{"id":31072,"date":"2008-01-02T23:37:10","date_gmt":"2008-01-03T06:37:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lookingcloser.wordpress.com\/2008\/01\/02\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/"},"modified":"2013-03-09T16:54:00","modified_gmt":"2013-03-09T23:54:00","slug":"what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/","title":{"rendered":"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Jeffrey Wells doesn\u2019t think so. Here\u2019s a clip from\u00a0his blog<\/a>\u00a0(Wednesday) on an internationally celebrated film that has yet to show up on the radar of most Christian media sites.<\/p>\n

Cristian Mungiu\u2019s\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days<\/em>\u00a0\u201cmanages to deal with abortion without advocating any stance other than compassion,\u201d\u00a0writes<\/a>\u00a0Times Online<\/em>\u00a0critic Kevin Maher. \u201cIt illustrates what happens when a woman\u2019s right to choose her biological destiny is removed, and yet it also shows a picture of abortion that would please the most adamant pro-lifer.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yet, as I wrote last summer, the likelihood of any American right-to-lifers seeing this movie is next to nil. Their commitment to stopping abortion is sincere, but it pales next to their xenophobia. I suspect that most conservative Americans would rather jump into a raging volcano than see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Now, granted, he doesn\u2019t single out Christians\u2026 he just says \u201cconservative Americans.\u201d But still, I wonder\u2026<\/p>\n

Once in a while, we\u2019re fortunate enough to see a great work of art on the big screen. Once in a while, we get the opportunity to explore and discuss timely questions about morality and spirituality in the light of an illuminating film.<\/p>\n

But, more often than not, when I see this happen\u2026 either on a national or international stage\u2026 I find very little discussion at all amongst Christians. Christians don\u2019t tend to show up at that table very often. It\u2019s discouraging, because if something that offends us shows up, boy howdy\u2026 we come running to the table with our protests. But otherwise, we seem to have largely abandoned the world of art to \u201cthe secular culture,\u201d and keep on praising the \u201cclassic\u201d works by Christian artists\u2026 works that were produced during periods of history when the church appreciated the purpose and power of art.<\/p>\n

The Christian moviegoers I correspond with regularly, such as those at\u00a0ArtsandFaith.com<\/a>, have been champing at the bit to see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days<\/em>\u00a0for quite a while now. A few already have. It\u2019s an exciting community of folks for whom the exploration of art is a crucial part of their spiritual growth.<\/p>\n

But in my years of learning and growing in relationships at ArtsandFaith.com, I\u2019ve found that most of the art enthusiasts there feel like aliens in their own church community. And that\u2019s just sad.<\/p>\n

I hope I live long enough to see this change dramatically.<\/p>\n

But alas, in my experience with community churches, there\u2019s very little interest in, or talk about, the arts. Instead, most folks seem content with shallow and derivative fare\u2026 the stuff designed by studio committees to make big box office bucks, not movies that actually challenge us to reflect and grow.<\/p>\n

Frankly, I\u2019m not terribly fond of hearing movie illustrations used in sermons. Most Sunday-morning pop-culture references from the pulpit are employed to wake up the congregation and hold their attention. They rarely contribute any profound illumination of the scripture in question.<\/p>\n

But if illustrations from movies must be employed\u2026 why not remind people about the power of art, rather than wade around in the shallow end of commercial entertainment?<\/p>\n

I would dare to suggest that if churchgoers and pastors were more educated in the arts, they might recognize which works of art really do have a great deal to contribute to our spiritual exploration. They might find inspiration for better sermons.<\/p>\n

Which would you rather hear\u2026 contemplation on the spiritual implications of Shakespeare, or an episode of \u201cPrison Break\u201d? Which would you guess to be the more rewarding discussion fodder \u2014 a film by Ingmar Bergman, or a movie by Michael Bay? I think I might just leap to my feet in astonishment if I heard\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days\u00a0<\/em>mentioned from the pulpit. <\/em>Or even the much more accessible\u00a0Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, <\/em>one of the greatest films ever made about a Christian, which remains almost unseen by Christians in America.<\/p>\n

But I suspect I\u2019m doomed to hearing only descriptions of scenes from action-hero blockbusters. (I would be a rich man if I had a dime for every sermon illustration I\u2019ve heard regarding\u00a0Braveheart\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0The Matrix.)<\/em> \u00a0<\/em>It makes me want to get up and start throwing hymnals.<\/p>\n

I fear I\u2019m stuck in a country where Christians are silent when something beautiful arrives, because they haven\u2019t taken an interest in artistic beauty, and thus they don\u2019t know what it looks like. But they\u2019re quick to panic and protest something that offends them, like\u00a0The Golden Compass<\/em>\u00a0(and they do this\u00a0twelve years after the book becomes a bestseller, <\/em>because most American Christians don\u2019t notice art until it plays on a big screen at the local shopping mall).<\/p>\n

I fear I\u2019m going to live out my life in a culture where Christians won\u2019t consider, much less celebrate, a masterpiece of faith-affirming artistry, primarily because they can\u2019t be bothered to go see movies that have subtitles.*<\/p>\n

Personally, I can\u2019t wait to see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days<\/em>. As soon as I have time to go to the movies again, this will be at the top of my list of must-see list.<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t it be nice to find a great work of contemporary art celebrated and discussed on Christian radio?<\/p>\n

Wouldn\u2019t it be even more exciting if that art came from (gasp)\u00a0a foreign country<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Or do we only talk about art on Christian radio when we\u2019re protesting its athiestic agenda, or worrying about what it\u2019ll do to our kids?<\/p>\n

Should I go on and talk about how tough it is to find Christians who are willing to sit down and watch one of the three films that have had the most profound, transforming influence on my faith: Wings of Desire,<\/em>\u00a0Three Colors: Blue,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0The New World<\/em>?<\/p>\n

What would you rather do: See\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days<\/em>\u2026 or jump into a volcano?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m just asking.<\/p>\n

*Note: Yes, I\u2019m overstating things slightly. But it\u2019s my blog. I have permission to get a little emotional.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/h6>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days? Jeffrey Wells doesn\u2019t think so. Here\u2019s a clip from\u00a0his blog\u00a0(Wednesday) on an internationally celebrated film that has yet to show up on the radar of most Christian media sites. Cristian Mungiu\u2019s\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days\u00a0\u201cmanages to deal with abortion without advocating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1051,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2200],"class_list":["post-31072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-4-months-3-weeks-2-days"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days? Jeffrey Wells doesn't think so. Here's a clip from\u00a0his blog\u00a0(Wednesday) on an\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days? Jeffrey Wells doesn't think so. Here's a clip from\u00a0his blog\u00a0(Wednesday) on an\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Looking Closer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-03T06:37:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-03-09T23:54:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey Overstreet\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/\",\"name\":\"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-03T06:37:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-03-09T23:54:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\"},\"description\":\"Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days? Jeffrey Wells doesn't think so. Here's a clip from\u00a0his blog\u00a0(Wednesday) on an\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/\",\"name\":\"Looking Closer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e\",\"name\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Jeffrey Overstreet\"},\"description\":\"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?","description":"Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days? Jeffrey Wells doesn't think so. Here's a clip from\u00a0his blog\u00a0(Wednesday) on an","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?","og_description":"Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days? Jeffrey Wells doesn't think so. Here's a clip from\u00a0his blog\u00a0(Wednesday) on an","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/","og_site_name":"Looking Closer","article_published_time":"2008-01-03T06:37:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-03-09T23:54:00+00:00","author":"Jeffrey Overstreet","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jeffrey Overstreet","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/","name":"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website"},"datePublished":"2008-01-03T06:37:10+00:00","dateModified":"2013-03-09T23:54:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e"},"description":"Will any conservative Christians go see\u00a04 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days? Jeffrey Wells doesn't think so. Here's a clip from\u00a0his blog\u00a0(Wednesday) on an","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/2008\/01\/what-would-you-rather-do-see-a-great-foreign-film-or-jump-in-a-volcano\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Would You Rather Do? See a Great Foreign Film, or Jump In a Volcano?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/","name":"Looking Closer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/2675c6d9f6401acd7568e32160e5374e","name":"Jeffrey Overstreet","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/14a7727373cd5b470d66842ecf5cc007?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Jeffrey Overstreet"},"description":"Visit Looking Closer for Jeffrey Overstreet's latest writing on art, faith, and film. Jeffrey teaches writing and film at Seattle Pacific University. He left the Patheos network in 2015.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/author\/jeffreyoverstreet\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lookingcloser\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}