November 06, 2007
The Call of the Entrepreneur
Last night, my wife and I had a chance to see a screening of the Acton Institute's movie "The Call of the Entrepreneur" at the Atlanta History Center. I didn't know much of what to expect and so was pleasantly surprised. The production quality was great, especially since they apparently didn't have a huge budget for it. And they made the overall point effectively: that entrepreneurs do, in fact, accomplish many inherently good things.
I grew up in Reformed circles, which at least openly disavowed the sacred/secular dichotomy. Still, I've been surprised lately at how little respect I have given to the world of business as potentially instrumental in "kingdom work." At best, business has been a necessary tool so that other people can accomplish "real work", such as ministry, counseling, missions, etc.
But what "The Call of the Entrepreneur" points out is that business activity by itself can do inherently good things. New businesses can provide for families, create wealth, and increase the standard of living. Yes, greed is often a part of that process, but, as the folks from the Acton Institute pointed out (either in the movie or in the Q&A session last night afterwards), greed is part of everything. A socialist can be just as greedy as a capitalist.
Technorati Tags: Christianity, culture, movies, Acton Institute, The Call of the Entrepreneur
Posted by maphet at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
September 19, 2007
"a pious little scrap of sleaze"
Lately I've been enjoying Christopher Orr's movie reviews. His assault on The Brave One is a fun example. Calling it "not merely the most morally repellent film of the year, but a contender for the stupidest," Orr concludes that
For all its showy stabs at remorse, its ostentatious moral handwringing, this is a film that unambiguously endorses vigilante killings--at least, as long as you're Jodie Foster, and you feel really bad about it, and you're doing it all for the kids. Foster, and everyone else involved in making this disgraceful film, should be ashamed.
I'm guessing he didn't like the movie much.
Technorati Tags: chistopher orr, movies, The Brave One
Posted by maphet at 03:19 PM | Comments (1)
September 04, 2007
Harold Crick is ... Jesus?
I liked Stranger than Fiction. I think it was one of the few movies in the last year I watched twice. And I would watch it again. I liked the story, thought the cast was great, and even appreciated some of the implicit Christological references within the movie.
I also generally agree with the more recent push within evangelicalism towards a broader interaction with American culture, whether popular or otherwise. Yah, cultural engagement!
But something about this article makes me uneasy. Baker and Downing draw out one parallel after another between Crick and Jesus, arguing that the movie is making a "profoundly theological" point:
In The Mind of the Maker, [Dorothy] Sayers suggests that the relationship between the writer's idea and its fulfillment in the written word parallels the relationship between Creator God and the incarnated Christ. A quick read through the Stranger Than Fiction screenplay reveals that the writer, Zach Helm, may have intended just such a connection. Perturbed over being misunderstood, a flustered Harold says to a woman at a bus stop, "I … No. I'm … [Christ]" (the brackets indicate that the word is to be said under his breath). Reminiscent of Jesus' prayer of angst in the garden of Gethsemane, Harold pleads with Kay to spare his life. But Professor Hilbert, having read Kay's first draft, tells Harold that the story "is a masterpiece. You have to die." With agony, Harold responds, "You're asking me to knowingly face my death?" The answer, of course, is yes.
Not only is Crick an in-depth Christ figure, but the movie teaches us a great moral truth:
[T]hough we cannot know for certain how or when we will die, we can live our lives embedded in time, making the most out of the time embedded in us. As exhorted by the one who is himself the fulfillment of all time, we can love our neighbors as ourselves.
Like I said, I agree there are a few references to Christ - the willing near-death/semi-resurrection theme being the most obvious one. I'm not sure that it is as well thought out as Baker and Downing make it to be. Was Zach Helm consciously thinking of Crick as "a representative of divine life"? Maybe, maybe not. I suppose the apple could be a reference to Christ as the Second Adam, but it could also be a reference to The Beatles or (more probably) to René Magritte's The Son of Man.
Most of my unease is probably not so much from the Books & Culture article as it is frustration with a general overeagerness I keep seeing to find redemption themes underneath every cultural pebble. Pastors in churches with a special emphasis on staying relevant and ministering to a youth culture seem particularly prone to this. Yes, America is some sort of post-Christian culture and thus various forms of the creation/fall/redemption story will be found all over the place. But that doesn't mean you can or should pull the gospel out of SpongeBob or the Transformers. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is an inverted Christ-figure (virgin birth, death, descent into hell, resurrection), but that doesn't mean he should be the point of your sermon. Christ should.
Christians should interact with culture. They should highlight cultural themes, like those found in Stranger than Fiction, that echo an underlying desire for redemption. At a certain point, though, that interaction should be at least a little critical. The Church is to be a prophet to culture, not a fan-boy of it.
Technorati Tags: Books & Culture, movies, Stranger than Fiction, transforming culture
Posted by maphet at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)