Monty Python and The Life of Brian

"The Life of Brian"... I love this movie. I used to use segments of it when I taught RE is schools. I had it worked out perfectly so as to miss all the bits with swearing in it. Except for that one day, when I was standing at the back of the classroom, day dreaming a little, without the video remote control in my hand, and Brian tells everyone who is trying to follow him to "Fuck Off!!!" I hastily made a deal with the students that involved them going out from class a little early in return for not telling anyone that there had been swearing on the TV in the chaplain's RE lesson.

But I digress...

A few weeks ago, we were watching "Monty Python's - Almost the Truth: the lawyer's cut" on the TV and there was a great segment on the time John Cleese and Michael Palin had a TV debate with The Bishop of Surrey (I think) and Malcolm Muggeridge about the whether the film degraded Jesus or not. I couldn't find that particular segment online but I did find another Youtube video on it, and it is worth a look:


I love it... I'm totally on the side of the Python crew... I love the conclusion that they come to that they can't find enough in the teachings and life of Jesus to ridicule him. What they did come up with in the end was pure gold. It's hard to imagine the movie being anything else other than what it is...

Shalom...

Religion Makes People Silly...

This is pretty funny, and should make you laugh a lot out loud. But then, if you really start to think about it, it is pretty sad, and it might make you cry a little bit...

Religion makes people silly... (my thought on one of the main points of Jesus' "Good Samaritan" story found in Luke 10:25-37)

Shalom

Creation - the movie...

This year, marked the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin - the man who is well known for perhaps the most controversial and influential scientific theory in modern history. In such a year, it is fitting that a movie has been made about his life and his discoveries. This movie is called "Creation".



The Damaris group have got involved in this and will be putting together some resources so that people can meaningfully engage in it and the big life questions that it might raise. Damaris are a good bunch. I really like the materials they put out. They are thoughtful and balanced and good for a broad audience. I hope the movie comes to Australia (Damaris is based in the UK). It would be great to see the creation / evolution relationship played out again this year. On and around his actual birthday earlier in the year, there were a number of articles, interviews, discussions etc about Darwin. I've included some of the ones I came across if you're interested:

• Darwin and Australia - Tom Frame (CPX)
  
• Darwin's Moral Compass - John Collee (The Australian)
• Origin of Darwin's Theory in Dispute - Jack Grimston (The Australian)
  

Shalom...

Angels and Demons is coming...

No, this heading is not a grammatical stuff up. The movie, "Angels and Demons" is coming to the cinemas on the 14th of May. "Angels and Demons" is the prequel to "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown and is sure to promote the same kind of religious hysteria as "The Da Vinci Code" did.

But why? Why do Christians (and the Catholic Church in particular) get so upset about these books and movies? Sure, Christians and the Church don't come off too well in them, but for crying out loud... let's toughen up people!!! For a start, both "Angels and Demons" and "The Da Vinci Code" are great stories - very clever and with lots of twists and heaps of suspense. I've read both books and they are ripping yarns that are well told. I found "Angels and Demons" to be quite the "page turner" and found it hard to put it down at the end of each chapter. Secondly, we need to be excited about any opportunity that comes along that puts spirituality and the Christian faith in front of people and in the minds of people. Do we know enough about our beliefs to happily engage in robust conversations about them? I should certainly hope so. Personally, I am excited about the opportunities to put spirituality back on the agenda of personal conversations, that the release of this movie will provide.

When "The Da Vinci Code" came out, the contraversies around it were in the newspapers and on the TV everyday for weeks. I was at a party one night and a friend of mine asked me what all the fuss was about. She wanted to know why the Christians were so upset about it all. This gave me an opportunity to talk to her at length about how important it is to Christians that Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead (The Easter Story); that this was the central, cosmos transforming event in the Christian belief system. "The Da Vinci Code" put forward the idea that Jesus had not died and risen, but prior to dying had made Mary Magdelene pregnant and that teir heirs of Jesus lived on into the present day. This story line was laced with both loose historical references and pure fiction that might have seemed true and real to casual observors. Christians were both affronted by this challenge to their core beliefs and the threat that others would think the movie accurately portrayed factual and actual events, denying them the opportunity to take the Christian message seriously. These were some of the things we talked about that night.

It was a great conversation that I didn't start, and it provided the chance for my friend and I to talk about spiritual things. I am really looking forward to "Angels and Demons" coming out soon and equally looking forward for the opportunities it will create to put spirituality and Jesus back on the conversational agenda for awhile. So, keep cool when the movie comes out, resist joining in on the hysteria and enjoy any opportunities that arise as a result...

Shalom!

Watchmen

One of my favourite 21st birthday presents was a video of the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turltes" movie. I don't know all the reasons why, but I love it when they make comics or cartoons into movies - it is probably my favourite kind of movie to watch. I think it was Robin Williams playing "Popeye" that first got my attention as a child. So, when I heard that "Watchmen" was coming out as a movie, I got pretty excited. "Watchmen" is supposed to be THE BEST graphic novel (translation - comic book for adults, but on steroids) of all time.

When I went to see it, I had that "I'm in the presence of greatness" type feeling that sometimes comes over me when I am at the movies. But as the movie progressed I got a bit distracted by the loud, graphic violence of the film, and by the bright blue penis of Dr Manhattan that seemed to take over every scene he was in (you'll have to watch the movie to make any sense of that comment)... I allowed these features to overwhelm all other impressions of the movie I might have had, and left the theatre a tad disappointed in the overall result. I remember saying to friends, "It could have been a really great film, but..."

A few days after watching the movie, I read the Damaris Culturewatch review of "Watchmen" and it helped me to see the thoughtful aspects of the movie that had been lost to me because I'd been distracted by the violence and Dr Manhattan's ever-present "little blue friend".

Over the last few years, I have been quite impressed with the Damaris group and the resources they provide on a Christian perspective on various media - particularly movies and TV. I'd recommend that you have a look and a read of their review on "Watchmen" and would put it forward as a good example of the thoughtfullness of their work. I'm pretty open-minded and not easily put off by bad language, sex scenes and violence in films, and for these kind of reasons, "Watchmen" is a movie that Christian groups might easily write off.

To the credit of the Damaris group, they didn't write "Watchmen" off, but looked deeply at it and found some valid social commentary and interesting refections on God and life in it. Lessons that I missed but certainly appreciated when they were highlighted to me...

For the Damaris Culturewatch review on "Watchmen" click here...

Shalom...