BASH

The topic last night was TV and movies!

We discussed that movies theatres are modern day puyulpits. Whether or not people know it, people flock to theaters to learn how to think and act from screenwriters,producers, and directors. It is true that art reflects life but life often reflects art aswell.

We discussed 3 movies and 1 TV show: The Dark Knight, Book of Eli, Twilight, and The Office.

The Dark Knight

We discussed how the Dark Knight has many political undertones. Cell groups are terrorizing Gotham and a single man tries to restore justice by using questionable interrogation tactics, aggressive force, and illegal wire tapping. At the end Batman was blamed for much of the cities problems. However for Batman, he was find being the scapegoat as long as there was justice in the city. This is the similar tone to what was going on politically in 2008 when the movie came out. Gotham is the United States and G.W. Bush is Batman. Interesting.

We also discussed the character and nature of the Joker. He is like Satan, the accuser. He accuses Bataman of being a hypocrisy, he accuses the citizen of Gotham of being fair-weather, and he accuses Harvey Dent of being a fake.

A book that came out in the 90s called Arkham Asylum by Grant Morison suggests that the Joker isn’t crazy. Perhaps he is just the best evolved person to live in a crazy 21st century society. He has no rules, no religion, no authority to listen to. He has a flexible agenda, he is hedonistic, no one knows where he comes from or who he is. He is the definition of survival of the fittest. It would be difficult for an atheist who doesn’t believe in objective morality to find anything wrong with the Joker. He is a product that best fits the culture.

The movie also has a huge commentary on human nature. The joker says: “when the chips are down, people will eat each other.” The scene with the two boats is a terrifying example of this.

Book of Eli

Book of Eli shows the best depiction of the depravity of man than any movie I have seen. In a world that has gone lost from all morals and order we see that when people are put in this situation, what the Joker said in the Dark knight truly comes true, “people will eat each other.”

We see in the midst of this troubled times Eli still continues with his sense or morality and justice because he holds on to the Word of God. He is a living example of what it means to “walk by faith and not by sight”. Eli knows that this Bible is not just any book, but it is the book of all books. It is the words of the Living God and he must make sure it gets in the right hands.

The writers of the movie intended this movie to be a bit open ended so people would talk about the various themes in it. Carnigy, the evil and wicked guy who wants to manipulate the word of God to get power is the definition of 2 Peter 3:16: There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.

The Office

The TV show The Office is very popular because people can either relate to various characters or know someone in their lives who are like the cast of The Office.

Michael Scott is the funny because he is a fool. We read the following verses and asked ourselves, does this describe Michael Scott.

Proverbs 18:2 A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.
Proverbs 17:6 A fool’s lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating.
Proverbs 10:23 Doing wrong is like a joke to a fool, but wisdom is pleasure to a man of understanding.
Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
Proverbs 26:11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
Proverbs 14:9 Fools make a mock at sin: but among the righteous there is favour. (That’s what she said)

But as much as he is a fool, he feels comfortable in it because people want to make him feel accepted despite his foolishness.

Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools.

In the office, everyone wants to be like Jim. The issue with Jim is, he is a scoffer.

Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.

Proverbs 10:10 Whoever winks the eye causes trouble, but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

The following verses describe micheal’s bosses, Micheal, and Jim:

    (Micheal’s Bosses) Like an archer who wounds everyone
        is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.
     (Micheal) Like a dog that returns to his vomit
        is a fool who repeats his folly.
    (Jim) Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes?
        There is more hope for a fool than for him.
 (Proverbs 26:10-12 ESV)

Twilight

With the popularity of Twilight, I mentioned that not everybody is into it. Here is an excerpt from a blog called “Feminist Fatale”:

Abstinence has never been sexier than it is in Stephenie Meyer’s young adult four-book Twilight series. Fans are super hot for Edward, a century-old vampire in a 17-year-old body, who sweeps teenaged Bella, your average human girl, off her feet in a thrilling love story that spans more than 2,000 pages. Fans are enthralled by their tale, which begins when Edward becomes intoxicated by Bella’s sweet-smelling blood. By the middle of the first book, Edward and Bella are deeply in love and working hard to keep their pants on, a story line that has captured the attention of a devoted group of fans who obsess over the relationship and delight in Edward’s superhuman strength to just say no.
The Twilight series has created a surprising new sub-genre of teen romance: It’s abstinence porn, sensational, erotic, and titillating. And in light of all the recent real-world attention on abstinence-only education, it’s surprising how successful this new genre is. Twilight actually convinces us that self-denial is hot. Fan reaction suggests that in the beginning, Edward and Bella’s chaste but sexually charged relationship was steamy precisely because it was unconsummated—kind of like Cheers, but with fangs. Despite all the hot “virtue,” however, we feminist readers have to ask ourselves if abstinence porn is as uplifting as some of its proponents seem to believe.

The fact that Bella and Edward are waiting till marriage is strange and weird for most of Hollywood. We have given into this idea that if there is a couple “in love” they must have sex before the movie is over. Bella and Edward bring a new kind of love, a modest one.

I do not endorse any of these movies or TV shows by any means. I am just pointing out that every show, every movie, every thing that Hollywood puts out, has a message. We must be aware of this and ask ourselves: Is the message they are preaching line up with what the Bible tells us?