"I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a shit. Lastly, you're more upset with the fact that I said shit than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night." - Tony Campolo
I've thought about this quote more than any other I've ever been told. It's so true and profound; I feel no need to talk about this. It's something that we should all think about, and then assess our perfect Christian-American culture we've created.
Here's some notes I took down that I thought were important:
- What's the point of story if you know right where you are.
- Say what you feel, not what you ought. (I love this.)
- Join the human race. You're doing a disservice to your calling if you distance yourself. (I'm looking at you, Christian artists.)
- Christians have so many answers we're always wanting to tell them to everyone. (I think this can be annoying. If you have an atheist friend, or just an agnostic, what do they care about if the Bible says so? It's just an old book to them.)
- We think it's out job to be "clean."
- Jesus told stories to learn from, not to be analyzed. (I think this is more important than most people realize. We take Jesus' great parables and learn from them, but in any other story we hear, we just have to pick it apart and take a deeper meaning from it. A meaning that we've often made ourselves.)
- Film can show unspeakable truths. The things we cannot say.
- "Analyzing things is the way we protect ourselves."
As for this week's readings, I like Buechner, but it is something that I'll want to read more than once. I'm also glad Lewis said that he has created stories from images, because that's exactly what I have done. Every film I've made has started with one image, and then I've based a story around it. I'm glad I'm not alone.
I love the power that a film/image can do. The films we watch were all powerful in different ways. I think the first two did a good job at making us think about something we can grasp on to.
The third film was experimental and a non-narrritave. Not a great combination if you're looking for straight forward storytelling. Honestly, the beginning scene threw me off. Threw us all off. I get that's what it was supposed to do. But, I think that it was too out of place to really fit into the rest of the film. Unless it was just to get us into a horrific mood, then it did its job. Their whole world was exaggerated, but I couldn't figure out how that scene fit in with everything else. Definitely a film to watch again and discuss more. Is there a point? Is there a clear message? We ran out of time, but I wanted to know more about the "guilt" aspect of the short film.
After it ended, we had a very quiet room. I love that. That's the power of film.
After it ended, we had a very quiet room. I love that. That's the power of film.
I thought the first scene of the third film was well done, and was there for more than just the "shock" effect it obviously had on everyone. Leeper mentioned how a character or prop from scene #1 is incorporated into each scene following. I took it as the "point" of the film was to demonstrate how bleak and careful Germany was forced to become following WWII. How even in the most normal and casual of circumstances, a piece of that horrible first scene was always there, in the background, as a reminder.
ReplyDeleteI feel like that's just the tip of the iceberg though as to how expansive the meaning behind this film was. I agree with you, a second viewing and a longer discussion would be nice.
I get it after some thought. It def needs more than one showing to realize it for me.
ReplyDelete