April 10, 2006
The Gospel According to Kong
From the very beginning of the film, we see New York City during one of the darkest times in American history: The Great Depression. Life is hard, people are harder, and it's every man/woman for him/herself. From the get-go, we see the "what-can-you-do-for-me" filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) as he deceives his entire crew, cast, and producers to get just what he wants: the script he wants, the location he wants, and to some extent, the level of conflict he wants. He's just crazy and selfish enough to get it all. And in the process, he leads a crew of ship navigators, actors and actresses, and screenwriters into the most dangerous and frightening journey of their lives: the uncharted land of Skull Island.
As the ship crash-lands onto the primitive island and the crazy filmmaker and his cast walk onto the stony cliffs of what look like ancient ruins, they see a group of eerie, almost ghost-like natives who look like they have all been through hell and bought the tunic hides to go with it. These freaky people seem to be beckoning the travelers to go back to where they came from, but when the travelers (primarily Denham) refuse, they become violent and attack, finding their ship and attacking the crew as well.
When lead-actress Ann Darow (Naomi Watts) is captured and offered as "live bait" for the terrifying monstrous beast that rules the island - a twenty-five-foot-tall gorilla simply known as KONG, she finds that she is able to stand up to KONG, thus earning the beast's respect, and before long, his love. After facing many daunting insects the size of camels and dionasaurs that didn't take the hint of the Ice Age millions of years ago, hero and screenwriter Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody) comes to the rescue, taking Darrow back to their ship. As KONG finds the "trespassers" and his beloved "prisoner" Darrow, he is attacked with chlorophorm and captured by the money-hungry filmmaker Carl Denham. We see the giant monkey as he looks in the direction of Darrow. Defeated, deceived, heartbroken.
When we next see KONG, he is being featured as "entertainment" on Broadway, making Denham a fortune by being placed on humiliating display. The once KING of his own land is now a PRISONER. Even as KONG escapes and rampages through New York, we feel such sorrow for this beast. We can sense his heartache, his confusion, and his rage at his attackers. As was once said in the theatrical trailer for the Bourne Supremacy, "They should have left him alone."
For those of you who have lived in a bomb shelter for the last seventy-five years and haven't seen either of the three versions of King Kong, I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that if you go looking for God in the movies, you'll find God! And if there is anything that one can take away from this picture, it's a mirror that should make one examine him/herself. What are our motives in the things we're doing? And in so doing, are we being careful not to exploit someone? Animals? The planet?
In King Kong, we see the very best of humanity displayed in the heroism and compassion of Driscoll (Brody), and in the bravery (and compassion) of Ms. Darrow (Watts). And in the film, we also see the worst in human behavior, displayed in the selfishness and deceit of Mr. Denham (Black). We see the destructive nature of humanity that (isn't it just like God?) so often reminds us in these types of films. And if we look closely, we can see how intricately God set things into motion. God places human beings where they should be, where they can learn to cohabitate together and work together. We see that animals are placed in their environments as they glorify God through their very existence. We see how peaceful the very planet is when left intact the way God created it. And we see how when we as humans cross that line - discarding God's vision and seeking only to fulfill ourselves - we tear down and destroy and we insult God's vision for our lives and for our world. And that truth is revealed to us in a twenty-five foot gorilla named KONG and through a scraggly young hobbit-friend New Zealander named Peter Jackson.
23:40 Posted in Film, The Gospel of... | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this | Tags: Christian
March 11, 2006
The Gospel According to The Roloffs
Some of you who have followed this blog for a while may remember my "Gospel According to Earl Hickey" post. I decided to continue the series "The Gospel of..."
Meet The Roloff family. They're a typical American family living in suburban Oregon. Matt and Amy Roloff are the proud parents of four kids: twin sons Jeremy and Zach (15), Molly (12), and Jacob (8). Matt has lived what would seem to be a dream life. He was a rising salesman for some of the top software companies in the Silicon Valley, he has a meaningful marriage, four wonderful kids, and a gigantic 34-acre farm complete with a western town, pirate ship, and underground passageways for the kids to have a fun and anything-but-mundane childhood.
There's just one thing: Matt and Amy are both "little people." Standing at four feet tall, Matt and Amy have risen above what many of us would consider incredible odds to secure a "normal" life in a world that's not always kind to people who are different. Matt suffers from a condition (one that's related to his height) that affects his neurology and is forced to use crutches to get from one place to the other. What's worse is that when his well-to-do employer laid him off a couple of years ago, housewife Amy was forced to take on two jobs to help support the family.
TLC has recently launched the reality television show "Little People, Big World," which features the Roloff family as they experience life with financial stress, raising four kids (three of whom are teenagers), and jobs that aren't always fun. If this sounds like most American families, it's because it IS like most American families.
I admit, the premise is what first attracted my wife and me to this show, but after watching ten minutes of it, we realized that this was like watching any other family we had ever known...if those families happened to be four feet tall. The stories of Zach and Jeremy, the twins that most people would never believe (Jeremy is an average height teenager while Zach, like his mom and dad, happens to be a little person, standing less than four feet tall himself.) are captivating and I'll admit, make me miss youth ministry in a lot of ways.
The neat thing about this amazing and inspiring family is that they've never let their "disadvantages" stop them from fulfilling a life of possibilities and accomplishment. They have something far greater than height: they have each other. They stand by each other (with Jeremy, Molly, and eight-year-old Jacob being average height) no matter what each of them face. And one look at the program and you'll agree, it's definitely inspiring and causes you to look at your life differently.
Am I complaining about things I can't do anything about in my life, and thus, allowing those complaints to hold me back? Or can I use my inspiration from this family and know that life is what I make it and work as hard as it may take for me to get there? Those are some interesting things to think about. And the Roloffs have posed the questions. Thanks, Roloff family.
22:30 Posted in The Gospel of... | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email this | Tags: Christian
January 15, 2006
The Gospel According to Earl Hickey
Meet Earl Hickey. He's one of those ol' boys from Good Ol' Country USA who took advantage of everyone he ever met just to satisfy his own selfish wants. And after discovering the concept of Karma (or "What goes around comes around") and realizing that he kept being punished by jail time, auto accidents, and homicidal ex-wives for all of the chaos he'd put everybody else through, Earl's decided he's going to take his life and his future back. Not only has he decided to take the 'straight and narrow' from here on out. He's gone and made a list of every single bad thing he's ever done to anybody; and one by one, he's making amends for every last one of them.
NBC's "My Name Is Earl," if you haven't seen it yet, is taking the country by storm, and is one of the most hilarious, down-to-earth, and original pieces of comedy to hit the small screen. Played by Jason Lee ("A Guy Thing," "Vanilla Sky," and "Big Trouble"), Earl Hickey is one of the small-town prophets of our time. He isn't rich, powerful, or well educated. He lives in a motel room with his even more academically challenged younger brother Randy (Ethan Suplee - best known as the huge bully Frankie on the teen series "Boy Meets World"), and although every odd is against him, he is bound and determined to make wrongs right and to get the very spiritual forces of the universe on his side for a change.
I wonder how many people across America can relate to Earl Hickey. It's funny how even in such a big college town like Springfield, MO (where there are more than ten colleges), so many people still settle for mediocrity, ignorance, and apathy. And it only gets worse throughout the country. I come from a deep southern town in Florida where the mobile home lots exceed car dealerships and the career at the Department of Corrections is deemed "the American Dream." And with so many people settling for mediocrity, it's people like Earl who become heroes. And maybe if enough of those "good ol' boys" tune in on Thursday nights (NBC, 8/7 Central), we might just start changing this ol' world for the good.
And isn't this what Jesus calls us to do as well (I haven't been spiritual in a while - you knew it was coming sooner or later.)? As a result of His goodness, aren't we supposed to quite literally become agents of peace and justice in a world that has forgotten it? Think of what might happen if we flawed and ordinary human beings began making things right that we had made wrong so many times. We might just be able to start turning the tide on civilization, and truly make this world better.
Well, I don't know about you, but I'm excited. I've even made a list. Unfortunately, I think I lost it.
22:05 Posted in The Gospel of... | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email this | Tags: Christian, My Name is Earl, NBC, Earl Hickey, Jason Lee, Christian, emerging church, peace, forgiveness