Kenny

While I'm on the movie roll...

Suzie and I watched Kenny tonight and thought it was both hilarious and heart-warming. What was best was seeing such a genuine, humble, respectful and kindhearted character portrayed. Would that Australia had more Kennys! There are some absolutely fantastic lines - from the sublime (“My father had about 2 cents in his emotional bank account...”) to the ridiculous (“You have to try to drop the banana without blowing the trumpet...”). I'm off to try and find a “Wit and Wisdom of Kenny” website!

I'm also trying out MarsEdit for this post as suggested by Stephen.

Currently listening:
There Is A Kingdom from the album “The Boatman's Call” by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

2:37

I'd been meaning to blog my reaction to this film but never got around to it. Now I have been prompted to do so by Paul's response to the film. Paul highlights the undeniable - this was a well-produced film which brings to the big screen some of the real fears, concerns, hopes and dreams of Australian (and probably other) high schoolers.

The big question of course was as to whether the incredibly graphic suicide scene at the end of the film was exploitative, unhealthy or inappropriate. I guess for me, despite the power of much of the film, I have some real reservations, and I think I can point to two reasons for those concerns.

*****SPOILERS AHEAD*****

The first concerns the 'payoff' for watching a young girl slowly bleed to death on the toilet floor. It seems, given the identity of the victim, that the only conclusion we can draw from the final outcome is that sometimes you never know who or why; that it may well be that the person you least expect is the most psychologically desperate. Now perhaps it's because I have had some exposure to the issue of suicide, but for me, that's old news. For me it wasn't 'worth' the psychological trauma of the film to have that fact reiterated for me.

A second reason for my disquiet concerns the portrayal of the other characters in the show. As Paul has pointed out, these characters are drawn with a realism and insight which is truly evocative. And as we discover, each one of them has some 'reason' which implies that they could be the one to suicide. Their lives, distresses, innermost turmoils are laid bare for our examination. However in the end my own feeling was that these struggles become mere fodder for the 'whoddunit' plotline. In a real sense, the pain of the other characters was 'used' in order to set us up for the twist at the end, and I felt myself resenting that on behalf of the other characters.

Would I recommend the film? I'm not sure. I know that I am glad to have seen it. But I still wonder...

So I've seen it now...

Yesterday I went to see The Da Vinci Code. Mark Berry points to a very negative review by fellow Australian and well known apologist Phil Johnson, but I have to say that my own reaction was quite different as was that of the two mates I went with. We all thought the film was quite enjoyable and the acting was good. It was a thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours and we didn't begrudge the $9.50 it cost.

Phil Johnson rightly points out that none of the film's (or books) central themes are particularly new, but my own question then is, 'Why, given the relative lack of historical backing for these ideas do they still have such enormous traction within the general community?' And my own answer is that there is something pointed to in these books, films etc which has been missing from the 'run-of-the-mill' portrayal of the Christian faith. I'll be interested in exploring what that missing something might be with some of my friends who aren't 'heavy-duty church-goers'.

One thing I found particularly interesting was the way in which the Tom Hanks character (Langdon) is 'softened' in the movie. This was particularly obvious in the scene where Teabing is filling in Sophie on the grail legend. In the book both Langdon and Teabing are singing from the same hymnsheet - almost tag-teaming to destroy Sophie's presuppositions about Jesus, the Bible and Christianity. However in the film version Langdon is seen more as a moderating influence - regularly challenging Teabing's view - bringing up (more traditional) alternatives etc. There was a similar subtle change in the dialogue leading up to meeting Teabing, with Langdon being much more cautious and suspicious about grail 'lore'. I wonder was this change in Langdon's character meant to make him more likeable or the film less offensive to those of Christian sensibilities? For me it actually robbed the film of some of its power.

All in all I thought it was worth seeing and the gorgeous architectural scenes made it a big-screen event in a way which (sorry Mark!) won't be captured by the video.

Movie magic...

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?