Have you ever seen a movie and instantly had a positive reaction, then after thinking about it for a while kind of seen it in a differnt light? I want to move on to a Munich review, but I promised this one next, so here it goes...
How are Walk the Line and Brokeback Mountain connected? Both deal with extramarital affairs, both explore how "true love" can exist even in the midst of being unfaithful. The difference of course is that Walk the Line is heterosexual and Brokeback Mountain is homosexual. Which movie do you think Christians are more offended by? Which movie do you think Christians actually are recomending to friends and family? I know the answer to both of these questions. Of course this isn't a blanket statement. Focus on the Family is so flat in thier movie reviews that they find fault in Walk the Line for exactly the reason that there is an adulterous relationship onscreen. Of course Focus on the Family also counted the uses of profanity, the acts of drug and alcohol and even the use of a shotgun for home protection as negatives against the film. If I start going off on the Focus on the Family style of movie reviews, this blog would get really long, so let's save that for some other time...
Back to Walk the Line and Brokeback Mountain. Have we given up on any hope of dealing with adultery, premarital sex, and divorce from a Christian perspective? Is all of our energy focused on the sin of homosexuality? What does this say to those around us? To answer my own questions, I think we (as a whole) have given up on many other sins. If we overlook those sins already generally accepted by society it allows our churches to get bigger and feel more comfortable in our society. Of course a good percentage of our energy is focused on condemning homosexuality. It is still one of those issues that hasn't penetrated our everyday lives. Maybe if we can stop same-sex marriage we can hold back the tide... And what does this say to those around us? We are hypocrites. So go see Walk the Line, it's a great movie! I really enjoyed the chemistry between Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.
1 comment:
Though both films are about relationships with those who are already married, I'm not sure that they have the same message. I have not seen Broke Back, and I don't plan on it, but I can venture a guess and say that the love story in Broke Back is the complete center piece of the story and the message. In Walk the Line there is a love story and it is not everything. This is a story about Cash. I will agree completly that we are not supposed to feel upset about the fact that he was married and trying to court someone else at the same time, but I'm not sure that the movie was saying that it was a good thing either. This was a film about a broken man. He was a womanizer, but he was also an alcoholic and a drug addict. It doesn't glorify this. The film simply tells the true story of a man who hit rock bottom and about the woman who kept him alive. And I will also add that it seems that Cash may have become a Christian at the end of his life. It's alright for a movie to be about a fallen person. Almost every story in the Bible (i.e. David, Samson, Peter) is about those who at some point completly fell short of the Glory of God, but it doesn't glorify or justify their actions. I think that Walk the Line has an overall good message. It's one that shows that no matter how far you fall there is always a way up.
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