(Display Name not set)February 2006 Archives

As the Olympics drew to a close last night, I found that the most disappointing--and annoying--aspect of NBC’s Olympic coverage was the huge amount of airtime given to U.S. skier and 2002 silver medalist Bode Miller. With a daredevil, nonconformist image only further enhanced by a recent “60 Minutes” interview, in which he admitted to, among other things, skiing in competitions while hung over from the previous night's partying, Miller was featured prominently in numerous Olympic segments.

But then, in between those segments, we were treated to even more of Miller, with Nike commercials featuring Miller and asking us this important question: Are you a “Bodeist”? The message of the commercial seems to be that, somehow, Miller’s carefree spirit, disdain of the media (unless it involves a lucative commercial endorsement deal), and refusal to worship material things such as Olympic gold medals have something to do with Buddhism, and are qualities to be applauded and emulated by the rest of us as well. The only problem is that behind the clever word play and marketing spin, there is little substance to support the notion that Bode and Buddhism have anything in common.

From what I have read about Buddhism's "Eight Steps To Happiness" or the "Four Noble Truths," I am comfortable saying that Miller’s egotistical yet lackluster performance in Italy had little to do with inner peace, enlightenment, or compassion for all living things. Miller's failure to medal in all five events he competed in had more to do with reckless mistakes, lack of focus, and, oh, yeah, a desire to party all the time. When Miller was interviewed by the Associated Press last weekend, he was far more intent on talking about nightclubs than skiing. Miller told the reporter, "I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level." Miller also justified his Olympic performances and his behavior by adding,"People want athletes to cater to their image of what an athlete should be, but they also want them to fail, so they can feel like their screw-ups are all right. If I make a priority shift, I'll make it, because it's best for me."

Comments like that make me wish that perhaps Miller would take a hint from that Nike ad and look into Buddhism for real. Miller's attitude could benefit from some of the principles of Buddhism, such as Right Speech, Right Action Right Effort, and Right Mindfulness. However, my prediction is that by the time Miller decides to shift his priorities from blaming others for his problems and selfishly indulging in his own entertainment while being heftily paid to represent his country, no one, including his commercial sponsors, will still care.

He may be a rude, bitter man who likes to pretend he is God, but I am still crazy about Gregory House. Fox’s critically acclaimed series "House"--which centers around a brilliant infectious disease specialist who solves life-or-death medical mysteries--features one of the most emotionally complicated yet morally ambiguous characters ever written for television. Sure, House (played to perfection by Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie) wants us all to believe he cares more about solving a medical puzzle than cozying up to his patients, and, yes, he has a little pill-popping problem, but last night’s episode confirms what "House" fans knew all along--his snarky behavior is all a mask to hide his struggle with his own personal demons, as he searches for some kind of hope to make his life worth living.

Fresh off of the ending of an affair with his ex-wife Stacy, House begins to notice increasing amounts of pain shooting through his leg, which was premanently damaged in an accident years ago. Though he does not want his co-workers to know about his worsening medical condition, he does confide in two people--his only friend, Dr. Wilson, and his boss, Dr. Cuddy. Wilson suggests that maybe the nerves in his leg are trying to regenerate and heal, giving House a sense of false hope. But when the pain becomes too great for the doctor, he goes to Cuddy and insists she give him morphine, because the Vicodin pills he takes constantly don't help him anymore.

The morphine shot works--or so House thinks--because suddenly his leg feels better. It is then that Cuddy reveals that she, too, gave House a false sense of hope. The morphine was actually a placebo, indicating that the pain is in House's heart and head, but not in his leg. The final scene reveals House's vulnerability in a way we the viewers have never seen before. Face-to-face with his past failures and disappointments, all of which are deeper than the scars on his crippled leg, which he now realizes won't ever heal, House sits alone in his home staring at a bottle of pills with a look of utter despair. In a moment of defeat, he opens the bottle and pops some pills, once more hoping to deaden the pain inside.

Could this mean that House has finally hit rock bottom emotionally and spiritually? I sure hope so. It will not only make for good TV drama, but it could be a soul-searching reminder to us all that we cannot wrestle our inner demons alone and expect to win; we need the help of a higher power.

Is Sony Studios trying to buy the Christian community’s support by hiring a publicity firm to promote its upcoming church conspiracy thriller ,“The Da Vinci Code,” to the religiously-inclined masses? That’s the question being heatedly debated by those in and out of the Christian community after the launch of a new website, The Da Vinci Dialogue. Sony has spent a significant amount of money (some reports have said $2 million dollars) to develop this site in conjunction with a company that specializes in marketing mainstream films to the church community.

The Da Vinci Dialogue website, which features a variety of essays examining the controversial religious issues surrounding the story, supposedly grew out of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s desire “to respect those concerns by providing a forum where a wide variety of respected religious scholars could discuss some of the serious questions the movie may raise.” However, the site has not only received criticism from newspapers such as UCLA’s “Daily Bruin”--which called it nothing more than a publicity stunt--but also from well respected Christians within the Hollywood community who feel little productive dialogue can come from debating "Da Vinci."

The most interesting response may have come from Barbara Nicolosi, a former nun who runs Act One, a group that trains Christians to work in Hollywood. On her blog and here on Beliefnet, you can read her well-worded rant on the subject of the Da Vinci Dialogue website--and her idea for a counter-response to the movie. She, along with other Hollywood insiders, are calling for Christians to bypass “Da Vinci” and instead go see another film that opens the same weekend--the animated picture “Over The Hedge.”

Trying to convince thousands of people to go see a movie based on a comic strip as a response to one that claims "everything our fathers told us about Christ is false"? I think that will stir up about as much of a reaction from Hollywood as the Da Vinci Dialogue website will stir up thought-provoking discussion among Christians. Which is to say, very little. I am quite skeptical of either approach as a productive reaction, even though I do believe the Da Vinci Dialogue site is well crafted and informative. I wish Sony would have taken a page from the marketing for "Chronicles of Narnia" and done something like the "Narnia On Tour" promotion, in which scholars did face-to-face dialogue with fans at various universites across the country. Now that might bring about some substantial and enlightening discussion worthy of all of this dissent.

Because I spent my formative teen years avidly listening to Christian music artist Michael W. Smith and Christian rocker/satirist Steve Taylor, I watched "The Second Chance," a movie which stars Smith and was directed by Taylor, hoping it would not be another cheesy, small-budget Christian flick that would do nothing to convince Hollywood that Christians know anything about storytelling. The movie, which opens in very limited release tomorrow, attempts to earnestly look at church politics, racial division, and urban outreach to the poor by throwing Ethan (played by Smith)--a prodigal son/former musician/associate pastor--together with an unorthodox and often angry African-American pastor, Jake. (Ethan has been sent by his wealthy suburban church to “observe and learn” at Jake’s inner-city church, The Second Chance Community Church.)

Though the acting performances, including Smith’s, are all surprisingly respectable--and I have seen far worse overtly Christian films than this one--there is still much to be critical of in this movie, which beats us over the head again and again with every spiritual cliché possible. But then again, this movie is clearly intended solely for the conservative Christian church community. It is obvious that "Second Chance" was not conceived as a platform to reach the secular marketplace and has no interest in what Hollywood might think of it. So maybe it will touch its intended audience in some way and prompt some healthy conversation among those churchgoers who attend the movie.

But for me, the disappointment lingered long after the final credits rolled, because I want to see Taylor one day direct a truly great indie film that says something fresh about the Christian journey. I have to believe anyone who wrote the lyrics to “I blew up the clinic real good” and “I want to be a clone” has it in him. So when his next flick comes out, I will still give Taylor a second chance and watch it.

"You think you know who you are, but you have no idea." That line is both an ominous warning and a promise of hope, and it exemplifies the moral complexity of the Oscar-nominated film “Crash.” Forget the gay cowboys, unconscionable terrorists, eccentric authors, and desperate transgender parents; “Crash” has been slowly picking up speed by winning at the Golden Globes, the Screen Actor's Guild Awards, and the Writer's Guild Awards--and it is my pick for an Oscar upset.

Writer and director Paul Haggis’s unflinching examination of the lives of a socially and ethnically diverse group of Los Angeles residents, as they collide with each other both physically and emotionally, is a searing look inside the human soul. Haggis (“Million Dollar Baby”) deftly orchestrates a gut-wrenching journey, which takes place over the course of a mere 36 hours. During that time, we witness a politician’s wife, a rookie cop, a T.V. producer, and an immigrant gun-shop owner each being violated, and then in turn becoming violent themselves.

What makes “Crash" different from other films that have dealt with racism and social injustice is the subtle way the story exposes the insidious nature of hatred and bitterness and its effects on the human spirit. It eats away at self-worth while slowly breaking apart the bonds of marital intimacy and family loyalty. Instead of simplistic racist stereotypes, we discover multifaceted characters who slowly begin to recognize the spiritual poverty of their souls. As the men and women in this film find their prejudices and fears violently exposed, each one must wrestle with the decision to perpetuate or end the cycle of hate. For those that choose to be free of anger and hate, a miracle happens: They can begin to recognize and receive grace and forgiveness, whether in the kind words of a Mexican housekeeper or in the miraculous intervention of a child to save her father’s life.

So while "Crash" is uncomfortable and unnerving, we would all do well to reflect on its message. Because no matter who we are on the outside, where we live, or how we were raised, our spirits are hungry for many of the same things--respect, understanding, forgiveness, compassion, and justice. It's how we feed that spiritual hunger that makes any one of us truly capable of the most heroic actions or the most vicious of actions.

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