Remember how “The Passion of the Christ” was supposed to be a wet smack in the face for those jaded sybarites of Hollywood/Babylon? How church basements, not focus groups, would be the new proving ground for America’s blockbusters? After the success of Mel Gibson’s thanato-pic, the theory went, the suits on Melrose would finally get it, and they'd greenlight a host of imitators, full of spiritual intensity and religious relevance.
If today’s Oscar nominations are any measure, it’s clear that Hollywood still doesn’t get it. If Mel were handing out the awards instead of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences--call them the “Mels” instead of the Oscars--which of the current crop of nominees would win big? “Brokeback Mountain,” in which two cowboys get it on in the heart of Red America? “Capote,” in which an effete New York writer seduces a murderer to tell him his tale in ghastly detail, and then roots for the dead man walking to hang for the sake of book sales? Spielberg’s ambivalent take on the events of Munich in 1972?
The Oscar nominations, of course, may not be an adequate measure. “The Passion,” after all, didn’t get a nomination either. But if Gibson’s film has a legacy at all, we’re still waiting for it to show up somewhere in Hollywood. Even the one spiritual film of the year, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” neither sought nor got prior approval from the evangelical Christian community that Gibson rallied before going wide with “TPOTC.”
Actor Chad Allen and I have two things in common: (1) We share the same birthday, and (2) we both like boys. That's right, the man chosen to play the dual role of evangelical missionary Nate Saint and his son Steve Saint in the film "End of the Spear," is gay.
Based on Steve Saint's book of the same name, "End of the Spear" follows five Christian missionaries who make first contact with the Waodani tribe of Ecuador, a society that is thought to be the "most violent that ever existed." The missionaries are slain by the tribesmen, but some of their widows and children, including young Steve, go to live in the Waodani village and befriend the tribe, including the men who killed the missionaries. Steve later becomes a successful businessman in the U.S., only to return with his wife and son to live, again, with the Waodani. He and the man who killed his father, Mincayani, become close friends--an inspiring story of acceptance and forgiveness.
As for Chad Allen's association with the film, Christianity Today reports:
Allen told Christianity Today Movies that he didn't tell "End of the Spear"'s filmmakers about his sexuality until after they had offered him the job in late 2003. The filmmakers also say they didn't know about Allen's lifestyle until after they offered him a contract, but they felt obliged to honor it even though it had not yet been signed.
The explanation is hard to accept; in Hollywood, even a signed contract isn't a guarantee that you will end up on screen. Actors get replaced all the time. Just ask Stuart Townsend ("Nightstalker"), who was replaced by Viggo Mortensen in "The Lord of the Rings" after just four days of filming. But perhaps, being Christians, the producers felt they answer to a power higher than Hollywood legalese and that the right thing to do was honor the contract.
But I'd say that Every Tribe Entertainment, producers of the movie, need to hire new casting directors or at least find a production assistant to do a search of Chad Allen's name on IMDB.com. If they would have done that, they'd have learned that the actor has been featured in The Out Traveler magazine and runs a production company with actor Robert Gant from "Queer as Folk." Just to be clear here, the "out" in Out Traveler doesn't mean Outward Bound, and "Queer as Folk" is all about folks who are, well... you get the point. In fact, Steve Saint himself said in an email to Christianity Today Movies, "I could not imagine how something like this could slip through a professional screening process."
Indeed, Allen is probably the least-closeted celebrity this side of Elton John. Very publically outed in 1996 by "The Globe" tabloid while he was still on "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman," he has since gone on to pose on the cover of publications such as "The Advocate" and works with charities such as the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which helps elect gay candidates to political office, and a suicide hotline for gay, lesbian, and bisexual teens. In fact, when I first heard that Allen would be starring in an evangelical Christian film my confusion meter went off the scale. But at the same time, would there be a brouhaha if Allen--who was clearly chosen because he was right for the role--was not gay but also not Christian?
Perhaps Allen
, who attends All Saints Church in Pasadena, Calif., should have been more upfront about his homosexuality before he was offered the role. But, again according to Christianity Today, he did offer to “walk away from this—contract or no contract, even if that means I'm liable for breaking the contract."
But then, God does work in mysterious ways, according to Steve Saint himself:
[In a dream I was] being chased by a mob of Christians who were angry with me for having desecrated "their story." The answer to their hostility was easy: Just ask Chad to remove himself. But as quickly as this thought came to me, I found myself standing before God. His look was not as compassionate as I had expected. God said, "Steve, you of all people should know that I love all of my children. With regard to Chad Allen, I went to great lengths to orchestrate an opportunity for him to see what it would be like for him to walk the trail that I marked for him. Why did you mess with my plans for him?"
Saint continues:
Mart [Mart Green, Founder and CEO of Every Tribe Entertainment] has told me that he feels responsible for putting me in a difficult position by hiring Chad.... I don't think this is Mart's doing. God planned the death of his own Son. I believe he planned the death of my dad and his four dear friends. Now, I believe God is at work again. I don't pretend to know what God is going to do with this controversy, but I am confident that he is behind this.
Perhaps God knows that one good story of forgiveness and acceptance should beget another. Or maybe He just knows there's no such thing as bad publicity.
According to a Friend of a Friend, who just happens to be a big-shot Hollywood producer, “Son of Man,” which I blogged about here yesterday, is not the only movie dealing with issues of spirituality and redemption at this year’s Sundance Festival. In fact, he told me yesterday he is fascinated that the majority of films he has screened this week have wrestled with issues of faith in one way or another--a trend that he hasn’t seen in years past. So I thought I would pass along this Friend of a Friend of Mine’s (seriously, if I told you who he was, you’d be impressed) recommendations of the best of Sundance, which may be coming to an art-house theater near you in the coming months.
“Forgiven”: In a modern day Greek tragedy about our country's racial and social divide, writer/director/star Paul Fitzgerald plays Peter Miles, a district attorney running for state senator. On the eve of his campaign launch, the governor pardons Ronald Bradley, a man who Peter had put on death row. When pressed by the media, Peter chooses to stick to his story that Ronald is guilty of the cop killing. However, Ronald--suddenly a free man--knows that Peter has for six years possessed information proving Ronald's innocence and chose to ignore it. Ronald decides that it’s time for a confrontation with Peter, which ends with surprising consequences.
“Stephanie Daley”: Amber Tamblyn ("Joan of Arcadia") plays a high school student who denies knowing that she was pregnant and that she killed the child after giving birth in a ski resort bathroom. Tilda Swinton ("Chronicles of Narnia") is the psychologist hired by the prosecutor to evaluate the girl and find the truth, but in the process the doctor must face her own hidden pain over a loss of her own. In the process, both women confront pain, guilt, and grief.
And if my Friend of a Friend’s recommendations aren’t good enough, check out the Journal of Religion and Film’s glowing reviews of several other faith-based movies at Sundance, including "Adam’s Apples," about a middle-aged neo-Nazi who has been assigned community service at a country church, and "Jewboy," a story about the son of a Hasidic rabbi and his spiritual journey in the wake of his father’s death.
Now that NBC’s controversial show “The Book of Daniel” is no more, it brings up the question, again: What does a television show look like that is both viable and Christian? Not all spiritual shows are Christian. One of the most successful shows in the history of the medium, “Touched By an Angel,” was a weekly tearjerker that featured angels. But angels are not exclusively Christian, and anyway God’s messengers were closer to Greek Fates, posted at life’s doorways to create an aura of cosmic control and well-being. The show did well in part because it was TV’s version of comfort food.
"TBAA" did, however, focus on human suffering--how to respond to it and God's role in it. This elemental spiritual question seems to be good for ratings. CBS’s short-lived hit, “Joan of Arcadia,” portrayed a family dealing with a wheelchair-bound brother, among other crises. Often, God expected Joan (and us) to translate her own pain into compassion for others.
With five people with edgy problems and visits from the Other Side, “The Book of Daniel” seemed to pattern itself after HBO’s “Six Feet Under,” which for a time was the most spiritually challenging show on TV. Not coincidentally, perhaps, it was intent on the question of why we suffer and die. So why didn't "Daniel" fly? NBC’s mistake, apparently, was putting Aidan Quinn in a dog collar. For every “Seventh Heaven,” there are two or three shows starring priests that misfire, including Dan Akroyd’s brief strut on “Soul Man,” and now “Daniel.”
One of the many reasons I enjoy watching Lost week after week is that the show can always be counted on to provide thought-provoking spiritual images that add to the fascinating mythology of the characters as well as the island. Last night’s episode centered around yet another religious image--water as a symbol of being baptized. However, unlike previous episodes, this time I was disappointed to watch the series writers give only the shallowest of treatments to a significant ritual.
Recovering addict and has-been rocker Charlie begins having surreal dreams about fellow survivor Claire’s baby, Aaron. Even as Claire continues to voice her distrust of Charlie after discovering he had been hiding a statue full of heroin, Charlie is increasingly convinced that he must stay close to Aaron because Aaron is about to be placed in some kind of danger and only Charlie can save him. Charlie also becomes fixated on something Mr. Eko said to him about having Aaron baptized. The problem is that in Charlie’s state of mind, baptism means placing Aaron in the raging ocean surf to drown.
Despite Charlie’s odd behavior , Claire does approach the “priest,” Mr. Eko, about baptizing her child in a more traditional way. To my horror, Mr. Eko then gives one of the worst explanations of baptism I have ever heard. Claire asks Eko what would happen if Aaron was baptized and she wasn’t; would Aaron go to heaven and she to hell? Eko responds by telling her that that wouldn’t happen if she simply decides to become baptized too, so she agrees. With no moment of confession, no sign that she believes in baptism as anything other than an insurance policy, Mr. Eko still performs this religious rite for both Claire and Aaron, and the ensuing montage is meant to have us believe all is well with their souls.
While baptism practices vary by religious affiliation, most baptism rituals have something in common--in a pure sense, baptism is meant to be a sign of connecting or identifying with something greater than ourselves in a way that brings significant change to our lives. It is not intended to be treated as a “get out of jail free” card or to be used as coercion to convince someone to convert to something. The fact that we don’t see Eko, a supposedly repentant man of God, explaining the true nature of baptism or encouraging any type of acknowledgment from Claire that she wishes to be spiritually connected or changed in some way before he baptizes her left me feeling that this is one time where the true spiritual meaning of an important religious rite was completely lost and no new insight for us as an audience was gained.
One of the movies causing the biggest buzz this week at the Sundance Film Festival, one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world, just happens to be a movie about Jesus--and Mel Gibson has nothing to do with it. Made in Capetown, South Africa, “Son of Man” turns the life of Christ into an African fable and takes selected events from the Bible and places them into a fictional modern-day African country filled with poverty and strife. In this film, Christ is a black child growing up in a shanty, and his mother, Mary, argues with angels. Later on, some of Christ's 12 disciples are women.
Director Mark Domford-May, in a recent interview with Reuters, explained his choices in portraying the life of Christ this way by saying, "We wanted to look at the gospels as if they were written by spin doctors and to strip that away and look at the truth."
While some in the religious community might not completely appreciate Domford-May’s implication that the gospels were written by a bunch of propagandists selling the latest ideology, I am excited at the discussion this film seems to be sparking. One blogger reports that the person at Sundance who introduced the film said the movie made him realize he was a “closet Christian.” CNN has also been covering the reactions to this film and did a piece on why this movie is speaking to some people in a way that “The Passion of the Christ” didn’t. Hmm... maybe that is in part because, unlike “The Passion” or even “The Last Temptation of Christ,” these filmmakers are relative unknowns and are not carrying the personal and professional “baggage” that Mel Gibson or Martin Scorsese brought with them to their projects about Christ.
Regardless, I hope that many truth seekers, as well as indie film buffs, will give this film a chance and enter into the dialogue about the Christ narrative.
Resident New Yorkers have long enjoyed a love affair with a famous confectionary institution called The Magnolia Bakery, made ever-more famous by the "Sex & the City" foursome who couldn't get enough of Magnolia's trademark cupcakes, and more recently, by the "Saturday Night Live" skit "The Chronic of Narnia Rap" (a must see if you haven't already watched it), which features a narrated trip to Magnolia.
But can cupcakes extend your life?
I certainly can't get enough of Magnolia's cupcakes (the best is when they have a daily special with cream cheese frosting), and am willing to stand in the lines that go out the door and around the corner on sunny days, but I can't imagine going so far as to special order cupcakes made with Borba Age Defying Water. That's right! With just a phone call and a special request, The Magnolia Bakery will make you as many Borba-Age-Defying-Cupcakes as you so desire.
Perhaps you can pre-order your honey a Borba-infused red velvet one for Valentine's Day this year and hope for immortal love as well?
It may seem like a movie such as "The Aristocrats," out this week on DVD, would hardly be fodder for a self-respecting spirituality blog like Idol Chatter, but My Friend the Rabbi offered up some wise insights about this film, which consists entirely of well-known comedians reciting their own versions of a raunchy joke--and trying to outdo each other in making the joke filthier and filthier. The joke always starts with the same opening and ends with the same punchline, but everything in between is up to the teller's imagination (and those featured in the film have quite, um, vivid imaginations). It may not sound like the most promising premise for a feature film, and as I said, hardly the usual fare for spiritually-minded folks.
But My Friend the Rabbi points out that the movie really is depicting the transmission of a faith. Think about it: There is a a defined group, in this case professional comedians (who, the movie tells us, don't generally tell this joke to audiences, instead reserving it for their own post-show, backstage sessions amongst themselves). And there is a text that is at once unchanging and in need of interpretation, a scripture of sorts that serves as a guide.
The joke always contains three sections--the standard opening, involving a family act and a talent scout who says he doesn't represent family acts; a middle that is improvised, describing the raunchy act that the family performs for the scout; and a set punchline, in which the scout asks what the act is called and is told, "The Aristocrats." This joke, which is not even funny in any inherent way, is dutifully passed on from generation to generation in the comedy world, with each generation adding its own layers of interpretation and seeing it through its own unique eyes. Why this joke? Tradition. It was the favorite of the iconic comedians of years past, men (and the occasional woman) who are worshipped by every comic who's come along in years since. Where'd the joke come from? No one's sure, but there may have been earlier, slightly different versions that spawned this one.
And should you see the movie and convert to Aristocratism or something like that? Well, only you can decide for yourself if you've got "The Aristocrats" in your heart.
“End of the Spear” is the story of how Jim Elliot followed the spiritual promptings within him --and set in motion an unexpected series of events. In short, he and some buddies believed they should give their lives to reach one of the most brutal groups the world had ever known. After he and his friends were speared to death, two of the widows—and their children—followed in their footsteps, including Jim’s wife Elizabeth.
What makes the story powerful is the spirituality of a man who said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” It is a kind of spirituality that we should talk about more.
In our current culture, most spirituality is about “what works for me.” What makes me feel good? What makes me feel better? What helps me solve my problems? What gives me strength against my challenges? What is an entertaining way to engage in spirituality? What gives me a natural high? What did I get out of the book, show, movie, text, song, poem, etc.?
The musician Scott Wesley Brown, who was one of the millions who’ve had their lives transformed by the Elliots’ sacrifice, attempted to capture Jim’s sacrificial walk when he wrote:
I've lost track of all the Sundays The offering plates gone by And as I gave my hard earned dollars I felt free to keep my life. I talk about commitment And the need to count the cost But the words of a martyr show me I don't really know His cross.
Jim’s decision to go—and his wife’s decision to follow in his footsteps—was about a kind of spirituality that wasn’t saying “what’s in it for me?” It was about saying, “What, God, do you want me to do?” And, "please give me the strength and courage to do it."
"End of the Spear" is worth watching, if only to direct our reflections about whether our spiritual journey is truly about discovering God, or if it’s more like a trip to the mall... looking for something that makes us feel good at a bargain price.
John Lennon declared the Beatles to be bigger than Jesus Christ, but at least they didn’t try to be Jesus Christ.
Kanye West, the multi-platinum selling rap artist and outspoken celebrity who criticized President Bush's Katrina relief efforts last year, will grace the upcoming cover of Rolling Stone as Jesus Christ, complete with a crown of thorns atop his head--ensuring that he'll be drumming up plenty of controversy in 2006.
To be fair to West, he's not the first rapper to play God, in the person of his Son, Jesus. In 1999, Nas stirred up quite a bit of controversy playing a "Christ-like" figure who is crucified and stoned in his video for "Hate Me Now." Mentor, producer, and collaborator Sean "Puffy/P. Diddy/Diddy" Combs is also shown being crucified. Apparently, Combs had second thoughts about his inclusion, the video was re-edited to remove the image--but the wrong version aired on MTV's Total Request Live. Within minutes of the broadcast, Combs reportedly barged into the offices of Nas's manager and beat him about the head with a champagne bottle. So much for turning the other cheek.
And on the cover of his posthumous release "Makaveli," 2Pac (Tupac) Shakur is seen crucified like Jesus Christ, adding to conspiracy theorist speculation that the rapper isn't actually dead.
But Kanye West's Mel Gibson-like devotion doesn’t stop with his coverboy imitatio Christi. West, whose hit single “Jesus Walks” was prominently played in the “Jarhead” trailer, has a reproduction of the Sistine Chapel ceiling in his dining room, and has--with the help of Jacob the Jeweler, jeweler to the stars--designed a line of jewelry featuring diamond encrusted Jesus heads.
Still, West does his bit for ecumenicism, also posing for Rolling Stone as boxer Muhammad Ali, the world-famous convert to Islam.
Albert Brooks may be getting all the press for "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World," but his costar, Sheetal Sheth, deserves a moment in the spotlight, too. In the film, Sheth plays the young assistant hired to help Brooks in his mission to discover what makes Muslims laugh. It's her highest-profile role to date, and she handles it gracefully--just as she does the press junket in which a bunch of reporters, including me, screamed questions at her for half an hour.
"Looking for Comedy" opened to lukewarm-at-best reviews--including that of my colleague Dilshad Ali--but Brooks and Sheth are obviously proud of the film and discuss it passionately. You can read what they had to say about "Looking for Comedy" here, but since much of what Sheth talked about in the interview was interesting but off-topic, here are some interview "outtakes," Idol Chatter's version of DVD extras.
As a young actress trying to establish herself, Sheth has had to battle Hollywood's pigeonholing of people of color. An NYU film-school graduate born in New Jersey, she's often forced to audition for "ethnic roles"--only to be told that she's not actually "ethnic," despite her dark skin and Indian heritage.
"A lot of times what I find is that when they want to cast 'diverse' or 'ethnic' they think it means black. I'll literally go in for something, and they'll say, 'You're not ethnic,'" she says. "It's funny they even think like that. I go through interesting things every day in terms of that whole thing."
And then there are the times when directors are looking for someone who looks just like her--but putting on an exaggerated Indian accent is the only punch line in the script.
"There's a difference between something being funny because of the character vs. the ethnicity," she says. "And then I'm like, 'Here's the deal. I'm not funny right now because of what you've written or because of the character. You're laughing at my accent and this persona you have, the idea of this stereotype, and I'm not interested in it.'"
"Looking for Comedy" offers her a role with a funny character and an Indian accent, Sheth says. As someone who's spent extended periods in India visiting family, the question, she adds, was what that accent should be. "I didn't want to do this very general accent that you hear a lot, that's this kind of stereotypical thing that you hear a lot, like Apu from 'The Simpsons,'" Sheth says. "And so it felt like, from her education and the way she was brought up, it's very British influenced in India, and so we needed to be that."
With roles in indie-flicks like "ABCD" and "American Chai"--together with her appearance in "Looking for Comedy"--Sheth says she's been happy with the work she's found and is working full-time as an actress, despite the hurdles she's faced. So whatever the accent she uses, you may be hearing Sheetal Sheth's name more and more in the coming years--though, if she'd listened to the veteran show-biz people who advised her in years past, it would actually be some other name you'd hear.
"When I graduated from NYU, and I was meeting people, and I met with my very first manager... we had this great meeting, and at the end of the meeting, she's like, 'Great, can't wait, so excited, which one of your names are you going to change?'" Sheth says. "It may sound
naive and silly, but it really never occurred to me it would be a conversation I would have to have as often as I do... All of a sudden, I'm a professional actor, and it's something I deal with every day."
You can watch a clip of Sheth in "Looking for Comedy" by clicking here.
There's a people in this country clamoring for wholesome but engaging entertainment that speaks their language and addresses the concerns of their Scripture-based lifestyle. I refer, of course, to haredi Jews--the fervently observant, sometimes called ultra-Orthodox. At last, they are getting a movie of their own. Shot in Monsey--a New York ex-urb and one of the major hubs of Orthodox life--"A Gesheft" ("The Deal") is said by its producers to be the first completely Yiddish-speaking movie to made in the United States since the once thriving Yiddish-language film industry collapsed some 60 years ago.
"We decided that religious Jews needed their own movies far from the dangerous influence of Hollywood," explains a press release from Mendy and Yakov Kirsh, who make up Kosher Entertainment. What's so kosher about it? Though full of drama, car-crashes, and lots of dudes in traditional black hats and topcoats, the movie has no women, out of respect for Orthodox rules restricting men from being entertained by the opposite sex. The unisex cast is not as striking, however, as the total dedication to the tongue of Eastern European Jewry: Even an African-American cop speaks his one line in Yiddish. The filmmakers are looking to make a tour of festivals later this year.
The promotional campaign last summer for TNT's "The Closer," a Law & Order-like crime-solving drama (but way, way quirkier), featured the show's main character, Chief Brenda Johnson (played by Kyra Sedgwick), announcing: "Confession. It's good for the soul." For those of you who ignored her appeal and missed this excellent show, you have a second chance to tune in (and confess away): Season One of "The Closer" is re-running now on Tuesdays at 10 p.m., in preparation for Season Two, which starts this summer.
I happened to catch the pilot episode in June and was immediately addicted to Chief Johnson's humor, no-nonsense crime-solving style, and Southern charm, as well as the show's totally engrossing stories. And as I kept tuning in, week after week, to see what cases came across Chief Johnson's desk, I couldn't help but notice, during the commercials, how TNT was using Chief Johnson's trademark style--sweet talking the suspect into spilling the beans--as a means to lure viewers into watching this confession-centered drama. Time after time, Chief Johnson would appear on screen to advertise "The Closer" and announce in her syrupy Southern drawl that confession is "good for the soul." And every time she said those words, I thought about the paradox this set up. In Christianity, confessing is literally a means of soul-cleansing and a way of gaining God's forgiveness--truth-telling your way to liberation--but on the show and in Chief Brenda Johnson's mind, confession might indeed make you feel better, but it will inevitably land you in the not-so-forgiving slammer.
All paradoxes aside, it's a fantastic show. Give it a chance.
The culture has been furiously digesting religious fundamentalism of late, and that process hasn't been kind to Mormons. The history of the Church of Latter Day Saints, after all, has plenty of violence and controversy, and besides, they live way out in Utah. The media, at any rate, seems to regard them as fair game. As this New York Times article makes clear, the Church of Latter Day Saints' anni horribili continue with a movie due out this Spring about the Mountain Meadows massacre of 1857, when a group of Mormons joined forces with Indians to kill 128 non-Mormon emigrants passing through on their way to California.
Mormon faithful might be made hopeful by the fact that Jon Voight, fresh from his role as Pope John Paul II, plays a fictional LDS elder in the film, called "September Dawn." Hopes may be crushed by the fact that the film's director previously worked on such thoughtful screen gems as "The Next Karate Kid" and "Gone Fishin."
Just past the two-hour mark in Terrence Malick's "The New World," a character named Opechancanough--one of the "naturals," as the film calls Native Americans--tells Rebecca, known as Pocahontas before her baptism, that he is being sent to England to "meet this God they talk about so much."
The irony of this statement is twofold: (1) There is very little actual dialogue in the first two hours of the movie, and (2) a small fraction of that dialogue is given over to talking about God. Which left me scratching my head over Opechancanough's rather humorous comment.
At this point, I must disclose that I am not a real fan of Malick's style. A philosophy student at both Harvard and Oxford, who later taught philosophy and translated Martin Heidegger's works, Malick's films are slower than expected, more sensitive to the voices within and without, and tend to dote on questions about nature and the place that humans make for themselves in it. Some find this liberating, others find it laborious. In this case, I felt like I was watching a Nature Channel special on the ecosystem of the Chesapeake Bay, blended with a continuous loop of Calvin Klein "Obsession" commercials--lots of shots of people strolling through tall grass, asking esoteric questions.
Using the star-crossed relationship of John Smith (Colin Farrell) and Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher) to illuminate the conflicts between the "civilized" white settlers of Jamestown and the "natural" people whom they believed they found in a new Eden, the movie is typical Terrence Malick--deliberate pacing, some might say plodding, with an intense focus on the natural world.
Apart from that reference to Eden, which was made by Governer Christopher Newport (Christopher Plummer), along with a scene where Smith wonders aloud if he has gone against God's wishes in loving Pochantas, the most obvious reference in "The New World" to the Christian God is the giant cross looming above the English fort, the same cross the "naturals" seemed to be trying to knock down earlier in the film. However, only a few times in the film do we get a glimpse at the role religion might have actually played in the Jamestown colony, such as when Captain Edward Wingfield (David Thewlis) strips Smith of his command based on a chapter from Leviticus and when Pocahontas is baptized and given the name Rebecca.
We see a bit more of the Native Americans' spiritual lives--dances, sun salutations, prayer, and other rituals--but they are never explained in any detail. I understand that Malick intends for the audience to experience things just as Smith did, confused, scared, awed, and not clued in to what is happening, but it would have added to my experience and enjoyment of the movie if Malick had offered a few more clues to orient us.
And yet, a few days removed from seeing the film, I realize "The New World" is imbued with spiritul and religious notes that never quite took form for me while actually watching it. I can appreciate, if not completely agree with, Malick's somewhat over-simplified sentiments about the purity and superiority of the Algonquin's spiritual lives as compared to that of the English settlers; perhaps I was just expecting more spirituality and faith from a movie set in the 17th century, an era in which settlements came to be known "as plantations of religion." Perhaps, though, it just takes a few days back in the real world to really appreciate "The New World."
As Carlos pines away for a baby, Sister Mary uses religious and psychological brainwashing to get him away from Gabrielle. Eager to recruit Carlos as a more devout Catholic, Sister Mary goads Carlos into believing his marriage can't be saved; Gabrielle is only keeping him on a leash by being wishy-washy about having a baby, she tells him. The marriage, therefore, is not a real covenant in God's eyes and the only solution to an ungodly marriage is to get an annulment (a pamphlet of which Sister Mary has "conveniently" kept in her car's glove compartment).
After Gabrielle is threatened with an annulment, she goes to confession to complain that she is jealous of the nun's relationship with Carlos. When asked by the priest whether Carlos and Sister Mary are having an affair, Gabrielle is forced to choose between a truth ('no') and a lie ('yes'). Choosing the lie, Gabrielle then quickly soothes her conscience by confessing--to a different priest--that she lied to a priest, but her lie has already ensured Sister Mary's quiet transfer to another church in Alaska.
With Sister Mary banished to cold and darkness, Gabrielle shockingly proves that (sometimes) lies are worth telling to get what one wants, even if the future may cause the lie to backfire. For now though, Gabrielle seizes her victor's title and rewards Carlos with the promise of a baby.
Watching this season of '24' continue to unfold, I'm moved to continue the debate I've been having with fellow Idol Chatterer Donna Freitas on the show and its hero, Jack Bauer. (Read my original posting here, and her response here.)
This year’s storyline is based on Jack’s having begun a new life as a humble day worker, complete with a girlfriend and her adolescent son. In last year’s finale, we saw a hero who was willing to risk his life and career—and sacrifice his identity—to save the President, and eventually, millions of people in the path of a nuclear bomb. Now, he seems more than content to have left the daily do-or-die decisions of CTU (the Counter-Terrorism Unit he worked for) behind him and engage in a more normative lifestyle. It took the deaths of several of his friends and the assassination of the former President to bring him out of hiding, and it took a false accusation of multiple murders to to re-engage him in the kind of antics that make the show what it is.
While the plot twists and internet guessing games about what will happen to his character continue, I hope the conversations among spiritual journeyers will move to the more compelling questions the show asks:
1. What, really, do we believe is worth fighting for? 2. What, really, do we believe is worth dying for? 3. What, really, am I personally responsible for?
At a time when American soldiers are risking their lives every day and what passes for Intelligence is at the center of several national debates, this is a show that brings to light the complicated questions about what it takes to protect a nation, more so than any show I can remember since the end of “Three Days of the Condor.”
With all respect to Donna, I don't believe that the character of Jack Bauer is a “martyr in the making” so much as he’s a fanatic about the responsibility he’s taken on, a trait that more of us could and should incorporate into our spiritual journeys and lives. The “human side of heroism” has included, for Jack, the loss of family and friends and a reluctant re-entrance into the hidden world of terrorists and spys. Each of us who aims to be spiritual should take inventory of the responsibilities placed in our path and consider our own levels of commitment and willingness to sacrifice, and examine how our courage can make the world a better place.
Rolling Stone’s story on Scott Stapp, lead singer for the late crypto-Christian band Creed, is by turns hair-raising and eyebrow raising. The magazine details Stapp’s spectacular fall from rock-and-roll grace, tracking him from his rock-free Pentecostal upbringing in Florida to the garishly inebriated performances that resulted in lawsuits from disappointed fans, failed attempts to free himself from successive addictions to Percocet and Oxycontin, and the eventual breakup of the band. At one point Stapp had so worn out his welcome with his fellow musicians that a tourmate from another band donned a T-shirt that read "Even Jesus Hates Creed." Not much of this, the hair-raising part, is news. (It will have you questioning Stapp’s Christianity, though the interviewer notes that Stapp keeps a Bible etched with his name close by during their chat). The eyebrow-raising part comes when Stapp tells Rolling Stone, "My problems were not what ended Creed."
Stapp, who is getting married next month, released his first solo album, "The Great Divide," in November and heads out on tour on Feb. 23rd. It would be nice to think he's got his affairs straight, but as recently as Thanksgiving he had an allegedly alcohol-fueled run-in with the band 311 in a Baltimore hotel bar.
The much-anticipated "Superman Returns" won't be released for several months, but the trailer is out and contains this shocker: He's become a Christ figure. We're used to thinking of Superman as something of a Jewish tale, but it seems like he may have switched teams for this latest movie.
Like so many of the people behind the classic American comic-book heroes, Superman's creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, were Jewish, and more to the point, their creation had a distinctly Jewish feel. Superman was the Golem, the supernatural figure who wreaks havoc on evildoers, fighting for good and expecting no reward. It should come as no surprise that he first emerged in the late '30s, as Hitler's campaign to eradicate European Jewry (which included, no doubt, close relatives of Siegel and Shuster) was underway. As Michael Chabon so poignantly dramatizes in his 2001 novel "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay," the fantasy of a Golem denying victory to Hitler was just about all that most Jews could cling to as the horrors unfolded.
The premise of the new film is that Superman has been away from Earth for some time and, as the title implies, returns, presumably to halt some imminent cataclysm. But in the trailer for "Superman Returns" we hear a deep, authoritative voice addressing Superman (using his given name, Kal-El), telling the superhero that, though he has been raised as a human being, he is not one of them--and yet he still has a mission to accomplish among the humans. The voice continues:
They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show them the way. For this reason above all--their capacity for good--I've sent them you, my only son.
And there you have it. The second coming of Christ... I mean Superman... hits theaters June 30.
(Special thanks to my old friend Jeremy for alerting me to this.)
Naveen Andrews, who plays the Iraqi character Sayid on “Lost,” recently admittedly that he had impregnated a woman—pardon, “fathered a love child”—while on hiatus from his longtime girlfriend Barbara Hershey. Unfortunately, that news preempted a bunch of more interesting tidbits from the British actor, which had appeared in a Gannett interview just days before the fathering bombshell.
Andrews--who wears a cross, calls his mother a “Christian maniac,” and believes “there are many ways to God”--will appear as Egyptian prince Menerith in a version of “The Ten Commandments” coming to ABC this Spring. On the list of things Andrews won’t be saying again once network publicists get to him is this observation: “Our Moses is portrayed as a nut case.” Also: “God basically orders genocide in the name of 'you do what I tell you.' In this sense, the miniseries, he says, “is a study of dogma” and the dangers of fundamentalism. (Lest you think the film set was all furrowed brows and deep thoughts, Andrews admits in another interview, that the actors had a hard time shaking off the feeling that they were in a remake of Monty Python’s “Life of Brian.”)
It may be old news, but in light of his recent statement regarding the health of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Pat Robertson’s moral compass is an open target for scrutiny.
Although not as attention-grabbing as his verbal forays into the world of public embarrassment, Pat Robertson’s August 2001 introduction of a recipe for “Pat’s Age-Defying Shake” raised some eyebrows—and some questions. For someone so ready and willing to express the word of God by spinning Scripture into something of an admonishment for the world, Robertson, it seems, is just asking for a taste of his own medicine.
Touting his concoctions’ curative properties, Robertson offers two recipes for time-halting foodstuffs on the Christian Broadcasting Network's website: one for "Pat Robertson’s Age-Defying Shake," and another for "Pat’s Age-Defying Protein Pancakes." The instructions for self-manufacture of these miracle products are available for free after registration. Although this may offer the illusion of legitimacy, it is perhaps the “age-defying” property of these foods that calls for further examination. Does it not defy God to pursue the vanity of youth? Is it not God’s will that you should age gracefully, on His terms? It seems Pat Robertson has failed to consider one of the most ignored of the seven deadly sins, the sin of pride.
Even more provocative is the televangelist’s turn as entrepreneur; a similar product he developed for weight loss has become a readymade vehicle for profit. In a deal with national health and nutrition chain GNC, Robertson is marketing “Pat's Diet Shake” in two flavors: classic chocolate and its milder counterpart, vanilla. Although there is no co-branding with his nonprofit endeavors evident on the label or in its marketing, the use of his name, a moniker synonymous with “The 700 Club” and the Christian Broadcasting Network, is as easily identifiable as, say, “Atkins” or “The Zone.” So even though Mr. Robertson has the freedom to explore business ventures outside the confines of his media empire, profiting off his already well-publicized personality is neither a righteous nor an ethically sound means of adding money to his coffer.
Just as Jewish culture isn't all about black hats and beards, and Jewish humor isn't all about guilt and your mother, stereotypical Jewish foods such as bagels, matzah balls, and gefilte fish may soon have to share the plate with lesser-known Jewish delicacies hailing from the traditions of Bukharian Jews from Central Asia.
Thanks to a recent New York Times article touting the flavor of the Bukharians living in and around Queens, N.Y., chebureks and kebabs--savory deep fried pies and hunks of crisp lamb fat--get their chance to shine as Jewish food with a culinary conscience.
I came to know the Bukharian culture through my first boyfriend, the child of Russian-speaking Jewish parents living in the Queens neighborhood Forest Hills. His character was spicy and pungent, just like the dishes his mom prepared when I met her for the first time. I was thrilled to have landed a Heeb who didn't seem, well, the stereotypical bagels-and-lox Jew. But it was always a challenge to explain to friends--Jewish and non-Jewish alike--that even though he had dark skin and listened to music with Arabic-inflections, he was in fact a member of The Tribe. I would tell them he was Bukharian. What? BUK-HAR-IAN.
They didn't get it at the time, but if the Times article is anything of an indication that the world is ready to broaden its image of Jewish culture, let's pick up our forks and do so one bite at a time.
Cumin-scented pilaf of rice anyone? Yes, please.
posted by Alana B. Elias Kornfeld @ 12:07 PM | Permalink |
Apparently, good old George from "Seinfeld" has his own version of the Top Ten things We Shall and Shall Not do. This was forwarded to me by a friend:
1. Never walk without a document in your hands: People with documents in their hands look like hardworking employees heading for important meetings. People with nothing in their hands look like they're heading for the cafeteria. People with a newspaper in their hand look like they're heading for the toilet. Above all, make sure you carry loads of stuff home with you at night, thus generating the false impression that you work longer hours than you do.
2. Use computers to look busy: Any time you use a computer, it looks like "work" to the casual observer. You can send and receive personal e-mail, chat and generally have a blast without doing anything remotely related to work. These aren't exactly the societal benefits that the proponents of the computer revolution would like to talk about but they're not bad either. When you get caught by your boss--and you *will* get caught--your best defense is to claim you're teaching yourself to use new software, thus saving valuable training dollars.
3. Messy desk: Top management can get away with a clean desk. For the rest of us, it looks like we're not working hard enough. Build huge piles of documents around your workspace. To the observer, last year's work looks the same as today's work; it's volume that counts. Pile them high and wide. If you know somebody is coming to your cubicle, bury the document you'll need halfway down in an existing stack and rummage for it when he/she arrives.
4. Voice Mail: Never answer your phone if you have voice mail. People don't call you just because they want to give you something for nothing--they call because they want YOU to do work for THEM. That's no way to live. Screen all your calls through voice mail. If somebody leaves a voice mail message for you and it sounds like impending work, respond during lunch hour when you know they're not there - it looks like you're hardworking and conscientious even though you're being a devious weasel.
5. Looking Impatient and Annoyed: According to George Costanza, one should also always try to look impatient and annoyed to give your bosses the impression that you are always busy.
6. Leave the office late: Always leave the office late, especially when the boss is still around. You could read magazines and storybooks that you always wanted to read but have no time until late before leaving. Make sure you walk past the boss' room on your way out. Send important emails at unearthly hours (e.g. 9:35pm, 7:05am, etc.) and during public holidays.
7. Creative Sighing for Effect: Sigh loudly when there are many people around, giving the impression that you are under extreme pressure.
8. Stacking Strategy: It is not enough to pile lots of documents on the table. Put lots of books on the floor etc. (thick computer manuals are the best).
9. Build Vocabulary: Read up on some computer magazines and pick out all the jargon and new products. Use the phrases freely when in conversation with bosses. Remember: They don't have to understand what you say, but you sure sound impressive.
10. MOST IMPORTANT: DON'T email this to your boss by mistake!!!
Does Jack have a Messiah Complex? As recounted by Donna, the latest "Lost" episode revealed Jack, the doctor who prides himself on rational, scientific thought, as a man under pressure to perform medical miracles, even as he doesn't believe in them himself. In a flashback, viewers hear his wife's haunting words before she leaves him: "You will always need someone to fix."
Ironically, even while Jack dismisses miracles and faith, he is a modern-day Atlas, carrying the weight of the world on his shoulder. Out of an unexplainable need to look after everyone and fix everything, Jack takes control: He leads the expedition to find Michael and fiercely prevents Kate from following. He also has the need to be the martyr--he wants to be the one who sacrifices his time and his energy for others. In the first official encounter with one of the Others, it is Jack who wrestles spokesperson control from Locke.
As the only resident doctor, Jack's need to take care of everyone (at least, physically) is intense; he is the only one who has the bandages and medication to help Sawyer. In a rerun of last week's episode, we glimpse Jack carefully doling out pills to Sawyer: Jack is the savior carefully rationing everything to prevent anarchy and to further assert his authority. Even as he pits himself against Locke, he tries to find faith in himself to save everyone from the island's dangers.
In other "Lost" news, last week's episode (rerun last night before the new episode) was overt in its Christian references: Priests. Virgin Mary statues. A golden cross necklace. Confession. Psalm 23. Mr. Eko's "Scripture Stick" (or, as Charlie refers to it, the "Jesus stick"). Mr. Eko's reputation is cemented as the resident man of religious faith. We see the arc of his faith journey and see him find his redemption even as others are searching for theirs. He is a man with nothing left to lose, and in finding the crashed plane with his dead brother's body, we see him close a chapter in his past.
In a flashback, even though his brother, Yemi (a priest), proclaims that God will never forgive Mr. Eko for his sins, he is ultimately forgiven by the island. The island reunites him with his brother's dead body to give it a proper "burial." As he recites Psalm 23 and puts the gold cross around his neck, he becomes a man with a restored soul who is starting his path to righteousness. He has gone "through the valley of the shadow of death" by confronting Yemi's death and facing the mysterious black smoke that is the island's monster, and he has come out of both events fearing "no evil." With his "Scripture Stick," Mr. Eko has the rod/staff that will comfort him as he continues to cement his salvation.
While on the Blog of Daniel, the Episcopal Church's site for discussion of the NBC series "Book of Daniel"--check out the entry titled “My Bishop Rocks--Literally.” (Click here to go directly to it.) It announces a rare New York City appearance by The Chane Gang, a blues band anchored by John Bryson Chane on drums. Chane’s day gig is being the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C. Chane was a rocker in his 20s, until one night, while touring with a band in the '70s, he picked up a Gideon’s Bible and found his calling. He walked away from his new band, Music Explosion, which recorded its sole hit, “A Little Bit of Soul,” only a few weeks later.
The Chane Gang will be at Manhattan’s The Knitting Factory on Feb. 3. Here’s an NPR radio story from 2004 on Chane’s musical and spiritual trajectory.
Last night's "Lost" episode, called "The Hunting Party," revolved around Jack's (Matthew Fox) character and revealed an interesting tidbit about his history. Known thus far as the "Man of Science" on the Island--as opposed to Locke ,and now Mr. Eko, who are the most obvious men of faith--Jack's ability to take leaps into the unknown is apparently far more developed than fans have previously been led to believe.
The episode went into Jack's past as a doctor, during his marriage to Sarah. As it turns out, the long-ago operation Jack performed on Sarah, which, against all odds, saved her from a life as a parapalegic and later led to their falling in love, was deemed a "miracle" by people within the medical field and the world over. Since that miraculous surgery, Jack came to be known as "The Miracle Worker" in his profession, a title you'd think this "Man of Science" would reject. Instead, it becomes a heavy burden, as he tries to work similar miracles on patients with the most hopeless diagnoses.
How will this new dimension of Jack's character play out in his life on the Island? This question is left up in the air, at least so far. Fans will have to see what Jack's complex character has in store as the season continues.
I tuned in last night to NBC’s Scrubs, a quirky sitcom about a group of doctors and residents, and was, to my surprise, treated to one of the best half-hours of television I have watched in a long time. The episode was called "My New God," which led me to expect yet another TV show mocking those of us who actively practice our religious beliefs. Instead, the episode offered a thoughtful and tender look at the struggles we all have with faith and doubt.
The main storyline focused on one doctor, Perry Cox, and his sister, Paige, who comes for a visit to see her baby nephew get baptized--something Perry is against. Perry is less than happy with his sister for another reason: She became a zealous born-again Christian since the last time he saw her. After numerous barbs about the pointlessness of believing in God and a cartoonish portrayal of a Christian by actress Cheryl Hines, the entire episode is suddenly redeemed at the baptismal service. The residents, as well as Dr. Cox himself (standing in the back of the church drinking a beer), attend the service, not necessarily as a sign of support or belief, but as an acknowledgement that while they don’t have all the answers, looking at the miracle of an innocent child as he is baptized is just enough to make them question their disbelief and reconsider the idea of faith in something greater than themselves.
An even-sweeter note of redemption closes the show, as Perry and Paige shoot basketball hoops and Perry admits that his struggle with Paige is not about God after all, but about his struggle with himself and his desire to forget his hurtful childhood. With such smart, fearless treatment of spirituality and human frailty (the second storyline, about a stolen Buddha, was also delightful), I will be checking back into this hospital more often.
It seems that Britney Spears is still following in the spiritual footsteps of her mentor Madonna. Having been introduced to Kabbalah by the Material Mom, the former Baptist was soon seen wearing a red string around her wrist and toting a 900-year-old copy of the Zohar, gifted to her by Mrs. Ritchie. Now it seems that Britney is taking another page out of Madonna's spiritual play book by taking her four-month-old son Sean to a Hindu Temple in Malibu to be blessed. Britney even emerged from the temple sporting a bindi, the traditional red dot Hindu women wear on their foreheads. (For those of you not in the know, or who have better things to do with your time, Madonna dabbled with Hinduism around the time she made her "Ray of Light" album, dressing a la Shiva at the 1998 MTV Video Awards.)
It seems that Britney must be reading more than just fairytales to little Sean, seeing as just a few years ago she wasn't quite sure what Hinduism was. Speaking to Newsweek about South Asian musical influences on her 2003 release "In the Zone," Spears said that she had “been into a lot of Indian spiritual religions.” Asked if one of the religions was Hinduism, she answered, “What’s that? Is it like Kabbalah?”
When the Washington diocese of the Episcopal Church USA erected “The Blog of Daniel,” a page on the diocesan website that welcomes discussion of the controversial NBC series “Book of Daniel,” I thought: pure genius. Rather than bridle the way the Catholic League does at every philandering priest in movies and TV, DC HQ decided to be laid back about NBC’s depiction of one of their clergy and his dysfunctional family. So what if most of the posts would be self-helpy lectures from left and right about mutual tolerance? Not only would Episcopals seem hip and engaged in the culture (what’s hipper and more engaged than a blog?), the blog would channel interest in the show into education about the real-world Episcopal community.
What I was too naïve to foresee is the way the show’s producers would use the blog to rally support for the show. Jack Kenny, the show’s creator, has posted an appeal on The Blog of Daniel, urging viewers to call their local affiliates to support the show against the withering fire laid down by the American Family Association and other conservative groups, which has caused some affiliates to pull the show and some advertisers to pull their ads. What seems to burn Kenny most is that the AFA is “is using this show as a fundraising tool,” as he states in one blog entry. I’m of course shocked to see Kenny’s brainchild being used for filthy lucre. But given that the stations refusing to air the show are mostly tiny markets in the upper Bible belt, the greater threat to Kenny’s show is “Book of Daniel"’s ratings, which are flagging after only two weeks, and which a nice censorship fury would likely buck up.
Fans of Fox's smash hit drama "24" are already well into another season of Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) withstanding the most stressful of situations by sheer willpower and his serious penchant for bodily danger. By now in its "fifth day," the show has made us accept Jack as a kind of martyr in the making. His pointed and often reckless desire to sacrifice himself on behalf of his country has become the norm, sparking continued banter on "24" message boards about whether this will finally be "the day" that Jack will actually be martyred. Fans are always wondering if this is Kiefer's last hurrah playing this beloved, conflicted, and intensely heroic character, and the end of last year--I mean "day"--left us wondering about his fate until this week's season premiere, when we found out that he had faked his own "death." (And last year, the show's producers and Sutherland's TV appearances tried hard to leave the door open that Jack Bauer might meet his maker very soon) .
In an earlier post, "24' & Its Murky Hero Return to Fight Another Day," fellow blogger Doug Howe talked about how Jack's character shows viewers a more "human side of what it is like to be a hero." Yet as much as I love the show (and I am obsessive about it), and as much as I love seeing Jack do what he does best yet again (i.e., almost get himself and everyone he knows and loves killed) in the special four-hour, two-night season-premier indulgence, I have to disagree with the idea that Jack's portrayal of the hero is rather "human." Howe compares Jack's heroics to the more human side of Jesus's heroics, but in my mind, Jack is not so much aspiring to be human as he is aspiring to be godly.
One of the most consistent characteristics of this non-Everyman we love to watch each week is that he is constantly--and without much thought or reflection--taking into his own hands the fate of people he knows and loves as well as large numbers of people he doesn't know at all. In other words, I see Jack acting as a kind of literal god on the show, a god who gets to make decisions about who lives and who dies and how that all comes about. This year's season seems no different in this regard, as we watched while Jack sit by and let one teenage boy die at the hands of terrorists in exchange for saving a different teenage boy, Derek, whom he both cares about and whose mother he happens to be dating.
And speaking of dating, women beware this man. Getting involved with Jack Bauer means either death, exposure to potentially severe bodily harm, and no matter what, a tragic end to the relationship. The failed relationships are piling high now for Jack. And, though fans of the show might all still be thanking god that his daughter, Kim (Elisha Cuthbert) is no longer around after three annoying seasons, on the love relationship end she fared no better. Friends and I used to joke that Kim should have on a sign warning all potential suitors saying: "Date Kim, Lose a Limb" since literally, season after season, whoeve she dated either lost an arm or a leg.
But I digress. And don't get me wrong, I love Jack, I do. It's just that he thinks he's something more than human, i.e. God, and while that's fun to watch, it doesn't teach me much about the human side of heroism.
Since when does Palestine get recognized by any facet of the entertainment industry? Since a film from that region won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film on Sunday. Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad’s taut thriller, “Paradise Now,” surprised all by picking up the coveted award. The win gave Abu-Assad an unexpected forum to express his love for Palestine. After sweetly flubbing his thanks to the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognizing his film, he quietly announced the win was for the Palestinian people, for their cause, for their freedom.
The movie, shot on location in the West Bank and Israel, explores the motivation and psyche of two Palestinian suicide bombers. Abu-Assad’s clever touch makes for a dual film: It’s an action-packed thriller as well as a sensitive study at how the dismal situation in Palestine creates a breeding ground for suicide bombers.
The independent film circuit has seen a number of wonderful, thought-provoking films come from Israel and the Palestinian region in the last decade. As a film reviewer when I lived in New York, I was privy to many intriguing documentaries, dramas, and docudramas covering all aspects of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. And though this film has flopped in Israel, it’s great to see it receive accolades in this country. I hope it paves the way for more filmmakers to bring attention to that region of the world.
I recently complained on this blog about the need to demand better family entertainment at the box office, but I saw a quirky, fun new family movie on a friend’s recommendation: “Hoodwinked,” which ended up being the surprise hit and top grossing flick at the box office this past weekend. “Hoodwinked” is a computer-animated fractured fairytale that retells the story of Little Red Riding Hood with a fresh twist, a la “Shrek,” by turning it into a comical detective story.
The movie begins where the original story leaves off. Chief Grizzly and Detective Bill Stork investigate a domestic disturbance at Granny's cottage, involving a girl, a wolf, and an axe. The charges are many: breaking and entering, disturbing the peace, intent to eat, and wielding an axe without a license. Taking a page from famous Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s classic film “Rashomon,” the movie’s events are also told from the viewpoint of various characters (Anne Hathaway, Glenn Close, and Jim Belushi all lend their voices to the project) in an effort to find out what really happened at Granny’s cottage that fateful day. While the movie is not quite as sassy as Shrek, and the animation is not quite up to the level of the Pixar films it is being compared to (unfairly, as this movie was made for much less), "Hoodwinked" is still smart, witty, and has enough in it to keep younger children as well as adults entertained.
An interesting side note is that the one of the directors of the project, Cory Edwards, is a Christian, and his story caught the eye of the L.A. Times, which profiled him and his partners recently. I find it extremely encouraging to know that in the ever-increasing dialogue between Hollywood and the religious community, Hollywood execs can find evidence of a filmmaker’s faith not only in overtly evangelistic movies about martyred missionaries or the end of the world, but also in movies about a little girl in a red cape with a wicked sense of humor.
I finally saw Steven Spielberg's "Munich" yesterday, and I emerged--after a way-too-long 2 hours and 44 minutes--about as ambivalent about it as I was beforehand. Certainly, as a suspense-thriller flick, it works. The acting is top-notch, the production values strong, the story compelling (though would be more compelling if Spielberg had shaved half an hour off it). Politically, it was, as many critics pointed out, fairly incoherent, making some vague point that violence begets violence, as if the absence of violence from one side would bring world peace.
I am not sure, however, how so many people could have seen the film and called it in any way "anti-Israel," unless any depiction of ambiguity about, or negative consequences from, Israeli policies or actions is somehow inherently anti-Israel. "Munich" showed a young nation, scarred by 2,000 years of displacement that culminated in the Holocaust, struggling for survival against violent enemies who kill randomly and without remorse. And Israel is shown waging that battle with heated debate, qualms, moral compromises, and (for the most part, at least) restraint--even as it pursues its enemies with brutal, unrelenting focus. It's not clear what the film is trying to say about all this, and there's plenty to criticize in its depiction of Israel, but its sympathy for Israel and its need to defend itself was, to me, clear.
One reason I believe it has taken so much heat is the imbalance in its portrayal of the Israeli assassins and of the Palestinians they're sent to kill, 11 men who allegedly planned the 1972 Olympics massacre. The Israelis are full-fledged, three-dimensional characters: They have relationships, they miss their kids, they cook and share meals together, they have serious discussions and share in fun moments. They also have differing viewpoints on the justice of what they're doing, and are indelibly changed by their mission--pulling the trigger becomes easier and their grip on reality erodes, even as the mission becomes harder emotionally for them to continue.
On the other hand, we see brutal Palestinian terrorists committing the Olympics massacre, and then we see gentle Palestinians being killed for planning it, without any line drawn to connect them. This one's a poet, that one's got a loving wife and cute daughter--all intended, no doubt, to heighten the moral ambiguity of the Israelis' mission. The assassins need to take it on faith from their commanders that these men are guilty, and so must we. But in his effort to leave it ambiguous, Spielberg has swung too far the other way. We never see the targeted Palestinians as anything but gentle souls, reading poetry, discussing their longing for home, even denouncing the Munich massacre. Where's the ambiguity there? The Israelis are ruthlessly murdering sweet, innocent men who are working peacefully for a homeland just like the Jews have.
If we would have seen the dreamy poet planning the next terrorist attack or the loving family man rejoicing at the violent death of a Jewish child, then it would truly have been an equal fight, and maybe we would have actually felt ambivalent about the Israelis' mission, truly had a reason to debate the justice and morality of this sort of violent response to violence. Instead, we're left feeling disgust at what the Israelis did, even if we might be rooting for their ultimate victory against terrorism and for national survival.
Two wonderful signposts on the spiritual pathway are humor and humility, both of which were present and on display at this year’s Golden Globes ceremony. They were characterized by Joaquin Phoenix' quickly famous line, "Who would have ever thought I’d be here in the Best Comedy or Musical category?!”
It was typical of a night full of the kind of gentle candor and modesty that was believable, especially when coupled with the kind of laughter and levity that was as unassuming as it was un-arrogant. On the spiritual journey, laughter is the medicine of the heart which helps us hear the truth, while humility is the lens through which we can see ourselves—and God—more clearly. On a night when actors and actresses are playing their most difficult role—themselves—there emerged humble spirits and comedic deliveries that moved past self-deprecation to self-revelation, past acting to apparent authenticity.
Geena Davis nearly shed a tear when discussing a little girl who told her mom she wanted to be president because of her show "Commander in Chief." “Well,” said Davis after a pause, “that didn’t actually happen.” And, after the laughter died down, “But it could have!” She called "Commander-in-Chief" a “fledgling little show like ours” and referred to co-star Don Sutherland as “the god at whose altar I worship.” To poke fun at oneself and affirm others without reservation are high acts of humility we can ask our kids to emulate.
Reese Witherspoon displayed believable authenticity when turning to her husband and saying, “Thank you to my husband and two kids; nothing in life is worth having if I can’t have you.”
Mary Louise Parker, upon besting all four of the Desperate Housewives: “I wanna make out with all of you, especially (director) Elizabeth (Perkins),” an unintentionally provocative sentiment on "Brokeback Mountain"’s big night. She then paused the celebration and quieted the room in a moment to remember her friend and "West Wing" co-star John Spencer, who recently passed away.
Anthony Hopkins looked genuinely distressed as the camera focused on him as he endured the praise and clips leading up to his receiving the Cecil B DeMille award for lifetime achievement. He then used his speech to praise the key grips, make-up artists, transporters, and all those “who work harder than anyone” to bring these films into being, which drew enthusiastic applause.
Perhaps 14,172 servings of champagne helped loosen everybody up… and certainly helped them adopt a humility that, for a night, seemed more honest than rehearsed, even if some of the lines were written in advance and stuffed in pockets.
"By next season we are going to start a religion. It's going to be all over the world. Karma is taking over!" --"My Name is Earl" exec producer Greg Garcia, in Entertainment Weekly
Great idea! Why has no one thought of that before?
Idol Chatter and its editor are profiled in the Allentown, Pa., Morning Call newspaper by Jessica Berthold, who writes a column called "Bloggernaut."
Holding back tears, Idol Chatter would like to thank Jessica, the Morning Call, all our readers, our families, our ancestors, the Academy, all our fellow, oh-so-worthy nominees (oops, wrong speech), and, of course, the intelligent designer (for designing such a good-looking newspaper page for the article).
Seriously, though, we really appreciate the attention! You can read the piece here.
I have been a fan of comedian and satirist Steven Colbert since he began doing segments on “The Daily Show” such as “The Week in God.” No religion or religious figure was above Colbert’s barbs. That certainly hasn’t changed since he started his own show, "The Colbert Report." I have been waiting for the chance to blog about him here and last night’s episode finally gave me a perfect opportunity. Colbert interviewed Kenneth Miller, a professor at Brown University, to discuss, as only Colbert can, the issue of evolution vs. intelligent design. Miller’s first argument for believing in evolution--Darwinism? Big Bang theory? Nope. Flu shots. According to Miller, “Anyone who had a flu shot this year should sign a statement saying they believe in evolution.” Why? Because, Miller argues, the flu virus changes or evolves creating new strains every year (thus a need for a new shot every year ), so therefore it is safe to assume humans have evolved or changed from apes to who we are now.
While this argument was just one of several intentionally ( I think!) ridiculous arguments, it was interesting to me that both Colbert and Miller identified themselves as Catholics, and in Miller’s case, he vehemently proclaims that being a Catholic does not get in the way of believing in evolution. In fact, Miller states that he actually believes in a bigger God than those of us who believe in intelligent design, and he actually writes about this very topics on his very interesting website. At any rate, I wish all pop-culture-war debates were as funny, lively, and entertaining as this one. But for the record, Mr. Miller, I have had a flu shot, and I am still not signing any paper, okay?
[Editor's Note: Idol Chatter was so confused by news of scandal within the literary world--whom to believe? how to tell fact from fiction?--that we turned to guest blogger Ariana Speyer, a freelance writer with a personal connection to one of these authorial dramas, to help us make sense of it all.]
In case you’ve been under a rock this week, there is a fake-writer epidemic going around. There's Oprah sweetheart James Frey, whose bestselling "memoir" "A Million Little Pieces" was shown to have substantial exaggerations and fabrications. Then there's JT Leroy--the wunderkind author of gay-truckstop-hooker redemption books including "Sarah" and "The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things"--who was definitively outed as a hoax by Warren St. John in the New York Times. I say "definitively" because there have been plenty of stories about this over the years, but St. John found a photo of the woman who was enlisted to play “JT Leroy” (stay with me here, the author was known for only appearing in public wearing a blonde wig and sunglasses), identified her as one Savannah Knoop, and just put all the strange pieces together in such a way as to not leave any doubt.
I know “JT,” or thought I did, until a few days ago. He wrote travel pieces for index, a magazine I edited from 2002 to 2004. We talked on the phone. A lot. We emailed. A lot. I even helped organize a benefit reading of his work --that “he” attended with all his famous friends, including Winona Ryder and Shirley Manson--with the money going to something called the McAuley Foundation, a charity for troubled kids that “he” helped start. So I did feel like I knew the guy.
True, I never heard that “he” had AIDS, which apparently “he” went around telling other people “he” had. I knew about the sex-change hormone therapy, the deathly fear of public scrutiny, the late-night panic attacks, the money worries. All in that unmistakable, Southern-tinged voice that said, “We are together now. It’s you and I against the world.” This voice was full of kindness and self-absorption. It could be whiny, playful, or demanding. It had a wheedle that could move mountains. So who did this voice actually belong to? Who wrote those affecting sentences that made you cheer for the tenacity of the human spirit? One Laura Albert, who I always knew as Speedie, one half of the couple that had saved “JT” from the mean streets and with whom “he” lived in San Francisco. (The other half of the couple is Geoffrey Knoop, yes, Savannah’s brother, and he was in on the whole deal.)
So, now that we’re all up to date in this twisted plot, what happens next? First of all, while it’s hurtful and manipulative and a personal bummer, and probably immoral and a lot of other bad things that a lot of people have already commented on, I’m going to say cheers to Laura and Geoff for pulling it off for so long. You know it wasn’t easy to concoct a person out of thin air year after year. Didn’t they ever get “JT” fatigue? Did Laura ever think, “Christ, I’ve got to pretend to be this needy, off-kilter, genius-in-the-rough loser again, and I really just want to read a magazine?” I’m also going to say that, scam or no, someone is still responsible for writing those books, stories, and magazine pieces, and that person has a huge, valid talent. (I read "Sarah" and was genuinely moved; I’m now happy to confess that I never got around to reading "The Heart.") So what if they’re not based on really being a gay street kid? The work has power and truth in its own right, and for that, again, kudos to the writer, who seems to al
so be Laura.
The $64,000 question is, if Laura had all this talent from the get-go, why the elaborate ruse? Turns out, she always had her heart set on being a rock star but never quite made the grade, or so said Stephen Beachy in a New York magazine article last year. Hmmm, a failed rocker turned plotting deceiver, why does that sound so familiar? Maybe because both Charles Manson and David Koresh got jilted by the music world before they decided to focus on the activities for which they ultimately became famous.
While some people might put Laura into the textbook psycho category along with those other guys, I prefer to think of her as a Brooklyn gal with chutzpah to spare. When I met her and “JT” while they were in New York for the benefit, I remember feeling strangely put off and disappointed by the face-to-face encounter with this person who I felt so close to on the phone and in cyberspace. When “JT” and I were introduced I was met with a gentle blankness. That’s because I was looking into Savannah’s eyes, and she had no idea who on earth I was. Because, SHE HAD NEVER SPOKEN TO ME BEFORE. Afterwards, I rationalized the strangeness of the meeting by telling myself that of course it would be strange: JT has a rather large fear of being seen in public. So even the cracks in the “JT” façade somehow managed to substantiate the façade itself. And that’s a kind of genius. Evil genius, perhaps, but genius all the same.
Laura, if you’re out there reading this, and I know you are (“JT” obsessively tracked his press mentions, so I imagine Laura has been pretty much glued to her monitor, probably alternating between the thrill of so much ink being spilled on her account and the agony of what the ink is spelling out), I say you deserve some kind of prize. You’ve turned in a tour de force performance on so many levels that it’s a bit hard to fully fathom. Do they give out awards for psychological acuity? If they ever do start giving out “Sigmunds,” you should definitely be shortlisted. Brava! (And please seek treatment immediately. You are a very sick person. Maybe you and James Frey can find a nice quiet truth spa in which to recuperate.)
The New York Times has a few stalwart religion writers, like Laurie Goodstein, whose work saves the editors’ decided parochialism when it comes to religion. (See “Rites,” an oddly inanimate photo series of Jewish, pagan, and other supposedly arcane ceremonies that seems to have been discontinued.) But only John Leland—not a religion reporter at all, but the Times’ appointed chronicler of hipness (and a former colleague of mine at Newsweek)--seems to take true delight in America’s spiritual grab-bag. His pieces on alternative churches and Christian rock a few years back communicated those worlds without condescending--even if, thanks to that same Timesean callowness about faith matters, the articles ran some years after those phenomena arose. Yesterday Leland tackled the parapsychological notion of Indigo children—again, a little late, but with his accustomed real curiosity and gentleness.
Saturday night at 9, the National Geographic Channel's "Taboo" series presents a look at "Rites of Passage" from around the world. Tune in, TiVo it, or have someone record it. Here's why:
This show visits different cultures from around the world—and one in America—showing footage of life transitions marked by more than just a Hallmark card. In the American Midwest, an Apache tribe maintains a grueling four-day ordeal to usher young girls into womanhood. In South Africa, boys become men by going through the traditional Xhosa initiation process which begins with a brutal circumcision.
If your kids watch, it may give a new perspective on teen challenges such as “mowing the lawn,” “cleaning up your room,” “keeping the family car clean and fueled after you use it,” and, oh yes, the big one: “Do you homework and study well for tests.” Not so bad after all, huh?
And the brave watcher might stop and question whether these painful taboos are actually less painful—in the long run—than the long-term consequences of America’s extended adolescence, with adults “working out their issues” well into adulthood. As author and family expert Dr. Chapman Clark has said: Today's adults want to look like kids, crank their high school "hits," and passionately cheer on the team. Today's adolescents see these adults aspiring to live like teenagers, and subsequently they see no reason to make the difficult journey to adulthood.
“In contemporary society, graduate school is often a place to ‘find oneself,’” Clark says “Numerous studies attempt to understand the historically unheard of phenomenon of 30-somethings who have Ph.D.s living at home or waiting tables who have yet to 'discover' what they want to do.”
If you watch, fight the temptation to just observe it like an animal kingdom show--as in “watch as Fred puts his hand in the mouth of the alligator.” We need a good discussion about how to help our kids make a clearer transition into adulthood, taking personal responsibility for everything they do. And maybe it’s time some of us did the same.
Queen Latifah made me cry. I wouldn't normally admit that I teared up during a heartwarming, inspirational romantic comedy, but I'm willing to go on the record so that others might not pass up "Last Holiday, "a remake of the 1950 movie of the same name. In it, Queen Latifah plays Georgia Byrd, a demure, church-going New Orleans department store worker, who decides to travel to Europe and pursue her dreams of staying in a grand hotel and eating foods prepared by a world famous chef after being told she has only three weeks to live. Once in Europe, Georgia's new-found passion for life leads to a comical case of mistaken identity and some truly hysterical scenes in the hotel spa.
While not exactly ground-breaking storytelling--and there's a somewhat distracting political subplot--the laughs are plentiful, the scenery fantastic, and it's great to see Timothy Hutton and Gerard Depardieu back on the big screen. As a general rule, I try to avoid anything that could be labeled "inspirational," but Queen Latifah's energy embodied the reinvigorated Georgia Byrd so perfectly that I couldn't help but get caught up in the tale and get a bit verklempt at the appropriate moments. Georgia's story speaks to everyone who has ever postponed chasing their dreams, and that's probably a good 99% of the population.
When interviewing Queen Latifah about the film and her own spiritual journey, I admitted that, although my usually-stony media-maven self shies away from movies that are heartwarming, she replied,"Get your 'heartwarm' on, girl!" (You can read the interview here.) So to all of you looking for an enjoyable--and, yes, inspirational--film to watch this weekend, go and get your "heartwarm" on with "Last Holiday."
Most of last night’s episode of "Lost" focused on revealing the secrets of Mr. Eko, one of the survivors from the tail section of the plane, who we learn knows all-too-well the history behind the crashed plane Charlie had discovered loaded with statues of the Virgin Mary. Nevertheless, it was some of the smaller moments of last night’s episode that truly moved me.
While Mr. Eko and Charlie made their way to the crash site, we were treated to glimpses of seemingly insignificant moments of kindness and grace among the community of survivors left on the beach as well as those who were living in the hatch. Kate volunteered to give the ailing-but-still-caustic Sawyer a haircut. Michael, who previously had never gotten along with Sawyer, gave Sawyer some words of encouragement. Jin and Sun brought the lonely, angry Ana Lucia--still reeling from guilt over Shannon--some food. Jack took time to extend his sympathy to Michael for the loss of his son, Walt, and confessed he should have said something to Michael much sooner. In some of these exchanges, the compassion and mercy that were offered was readily accepted, as when Ana’s face lit up over Jin and Sun’s gift of food, but in other cases, as with Sawyer, the act of kindness was not so readily accepted. It didn’t matter though. We as viewers could see that just the offering of grace itself seems to begin to do the work of healing in the lives of Ana, Sawyer, and Michael.
Watching one of the episode's final montages last night, I couldn’t help but be reminded that, like the surviving passengers of Oceanic Flight 815, we all are in need of a sense of community where we can extend and receive hope, love, and forgiveness to each other. Otherwise we, too, will be become spiritually, well, lost.
In yet another step aimed at enhancing its image as an eco-friendly grocer to the world, Whole Foods is set to have its energy needs met by Colorado-based Renewable Choice Energy, a purveyor of wind-generated energy. This leap into “green” power makes Whole Foods the largest user of renewable energy in the United States, and upholds the company’s position as a leading food supplier to the environment-minded metrospiritual set.
But Whole Foods isn’t the only corporate heavyweight reliant on an earth-friendly energy source. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Air Force and home products giant Johnson & Johnson are also two of the country’s largest consumers of renewable energy.
“24” returns to Fox this Sunday after a loooong lay-off, and it's about time. “24” is the kind of dynamic and necessary post-modern good vs. evil story that we need, because most of us have little tolerance for easy feel-good answers. Kiefer Sutherland’s Jack Bauer is neither perfectly good nor dastardly evil, making him a strong and current anti-hero. He has struggled in marriage, family, and love through each of the series’ first four seasons. He has offended, blamed, fired, or killed just about everyone he’s worked with. He has made ethical choices that none of us could ever get away with, and he constantly obstructs authority while blowing holes in the ethical boxes of his colleagues. He religiously believes he is fighting in a world others can’t see, according to ground rules they don’t recognize. He fights for a victory that, while great, does not pretend to solve every problem in the human condition, at least not immediately.
I appreciate this character’s perspective because I—like many people I know—struggle not with obvious black-and-white character virtues and ethics choices, but rather with that gray world of slight lies, half-truths, and razor-thin indiscretions, which we would never try to get away with if we weren’t, well, trying to get away with them.
It is also through Bauer’s lens that we can perhaps see into the more human side of what it is like to be a hero when others don’t even know they need one, which is similar—if you buy the story—to the story of Jesus Christ himself. Imagine the patience He must have had as He tried to make people aware of a spiritual world they couldn’t see, realities they wouldn’t fathom, ground rules that didn’t seem to apply, an enemy they failed to acknowledge and a battle they denied was existing in the heavenlies. And He didn’t fix everything wrong with the world, either. At least not then.
“24” will hit full stride by Easter season, and while it’s obviously not quite "The Passion of the Christ," it does offer a fair window into the life of a hero who doesn’t ask for credit, doesn’t get headlines, offends those in authority, and offers a sacrifice that goes largely unnoticed by most of those who benefit from it. Perhaps we all can benefit from a retrospective look beyond the blue-eyed, blond-haired Sunday School shepherd we may have heard of as kids, and re-discover a hero from another time and culture who changed the world by acting according to instructions, reality, and a code that few around him could understand.
And, of course, we may gain an insight or two that helps us in that razor-thin world of discretion and temptation that lies at the root of every character decision and ethics choice we have in front of us every day, as we seek to be something of a human hero to those we love in our own world.
In addition to a L'il Kim reality show--chronicling the rapper's last two weeks before going behind bars--BET, the cable station aimed at African-American viewers, is hoping to liven up its lineup with a weekly show called "Meet the Faith." The concept is modeled on NBC's venerable Sunday political chat show, "Meet the Press," with CNN political analyst Carlos Watson playing host to religious leaders discussing current affairs. But BET's religion panel won't feature insiders bantering about culture-wars topics, promises BET pres Reginald Hudlin. Instead, notables from the religion world will talk about "what is right and wrong, what makes better human beings, what connects to our spirituality," Hudlin says.
Any meaningful religion blab on broadcast TV wouldn't have a chance to keep its head above the right-left fray. Can BET? Certainly, "Meet the Faith" will benefit from the open dialogue African-American churches have historically maintained between religion and society. But that easy dialogue has in part depended on a consensus affliation with the Democratic Party. With African-American ministers increasingly lining up with Republicans (see last Sunday's "Justice Sunday" in Philly), the new show may showcase the growing diversification of the African-American church's voice. "Meet the Faith" premieres March 19.
As my effort to catch up on "The Sopranos" continues, I am now making my way through Season Two, currently available through HBO's "On Demand."
Two episodes in particular have caught my attention with their interesting religious themes. Episode 20, "D-Girl," revolves around Anthony Jr's introduction in school to existentialism, which provokes him to suddenly question life's meaning and--most concerning to his parents--the existence of God. (As we all know, reading Nietzsche and Camus sometimes will have that effect.) Anthony Jr's existential angst is juxtaposed with his Confirmation celebration and his family's strained attempt to welcome him as a full member into the Catholic Church.
In Episode 21, "Full Leather Jacket," a central family member and aspiring young mob boss has been shot, and the episode opens with everyone surrounding his bed and praying. The most interesting twist to this development is Carmela's special petition to God. Carmela Soprano, Tony's wife, is the moral compass of the series as well as the family's religious center. Filled with grief, Carmela kneels in an empty hospital room and prays to Jesus, offering up her entire family's sins to him (which, if you watch the show, is quite a hefty offering) if Jesus will let this beloved family member live. Lo and behold, Carmela's hotline to heaven works (or so it seems), and the subject of her prayers not only wakes up, but wakes up and claims that he has been to hell and back--and that when all the mafiosos die, himself included, hell is where they are all destined to spend the afterlife.
I was planning to stay out of the whole debate over Hollywood’s current critical darling, “Brokeback Mountain,” a.k.a. "the gay cowboy movie." I even resisted the impulse to respond to fellow Idol Chatterer Donna’s eloquent analysis of the movie. But yesterday I happened to run across this article from the Associated Press about how a suburban Salt Lake City theater owned by NBA Utah Jazz owner Larry Miller decided at the last minute to not show the film, indicating implicitly (if not explicitly) that the decision was directly linked to the homosexuality that is central to the story. For me, this tiny news tidbit became the proverbial last straw--even though I am sure this is not the last example of censorship or politizing of this polarizing issue. I now feel compelled to vent about the uproar that has made “Brokeback” this year’s “Million Dollar Baby.”
While I love discussing movies as much as the next person, if not more, I am completely disinterested in propaganda of any kind--pro-gay/anti-gay, pro-liberal/anti-liberal, you name it, I dislike it all. And what I find especially frustrating is when movies are reduced to propaganda by the news and entertainment media. And that is exactly what has happened to “Brokeback.” The film is being reviewed less for its artistic merits as for its ability to make an argument for a cause. The movie has been latched onto by the political left as a shining example of an enduring love that demonstrates society’s intolerance and the need to legalize gay marriage. Over on the right, religious groups are applying pressure, such as the case in Utah, to not show the film at all because it goes against the fundamental values of their beliefs.
My irritation lies in the fact that, in my opinion, both sides are wrong. The story, much as real life, is far more complex and does not deserve to be reduced to the role of nothing more than a poster child in a culture war. It also doesn't deserve all the hype.
As I watched “Brokeback” after reading reviews primarily favorable to the film, I found it impossible to believe anyone would watch this movie and come away from it believing that everything would be perfect for Jack and Ennis if only they lived in a world where gay marriage was legal. Jack cannot bring himself to be faithful to either his wife or Ennis, so is a wedding ring really the answer? In fact, both men have serious unresolved childhood issues, which sabotage all of their relationships. At the same time, it was also difficult to watch the film and not feel the pain of these two men bent on self-destruction and feel some compassion. So here I am once again, standing somewhere in the middle of the cultural and spiritual divide of our country, wishing a movie could just be a movie.
Although it may surprise a lot of people, I find the new face of religion on TV in the form of the “Dog: The Bounty Hunter” (Tuesdays at 9), A & E’s highest-rated series ever.
The show, which gives us a look into the often-misunderstood world of bail bonding, focuses on Duane “Dog” Chapman and his family of bounty hunters, including wife Beth, two of his 12 children, Leland and Duane Lee, and friend Tim Chapman (no relation). A former sergeant-at-arms in a motorcycle gang called “Devil’s Disciples,” Dog explains on his website how he got his cool nickname:
“We [had] a guy in the gang who’s always mad at God. He’s always flipping God off. So I started praying for him. Since we already have a ‘Preacher’ and a ‘John the Baptist’ in the gang, I became known as Dog—God backwards.”
Although he went to prison for two years for the murder of a drug dealer he insists he didn’t commit, Dog has left his gang life behind and is now a born-again Christian, motivational speaker, and the self-proclaimed, “Greatest Bounty Hunter in the World,” with over 6,000 captures under his belt during his 27-year career. Dog and his family pray every time they go out on a bounty hunt to track down someone who has skipped bail. He knows his job is dangerous, but he trusts that God will keep him safe so he can come back home to his children.
Throughout the show, Dog utters little bits of advice or wisdom, which he calls “Dogisms.” One of my favorites is, “I like to hear that God goes before us, because he is the biggest bullet proof vest of all."
From Jay Leno last night, referring to Jesus' occasional appearances as a character in NBC's "The Book of Daniel":
Tough year for Jesus. Last year, He was the superstar leading character of the biggest movie of the year, "The Passion of the Christ." Now, he's relegated to a recurring role in a dead show on the fourth-place network!
As for me, one of the questions I'll have for Him when I get there: "When you were referenced irreverently in culture--even if innocently intended--did you cringe at the ignorance and disrespect to your Name or chuckle at the succes of your plan to remind people of Your existence?"
I was at a dinner party the other day--you know, a little chips, dip, some chile, good conversation, and to wash it all down, He'brew: The Chosen Beer! Imagine my surprise when I noticed the bottle, whose label has what looks to be a very happy Hasidic man (I think) holding up two beers triumphantly, with the Brooklyn Bridge on the left and Jerusalem on the right as a back drop. Not something you drink everyday, right?
For the curious, this particular brew, one of several He'brew blends, was called "Genesis Ale," billed as "A Smooth and Distinct Light Brown Ale," and it comes with a little story:
Why is this beer different from all other beers? In the beginning, the was an idea, and it was good. A Gourmet Kosher Microbrew to celebrate the bounty of our own American land of milk and honey. Our first creation is Genesis Ale, a rich, smooth, and disticntive light brown ale. A smidgen of Middle East, a dash of American West... Then we tasted it, and it was very good After 5000 years of civilization, finally a microbrew with the chutzpah to call itself The Chosen Beer. From the Golden Gate to the City of God, may HE'BREW join in the blessings of your lives... To Life! L'Chaim!
The taste of God's Chosen Beer? Well, to be honest, it's just OK.
Frontline, one of PBS's flagship programs, most famous for controversial political reports on issues such as the use of torture by the United States, brings viewers a different kind of story--"Country Boys," airing tonight through Wednesday, Jan. 11, at 9pm EST. "Country Boys," a documentary directed by David Sutherland, follows the teenage years of Chris Johnson (above, right) and Cody Perkins (left) as they navigate the ups and downs of The David School, an alternative high school that is a last-stop option for teens struggling with drugs and alcohol, while at the same time managing extreme tragedy and poverty in Appalachia, one of the poorest and most rural regions of the United States and the place they call home.
Faith places a central role in both boys' lives, but in vastly different ways. One of the most striking and moving moments of the documentary comes early on when Chris talks about his alcoholic father--who is shown drunk literally throughout the six-hour documentary--and the creative, resourceful way Chris has made up for the role model he lacks but desperately needs. Chris introduces viewers to Xavier, holding up a hand-drawn picture of this character who is "his own personal hero" and has the characteristics of "power, strength, intelligence, bravery, and can win against the odds." Chris explains: "Even though Xavier is fictional, he keeps me going," and "whenever I begin to feel invisible, I think of Xavier."
Created as an incredible act of self-preservation, Xavier is not only the role model that fills the void Chris's father has left, but also serves as a god-figure in Chris's life. The fragility of the fictional nature of Chris's makeshift savior becomes obvious as his story unfolds and he struggles deeply with isolation, his efforts and failures at friendships and romance, and an overall faith in himself and his ability to follow through on all the many creative endeavors he starts but can't quite finish. Chris's faith life is a lonely one.
Cody, on the other hand, is a classic example of the American born-again teenager, but with a not-so-classic family history. Cody is saved by Jesus shortly after his father murders his stripper stepmother with an AK-47 and then turns the gun on himself, committing suicide. Even before that tragic incident (Cody is 12 at the time), Cody is no stranger to family violence: His birth-mother killed herself with a gun when he was younger. At age 15, when audiences first meet Cody, he is a mass of contradictions: a sweet-natured boy with a similarly sweet-natured, devoted girlfriend, who tries his best at school and strives to be himself--yet he's someone with a shockingly disturbing family past and a personal history of drug addiction. Cody wears a Goth persona on the outside (his dyed black hair grows ever-longer in tune with the documentary), complete with his own Goth-style band, yet he critiques Goth culture for lacking faith in Christ and having no morals, and in his spare time he plays in the decidely tame youth band at the Faith Baptist Nondenominational Church. Cody wears his faith on his sleeve--quite literally, in his choice of t-shirts--and never stops talking about the role of God in making him who he is today. At one point, he explains that "before I was saved I was suicidal, but then I found a new reason to live."
Cody's Goth band is twice shown playing a song he calls "Death." If you can stand the sound and make out his lyrics--which are delivered Marilyn Manson frightening-style--listen carefully to the story the song tells about experiencing the murder of his stepmother and suicide of his father. I quote in part: "God is the only one keeping me sane, otherwise I would just put a bullet in my brain." In a moving moment late in the documentary, Cody reveals to his girlfriend Jessica his aspirations to become a preacher.
While both Chris and Cody face intense struggles and each has his own unique moments of success, the strength and compass Cody finds through his relationship with Christ makes all the difference as he moves forward in life--a unifying center and path that Chris lacks but sorely needs. It is interesting to watch how faith makes the difference between the two boys' lives.
Chris and Cody's story is slow-moving overall, but with commitment, it yields many small moments of reward that will be moving for viewers who stick with them through the lulls, loneliness, and occasional joys of life as a teenager in the Appalachian hills.
William Safire, in his weekly "On Language" column in the New York Times Magazine, writes about the origins of the word "good," in an effort to explain its common contemporary usage in the phrase "I'm good," which usually means something along the lines of "I'm Okay," or "I've had enough," or "I can handle it." Safire explains:
Here we have one of the basic words of the English language--originally used in the place of God to avoid irreverance--gaining currency in an unremarked new sense. Early on, I'm good meant "I am without sin," but that is now seldom the meaning."
So the word "good" was originally "God" plus an extra "O." Who knew?
Woody Allen's newest film, Match Point, starring Scarlett Johansson as Nola Rice, and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Chris Wilton, is a far cry from the typical screwball comedy for which he is famous. Opening nationwide today, this well-acted (for the most part) drama will surely lure audiences well beyond Woody Allen's usual fan base, but don't expect a single laugh from the experience. Matchpoint is intense drama through and through.
The story revolves around the life of Chris Wilton, a former tennis star trying to make a living in London who lands a job at a prestigious country club as a tennis pro. Despite humble origins, his well-mannered demeanor and good looks win him friends in the highest of places--most of all, with the Hewett family, who will offer him, among other things: a wife, a prestigious job, a home, a driver, all the money he could ever want, a best friend, and most of all, a family that loves him dearly. Chris rises from rags to riches within minutes of the opening credits.
Despite Chris's good fortune, or luck as he might put it, as far as social connections go--and the unconditional riches lavished upon him, both literally and figuratively--he remains emotionally set apart from everyone around him, not quite happy, and this listlessness becomes the driving force of the film: his affair with Nola Rice, the American transplant, struggling actress, and former fiance of his brother-in-law, Tom Hewett. He decides to risk everything for the one thing that is missing in his life with the Hewitts: passion.
The central theme of this film, that life is not so much about the choices we make, how hard we work, the values we uphold, or the commitments we fulfill, but instead is really about how lucky we are is revealed from the very beginning in the opening narration. This idea is illustrated by a tennis ball striking the net in such a way and bouncing straight up in such a way that it is impossible to know on which side of the net it will land, and therefore, which player will end up the winner. The theme of luck--that ultimately, outcomes, consequences, and responsibility is not really about doing right, being faithful, and living honestly--is kept aloft throughout the film and grows more shocking and disturbing as the web Chris weaves between himself and Nola on one end, and the Hewitts on the other, grows ever more complicated.
Viewers will surely be left asking hefty questions about morality, fidelity, and whether the lives we live have any purpose or meaning at all, or whether the difference between jail and freedom, despair and happiness, keeping everything or losing it all, is rather more like the tennis ball that strikes the net just so, randomly falling on one side or the other.
Matchpoint is a feast for the existentialist. (I couldn't stop thinking of Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" throughout, though Wilton's character seems to prefer Dostoevsky.) But this film will more likely leave the traditional moralist starving and even angry at the outcomes. Regardless of which audience you are, it's Woody Allen's best effort in years and well worth the trip to the theater.
NBC's "My Name is Earl" is predicated on the spiritual idea of karma--and while it may fall somewhat short of the concept's traditional Hindu meaning, Earl has doggedly tried, week after week, to right all the wrongs he'd done in his life. Despite the premise, the show is hardly spiritual. Except for last night's episode.
In it, Earl and his brother Randy return to "The Right Choice Ranch," a summer camp for troubled boys, so that Earl can make up for having burned down a barn in 1982, earning the brothers a ticket home. Earl is wracked with guilt because, with that act, he had ruined not only his own chance to finish the program and lead a better life, but also his brother's. But it soon becomes clear that it was Randy, not Earl, who was responsible for lighting that fateful fire. Angry, Earl punishes Randy by turning over to him the infamous "list" of wrongs to be set right.
There was one item on the list that Randy couldn't complete in his brother's stead, however. It was a broken promise Earl had made to take his sons to Mystery Fun Land for a day of skee-ball amusement. Grudgingly, Earl accepts, loads the boys into the car, and heads out... only to discover that Mystery Fun Land is no more.
Here's the "out of the mouths of babes" moment that was a pleasant jolt of human kindness in an otherwise hilarious show. While Earl is crushed that he can't cross that item off the list because Fun Land is gone, his young son looks at him and says those three healing words: "I forgive you." Earl doesn't have to un-do, or re-do, the failed outing, his son explains--he just has to express his remorse and be forgiven. His son crosses the item off Earl's list himself, a smile on his face.
Re-invigorated, Earl can then return to Randy and take the list back, paying forward the forgiveness he has experienced. It was a reminder that there are many ways to right a wrong.
Craig Gross and Mike Foster, a.k.a. “the porn pastors” and founders of XXXChurch.com, are at the country’s largest porn convention this weekend, the Adult Expo in Las Vegas. They're there to remind customers, producers, and porn stars that Jesus loves them, too. Gross and Foster, former youth pastors, started their self-proclaimed “#1 Christian porn website” in 2002 in an effort to tackle the issue of pornography from a different angle.
These men (as well as their wives) are initiating dialogue about sex and pornography within the church (in a Christianity Today survey, 33 percent of pastors said they have been to a porn site) as well as with the porn industry itself using unconventional strategies. One of those strategies has been for the porn pastors to rent exhibit booths at major porn conventions in an effort to build relationships with people in the pornography industry so as to affect change from the inside out. Their one-of-a-kind ministry (be sure to go their website and read about their “Save the kittens” campaign) has also gotten the attention of everyone from Howard Stern to “Playboy” magazine. Even harder to believe, a porn filmmaker actually helped the two men create a documentary about the ministry last year, called “Missionary Positions.”
If you are curious or skeptical about the credibility of this ministry, XXX Church has a blog on their website to journal Gross and Foster’s encounters at this year's Expo. And on a personal note, I know many in the church community doubt their motives and question their methods, but I spent a day with them at a porn convention in Los Angeles (I was there strictly for journalistic purposes!) and was truly amazed at the impact they are having.
With NBC's "The Book of Daniel" debuting tomorrow night, the Episcopal Church is weighing in on the drama--which centers around an Episcopal priest and his troubled family--via a blog of its own, cleverly titled "The Blog of Daniel." Idol Chatter owes the Church a thank-you for focusing one of the blog's early postings on a piece by yours truly that looks at the controversy over the show.
In related news, said controversy continues: Two NBC affiliates are refusing to show "Daniel." And they're probably not the only ones who will say no to it.
And, for one last shameless self-promotional plug: You can check out our reviewer's assessment of the show here, or read my feature on the show--with quotes from the stars--here.
MSNBC.com's Scoop breaks the news States-side that Gwyneth Paltrow is demanding "proof" that her newly-renovated London home is haunted. According to London's Daily Mail, Ms. Paltrow feels that her current pregnancy is not going as easily as her last one and she is attributing it to "dark energies" in her home. Purchased in 2004 from Kate Winslet, Paltrow and her husband, Chris Martin of Coldplay, are reluctant to move, since they paid a reported 3.5 million pounds for the home and spent an additional 1 million pounds on renovations, reports the Daily Mail.
So, who ya gonna call? Madonna, of course. According to the Daily Mail, the Material Girl recommended to Gwyneth that she enlist a Kabbalah rabbi to exorcise energies from the estate. It seems Madge uses Kabbalah rabbis before her concerts to rid the stage of negative energies.
But a spokesman for Paltrow tells Scoop's Jeannette Walls that "there’s not a ghost of truth to the tale."
“This is 100 percent false. [Paltrow] does not feel her home has any bad energy, and, in fact, feels that the house has wonderful energy and enjoys all the time she and her family spend there. Also, Gwyneth is not a follower of Kabbalah and therefore has not enlisted the help of a Kabbalah rabbi particularly since there is nothing to exorcise from the home.”
Personally, I believe Paltrow's spokesperson. She apparently moved to the house to be closer to her personal acupuncturist, Gary Trainer, who could just threaten any ghosts with a little moxibustion, a.k.a. cupping. That would scare even the hardiest among them away.
This week’s revelation that Hasidic reggae artist Matisyahu makes a guest appearance on Christian band P.O.D.’s new album is not news in itself. Collaborations between Christians and Jews are increasingly common--Rabbi Lawrence Kushner and Gary Schmidt of Calvin College have even made a nice children’s book together. And artists from Willie Nelson to Sinead O'Connor have worked the reggae sound on recent releases. In their messages, P.O.D. and Matsiyahu aren't so different, either: the lyric, “You got to give yourself up then you become whole” could be the work of either the Hasid or the Christians. (It’s Matsiyahu’s.)
But the fraternizing between P.O.D. and Matsiyahu does provide a hi-res snapshot of this moment in religious pop. Christian rockers, even metal bands like inner-city L.A.'s P.O.D. have long since lost their novelty and are reviving themselves by allying with a rising star. And Matisyahu is that. “Matisyahu is on the cusp on bonafide stardom,” wrote the New Jersey Jewish Standard last summer. That much is evident in Matisyahu's newly released 2006 tour dates: You won't find him performing in Borough Park, the Brooklyn neighborhood where Hasidim, if not his reggae artists, are mainstream. Instead, he's hitting places like Indianapolis, Houston and a host of college venues such as Colby in Maine and Cambridge, Mass. He was even featured recently on MTV.
Some of this is due to the novelty of Matisyahu's sound, and odd looks. The former Matthew Miller, a convert to one of Judaism's most conservative Orthodox branches, performs his Near-Eastern-tinged form of rap/reggae in Adidas sneakers and a black coat, hat, and beard straight outta 19th-century Minsk. But he also is part of a larger phenomenon. Wrote the Standard, "His success has placed him as the face of a new kind of Jewish renewal based on organizations and projects that make Judaism relevant and palatable to young people." That revelance is something P.O.D. would like to get a cut of.
I've been told by just about everyone and their mother (quite literally) that HBO's "The Sopranos"--starring James Gandolfini as New Jersey mafia boss Tony Soprano and Edie Falco as his wife Carmela--is the best show on television. Better than "The West Wing"? I have to say, I can't imagine that's possible. But after many years of resistance and despite the violence and contsant trips to the Bada Bing (a strip club they love to hang in, so not my thing), I decided to take the plunge and take part in HBO's "Countdown to the Sopranos." Starting in December, HBO released Season One to On Demand viewers, followed by Season Two yesterday, and so on and so forth until March 2006, when the long-awaited new Season Six finally airs (fans have been waiting almost two years now).
And I have to admit, now that I'm a little more than halfway through Season One and racing to watch all 13 episodes before getting too behind on Season 2's release, I'm hooked. I've decided I'm in it for the long haul, between the utter complexity of Tony Soprano's character--good-guy/caring family man/guy who'll "wack" just about anyone who gets in his way--and the growing tension between Carmela and Father Phil, her confessor and the local parish priest, and all the hilarious Italian references and commentary that anyone growing up in an Italian family can't help but recognize and love (that would be me). A total of 65 episodes, I figure there will be plenty of time between waiting for new episodes of "The West Wing" and the start of "24" once again on Fox to catch up.
One of the highlights so far is in Episode 9, "Boca," when Tony thrills at a moral milestone in his life: He resists doing serious violence to a man who is hurting his daughter Meadow and her friends--and instead turns him into the police. Perhaps there's hope for Tony yet.
The bestselling non-fiction author alive has lost his television show. The Trinity Broadcasting Network, the nation's largest Christian broadcaster, has suspended "The International Intelligence Briefing," starring Hal Lindsey, whose apocalyptic book "The Late Great Planet Earth" has sold some 30 million copies and served as the template for the "Left Behind" fiction series. Lately most of Lindsey's intelligence (as well as his most recent book) has worked to equate Islam and terrorism. As TBN has extended its reach overseas, including to the Middle East, it blanched at Lindsey's insistence that the only Muslims who rejected violence had yet to read the Qu'ran.
At first, TBN said Lindsey's show was being preempted by Christmas programming. Only later did a TBN executive admit that Lindsey's program "placed Arabs in a negative light," a waffle that has contributed to the idea among the most conservative Christians that TBN, operated by Christian broadcasting pioneers Paul and Jan Crouch, has lost both its moral compass and its stomach for conservatism. ("Is this the end of TBN?" asks one blogger.) Lindsey countered yesterday by quitting TBN, but his widespread support, and his plans to find an outlet for his new show, "The Hal Lindsey Report," suggest a feud may be brewing in Christian media circles.
It was a tragedy that coal miners were trapped in Tallmansville, West Virginia, and an even greater tragedy that news spread of 12 survivors when in fact there was only one. Whenever hard things happen, it is heartwrenching and I join with all those who pray for the families and for better safety for miners in the future.
One of the postscripts of the reporting of this tragedy should be a discussion about prayer. CNN and ABC were among the many media outlets who reported that many were praying for the trapped miners and their families.
Why it it that reactive prayers in time of crisis seem acceptable in our culture, but proactive prayers seem to offend, divide and bring controversy? Why--in seasons like these--do the news networks suddely omit any talk of the need for separation between faith and government, religion and leadership, church and state? If we accept that prayer is a significant part of our nation's health and heritage, then we could expose our kids to the practice openly and practice it in every area of culture and society.
I pray for the day when prayers for our kids, for education, for our legal system, for our leaders and for every detail of life are as culturally acceptable as those offered in times of national mourning and tragedy such as this--when prayer is a regular part of our mass media and pop-culture, not relegated to just those moments when the worst happens. Until then, I'll continue to pray for all the families of the men trapped in that mine... and for more of us to pray for God's power in every part of our culture long before the next tragedy stikes.
I caught the preview episode on Sunday night of ABC's new "In Justice," which will be airing on Friday nights, starting this week. If you like court shows, it's worth a look-see. The series focuses on the lawyers of the National Justice Project, a take-off on the real-life Innocence Project. Both the factual and fictional versions of this group revisit old criminal cases in an attempt to free prisoners who were, in their eyes, wrongly convicted.
The real-life Innocence Project, co-founded by Barry Scheck 0f O.J. Simpson Trial fame, focuses specifically on using DNA techniques that were unavailable when its cases were originally tried. The fictional National Justice Project employees on more general, and TV-generic, gumshoe detective techniques--which is another way of saying it relies on a heavy dose of faith in deciding which convicts' stories to believe and how doggedly to pursue their case, even when the evidence continues pointing to their guilt. Their decision-making process--whom to believe? which stories grab a lawyer's attention? how much of that is based on pure facts and how much on emotion or personal interest?--is a good reminder that there is always a large dose of the fallible human element in the justice system.
Bonus for those interested in pop-culture and religion: "In Justice" has an extraneous subplot in which two lawyers, already divorced, are seeking an annulment from the Catholic Church, but are told they must first undergo eight months of counseling. The story they concocted to get their annulment involved the husband falsely admitting to years of infidelity. Not sure where that's going, but it ought to be fun to watch.
It's no joke: Heath Ledger--in the new movie "Casanova," playing the absolute antithesis of his role in Brokeback Mountain--actually utters the line, "What would Casanova do?" in an attempt to give an aspiring lover-boy advice and inspiration about how to get women into bed. Whether the allusion to WWJD is intentional or not is unclear, but I laughed out loud in the theater when Ledger delivered it.
Unlike Kris Rasmussen, my fellow blogger who reported going 0 for 2 in Christmas week movies (disliking both "Rumor Has It" and "Cheapter By the Dozen 2"), I had a bit more success. "Casanova" is a fun farce with a fantastic cast (Oliver Platt, Sienna Miller, Lena Olin, Jeremy Irons, and did I mention Heath Ledger?). Since legend has it that Casanova was quite the lady's man of 18th-century Venice, and his name is known to us only by way of his fame as a seducer, you'd think the movie Casanova would be all about sex, sex, sex. But it's not. Though there are certainly allusions to a good deal of sex, this movie is more about the romance that Kris complains is lacking in so many recently released movies. And a good deal of ridiculousness, swordfighting, and other fun things to watch on the big screen.
So if you're looking for romance, Casanova gets an A in my book. (Getting to watch Heath Ledger on screen as a romantic lead for 105 minutes also gets an A as well.)
The world is closer to its end... or so suggested the press release set to Beliefnet by the Left Behind Prophecy Club (associated with, and intended to increase sales of, the highly successful "Left Behind" series). It pointed to such events as the devastating natural disasters over the last 12 months, successful Iraqi elections that “pave the way for rebuilding Babylon,” and President Putin’s arms deal with Iraq as signs that the apocalypse is upon us.
I suspect this publicist will struggle to generate interest in these spiritual road signs toward heaven, especially since the “Left Behind” novels have plateaued on the charts. Frankly, I think more people will be intrigued by Newsweek’s end-of-year cover story on Tom Hanks and the upcoming "Da Vinci Code" movie and Time’s Persons of the Year award honoring Bono and Bill and Melinda Gates for their fight to end world poverty. Now these sound exciting, fresh, and dynamic... or, at least, interesting.
As a seeker of spiritual truth—and as one knowing I have much still to discover—I am stunned at how often one of the greatest mysteries of all time is reduced to religious rhetoric that fails to capture our cultural and societal fascination.
And it shouldn’t be that way.
The biblical story of the baby Jesus—the Christ of Christmas—coming back as He promised (John 14:3, Luke 18:8) and as the Bible predicts (Daniel 9:24-27, Daniel 12:7, 2 Peter 3:10, most of Revelation, etc.) should excite us, fascinate us, captivate us. But it doesn’t. Perhaps it’s because too many Christian preachers and speakers—especially evangelicals—spend too much time threatening those outside their belief system, or preaching at or down to those less knowledgeable, or leveraging what feels like scare tactics to gain an audience--all of which seems like a departure from the way the Apostle Paul spoke of Christ’s revelation as being a great mystery (Col 1:27-29) and encouraged us to be informed (1 Thessalonians 5:13-18). The Bible makes it sound like a wonderful secret to be investigated and a beautiful opportunity to be explored. Somehow, it seems to have lost some of that spirit in today’s culture.
Perhaps if more churches—and those who go by the name of Christ—were recognized more for the Bono-Gates spirit of generosity, or even the adventurous and investigative spirit of DaVinci’s Robert Langdon, our minds and hearts would be captured and our curiosity would be piqued.
Until then, I suspect that the Left Behind Prophecy Club will be challenged to find members outside of the flock, while
Mr. and Mrs. Gates and Bono will inspire millions more by living out the message of The Good Samaritan… even if they don’t talk too publicly about its Author.
Just in time to start the new year off with a laugh, I stumbled across a funny article from the Associated Press. The writer’s premise was that the major moments in pop culture for 2005 could all be traced back to one significant event: Tom Cruise jumping up and down on Oprah’s couch. If that one event had not happened, we would have had a completely different year of entertainment--no Paris Hilton engagement, no Russell Crowe arrest, etc. It's a complicated theory, so I won't go into the details, but in the spirit of that idea, I thought it would be fun if I came up with my own list of what could have or should have happened in entertainment in 2005 and how the year might have been different. I invite my fellow bloggers, and all our readers, to offer their own lists.
Instead of "Insider" host Pat O’Brien being interviewed post-rehab by Dr. Phil, he’s interviewed by the Reverend Billy Graham and has a profound religious conversion experience. “The Insider” promptly changes its format to replicate “The 700 Club.”
Jude Law actually attended a Promise Keeper conference in an effort to convince fiance Sienna Miller to reconcile after his, um, indescretion. However, Sienna Miller read my fellow Idol Chatterer Donna Frietas's book "Becoming a Goddess of Inner Poise" and had a revelation--she doesn’t need Jude Law for anything.
Hoping to demonstrate the need for religious understanding and tolerance, Donald Trump created yet another reality show where people of various religious faiths compete against each other in a variety of tasks to see who can recruit the most converts to their religion and become the next... “Apostle.”
In an effort to shut up "D List" star Kathy Griffin, numerous movie stars such as Nicole Kidman and Brad Pitt got together and unanimously voted to promote Griffin to the ”A List,” causing Griffin’s Bravo series to be cancelled and her career to disappear.
Feel free to add: Ashlee Simpson, Lindsay Lohan, Jen and Ben Part 2, and many others are out there....
Donna Freitas has a Ph.D. in spirituality and is the author of "Becoming A Goddess Of Inner Poise: Spirituality for The Bridget Jones in All of Us."
Douglas Howe is an ordained minister, executive coach, author, and retreat leader.
Paul O'Donnell is the former Culture editor at Beliefnet.
Kris Rasmussen, the author of "WonkaMania," has been a contributing editor to the Christian music magazine CCM and a feature writer for Relevant magazine.
Plus, a number of Beliefnet editors will also be posting to Idol Chatter as the mood strikes.
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I 
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