I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.
- Jonathan Swift (1729), "A Modest Proposal"
Monday, September 10, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
Star Wars Motivational Posters
I've created some Star Wars motivational posters. Here they are. Feel free to use them.
Monday, May 7, 2007
Spiderman 3 - Interpretation
When I first saw the trailer for SM 3, I thought, "Here we go again, another superhero battling the evil within, and he'll defeat it by reaching within himself, another movie espousing a secular view of human nature." And so I did not go into the theater expecting to come out wondering if the director was a Christian, in fact it was the opposite. That being said, I think I can give you a proper interpretation of SM 3, that will give strong evidence that it is in fact a Christian movie. I don't know if you are a Christian or not, and you may think that this film is ruined by it being a Christian movie, or you may think it is awesome, or you may be indifferent, but whatever the case, I think my interpretation is pretty solid.
SPOILER WARNING
There are many minor themes in SM 3. Friendship, forgiveness, redemption, self-sacrifice (the sacrifice a husband must make for his wife, and the sacrifice friends must make for each other) and the choices we make between right and wrong. All of these minor themes fit into the Christian worldview, but in and of themselves they do not make SM 3 a Christian movie, because these themes are also common to non-Christian worldviews (whether or not the non-Christian worldviews can logically justify these concepts given their presuppositions is beside the point, the point is that these themes are claimed by most non-Christian worldviews). The things that make SM 3 a Christian movie are very specific imagery, and very specific events.
The jist of the plot is as follows: An alien parasite lands on earth, infects Spiderman, he becomes a jerk. It is discovered that the alien parasite amplifies the bad in all of us. The alien parasite forms itself into a new black Spiderman suit, and gives the wearer even more power. While Spiderman/Peter Parker is under the influence of this evil suit, he destroys the career of a young photographer (Eddie Brock). Peter goes around being a jerk, to the point where he hits his now former girlfriend MJ. He realizes the effects of the suit, and wants to be rid of it.
The camera holds on a shot of a church steeple. The steeple has a cross on top. The black-suited Spiderman is on the steeple. He goes into the bell tower, trying to rip the suit off, but it won't leave. Meanwhile, below in the church, Eddie Brock is praying to God to kill Peter Parker. Obviously, the prayer itself is wrong, but the point is he is praying to God. And not just any God. The Christian God. While he is praying, the camera lingers on a giant crucifix hung on the church wall. He could have been praying to a statue of a saint, or the mother Mary, or a stain glass window, or a bunch of candles, but he's praying to a crucifix. Just as the prayer concludes the bell sounds. As Spiderman is struggling to pull off the evil suit, he bumps the bell and it rings. The ringing has an effect on the suit, and it separates from Spiderman, and falls on Eddie Brock.
Skip ahead to the final battle scene, and Spiderman is fighting "Venom", the black-suited Eddie Brock. They are in a construction site, and a bunch of pipes fall to the ground, they sound like the church bell, the suit begins to separate from Eddie. Spiderman hits the pipes more and more, the suit separates completely from Eddie, Spiderman throws a grenade towards the suit, Eddie Brock yells out "What are you doing?!!" and jumps toward the suit. He and the suit are destroyed.
From my keen interest in filmmaking and my study of films and filmmaking technique, I can tell you that imagery like this is not chosen haphazardly, especially when it is a cross, a crucifix, and church bells (images associated with Christianity, which Hollywood tends to denigrate). What the filmmakers seem to be saying, is that we all have an evil side (represented by the alien suit), and the only way it will 'separate' from us is by God intervening (the church bells). I've thought about this constantly since I saw the movie 3 days ago, making sure I haven't read my own beliefs into the movie, but I can't come to a different conclusion about what the imagery means. During the last scene, the theme of choosing between good and evil no matter what our circumstances are is explicitly expressed in dialog between Spiderman and the Sandman. Certainly this is not a unique Christian idea. But the imagery used (church bells separating the individual from the evil suit) can only be explained in Christian terms. There is also the idea that some people choose evil (Eddie Brock wanting the suit - even if it means his own death) and some people choose good.
*** As an aside, I do not believe that non-Christians are incapable of doing good, or acting morally, from a human perspective. What I do believe is that unless a person is 'separated' from their sin (that is, they repent and turn to Christ), the sin that they have committed will not be forgiven by God, and they will go to Hell. ***
Am I excited about Hollywood turning the corner and being Christian? Of course not. I'm more shocked than anything that a major summer blockbuster would be expressing Christian themes. But this would be the exception to the rule. Do I think that people will become Christians after watching Spiderman 3? No. In fact, I don't think most people will even pick up on the Christian imagery, because the average person doesn't watch a summer blockbuster trying to figure out the imagery. But that's OK, because I don't think that the role of art is to evangelize, I think the role of art is to express the beauty of the worldview of the artist (here I could argue that all beauty is derived from Christian ideas, but that is not the point I want to make). And I think that SM 3 does express the beauty of God intervening on our behalf to save us from the death that sin will inevitably produce. And that is a decidedly Christian idea.
SPOILER WARNING
There are many minor themes in SM 3. Friendship, forgiveness, redemption, self-sacrifice (the sacrifice a husband must make for his wife, and the sacrifice friends must make for each other) and the choices we make between right and wrong. All of these minor themes fit into the Christian worldview, but in and of themselves they do not make SM 3 a Christian movie, because these themes are also common to non-Christian worldviews (whether or not the non-Christian worldviews can logically justify these concepts given their presuppositions is beside the point, the point is that these themes are claimed by most non-Christian worldviews). The things that make SM 3 a Christian movie are very specific imagery, and very specific events.
The jist of the plot is as follows: An alien parasite lands on earth, infects Spiderman, he becomes a jerk. It is discovered that the alien parasite amplifies the bad in all of us. The alien parasite forms itself into a new black Spiderman suit, and gives the wearer even more power. While Spiderman/Peter Parker is under the influence of this evil suit, he destroys the career of a young photographer (Eddie Brock). Peter goes around being a jerk, to the point where he hits his now former girlfriend MJ. He realizes the effects of the suit, and wants to be rid of it.
The camera holds on a shot of a church steeple. The steeple has a cross on top. The black-suited Spiderman is on the steeple. He goes into the bell tower, trying to rip the suit off, but it won't leave. Meanwhile, below in the church, Eddie Brock is praying to God to kill Peter Parker. Obviously, the prayer itself is wrong, but the point is he is praying to God. And not just any God. The Christian God. While he is praying, the camera lingers on a giant crucifix hung on the church wall. He could have been praying to a statue of a saint, or the mother Mary, or a stain glass window, or a bunch of candles, but he's praying to a crucifix. Just as the prayer concludes the bell sounds. As Spiderman is struggling to pull off the evil suit, he bumps the bell and it rings. The ringing has an effect on the suit, and it separates from Spiderman, and falls on Eddie Brock.
Skip ahead to the final battle scene, and Spiderman is fighting "Venom", the black-suited Eddie Brock. They are in a construction site, and a bunch of pipes fall to the ground, they sound like the church bell, the suit begins to separate from Eddie. Spiderman hits the pipes more and more, the suit separates completely from Eddie, Spiderman throws a grenade towards the suit, Eddie Brock yells out "What are you doing?!!" and jumps toward the suit. He and the suit are destroyed.
From my keen interest in filmmaking and my study of films and filmmaking technique, I can tell you that imagery like this is not chosen haphazardly, especially when it is a cross, a crucifix, and church bells (images associated with Christianity, which Hollywood tends to denigrate). What the filmmakers seem to be saying, is that we all have an evil side (represented by the alien suit), and the only way it will 'separate' from us is by God intervening (the church bells). I've thought about this constantly since I saw the movie 3 days ago, making sure I haven't read my own beliefs into the movie, but I can't come to a different conclusion about what the imagery means. During the last scene, the theme of choosing between good and evil no matter what our circumstances are is explicitly expressed in dialog between Spiderman and the Sandman. Certainly this is not a unique Christian idea. But the imagery used (church bells separating the individual from the evil suit) can only be explained in Christian terms. There is also the idea that some people choose evil (Eddie Brock wanting the suit - even if it means his own death) and some people choose good.
*** As an aside, I do not believe that non-Christians are incapable of doing good, or acting morally, from a human perspective. What I do believe is that unless a person is 'separated' from their sin (that is, they repent and turn to Christ), the sin that they have committed will not be forgiven by God, and they will go to Hell. ***
Am I excited about Hollywood turning the corner and being Christian? Of course not. I'm more shocked than anything that a major summer blockbuster would be expressing Christian themes. But this would be the exception to the rule. Do I think that people will become Christians after watching Spiderman 3? No. In fact, I don't think most people will even pick up on the Christian imagery, because the average person doesn't watch a summer blockbuster trying to figure out the imagery. But that's OK, because I don't think that the role of art is to evangelize, I think the role of art is to express the beauty of the worldview of the artist (here I could argue that all beauty is derived from Christian ideas, but that is not the point I want to make). And I think that SM 3 does express the beauty of God intervening on our behalf to save us from the death that sin will inevitably produce. And that is a decidedly Christian idea.
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