David Godwin - Wings of Desire - (In-class movie #5)

This past week we watched the film Wings of Desire. The movie presented an interesting distinction between angels and men. Angels, according to this film, have not story because they exist outside of time and outside of need. The angels can watch humankind, and can even affect their lives, but they themselves could not be affected. They had emotions, yes, but they felt no needs. They pitied the people they observed, or fell in love, or laughed at them, but they could never really have relationship with them as long as they remained outside of time. The angel, Damiel, decides to give up his place in infinite time, and when he does it is as if time begins for the first time in the movie. He is searching for the trapeze artist that he has fallen in love with, and the audience finally has a specific goal to look forward to. It’s interesting that the film does not really have a story or plot itself, until Damiel breaks into the world and becomes man. As soon as he does, we feel the suspense of his journey, and we are hoping that he finds the woman he loves.
Our life is like this. We look forward to things; we have goals; we make plans; we have fears and worries. It’s all because we exist within time and know that we have an end. Without time we would have no reason for goals, thus we would have no place between a beginning and end within a story. This film made me realize what a gift time is. Although it may feel like I have no time, at least I have that feeling. The feeling was given to me so that I can exist within my own story and make something of today, a gift that even the angels do not have. Like in the film, our life is vibrant with color when we experience life in the infinitude of our human bodies. However, the realm of the angels is gray, distant from the vibrancy of life, because life means nothing to them without death.

David Godwin - The Jacket - (In-class Movie #4)

When we watched The Jacket in class, we discussed the main character, Jack, as a Christ-like figure. Although Jack’s story does not perfectly coincide with that of Christ’s, I think His journey presents an overall message of unconditional love and self-sacrifice. The Bible discusses Christ as a bridegroom, and the church as his wife. Christ’s interaction with His followers then is like a love story. Just as Jack sacrifices His life for Jackie, so did Christ sacrifice His life for the world. Thus, His walk on the earth is much like Jack’s life in real-time. When Christ lived on earth with his disciples, he saw them the same way that Jack saw Jackie as a child. They were to Christ, as she was to Jack, young and immature. However, in both situations, a sacrifice allowed them to grow and become beautiful new creations. After Christ died, according to His promise, He waited in heaven and prepared a room for them there. Imagine too Christ’s ability to be able to look into the hearts of men He was ministering to. He would have been able to look into the future and see who these people would have become without his sacrifice. In the same way, Jack travels in the drawer to see the older Jackie who is ruined by the neglect and abuse in her childhood. In both cases, I think, these men were moved with compassion to sacrifice themselves so that the future would change for these people. I saw Jack’s last entrance into the drawer as his entrance into heaven as well. When he gets there he sees the new Jackie, the way that she appears after his sacrifice helped to change her life. Just as Jack enters into this other dimension to have a love relationship with the woman he’s helped to change, so did Christ get to enjoy heaven with the disciples who became beautiful because of His sacrifice.

David Godwin - Watchmen - (In-class Movie #3)

Before going to see this movie, I had a conversation with my roommate. He heard that it was supposed to be an analogy, and that the superheroes were symbols representing God. He believes in one good and true God, so He was somewhat offended by the idea. “Why have a movie that contemplates God as corrupt, selfish, and evil? God is clearly good. It’s the only way that makes sense. Why think about other possibilities?” I had not seen the movie, so I did not know if it was worth defending at the time. Now that I have seen it, I understand why there’s value in its portrayal.
I do not think that any one clear “message” was really meant to be taken away from this film (except perhaps, that we are all helpless and subservient to time). But the symbolism that I saw was very close to the one my roommates friend saw. I thought of the superheroes as incomplete fragments of the whole of God. Each of these characters had flaws, revealing that the one aspect of Divinity they represented failed when it was isolated from the whole identity. For instance, the Comedian, I thought, represented the “might” of God. The Medieval concept of “absolutia potential” says that because God holds infinite power, He can reasonably do whatever He wants. Medieval theologians used this idea to explain the fickleness of God’s destructive power in the Old Testament. The Comedian is similarly fickle. He gives (by saving innocent people in war and at home) and he takes away (by raping and killing innocents). The problem with the Comedian, though, is that He does not represent the fullness of God. Where is the Compassion, the sense of Justice, the Omniscience? Without any of these things, he fails as a concept of God.
These qualities that were missing in the Comedian I saw scattered among the other Watchmen. Jupiter represented Compassion (when she entreats Dr. Manhattan to come save earth); Rorschach represented Justice; and Dr. Manhattan represents the metaphysical “holiness” and Omniscience of God. Each of these heroes is too extreme in their one godly characteristic, and therefore turn it into an unhealthy extreme. Separately, these superheroes are unable to save the world from its sin. Even when they do band together at the end, they all have different agendas, and are essentially divided. The lesson here is that one cannot take an extreme aspect of God and make that a god itself. Inevitably, that fragment of God which has become an idol will come across a need it cannot fill. This realization is why I think the movie makes an important message, especially for those of us who believe in one whole and complete God. The movie shows that if we do not accept God as a whole, deciding instead to pick apart his characteristics, we are making him into an idol that will not live up to the reality of who He is.

Kevin King

I found the film "In the Light of Reverence" to be really interesting and I decided to research more about Devil's Tower and Woodruff Butte for my research paper. I was always aware of how we took the natural land away from American Indians throughout civilization but I was never educated about situations such as these. There has been constant techinical climbing on Devil's Tower and actual destruction of Woodruff Butte that has been very personal for these American Indians. Mining was conducted for gravel at Woodruff Butte to finish Interstate 40 in Arizona. This goes back to the discussion we had of Dr. Redick's paper about the interstate system and the consequences it has had for our society. Sacred places have been constantly ruined to do construction in our country and these natural landscapes have continued to pay a toll with our constant industrialism. It was interesting to study more in depth these two places and I know have a much better education on how we have effected so many things with our civilization and technilogical revolutions.

Outside Reading- C.S. Lewis-Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to Be Said-Melissa Faller

C.S. Lewis' Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to Be Said is a short story written about Fairy Tales. C.S. Lewis explains that through myth sometimes the truth is better displayed and understood. C.S. explains that the reason for this is that a lot of times religion is associated with bad connotations. He writes, "Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one out to feel about God or about the sufferings of Christ? I thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation can freeze feelings." With religion comes a lot of misunderstanding, people are uncomfortable with the unknown. Most of this misunderstanding stems from the fact that Christianity changes lives of many people and because of this they want to preach the good news. This preaching (or obligation to preach) tends to rub people the wrong way and as a result when the word Jesus Christ is uttered people tend to role their eyes and stop listening. C.S. Lewis writes that it is through myth that this misunderstanding is removed and it allows people to experience without the bad associations. This made me think that myth is similar to a child. A child has not yet been exposed to the world, so they still have their own original thought with out obligation to please everyone around them. It has made me realize that the world would be a great place if we thought like children if we were able to appreciate each other with out judging or discriminating against one another.

Outside Reading-Screwtape Letters-Melissa Faller

In 1942 C.S. Lewis published a religious book written in a different perspective than most religious books. The book, Screwtape Letters, was written from the perspective of several different demons. When reading the book the reader gets an idea of how demons delight and influence our temptations and failings. In order to capture the demon perspective the book is written in a world where evil actions such as greed and selfish acts are good while trying to deplete acts of kindness. It was the particular perspective that C.S. Lewis wrote the Screwtape Letters that helped strengthen my faith. Throughout my religious journey I have never really talked about evil. Evil has always been something I haven’t been well versed in because it is “scary” or “bad” it is never something we talk about in bible studies. During lessons we tended to focus on how God’s goodness was at work, and what we could do to improve it. Focusing on these things was good, but I was unaware that it also put me in a sort of utopia. I was oblivious to the fact that along with God’s goodness there is also evil present in my enviornment. The book Screwtape Letters gave me the ability to recognize evil and by recognizing I’m about to understand and defend myself in situations dealing with love, pride, gluttony, and war. C.S. Lewis accomplished this through explaining how evil thinks. He explains that they do not directly tempt, but rather to confuse you.

Outside Reading-The Shack-Melissa Faller

The first time I heard about the Shack was from one of my parent’s family friends. He could not stop talking about this book. After he finished the book, he went to the local Borders and bought every copy and started handing them out to all of his friends. You could tell that this book changed his life, so I had to read it. This novel was particularly interesting to me because it introduces a new concept to the Christian religion. It pushes the social norms of how the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are perceived. The author, William Paul Young, writes about Mackenzie Allen Philips religious journey. He starts with Mackenzie getting a letter from God that tells Mackenzie to meet him at the Shack. Mackenzie not understands puts the letter aside. Later his youngest daughter, Missy is abducted and murdered. She was found in an abandoned shack in Oregon. Mackenzie thinks that the note could've been from Missy's murderer, so he goes to the shack. At the shack Mackenzie's life is transformed. It was not Missy's murderer but rather the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. By reading this book you understand the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a whole new light. The reason for this is due to the way Young writes about the trio. The father is seen as a big black woman. She like God is always loving and always wanting to be around you. She is caring and treats Mackenzie with the utmost kindness making him his favorite foods and helping him with his struggles. The Son or Jesus is a Middle Eastern man. He is the most relational of the three. He is where Mackenzie feels more comfortable because he is most human. The third is the Holy Sprit. The Holy Spirit is woman from an Asian decent. She seems to be constantly moving. He compares her to the wind. I understand why Mr. Douglas was raving about the book. It is a great read and has taught me to better understand how God can still be present in a world filled with so much hurt and pain.