On the fishers, surfers and casters blog, Paul Teusner asks, 'Why should we think about mass media?' In the comments, Stephen posed the challenge,
What would your list of 5-10 books be that would make a good introduction to religion and media?
My comment in response was,
Really given the article, shouldn’t it be 5-10 *movies* which would be illustrative of a good introduction to religion and media…?
And Paul naturally asked me to put my money where my mouth was. :-0
So here is a list of some movies which inform / provide the vocabulary for / become a medium of, my own spirituality. I'm keeping it brief but am happy to enlarge on any of them in comments if someone is interested. Also I found that it was hard to pick specific films, for the reason that movies are so much a part of my life - I've watched hundreds (thousands?). And the movie which speaks to me at one time is clearly a function of what's going on in my life at that point, what the spiritual issues or questions are for me then etc. Nevertheless, here goes:
The Village - What is fear? How does it shape our lives? Our beliefs? How can we continue to be part of a messy, hurtful world? Did the Creator get it wrong?
X-Men (1 or 2) - Alienation seems to be part of life. What makes us human? More interestingly - what prevents us from being fully human?
Dogma - Alanis Morissette as God. Need I say more? No seriously - a playful, quirky God. That speaks to me. The rest of the movie is also an interesting exploration of justice, right and wrong, consequences.
Saved - Ok, so it's not rocket science, but I went to that school (except our principal couldn't do standing somersaults...). If evangelical / conservative faith is so true, why is it so ugly?
Spirited Away - I can't explain this one. I just know it moved me in a way few other things in life have. Maybe its because I lived the first 12 years of my life in Japan. Natsukashii ne... But there's also something I can't put my finger on in the content, that says something about the way the world is.
Wrath of Khan - Yeah, ok, I know I'm sad. Still... I cried when Spock died. Sacrifice and love are at the heart of the universe.
Ok then, there's half a dozen. I'm sure there's more. What about you?