Thoughts from "Garden State"

Garden State is one of those indie dramedies (examples include Lars and the Real Girl, 500 Days of Summer, United States of Leland, or Wristcutters) many, or at least some of us have come to know and love these days.

After seeing Garden State for a second time, I am reminded of the difficulty of interacting with this genre of film. These movies are very dialog heavy, and since I do not take notes, it is easy to lose key lines from the movie as you watch it, and they slip away even faster once the movie is over.  Second, I do not so much watch these films as much as I enter into these films.  Movies like Avatar and Daybreakers are movies you watch but do not necessarily enter into, or you merely enter in for a scene here or a scene there.

This film deals with the themes of emotion, home, love, significance; and all of these are addressed within a world that is finite.  This life is the only shot you get, and when it's over, it's over.  That's it.  So, where's the hope?  Well, hopefully you'll find something worth living for and people worth living with...hopefully.  After all, according to Garden State, life is an "infinite abyss."  So, what do you do?  You live in the present, for the now, because who knows what's on the way and how long it is going to last anyway.

As I watched Garden State I realized that I shared similar emotions and feelings with the varying characters at different points in the film, but I could not enter into these feelings without knowledge of how my faith addressed these emotions.  True, sometimes you do not feel like you have a home, a place of community to go back to ("The affectionate child pines in a mansion for the home of his parents, though that is a scene of comparative poverty," which is clearly revealed by the statements of Jesse in the film.), but for the Christian, it does not end there.

For the Christian, we know that whatever idea and community of "home" we experience here, it is only a taste of what our real home will be - Heaven, eternally in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  "This is the expression and summation of all the believer hopes for beyond the gave...ETERNAL LIFE: It is life, intellectual, physical, spiritual, social—in absolute perfection—and all this forever...through eternity there shall never be a moment when there shall not be a fullness of joy; when the happy immortal shall not be able to say, "THIS IS LIFE!"  'He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain! For the old world and its evils are gone forever!' (Rev. 21:4)."[1]

For Garden State, this life is a road to nowhere:

Andrew Largeman: You remember that idea I had about working stuff out on my own and then finding you once I figured stuff out?
Sam: The ellipsis? 

Andrew Largeman: Yeah, the ellipsis, it's dumb. It's dumb. It's an awful idea. I'm not gonna do it, okay? Cause like you said, this is it. This is life. And I'm in love with you... I think that's the only thing I've ever really been sure of in my entire life. And I'm really messed up right now, and I got a whole lot of stuff I have to work out, but I don't want to waste any more of my life without you in it. And I think I can do this. I mean, I want to. I have to, right?
Sam: Yeah. Yes!
Andrew Largeman: So what do we do? What do we do?

So, what do you do in a life that's on a road to nowhere?  Where do you go?  Find love that will hopefully last until you die?  Find a home that's permanent enough to last so you can leave it instead of it leaving you?  What?

"There is a source that can tell us what life is really about. Found in the pages of Scripture...are directions not just to “live and learn” but to “learn and live.” The promise of skillful living is made to all those who will “listen to advice and accept instruction” (Proverbs 19:20). God has revealed truths about life; the Bible is a guidebook of sorts, a blueprint to living, the foundation of a well-built life and a roadmap through the maze of confusion that our days often resemble. There is purpose and meaning, clarity and fulfillment in this life. But it is only found as we navigate by the wisdom contained in the word of God."[2]

"But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith" (Philippians 3:7-9).

On a road to nowhere with no absolute destination except the non-existence of death and no absolute purpose, all that is left is desire.  Purpose becomes fulfilling your desires, and you cannot fulfill your desires; no one can ultimately fulfill their desires, which makes every life without Christ a failed life.

"For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee" (Augustine).  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."  He is the road; He is the destination; He is the purpose, and it is through Him that we finally reach our true home, where we've been meant to be since the day we were born - eternal life with Him in Heaven.

"Legion" from two sides

Legion (click this link to get the basic information and summary of the film) is a new movie in theaters.  It is one I cannot directly interact with because I am not going to see it.  There are films I will not see (The trailer was bad enough.).  This is one of them.  It is a film that "deals" with spiritual matters.  Thus, for those that are interested, I want to give you a review of the film from a Christian and a review of the film from a non-Christian.

I think it is a clear contrast between the Christian and non-Christian mind.  The movie itself testifies to the fact that without the Holy Spirit, one can never rightly understand and interpret and apply the Scriptures.  Without the Holy Spirit, one can only twist and butcher God's word and the God who authored it, "which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:15).

"Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish" (2 Peter 2:10b-12).

"Daybreakers"

I saw "Daybreakers" last Thursday night.  Yes, it is a vampire movie, and no, it is not for everyone (for a content review click here).  It is a vampire movie in the same way that "28 Days Later" is a zombie movie.  In "Daybreakers" the vampires are not mystical or magical but biological, turned by a virus from a bat.  These former people do not have beating hearts. Instead, they have a low body temperature, burn up if they are hit with sunlight. And, more importantly, they need human blood to survive.  Unfortunately, they are running out of humans.

Message and Themes 
Well, I could not really find a message in the film, but a major theme revolves around fear of death and fear in general.  Who really has fear?  The vampires think humans live in fear because they are being hunted; they are outnumbered; they can die, but the vampire cannot die of natural causes.  However, as the film continues you realize the vampire has much more to fear than just the sun, and like the humans they were before they were turned, they are still fallen and sinful and selfish and power hungry.  Really, you learn that immortality alone does not change someone's heart (whether it beats or not).  New powers and abilities do not change how one will use them.

Parallels to Life (Spoilers ahead) 
Parallels to life?  A vampire movie?  Really?  Yes.  The plot and conflict are similar to that of Will Smith and his plight in "I Am Legend."  Throughout the film I saw the vampires as those who do not have new life in Christ, as representative of those all around us who are living a physical life but are at the same time spiritually dead.  This is important for the following parallels. 

Parallel 1: Due to the lack of humans and thus, human blood, the vampires are looking for a blood substitute.  You find out that drinking one's own vampire blood or another vampire's blood does not work.  It instead morphs you into a bat-like mutant creature.  Just like sin and sinners, when we seek solutions and significance and salvation in any other place but Christ, in more sin, it only ruins us and takes us further down the path of destruction, makes us more selfish, more hard-hearted.  Like the vampires could not turn to each other for salvation from their plight, so we cannot turn to creation, to man or beast or plant for salvation from our plight of being dead in our sins, for there is no salvation there.

Parallel 2: You are then introduced to a character who has gone from being a vampire to human.  How?  The sun.  He crashed his car, flew through the windshield into the sun and landed in water where a tunnel to hide him from the sun was.  Anyway, that limited exposure to the light made him human again.  Brought him back.  Just like in life, it is exposure to the light of Christ that reveals the truth of who we are - sinners in need of a savior - that leads to new life.  "Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12), and "you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

Parallel 3: You then learn that not only do controlled burns from the sun make one human again, but the blood of the former vampires/newly humans turn vampires into humans again.  Interesting, we as Christians have been ignited by the light of Christ and are called to proclaim His gospel, His good news of salvation to the world.  What we have been given we are called to proclaim and give to the masses.  What was inside those who had new life was an antidote to the walking death the vampires lived in.  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith" (Romans 1:16-17).

Parallel 4: Lastly, the vampires did not want it.  Reminiscent of Will Smith crying out to the mutants that he had an antidote, that he could save them, so we see the same response in "Daybreakers."  However, unlike the inability to respond the mutants had in "I Am Legend" (see Ephesians 2:1-3), the vampires in "Daybreakers" willingly chose to reject the cure, their salvation (see Romans 1:18-23).  And so does the vast majority of humanity reject by nature and by choice the salvation offered to them in Jesus Christ.  But just as the heroes of "Daybreakers" carry on, seeking to find a way to bring all the vampires back to new life, so we as Christians carry on as Christ's witnesses "that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light."

The Imperfect Christ-type (Spoiler ahead) 
A Christ-type in literature is a character whose death brings about redemption for others or society or the hope of redemption (Maximus in "Gladiator," Will Smith in "I Am Legend," Aslan in "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe").  One former vampire, the brother of the protagonist, having been turned human, ends up standing before a SWAT team of vampires who are starved for blood.  He stands his ground, proclaiming the good news that they have an antidote, they do not have to kill anymore, they need no longer be enslaved to their need for blood; however, they do not listen and attack, not knowing this act of brutal violence will in fact be their salvation.  And so we as Christians stand, knowing that just as Stephen died proclaiming the good news of salvation in Christ, so we stand in the face of any opposition to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, knowing that God will use our faithful stance and obedient proclamation to bring even some of our attackers to salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ.

"Avatar"

I got to see Avatar tonight. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars. If you can, spend the extra money and go see it in IMAX 3D, if you can't see it in IMAX, spend the extra money and see it in 3D, and if you can't do either of those, just go see it in theaters because this movie was made to be seen on the big screen and heard in surround sound. James Cameron's latest film (first feature length since 1997's Titanic) comes with great visuals, quality acting, and unlike Transformers 2, it's story actually lived up to its visual grandeur.

Avatar (for a summary of the film's story click here and read the "Synopsis") is far from just a movie and entertainment. James Cameron has a message, and it rings loud and clear.

For starters, I really enjoy movies, and I really enjoy talking about movies with others after we've seen it. It is a lot of fun to not only discuss the messages of a film but also bring it into contemporary life and ask, "If the message(s) of this film were really true, what kind of implications would that have," and other questions like it. This is my attempt to bring some of my thoughts and discussions from friendly conversation to thoughtful blog entry.

Cameron's worldview and gospel comes through via the characters and peoples in his new film. Viewers may even notice some fairly obvious similarities between this movie's message and the messages of The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Dances With Wolves.

Worldview
The optimal worldview put forth is pantheism (all nature is spiritual and there is a one, or ultimate unity; in Avatar, it is the Great Mother i.e. our own mother nature). Nature itself is spiritual, and the path to peace and enlightenment is one of true connection with nature, but not creation. In fact, there is no "creator" in this film. Everything simply is. The closest thing to a creator is a deity of nature, a spiritual being that is equally connected to all nature. As Richard Dawkins puts it, pantheism is a "sexed-up" atheism/naturalism. It just takes naturalism and religiofies/deifies it.

However, this view of reality is completely contrary to the view of God as the Creator in Christianity and cannot be accepted as truth: "For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things" (Romans 1:21-23).

Furthermore, this belief system falls apart on a very basic level - the value of human life. When Neytiri saves Jake from a pack of alien wolf-dogs, she tells him the killing of the animals is sad and awful, and he asks her, "Then why did you save me? Why didn't you let me die?" Her answer, "You have a strong heart." What does that even mean? Pantheism does not have a clear answer as to why the life of a person is more valuable than any other species in nature - plant or animal. There is no explanation as to why people intrinsically value human life over all other types of life or why they should value it more or if they should value it more.

Christianity
Sigourney Weaver's character is named Dr. Grace Augustine. Though she does not display any Christian practice or statement in the film, her name would seem to be intentional. In the film, Grace identifies with and sympathizes with the Na’vi (the alien species), as one should in light of the injustice and evil (done by the humans) under which they have suffered. However, she has no interest in changing the Na’vi. In fact, at her death she "converts" or becomes fully accepting of their beliefs by becoming one with Pandora (the planet) and with the Great Mother stating, "I am with her. She is real."

In my opinion, Cameron is using Dr. Grace as his messenger to Christians as to what his ideal Christian is like. He is telling Christians to stop trying to proseltyze and change people of different beliefs. This message conveys that other religions are just as good as Christianity, if not better, and Christians ought not claim that their religion is right. After all, all cultures are equally valid if they promote peace and harmony with others and the earth, and the Na’vi are certainly portrayed as a near (if not completely) sinless society.

Good Things
Without going into detail, it is clear that the prejudice and "depersonizing" of the Na’vi is evil, and the blatant destruction and disregard for creation and the lives of others in pursuit of the almighty dollar is evil as well (You will notice the similarities between what happens in Avatar and what took place in North and South America when the Europeans arrived.).

I loved that the mineral they were mining for was called "unobtanium." Again, an intentional name I believe. It would seem that Cameron's message here is that happiness, significance, purpose, security, love, and etcetera are all ultimately unobtainable through the functional savior of financial and material gain, and ultimately, this mineral was unobtainable to those who sought to take it by any means necessary. Likewise, the idols we build will always taunt us. We will never fully reach our created heavens and our functional saviors will never get us there. Just as the deity (the Great Mother) in Avatar crushed the idol the humans had created, so we need to turn to Jesus Christ who will crush our idols as our Lord and Savior.

In Summary
Cameron's "gospel" (his good news to the world) is an empty one. He has no basis for valuing human life over that of any plant or animal. Furthermore, there is no creator in his fable; only a mythical being that is somehow entwined with nature. In reality, there is no one in nature with whom to reconnect at death. There is only the personal, triune, Creator, God, and we, along with all the earth, all that is seen and unseen, are His creation. Cameron's "gospel" is no gospel at all. Unlike his message to Christians, Christians must refuse his "gospel" and his proclamation to stop proclaiming the name and exlusivity of Jesus Christ. "This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12).

To not critically engage such a film is to passively accept its messages, which, especially in this case, is not something that Christians should do.

For further reading on Avatar and James Camerson see:

1. 
   
   Douthat, Ross. "Heaven and Nature." The New York Times. 20 Dec. 2009. Web. 23 Dec. 2009.
   -- A great review of and interaction with the film.
   
   
   
2. 
   
   Holz, Adam R. "Avatar." Plugged In Online. 18 Dec. 2009. Web. 23 Dec. 2009.
   -- Overall, some pretty good things to say about the movie and its messages.
   
   
   
   
3. 
   
   "James Cameron (I)." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 23 Dec. 2009.
   
   
   
4. 
   
   "James Cameron." Wikipedia. Web. 23 Dec. 2009.