Movement is Required

This evening, in a moment of inspiration after hearing a Mark Driscoll sermon, I decided to make a playlist of all the blatantly Christian music that I have in my iTunes library. I was able to come up with 156 songs........... out of over 7000. Supremely worried does not really begin to cover it. As someone who wants to join the ministry to either write Christian literature, teach the gospel or counsel those in trouble by pointing them to Christ, these are not encouraging numbers.

“Josiah, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s just music, right?” 

Yes, and that’s the point. Music always has been and always will be an enormous part of my life. And cliche thought it may be, “garbage in, garbage out.” As my best friend often reminds me, the only reason we have cliches is BECAUSE they are so true.

It is nigh impossible for me to consume that amount of music and not be effected in some way or another. Some of it might be harmless enough, country songs about growing up in a small town, little rock ditties about falling in love, etc. etc. But I wonder how many of those songs encourage rebellion, lust, anger, etc.... things that I struggle with enough already.

One of the things I value more than any other quality in those I choose to surround myself with is honesty. Yes, it may burn my ego all too often, but I would rather someone I love be honest with me and bruise my honor or offend me, than to have them hide the truth because they think it will hurt me. I have always wanted to take this approach if and when I came to the ministry as well, and I know that in that instance, it will probably offend many people. I’m not sure how many people in orthodoxy are going to want a preacher stand up on his first day and say: “Hey, guess what? I struggle with X, Y and Z... and I am going to be your pastor!”

I think that the philosophy of creating the kind of art that you want to see in the world applies to preaching too. Be the kind of preacher that you would want to listen to. Or put another way: be the kind of preacher you need to hear. One of my favorite lines from the movie Luther is when Martin Luther’s father (as in monk father) is sending him to seminary, and Martin begins to protest:

“Why would you send me away to preach when I am questioning my own faith?”

His father just smiles and says: “Martin, we preach best what we need to learn most.”

How true it is.

So, what do I need to learn most? That stasis a good Christian does not make. For months now I have been content to look at my sin and atrophy with a certain bemused gaze of apathy. 

“Oh, hi.... you’re still here?” I drawl as I stare vacantly into the middle distance.

It’s as if I am in a battalion invading Nazi Germany, and we are trying to defeat them by looking at them like curious lemmings and wiggling our rears in their general direction, only to be surprised by receiving butt wounds. Sense.... it does not make.

So what is the solution? “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off.”

I have heard several sermons on that particular verse now, and I am still not sure how vicious God expects us to be with ourselves. Sometimes I feel like hacking limbs off might be the wisest option... it would certainly cut down on the sin faction. (hehe.... cut...)

But whatever the case may be; whether you take the extremely literal reading of this verse, or whether you are only taking it as an exaggeration of what Jesus was really talking about, one thing is certain:

<MOVEMENT IS REQUIRED>

And this is something that I have most certainly not been doing. I have not made an attempt to curb my music collection. I have not made an attempt to add more Christian music into my diet.... nor have I made any sort of attempt to add more fruits and veggies into my diet. My diet has been poor in generally every area of my life... spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally. In fact, it is a wonder that I am doing as well as I am right now. Common grace truly is lathered on with a wide brush. Or perhaps, more likely than not, I am experiencing the last part of TULIP in the extreme. (The “perseverance of the saints”... in that God maintains grace and salvation in those that He calls to be Christians.)

Movement.... movement is required.

Now, if you will permit me a little rabbit trail... it will be worth it, I assure you:

I’m a big sci-fi nut. Sci-fi games, sci-fi movies, sci-fi books... even a large portion of the toys I have collected are science fiction related. Because of this I am rather familiar with a fictional invention called the “stasis pod.” I am sure that many of my readers need no explanation further than its name, but for those of you who do not live and breathe science fiction, let me explain:

The stasis pod (otherwise known as a cryo-sleep chamber), is usually a staple part of science fiction universes where faster than light travel has not yet been discovered. Due to the fact that intergalactic travel is possible, yet still takes inordinate amounts of time in these sorts of stories, it is impossible for one crew to pilot a ship from one end of the galaxy to another. If you were just doing travel the old fashioned way, you would have to have your crew procreate and train up a new generation of crew members, and on and on until the ship finally reached its destination. Cryo-sleep is a convenient way to have the same crew who leaves the port wind up at their destination looking exactly the same as they left. (I am quite sure that the main reason for this was so that they wouldn’t have to hire a whole slew of new actors for certain movies and TV shows. It’s purely mercenary... but what isn’t these days?)

So everyone gets into their little pod after programming the ship’s coordinates, they take a long nap, and then the ship automatically wakes them up once they reach their destination... ready to fight, explore and procreate as soon as they leave their little tubes. Handy, no?

But because of all this, I have tended to have a somewhat warped sense of what the word “stasis” means. It does not, in this universe, mean that you can enter a state of perfectly maintained manliness, ready to snap out of it at any moment when your ship arrives. No.... in this world, as Blake Snyder so pointedly tells us in his book Save the Cat!: “Stasis = death.”

It would be incredibly nice if we had the sort of stasis that one might find in Robert Heinlein novel, but no. We must keep moving, lest we die.

The sad part about that idea of continual movement is that not all actions are suitable to all people, something I have had to come to terms with recently. See, stasis is comfortable, but not only for the reasons that you might think. Yes, it exerts a minimal amount of stress upon the body, yes it does not cause you to have to process critically and make logical inferences and deductions, but it also keeps you from offending people.

Granted, there will always be people who will be offended, but my point is that my remaining still, by not rocking the boat, you will be able to offend the least amount of people possible. This is very handy for people pleasers like me, but it certain does a number on your own health and well being. 

So while there will be a few people who will get on your case for staying still, there will be far, FAR more who take offense at any direction you try to aim yourself in. You are either taking too long, or going far too fast. The job you are taking is either beneath you, or there is no possible way you could attain such a feat. That’s a horrible church to go to, they are far too strict, but don’t go to that one either, they are all wishiwashy. I could go on. 

But in the end, that is not the point at all. Movement causes reactions, but sitting still is worse. Going back to more nerdy analogies, most of the video games I play require a certain amount of movement... at quite a rapid pace. In fact, many of the levels in my favorite video games involve running away from a certain impending deadly force, until you reach a specific goal. 

Move, or you die. Stasis = death. Movement is required.

So now what? When the ruts are dug so deep... when the clay is hardening around your ankles. When your son is throwing you a big, fat python and you can’t grab it to pull yourself out of the pit you’re in. (Yes... that was a horrible reference to Indiana Jones 4... please hold the tomatoes.) When you are just.......

..... stuck. What then?

MOVE!

Yes, sometimes any movement at all is good. Right now? I’m going to move over 200 miles away from everything I know right now, and start over in a new town, with new friends, a new fiancee, a new church, and maybe even a new school. It’s going to be freaky scary. 

Of course, simple movement does nothing. Just moving from one place to another can become running instead of improving. And as we all know from every western and gritty action movie ever: running away from your past solves nothing. Actually, that’s pretty Biblical too. I’m pretty sure there was a guy named Achan you tried something similar, and he got his family dead for that one. (Joshua 7:1-26)

My point is, however, that when the wagon ruts become so deep that you think that you will never be able to break loose, just jump the track... and once you do, you may find that making other adjustments may come easier as well. Don’t leave anything undone though..... don’t just run. Running leaves wounds that will simply be harder to heal. But do change... change is good.

Change is good. Listen to me.... I doubt I EVER would have said that a few years ago. I hate change, but I have been changing so much lately that it would be impossible for me to deny that it is an important part of growing and learning. 

One last example, and then I think I’ll lay this horse to rest. What is the Great Commission? 

It is essentially Jesus saying:

“MOVEMENT IS REQUIRED.”

Take the message to the ends of the earth, and not only that, but the very battery that keeps us moving, the very thing that keeps us from the despair and apathy that would cause us to enter that deadly stasis is the message that we carry. Christ is alive, Christ is well and true and free. He was one of us, He came and lived and died and didn’t stay dead. There is only one character in the entirety of history that died and then came back from the dead of His own power. 

Only One who kept moving when the ultimate stasis had been reached. If there is no Christ, I would go so far as to say that stasis is the only option. If there is no Christ, then why not just stay in one place for the rest of your miserable life? Give up... there is nothing else. Life sucks, and then you die. There is nothing but stasis without Christ.

But Christ? Christ is the ultimate movement. He is the ultimate goal. He is the ultimate game, the ultimate adventure. There is nothing outside you besides Christ... at least nothing that has any sort of meaning. King Solomon, the richest and wisest king ever... of all time, said that in a sort of famous book that he wrote called Ephesians. “Meaningless, meaningless... everything is meaningless. A vapor, and chasing after the wind.” The only solid thing that he finds worth chasing at the end of his little book? Christ. The ultimate goal.

And even that king lost sight of his goal. Even he lost momentum and stopped moving... and look how far he fell. 

Christ is movement. Movement is required.

Christ is required.

Best Films 2012

Ok... here we go, my top 10 films of 2012. I am sure to offend and surprise, so let’s just jump right in, shall we?

10. Django Unchained

Sure, I was holding my fiancee very tightly through most of the last act, but there is no way to deny that Django is 2/3rds of an excellent movie. It is impossible to ignore the moral queasiness of the film’s end game, but it takes cajones to let Dr. Schultz die an honorable man, sticking to his guns (literally). In the end, this movie was too polarizing to leave off the list. Just because I disagree with someone’s creation does not mean it wasn’t well done. Think of Tarantino as a modern Nietzsche.

9. The Dark Knight Rises

Dark Knight 3 got a lot of gaff from a lot of people for being too big, too hopeful, too full of plot holes. Personally? I think they are full of hogwash. The Nolan Brothers successfully pulled off a Batman trilogy, and they pulled it off WELL. Not only that, but Chris Nolan has also successfully proved that he is NOT a nihilist... either that, or he proved that America still doesn’t shell out the big bucks for nihilistic films. Either way, I think that’s a win.

8. Les Miserables

I was a bit emotionally drained when I first saw it, so it is safe to say that I didn’t appreciate it as much as I would have had I been well rested. In retrospect, however? Definitely one of the best of the year. Yes, the critics are right, the music is dodgy in places, and it does rely on sentimentalism quite a lot (although it is helpful to keep in mind that Victor Hugo’s original novel was criticized for the exact same thing 150 years ago). But that is not the reason it is here, rather, it is because it is the only movie I can think of this year that leaned so heavily on the idea of God’s grace conquering all. No, not Rob Bell’s kind of grace, because Les Mis doesn’t shy away from making it clear that some reject this grace and end up in hell. No, this is grace and love and redemption through fire and brimstone.... no wonder so many critics are all twisted up in knots about it.

7. The Cabin in the Woods

Now for one that will probably turn a few heads. Yes, I just included a horror film on my top 10 list... also, yes, I did just imply that Cabin in the Woods was better than Avengers, and no, The Avengers isn’t going to show up in the next six on my list. Now, before you rage quit this essay, let me explain. Growing up watching a new Saw movie come out every Halloween, I too wondered when it would ever stop. Why the fascination with blood? Why the lust for more? Why all the pointless violence? Whedon successfully answers that question.... in a rather Greek way to be sure, but he at least attempts. And to be fair, he also keeps Cabin in the Woods in his Buffyverse. I won’t say anymore, except that this film also falls into the realm of “disagree with you so much, but well done.”

6. Premium Rush

Wow, has this been an amazing year for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and where would an up and coming star be without his own action movie? Premium Rush isn’t nearly as serious as most of the other movies on this list, but holy crap did it get my blood pumping! There is not some great message here besides "dude on a mission" fodder, but boy does it deliver. My fiancee almost had a panic attack in the theater, it was so intense. The bad guy is deliciously villainous, the action scenes are well filmed... it’s just well done. If you are going to make an action flick, call David Koepp.

5. The Hobbit

Stop complaining... stop it now. The supposed “Tolkien-phils” who have gone completely rage-tastic over this film have completely missed the point of the exercise.... this is not SUPPOSED to be LotR. It is based on a kids book, a children’s book. Also, please keep in mind that The Hobbit came before LotR. After The Hobbit’s success, Tolkien’s publishers asked him for a follow up, but when he delivered LotR,  their reaction was basically “What the crap is this mess?” Now we are dealing with the reverse expectation, and for a man who promised to develop one of the most beloved kids books of the past century, tie it into its much larger film predecessor, and expand upon the author's additional works.... Peter Jackson did a bang up job. Stop complaining and just admit that it was good.

4. Wreck-it Ralph

It happened, regular Disney finally had a year where they outdid Pixar Disney. I don’t know how it happened, but it did, and Wreck-it Ralph is spectacular. By the very nature of the film itself, it is bound to draw comparisons to Tron and Toy Story, but it is so much more than that. In fact, after watching the movie, it seems more like the eye candy was just there to draw in an audience, and then after you’re in the theater, it hooks you with the story. It didn’t help that I related instantly to the interplay between Vanellope and Ralph, the relationship being eerily similar to my relationship with most women. If this movie doesn’t win best animated film of the year, I’m the queen of England.

3. Goon.

So.... much... fun. Warning, do not watch if you are offended by raunchy language, Canadians or hockey. I discovered Goon pretty early on in the year, and instantly fell in love with it. I have a digital copy on my iPod, and whenever I’m having a bad day, I can usually turn it on to almost any scene and have a good laugh. But more than that laugh factor, the reason I love this movie so much is how the main character maintains his honor, humility and kindness despite being surrounded by jerks and ********. At any point in the movie, you are worried that he will snap and being just as mean and nasty as those around him... but he doesn’t. The only thing that makes him snap is when someone attacks a person he loves. Yeah... I can’t relate to this movie at all. 

</sarcasm>

2. End of Watch

I watched this movie for the first time just a few weeks after finding out that my little sister was dating a cop. I talked with him afterwards about it, and he said that it was pretty true to fact, except as a beat cop in eastern Virginia, he didn’t see nearly the amount of depravity that is on display in Los Angeles. We have both agreed that my sister probably shouldn’t watch this movie for a while, at least until they are engaged. The movie itself is similar to Mel Gibson’s We Were Soldiers, in that is bounces back and forth from the cops’ home life to their life on the job, and boy is it brutal. Beautiful, but brutal. One of the few movies of the year that made me laugh, cry and cringe in terror. Powerful stuff.

1. Ruby Sparks

Here it is, the best film of the year. No other movie comes even close. Silver Linings Playbook tried to vie for the quirky rom-com of the year, but it falls woefully short of attaining these heights. Ruby Sparks is a rom-com written by a woman for men, and boy does it deliver. This was another one of those films that became intensely personal for me: the premise being similar to Stranger Than Fiction, except in reverse: man begins to write book, female character becomes real, man falls in love with woman, man tries to control women he has “created.” Actually, it shares far more in common with the myth of Pygmalion than it does with Stranger Than Fiction. This movie tore my heart out and stuck it on a pike.... and I cannot thank it enough. A beautiful morality play, the best parable of the year, and by far the best film. Period.

Heroes, Cinema and ADHD

There is something intoxicating about film and stories that are shown on a screen. Stories have always gripped us as humans, but there is nothing quite like seeing a story acted out in front of you. You are not merely hearing words, you are not only seeing pictures, this is not some bard singing you a tale of glorious battle; you are watching the story as if it were happening before your very eyes.

It is as if it were real. As if it were fact.

This is one of the reasons that I handle messy stuff in books far better than in film. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo as a book was gripping and a rather fun read... the movie, however, nearly traumatized me. 

Now, I’ve made it no small secret that I am a fan of Quentin Tarantino’s films. I’m not really sure which one is my personal favorite, but there is a certain energy about his movies that fascinates me. (I’ve discussed this before in my essay “Lust for Life.”)

So when his new movie, Django Unchained, came out and won rave reviews, I was eager to see it. My new fiancee, being a fan of heroic type, bloody action movies, seemed more than willing to go see it with me. So, with a free evening on our hands the day after Christmas, we decided to go see it.

One other thing that you should know in order for the following to make more sense: my fiancee has ADHD. For several years I was extremely skeptical that any such thing existed. America is overmedicated, I am sure no one will disagree with that, and I had always assumed that ADD and ADHD were just parents going crazy and not wanting to train their children properly... choosing to drug them instead. 

...I was wrong.

Until about 12, Leslie had undiagnosed ADHD, which mostly manifested itself in causing her to become overloaded with stimuli far too often. At 12, however, she had meds prescribed in order to control the rapidly firing synapses, and generally calm her down. Being an extremely bright child, my fiancee began to notice how much different she acted while on medication and how much she hated being on medication. Being the bright lass that she is, she discovered that she teach herself to control her brain and act like a normal person without the meds... thereby foregoing the need of them. So, the meds lasted for six or so, and she has self-medicated with self-control ever since... something that she tells me not all ADHD people can do.

Under good circumstances she can control how focused she is, and is generally very good at paying attention. Also, being a woman and ADHD, she is also incredibly good at multitasking (something that continues to perplex me to no end). However, when there are TVs blaring, people rushing by, horns going off and other such noise... she can become extremely distractible and it is often impossible to carry on a conversation with her. This is why watching movies at home is sometimes hard for us, because I will inevitably hone in on the movie, while she will be paying attention to everything and anything but. (Of course, because of her aforementioned ability to multitask, she usually knows exactly what is going on in the movie.)

In a movie theater, however, her ADHD works in the complete opposite direction. Because in the case of my dear fiancee, her “attention deficit” is more like “pay extremely close attention to everything that is going on around you.” And what is the only thing to pay attention to in a movie theater where everyone is behaving themselves? The screen.

In retrospect I should have known better than to take her to see a Tarantino film. Several months ago we went to see a David Koepp action flick. I personally loved it; it was perfect for an adrenaline junkie like myself. Leslie, however, nearly had a panic attack. I failed to realize that the movie, taking up all of her ADHD, overanalyzing, hyper-focused nerves, caused her to become super focused and invested whenever we went to see a movie on the big screen. So of course, anyone knowing anything about Quentin Tarantino could have guessed how she would react to the third act of one of his films.

As I write this now, however, I am actually quite grateful to her. If she hadn’t tagged along, I might have a far less critical view of what is sure to be one of the most talked about movies for the next few months. My reaction leaving the theater might have been more akin to a fanboy’s than a discerning movie goer’s had she not been holding my hand as we left the cineplex.

Now... on to my review... and as always.... spoilers to follow.

If I recall correctly, Leslie laughed harder than almost anyone at the opening scene of the film... which involved a German dentist, a tooth bobble-head, and two slave traders getting shot. Yes... this is a Tarantino movie all right. And in fact, the first 2/3rds of the movie unfolds like a hilarious, yet bloody, buddy comedy featuring Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx.

But then, of course, the third act kicks in, predicated by a classic scene of only dialog and no music or bullets. At this point, Leslie, having never seen a Tarantino movie before, knew that something bad was going to happen... even though no one was doing anything remotely violent. It still amazes me how Tarantino does this. I was even shaking a bit, and I wasn’t the one entering a sensory overload induced panic attack. 

A rudimentary summery of the plot might go like this: Bounty hunter buys slave, slave helps bounty hunter, bounty hunter frees slave, slaves tells bounty hunter about his missing wife, slave and bounty hunter save said wife. Simple, no? Simple enough in a way, but it is in that very last plot element where the film so drastically changes from buddy comedy into morally queasiness inducing bloodbath. 

Let me explain: for most of the movie (the parts that Leslie liked) there is this sort of warmth between Django and Dr. Schultz.... nearing a father/son relationship. There is some genuine chemistry between them, and I am sure that Leslie was hoping they would walk off into the sunset together, as was I (although she told me afterwards that given the way the movie was set up, she knew one of them was going to die).

There are three linch pins which swing the movie from comedy to tragedy, however: two conversations between Django and Schultz, and a man being eaten by dogs.

The first conversation takes place when a reluctant Django fails to shoot a wanted criminal because the man’s son is present. Schultz tells Django that in his world, the world that Django has now entered in order to rescue his wife, he must “get dirty.”

And so the morality grays a bit.

The second conversation transpires as Django and Schultz are on their way to the plantation where Broomhilda, Django’s wife, is being kept. In order to get into the plantation, Django and Schultz are passing themselves off as two slavers looking to buy a prizefighter of a man. This is all a ruse, of course, but in order for it to work, Django must pass himself off as a black slaver... the “lowest of the low” as he puts it. Schultz has instructed him several times now that when in these positions, he must NEVER break character, no matter what. And Django doesn’t.

He plays his character so well in fact, that Schultz becomes uncomfortable, and asks Django to tone it down a notch. Django simply retorts that it was Schultz himself who told Django that he needed to “get dirty.” Schultz backs off, and they proceed towards the plantation.

The morality darkens further.

The third pin is the kicker, though. As they are making their final approach to the plantation, they stumble upon a slave who has been caught running away. The plantation owner (who is escorting Django and Schultz) toys with the man, pretending to have sympathy, while at the same time threatening to do him in. Schultz, feeling sorry for the man, offers to buy the runaway slave outright in order to save him. Django, however, interrupts Schultz to tell the owner that they don’t REALLY want to buy the slave, Schultz is just tired of the owner toying with the man and wants to move on.

The owner grins maliciously and then sics the dogs on the poor man. Schultz, while hurt and disturbed, says nothing. It is at this point that Django’s transformation from a man trying to save his wife into a monster like the slave traders around him becomes complete. His “charade” has become so convincing that even he nearly believes it himself. No one’s life matters anymore, save for his wife.

This is the reason, I believe, that it is in perfect keeping with the theme of the movie that Schultz dies before the end... because he has become less violent, he has become soft and kind... and there is little room for such people in Tarantino’s films. As has been said by his long time collaborator, Samuel L Jackson, Tarantino’s films are a peek into the minds of violent people. 

So, in the end, Django is classic Tarantino. And that is why Leslie had such a negative reaction to the ending... and I must confess that I have had similar reactions.... (especially to one Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog). Hyper focused, and hyper invested, she wanted Django to turn into something other than a monster, but in order to survive in the world of Tarantino, one must become a monster. 

As was said in one of the trailers before the movie: “One day, kimosabe, good man must wear mask.” Schultz, the only truly honorable character in the movie, refuses to wear a mask... and as such, he dies.

To quote another movie: “You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” 

Tarantino as explained by the Nolan brothers. You’re welcome.