. I am encouraging that those of us who consider ourselves Christians would simply model what we want everyone else to see. In that way, rather than looking like antiquated, frustrated, and hypocritical prudes who will stop at nothing to attempt to enforce our own values, we instead look like a people who believe in something, that something being that Advent is a time of anticipation and waiting, as we expectantly await the celebration of the coming King and Messiah. Do they know it's Christmas? They will if we show them