Tuesday, June 8, 2010

How to Watch Movies: Part 2

...Why are films so powerful?

2. Peer Pressure.
How many of your friends do you know who've influenced you to at least consider watching a movie they've recommended? I know of a few of them...
Now, I'm not saying that that is wrong, but that's not the correct reason why we should choose to watch (and be influenced by watching) a movie.
In addition, people go around quoting movies all the time. It almost makes me want to go see something because all my friends are quoting it, regardless if it's a terrible movie.
Do you see (at least a little) how people can influence us to be influenced by bad influences?

But enough said about how powerful films are... We'll look at another question.

Where is God?

One thing I've recently learned at church is that God creates order from chaos. God wants there to be order in His creation, but the ever-watchful enemy wants there to be confusion.

So, in light of that, we can see that there's, almost always, order created out of confusion in almost every movie we watch!

To make a good, edge-of-your-seat movie, one of the first things you learn is that you have to have the main character in a low, chaotic state (mentally and/or physically) sort of at the end of the movie - right before the last battle, or the overthrow of the bad guy, right before the main guy is at the highest point of his life!

So... As you watch movies between now and my next post (which will probably be a while), be aware, towards the end of the movie, of when things get chaotic. And when they do get chaotic, look to see what creates order from that confused state. - I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't God doing that work.

Examples - Night at the Museum, 1&2.

The god who brought order to all the animals/manikins in "Night at the Museum" was (you've probably watched this movie, so remember with me) Akmenrah and his golden tablet! (Also remember the scene [towards the end] where Akmenrah utters some foreign stuff to the tablet and all the things that were outside of the building started to move inside)

And in "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian", the god who creates order is... Drum roll... Abraham Lincoln! Look at the final, chaotic battle - Honest Abe comes in to send the evil bird-things back into the underworld, and then he leaves some of his wisdom with Larry, to help him finish off the battle and bring back order.

Those were just 2 examples... Hopefully, if you've seen those, you'll see them in a new light!

I hope that you'll watch out for who the god of the movie is.

~Frisbeeman

5 comments:

  1. Interesting that modern music has become very incoherent, with syncopated beats, lousy poetry, etc.

    Films are, indeed, very influential. Take a week and count up all the times you hear somebody quote a movie.

    I hate to see a bad film mindlessly applauded by Christian reviewers as having a redemptive theme. That's not the question. All films have a redemptive theme to a degree. Even the Disney cartoon Dumbo has a redemptive theme, which is, basically, that popularity is what will bring you happiness and that if you overcome your fear and do big things, people will like you, you will be fulfilled, and fulfillment is based on what other people think of you. There's a soteriology, and a sovereignty, in that idea. It's a humanist (or maybe a pachydermist?) philosophy. It teaches that what man thinks, not what God thinks, is important. So while it's not strictly a soteriology, it has some of the tenets to it. And it is definitely didactic, as Geoff Botkin likes to say.

    Hmm. Abe Lincoln as God. (No Confederates ever did that with Jeff Davis chuckle chuckle.)

    Andy Romanowitz

    (BTW, please block any other comments that I posted on this one. I'm not sure if they got through, as I was having some trouble with the comment-posting window. Slow computer, no big deal.)

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  2. Excellent post!! Very astute observations. I will try to watch with that in mind from now on.

    Me

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  3. You know, to be honest, I think this background goes best with the theme of this blog.

    Andy Romanowitz

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  4. Andy,

    Could you please contact me? I think I may have your mom's email, but...I'll only use it as a last resort. :o)

    I'd really like to get the words to the song you're doing with the Sotos. Would also like to know where you found it.

    Thank you!

    Jay's Mom

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  5. I never thought of it like that. That there is a 'god' character in a movie restoring order. Good thought.

    Jacob.

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