Film Reflections ... inspired by 'Saved!'
There is a movie out that is causing all sorts of controversy, particularly in the Christian camps. On a discussion board on which I occasionally post, someone started a thread about the movie 'Saved!' by stating "It really irritated me when I saw the preview for this new movie that's out called "SAVED". It really just goes to show that Satan can't come up with anything on his own and is trying to cash in on renewed interest of Jesus in Hollywood and the rest of the world."
You know what irritates me? Christians that miss the point!!!
I spent some time today and posted a response - my second and last on this thread. Here is my reflection ... (and no, I have not seen the movie yet, but I certainly will!!) I wonder what sort of trouble this will get me into ~~~~?????
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I've decided that if a person wants to draw conclusions based on what select critics say and if they only read the critics that push one view (in this case negative), and thus conclude prior to their own viewing of the film and engaging their own intelligence, that the movie is negative and blasphemous, then who am I to try to change that opinion? If this is where you are coming from, stay in your safe comfort-zone. And don’t read anymore of what I am going to write.
From Reel Power: Spiritual Growth Through Film by Marsha Sinetar
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
Christ’s admonition that we should stop worrying about the splinters in our brother’s eye and, instead, remove the log from our own, gives timeless weight and testimony to the phenomenon of projection … We magnify the capabilities of our friends and strangers, positive and negative, then feel ineffectual and wanting in their midst. Thus we escape the consequences of our potential and miss the mark of responsibility, truthful engagement with our own experience. Film (indeed all the arts) lets us see ourselves anew. Movies can show us where we store our ‘logs’.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture by William Romanowski
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
Limiting Christian criticism of the popular arts to confessional and moral content has fostered an understanding of popular arts in terms of good/bad, right/wrong dichotomy. Consequently, many Christians have a difficult time evaluating popular art beyond the most superficial level. This is often because they don’t think of watching movies or TV or listening to music as an artistic experience that requires them to interpret and evaluate a popular artwork.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Reflections on the Movies: Hearing God in the Unlikeliest of Places by Ken Gire. He discusses how the root of art is storytelling and the taproots of this are human longings.
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
A screenwriter takes these abstract longings and turns them into a sequence of concrete images. Robert McKee, in his book ‘Story’, describes the process: “A storyteller is a life poet, an artist who transforms day-to-day living, inner life and outer life, dream and actuality into a poem whose rhyme scheme is events rather than words – a two-hour metaphor that says: “Life is like this!” If life is like this, it begs a pointed and personal question: How then should I be living my life? … A movie has something to say about life, however subtle or strange-sounding its voice. The best way to understand what a movie has to say to us is to reflect on the moments that move us, for those moments open a window into the soul. Through that window we can look, momentarily, into the depths of something in the present. What we may see is something in our past, or our future, or something in the present. … We may see our shame. Or our deliverance from that shame. We may see our sin. Or our salvation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo commenting on ‘missing the point’ on being in the world but not of it with the story of the Good Samaritan
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
We can slide into the opposite and more subtle tragedy: we can isolate ourselves. Like the two religious men in Jesus’ story, we can isolate in our holy huddle, our Christian ghetto (which, by denying our mission, becomes anti-Christian). Rather than being servants of our culture, doctors of healing sickness, seekers after lost sheep, coins, and sons – we instead become an elitist clique, angry critics, snobs standing above culture. … How will I respond to the faults and failings and sins of my sister and brother Christians [as well as those that are not found in your local church]? With superiority and condemnation? With condoning and toleration? Or with something better, something redemptive, something like compassion and humility?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
See, I believe that when passing a personal judgment on something in our time and culture such as this, it is important (critical??) to seek balance in your research ... thus eliminating any 'bias' and 'marginalization' of information when conclusions are finally drawn. (This reminds me of Michael Moore … very researched and very biased.) I would say the same to anyone who is doing research on any emotionally-charged or moral issue ... I have spoken to students in a public class and said that when they do their research in order to make a decision whether or not to have pre-marital sex, to check out the information behind ALL the options, and don’t forget abstinence is an option which demands the same consideration as the others!! And I will gladly provide information on the benefits of this option (AND I do it without becoming ‘preachy’ or using the bible as the sole resource). In my profession when I am influencing and empowering our youth, when they seek information on a topic, I cannot stress enough how important it is to research a balance and not just narrow your focus to the camp from which they only want to hear and strokes their ego and confirms what they believe to be right 'is' right. I say this to teens … and if an adult needs to hear it, I’ll say it to them too. If I feel the urging to do it in my classroom and I respond, I can do no other here.
Yes, this film is a satire … a “literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit” … and I believe that what is being attacked, is NOT Christianity … however, I’m sure that a lot of Christians are seeing it this way (from seeing the movie or from biased research, I’m not sure) … and I think a lot that are not familiar with those who are genuine and authentic about their faith walk will also interpret the film this way. Just like people in the Christian camp turned their backs on “The Passion of the Christ” because it was too violent or too Catholic or too non-biblical either from biased research prior or attending and seeing only that aspect of the film … as well as those that are not familiar with authentic Christ-filled individuals and accused it of being anti-Semitic …
I agree with those that state that this film is pointed satire, where there is a definite target and a definite attack being made ... but I don’t believe that it is Christians as a collective whole that are the target. If you see the movie and come to that conclusion, it is the same as someone seeing “The Passion” and concluding that it is anti-Semitic. Just because there are Jews in the film and they do bad things does not make it anti-Semitic … likewise just because there are Christians in this film and they do bad things does not make it anti-Christian.
I agree with others that say this movie is an attack on intolerance ... and NOT a broad brushstroke to cover all Christians in one color. After all, are not all the characters in the film Christians of one sort or another? (except the Jewish girl) … trying to find Him and have a relationship with Him in a way that they feel and believe is ‘right’? This movie is a satire not directed to ALL Christians, but directed to those Christians among us who cloak themselves in their Christianity labels to excuse their bigotry, those who use their Bible and beliefs to justify their attacks and targeting of hurtful, condemnatory words and actions because they believe that it is right for them to do so and that God has ordained them to do and say what they do. I have to agree with Ebert and Roeper when they said that those who are strong in their faith and beliefs should not be offended by the film but instead should be offended by those ‘Christians’ who use the same label we do and present the image and picture of ‘Christians’ like the hypocrites shown in the film.
Satire doesn’t have to be haha funny. In fact, the satire in this film makes me ill … especially when I consider how true it could be. This satire makes me sick with those that fit the stereotypes displayed. This satire makes me saddened that there are people out there who believe this to be true about ALL Christians, and I wonder if their real-world experience of us supports their belief ....
I found in my reflection and meditation that Matthew 15:1-9 and this film resonated within me …
After that, Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing, "Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?" But Jesus put it right back on them. "Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God's commands? God clearly says, 'Respect your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.' But you weasel around that by saying, 'Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I've given to God.' That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God's command by your rules. Frauds! Isaiah's prophecy of you hit the bull's-eye:
These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn't in it.
They act like they're worshiping me,
but they don't mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy."
If you have read this far, I have included a short quote I have come across in my research that hit me, as well as links that hopefully will provide some critical balance to your research (in addition to what I've already posted). One way that I think of things is would I take Jesus along with me … Personally, I would love to see this movie with Jesus sitting next to me … already I can imagine the dialogue after … and my passion and determination being renewed to keep away from a life intolerance, to be the one to relate with compassion and comfort with those that are suffering, to live my life like 'Jesus with skin on' and not use my bible to wave in others faces making it into one big list of do's and dont's, to do what I can to encourage my brother and sister Christians to keep away from a life of hypocrisy and intolerance to fellow humans, and engage in relationships with pre-believers so as to ensure that they do not conclude that ALL Christians are like that … in fact, that REAL AND AUTHENTIC Christians are not like that at all.
From http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/saved.html
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
I would have been proud to have made this movie. It absolutely reflects my experience in all accuracy. And its message is exactly what I wanted to say to my friends in the pews. Is it possible that Christians wouldn't deride it if someone like me, a confessing Christian with the right evangelical pedigree, would have made the film? Would it then have been a "searing look into the faults of the church with a message that could stand to be echoed in the pulpit"? I wonder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/saved_spiritual.htm
http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/today.html
http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/040524.html
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-saved28f.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Saved-1132639/reviews.php
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/briandannelly.html
http://www.e-church.com/Blog-detail.asp?EntryID=486&BloggerID=1
http://www.cuttingedge.org/news_updates/nz1661.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2004-05-27-saved_x.htm
http://www.endless-sky.com/mclain/ramblings.html - what a brilliantly balanced review!!!
--------------------
~ Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. (T. Merton)
PS .... oh, and the Flames lost the Cup to the Tampa Bay Lightning ... it was a good run while it lasted!!
You know what irritates me? Christians that miss the point!!!
I spent some time today and posted a response - my second and last on this thread. Here is my reflection ... (and no, I have not seen the movie yet, but I certainly will!!) I wonder what sort of trouble this will get me into ~~~~?????
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I've decided that if a person wants to draw conclusions based on what select critics say and if they only read the critics that push one view (in this case negative), and thus conclude prior to their own viewing of the film and engaging their own intelligence, that the movie is negative and blasphemous, then who am I to try to change that opinion? If this is where you are coming from, stay in your safe comfort-zone. And don’t read anymore of what I am going to write.
From Reel Power: Spiritual Growth Through Film by Marsha Sinetar
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
Christ’s admonition that we should stop worrying about the splinters in our brother’s eye and, instead, remove the log from our own, gives timeless weight and testimony to the phenomenon of projection … We magnify the capabilities of our friends and strangers, positive and negative, then feel ineffectual and wanting in their midst. Thus we escape the consequences of our potential and miss the mark of responsibility, truthful engagement with our own experience. Film (indeed all the arts) lets us see ourselves anew. Movies can show us where we store our ‘logs’.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture by William Romanowski
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
Limiting Christian criticism of the popular arts to confessional and moral content has fostered an understanding of popular arts in terms of good/bad, right/wrong dichotomy. Consequently, many Christians have a difficult time evaluating popular art beyond the most superficial level. This is often because they don’t think of watching movies or TV or listening to music as an artistic experience that requires them to interpret and evaluate a popular artwork.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Reflections on the Movies: Hearing God in the Unlikeliest of Places by Ken Gire. He discusses how the root of art is storytelling and the taproots of this are human longings.
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
A screenwriter takes these abstract longings and turns them into a sequence of concrete images. Robert McKee, in his book ‘Story’, describes the process: “A storyteller is a life poet, an artist who transforms day-to-day living, inner life and outer life, dream and actuality into a poem whose rhyme scheme is events rather than words – a two-hour metaphor that says: “Life is like this!” If life is like this, it begs a pointed and personal question: How then should I be living my life? … A movie has something to say about life, however subtle or strange-sounding its voice. The best way to understand what a movie has to say to us is to reflect on the moments that move us, for those moments open a window into the soul. Through that window we can look, momentarily, into the depths of something in the present. What we may see is something in our past, or our future, or something in the present. … We may see our shame. Or our deliverance from that shame. We may see our sin. Or our salvation.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
From Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel by Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo commenting on ‘missing the point’ on being in the world but not of it with the story of the Good Samaritan
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
We can slide into the opposite and more subtle tragedy: we can isolate ourselves. Like the two religious men in Jesus’ story, we can isolate in our holy huddle, our Christian ghetto (which, by denying our mission, becomes anti-Christian). Rather than being servants of our culture, doctors of healing sickness, seekers after lost sheep, coins, and sons – we instead become an elitist clique, angry critics, snobs standing above culture. … How will I respond to the faults and failings and sins of my sister and brother Christians [as well as those that are not found in your local church]? With superiority and condemnation? With condoning and toleration? Or with something better, something redemptive, something like compassion and humility?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
See, I believe that when passing a personal judgment on something in our time and culture such as this, it is important (critical??) to seek balance in your research ... thus eliminating any 'bias' and 'marginalization' of information when conclusions are finally drawn. (This reminds me of Michael Moore … very researched and very biased.) I would say the same to anyone who is doing research on any emotionally-charged or moral issue ... I have spoken to students in a public class and said that when they do their research in order to make a decision whether or not to have pre-marital sex, to check out the information behind ALL the options, and don’t forget abstinence is an option which demands the same consideration as the others!! And I will gladly provide information on the benefits of this option (AND I do it without becoming ‘preachy’ or using the bible as the sole resource). In my profession when I am influencing and empowering our youth, when they seek information on a topic, I cannot stress enough how important it is to research a balance and not just narrow your focus to the camp from which they only want to hear and strokes their ego and confirms what they believe to be right 'is' right. I say this to teens … and if an adult needs to hear it, I’ll say it to them too. If I feel the urging to do it in my classroom and I respond, I can do no other here.
Yes, this film is a satire … a “literary work in which human vice or folly is attacked through irony, derision, or wit” … and I believe that what is being attacked, is NOT Christianity … however, I’m sure that a lot of Christians are seeing it this way (from seeing the movie or from biased research, I’m not sure) … and I think a lot that are not familiar with those who are genuine and authentic about their faith walk will also interpret the film this way. Just like people in the Christian camp turned their backs on “The Passion of the Christ” because it was too violent or too Catholic or too non-biblical either from biased research prior or attending and seeing only that aspect of the film … as well as those that are not familiar with authentic Christ-filled individuals and accused it of being anti-Semitic …
I agree with those that state that this film is pointed satire, where there is a definite target and a definite attack being made ... but I don’t believe that it is Christians as a collective whole that are the target. If you see the movie and come to that conclusion, it is the same as someone seeing “The Passion” and concluding that it is anti-Semitic. Just because there are Jews in the film and they do bad things does not make it anti-Semitic … likewise just because there are Christians in this film and they do bad things does not make it anti-Christian.
I agree with others that say this movie is an attack on intolerance ... and NOT a broad brushstroke to cover all Christians in one color. After all, are not all the characters in the film Christians of one sort or another? (except the Jewish girl) … trying to find Him and have a relationship with Him in a way that they feel and believe is ‘right’? This movie is a satire not directed to ALL Christians, but directed to those Christians among us who cloak themselves in their Christianity labels to excuse their bigotry, those who use their Bible and beliefs to justify their attacks and targeting of hurtful, condemnatory words and actions because they believe that it is right for them to do so and that God has ordained them to do and say what they do. I have to agree with Ebert and Roeper when they said that those who are strong in their faith and beliefs should not be offended by the film but instead should be offended by those ‘Christians’ who use the same label we do and present the image and picture of ‘Christians’ like the hypocrites shown in the film.
Satire doesn’t have to be haha funny. In fact, the satire in this film makes me ill … especially when I consider how true it could be. This satire makes me sick with those that fit the stereotypes displayed. This satire makes me saddened that there are people out there who believe this to be true about ALL Christians, and I wonder if their real-world experience of us supports their belief ....
I found in my reflection and meditation that Matthew 15:1-9 and this film resonated within me …
After that, Pharisees and religion scholars came to Jesus all the way from Jerusalem, criticizing, "Why do your disciples play fast and loose with the rules?" But Jesus put it right back on them. "Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God's commands? God clearly says, 'Respect your father and mother,' and, 'Anyone denouncing father or mother should be killed.' But you weasel around that by saying, 'Whoever wants to, can say to father and mother, What I owed to you I've given to God.' That can hardly be called respecting a parent. You cancel God's command by your rules. Frauds! Isaiah's prophecy of you hit the bull's-eye:
These people make a big show of saying the right thing,
but their heart isn't in it.
They act like they're worshiping me,
but they don't mean it.
They just use me as a cover
for teaching whatever suits their fancy."
If you have read this far, I have included a short quote I have come across in my research that hit me, as well as links that hopefully will provide some critical balance to your research (in addition to what I've already posted). One way that I think of things is would I take Jesus along with me … Personally, I would love to see this movie with Jesus sitting next to me … already I can imagine the dialogue after … and my passion and determination being renewed to keep away from a life intolerance, to be the one to relate with compassion and comfort with those that are suffering, to live my life like 'Jesus with skin on' and not use my bible to wave in others faces making it into one big list of do's and dont's, to do what I can to encourage my brother and sister Christians to keep away from a life of hypocrisy and intolerance to fellow humans, and engage in relationships with pre-believers so as to ensure that they do not conclude that ALL Christians are like that … in fact, that REAL AND AUTHENTIC Christians are not like that at all.
From http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/commentaries/saved.html
quote:------------------------------------------------------------------
I would have been proud to have made this movie. It absolutely reflects my experience in all accuracy. And its message is exactly what I wanted to say to my friends in the pews. Is it possible that Christians wouldn't deride it if someone like me, a confessing Christian with the right evangelical pedigree, would have made the film? Would it then have been a "searing look into the faults of the church with a message that could stand to be echoed in the pulpit"? I wonder.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/saved_spiritual.htm
http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/today.html
http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/040524.html
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-saved28f.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/Saved-1132639/reviews.php
http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies/interviews/briandannelly.html
http://www.e-church.com/Blog-detail.asp?EntryID=486&BloggerID=1
http://www.cuttingedge.org/news_updates/nz1661.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2004-05-27-saved_x.htm
http://www.endless-sky.com/mclain/ramblings.html - what a brilliantly balanced review!!!
--------------------
~ Life is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery to be lived. (T. Merton)
PS .... oh, and the Flames lost the Cup to the Tampa Bay Lightning ... it was a good run while it lasted!!
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