Wednesday, May 26, 2010

How to Watch Movies: Part 1

Over the last couple of years, I've been learning a lot about movies. I've been listening to tapes of Doug Phillips and the Botkins for a little now, and I've noticed a lot about movies that I didn't understand before. ...So this post is to help you to understand a little more about the movies you watch.

Ok. This is a bigger task than many of you might think... Films control so much of our life. just think of all the trends that movies have set, and all the things you hear people say that are from movies... you get the point - movies are powerful.

And with this thought in mind, let's take a look at the reasons that make films so powerful.

1. The Camera.
you've probably heard that actors aren't supposed to look into the camera while they're acting... Why is this the case? Well, I was thinking about it and the answer hit me!

the camera represents you, the viewer!

We've all seen TV shows where the host/hostess looks into the camera to inform us of something, right? Well, when people look into the camera, it kind of gives us the feeling like we're being told something of importance... That's when they want us to think about what they're saying.

Now in movies, you never see anyone looking into the camera... The whole idea behind that is that they want you (the viewer) to be transported into the surreal world that the director makes... Without noticing it! It takes you into the movie as an onlooker... Not as a participant. As it does this to us, we usually turn our minds off because we forget who we are for the time being. That's why films are so powerful, they can manipulate the way we think by throwing stuff at us in the name of entertainment, all while we aren't thinking.

I don't think that we should allow our minds to be turned off especially when we're watching movies.

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." ~ Acts 17:11

My plea for you is to be like the Bereans... THINK about what you're watching. Examine the Scriptures to see if the messages/themes, in the movies you watch, are God honoring.

I know this is a long post, but there's a lot more... I'm going to be posting more stuff along the way - this is only part 1! :)

~Jay

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I forgot. We had our first Friday Frisbee in Illinois on the 21st (!). We had three fields, College, High School, and Junior high and younger. We did it that way because of a major increase in participation. The captains of the college field were Kevin Skarin and Mike Sommerfeld. Kevin whipped Mike 28-7.

    The high school field was only a little more balanced. The captains were Jesse Sommerfeld and Phil Denner. Jesse beat Phil (my team) pretty bad, something like 16-8 (not sure what the exact score was.) The younger kids had a score of 14-9, but I don't know who the captains were.

    Andy Romanowitz

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  2. Good points there. A lot of films today run on escapism, which is very popular. Films like avatar made their money trying to create another world. Christian films must accurately portray God and the world we live in. Of course, good allegories do this, but a good many movies today do not. Star Wars is a good example. It has a rather oriental/neo-pagan worldview, but because it's a different world, a lot of people are inclined to say that it doesn't matter. But there is only one reality. All films will portray a worldview of that reality. Star Wars presents an atheistic, relativistic worldview. We must be careful of any films that have an escapistic tone, and also films that use that escapism as an opportunity to throw in false doctrines and ideologies.

    By the way, how's your film project coming?

    Andy Romanowitz

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  3. Excellent post! Wonderful insight and great encouragement, Andy. Glad to see some young clear thinkers.

    Mom

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  4. Ephesians 5:12 "For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret."

    Good to meditate on to evaluate what you watch, read, or even conversations you are in.

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