Tonight I went to rent the movie “Knowing” from Blockbuster. I was looking forward to seeing this movie after reading a few reviews touting it for posing thought provoking questions about determinism vs. free will. Are events in the universe already preordained or do they happen by chance? Do we have the ability to change the future by making choices, or are we only fulfilling what has already been determined? I enjoy thinking about questions like these and was looking forward to seeing a (hopefully) thought provoking and entertaining film.
I was in for a surprise, however, after my wife inserted the DVD. Instead of “Knowing” starting up, we were shown a menu for “Confessions of a Shopaholic”. Apparently, someone had switched the DVDs when returning the movies. This was hardly the interesting movie I had been hoping for, but it was already late and my wife had wanted to see it, so we decided to just watch it.
I was not disappointed. It was exactly what I thought it would be: formulaic, predictable, with a few laughs. It involves a young woman, Rebecca (played by Isla Fisher, who actually does a good job even though she keeps pretending to be Amy Adams), who is addicted to shopping. As she racks up thousands of dollars in credit card bills, she ironically lands a job writing a column for a financial planning company. (I know this is ironic because one of the characters helpfully points out this irony just in case the audience missed it.) She takes this job only to help her get closer to writing for a Vogue-like fashion magazine. Of course she eventually realizes she is in love with her editor (I never understand why people’s friends have to point out that they like someone in movies...don’t people know when they like someone?). There is a slight love triangle with a more successful and glamorous woman, but it turns out (gasp!) that the editor does not really like this woman, but instead likes Rebecca. However, he does not know that she is massively in debt, and it looks like all is lost when her evil bill collector finally catches up with her.
Of course, given the genre of the movie, everything ends happily. Rebecca gets the boy she wanted and learns some valuable lessons on the way. When she is offered a job at the fashion magazine, she decides that that kind of writing is not how she wants to spend her life. I learned a lot as well. I now understand that there is just no need for more than one Prada handbag (even if they are on sale). Before buying my next pair of shoes, I will stop and think, “Do I really need this?” And as I walk by store fronts, I will keep in mind the emotional scene towards the end of the movie when storefront mannequins applauded Rebecca as she resisted their temptation.
I was hoping to watch a movie last night about determinism, chance, and free will. However, maybe I learned more about that from this experience. My free will and choices were leading me to watch “Knowing”. However, I could not escape my fate. It had been determined in advance…I was going to watch “Confessions of a Shopaholic”.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Horror and Humanity
Many of today’s horror movies have very little depth. They often exist purely to display as much gory violence as possible and to find new ways to shock their viewers. Most recent scary movies are more interested in provoking squeamishness more than thought. However a couple (relatively) recent examples have much more to offer than pure thrills. The movies “28 Days Later” (2002) and “I Am Legend” (2007) are both about a virus that destroys civilization by turning anyone infected into zombie-like monsters. While the movies share very similar content, they also point towards similar views about the nature of humanity. An analysis of these views reveals that they in many ways coincide with a Christian perspective on human nature.
“28 Days Later”, directed by Danny Boyle (Oscar winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire”), takes place in London and surrounding areas. Most of the movie takes place 28 days after a deadly virus has been released. This virus, called “Rage”, causes people to become mindless zombie-like creatures focused only on their murderous rage. The movie traces the story of one man’s survival. Jim (played by Cillian Murphy) was in a coma when the virus took over and awakes to find the streets of London completely deserted. He eventually meets up with a few others, and they make their way towards a military encampment near Manchester in the hopes that they have found the “answer to infection”. Once they meet up with the military encampment, they realized that not only is there no cure, but the soldiers there are motive purely by selfish interests.
I Am Legend
The movie ends with this woman narrating as she enters a sanctuary delivering the cure to a scientist:
Note: While “I Am Legend” has intense and suspenseful parts, “28 Days Later” fully earns its R rating. It is very gory at times and is not for the squeamish.
28 Days Later
“28 Days Later”, directed by Danny Boyle (Oscar winning director of “Slumdog Millionaire”), takes place in London and surrounding areas. Most of the movie takes place 28 days after a deadly virus has been released. This virus, called “Rage”, causes people to become mindless zombie-like creatures focused only on their murderous rage. The movie traces the story of one man’s survival. Jim (played by Cillian Murphy) was in a coma when the virus took over and awakes to find the streets of London completely deserted. He eventually meets up with a few others, and they make their way towards a military encampment near Manchester in the hopes that they have found the “answer to infection”. Once they meet up with the military encampment, they realized that not only is there no cure, but the soldiers there are motive purely by selfish interests.The movie seems to be making a statement about the nature of humanity. It opens with newsreel footage of various riots, beatings, and general chaos. The army major remarks:
This is what I've seen in the four weeks since infection: people killing people. Which is pretty much what I saw in the four weeks before infection, and the four weeks before that, and before that, and as far back as I care to remember. People killing people. Which to my mind, puts us in a state of normality right now.
Towards the end of the film, the distinction between the infected and those who are not infected is blurred. The soldiers become more terrifying than the murderous zombies, and Jim, as he fights off the soldiers, moves and acts in a way nearly indistinguishable from the infected. The movie shows that, humanity in general is “infected”.
“28 Days Later” gives us a picture of the fallen nature of humanity. Rather than transforming people, the virus released in the movie seems to reveal humanities true nature. The movie offers very little in the way of solution. There is no cure for the infection. However, several times in the movie religious hymns play in the background. Perhaps these songs (which include “Abide with Me” and “Ave Maria”) are hints at a possible solution.
I Am Legend
“I Am Legend” is similar in many ways to “28 Days Later”. Both deal with a virus that has 
nearly destroyed humanity. In both movies this virus turns people into zombie-like creatures. In “I Am Legend”, however, the religious symbolism is more obvious. First, the infected in “I Am Legend” are referred to as “dark-seekers” because they are not able to go into the light. This is in line with the Biblical understanding of light and dark (see passages such as John 3:19–20, Eph 5:8, or 1 John 1:5ff). Second, “I Am Legend” offers a more obvious religious ending with a Christ-figure sacrificing himself to save humanity.
nearly destroyed humanity. In both movies this virus turns people into zombie-like creatures. In “I Am Legend”, however, the religious symbolism is more obvious. First, the infected in “I Am Legend” are referred to as “dark-seekers” because they are not able to go into the light. This is in line with the Biblical understanding of light and dark (see passages such as John 3:19–20, Eph 5:8, or 1 John 1:5ff). Second, “I Am Legend” offers a more obvious religious ending with a Christ-figure sacrificing himself to save humanity.Throughout the movie, the main character Dr. Robert Neville (played by Will Smith) works on a cure for infection. Since he is one of the less than one percent immune, he uses his own blood to make the cure. In one of the movie’s final scene Robert is trapped in his lab with the “dark-seekers” trying to break through a Plexiglas wall. Having created a cure, he shouts to the creatures, “I can save you. I can save everybody.” Unwilling to listen and driven by their nature, the creatures continue to break through the glass. Eventually, Robert has to detonate a grenade, killing himself and the creatures, but enabling a woman and her son (who he met earlier in the movie) to escape with his cure.
The movie ends with this woman narrating as she enters a sanctuary delivering the cure to a scientist:
Dr. Robert Neville dedicated his life to the discovery of a cure and the restoration of humanity. On September 9th, 2012, at approximately 8:49 P.M., he discovered that cure. And at 8:52, he gave his life to defend it. We are his legacy. This is his legend. Light up the darkness.
These two movies share the view that humanity is lost. It is diseased, living in darkness and unwilling or unable to save itself. Humanity’s only hope for salvation comes through one man’s blood and sacrifice. These movies should remind us to “let our light shine” (Matt. 5:16; Luke 11:33–36).
Note: While “I Am Legend” has intense and suspenseful parts, “28 Days Later” fully earns its R rating. It is very gory at times and is not for the squeamish.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Seven Pounds and Sacrifice
Note: Anyone who has not seen the movie “Seven Pounds” and does not want key plot points to be spoiled should stop reading.
The movie “Seven Pounds” is about sacrifice. The movie reaches its climax as the main character, Ben Thomas (played by Will Smith), literally sacrifices himself to provide for others. The whole movie leads to this point of self-sacrifice as Ben, posing as an IRS agent to gain access, interviews people to see how he can (or if he should) provide for them. Throughout the movie Ben gives parts of himself to help others. He gives his beach house to a victim of spousal abuse and her two children so they can start a new life. He gives a youth hockey coach his kidney. He donates bone marrow to a child. We learn at towards the end of the movie that he had previously donated lung tissue to his brother and part of his liver to an older female social worker. And in his final sacrifice he commits suicide in order to give a blind man his eyes and his romantic interest his heart.
This movie has obvious religious parallels with characters receiving “gifts” (the term Ben uses in the movie) that give them new life. The final two gifts especially emphasize this as a blind man receives sight (Matt 11:5) and a woman is literally given a new heart (Ezek 36:26). Obviously, Ben Thomas is meant to be seen as a Christ figure. When giving his beach house to the woman and her children he writes in a letter that she must not reveal to anyone how she got the house, reminiscent of Jesus often instructing those on whom he performed miracles to “tell no one” (Luke 8:56). However, the sacrifice shown in “Seven Pounds” falls short when compared to Christ’s sacrifice.
First, the “gifts” Ben gives are only given to those who deserve them. Ben interviews a patient at an elderly care home to find out if the owner of that home is a good man. He also tests the blind man by insulting him to see how he would react. When it turned out that the owner was abusing his patients he deemed him not worthy of his gift. He chose to give his eyes to the blind man because he was “good man…slow to anger.” This is an obvious contrast to Christ’s sacrifice. Christ was a sacrifice for us “while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8), while Ben would only sacrifice himself for those who deserved it (Rom. 5:7 seems to fit him).
Secondly, Ben’s motivation for his sacrifice differs vastly from Christ’s. Ben was motivated by guilt and his need for atonement. His suicide was as much about his need for redemption as it was about helping others find new life. The movie reveals through flashbacks how Ben had caused a car accident that killed seven people including his wife, and it is from this guilt that Ben feels the need to sacrifice himself for others. He feels the need to save seven lives to make up for the seven lives he took in his accident. This is a far cry from Christ’s motivation. Christ was motivated by love (John 3:16) not guilt.
The movie obviously wants us to look fondly upon Ben Thomas’ willingness to (literally) give himself for others. However, his sacrifice is merely a sad attempt at someone attempting to redeem himself. Ben never understood that redemption can come, but not from his sacrifice. Ben’s unwillingness to sacrifice for those who were not worthy to receive his gift should make us thankful that God has no such requirement for His gift. As a Christ figure, Ben fails. Hopefully, however, his failure will only cause us to look with more awe on the amazing sacrifice Christ made.
The movie “Seven Pounds” is about sacrifice. The movie reaches its climax as the main character, Ben Thomas (played by Will Smith), literally sacrifices himself to provide for others. The whole movie leads to this point of self-sacrifice as Ben, posing as an IRS agent to gain access, interviews people to see how he can (or if he should) provide for them. Throughout the movie Ben gives parts of himself to help others. He gives his beach house to a victim of spousal abuse and her two children so they can start a new life. He gives a youth hockey coach his kidney. He donates bone marrow to a child. We learn at towards the end of the movie that he had previously donated lung tissue to his brother and part of his liver to an older female social worker. And in his final sacrifice he commits suicide in order to give a blind man his eyes and his romantic interest his heart.This movie has obvious religious parallels with characters receiving “gifts” (the term Ben uses in the movie) that give them new life. The final two gifts especially emphasize this as a blind man receives sight (Matt 11:5) and a woman is literally given a new heart (Ezek 36:26). Obviously, Ben Thomas is meant to be seen as a Christ figure. When giving his beach house to the woman and her children he writes in a letter that she must not reveal to anyone how she got the house, reminiscent of Jesus often instructing those on whom he performed miracles to “tell no one” (Luke 8:56). However, the sacrifice shown in “Seven Pounds” falls short when compared to Christ’s sacrifice.
First, the “gifts” Ben gives are only given to those who deserve them. Ben interviews a patient at an elderly care home to find out if the owner of that home is a good man. He also tests the blind man by insulting him to see how he would react. When it turned out that the owner was abusing his patients he deemed him not worthy of his gift. He chose to give his eyes to the blind man because he was “good man…slow to anger.” This is an obvious contrast to Christ’s sacrifice. Christ was a sacrifice for us “while we were still sinners” (Rom. 5:8), while Ben would only sacrifice himself for those who deserved it (Rom. 5:7 seems to fit him).
Secondly, Ben’s motivation for his sacrifice differs vastly from Christ’s. Ben was motivated by guilt and his need for atonement. His suicide was as much about his need for redemption as it was about helping others find new life. The movie reveals through flashbacks how Ben had caused a car accident that killed seven people including his wife, and it is from this guilt that Ben feels the need to sacrifice himself for others. He feels the need to save seven lives to make up for the seven lives he took in his accident. This is a far cry from Christ’s motivation. Christ was motivated by love (John 3:16) not guilt.
The movie obviously wants us to look fondly upon Ben Thomas’ willingness to (literally) give himself for others. However, his sacrifice is merely a sad attempt at someone attempting to redeem himself. Ben never understood that redemption can come, but not from his sacrifice. Ben’s unwillingness to sacrifice for those who were not worthy to receive his gift should make us thankful that God has no such requirement for His gift. As a Christ figure, Ben fails. Hopefully, however, his failure will only cause us to look with more awe on the amazing sacrifice Christ made.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Purpose of This Blog
To start, I should probably explain how I chose the name for this blog: “Qohelet for Today”. Qohelet (Hebrew: קֹהֶלֶת) is the name ascribed to the voice found in the book of Ecclesiastes (most English translations translate it as “The Preacher” or “The Teacher”). This
book takes an honest look at life, revealing all of its absurdity and injustice (hebel), while also upholding certain aspects of life as “good” or “beautiful” (tob or yapeh). Qohelet reveals that God has created much beauty in this world and done so for our enjoyment as well as His own glory (Ecc. 3:10–14). He also shows that life is often difficult or impossible to understand; humanity’s wisdom is limited and no one is able to fully explain all of life’s difficult or unfair situations (Ecc. 8:16–9:1). The book teaches that while life is often difficult or unfair we should enjoy it to the fullest while still trusting and obeying God (Ecc. 12:13–14).
This blog will seek to examine different aspects of this life. Life in 21st century America may seem quite different than life in post-exilic Israel, but really “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc. 1:8–9). I plan to discuss different aspects of our contemporary culture and see how they reflect (or reject) a Biblical perspective. I will look at a variety of issues in popular culture (things like movies, music, politics, current events, etc.) as well as occasionally examine and discuss Biblical passages or issues.
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