{"id":4817,"date":"2012-02-27T11:29:31","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T15:29:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/?p=4817"},"modified":"2012-02-27T11:46:53","modified_gmt":"2012-02-27T15:46:53","slug":"dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Rubber Duckie My Religion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that you are roughly the same age as Natalie Portman, and you feel like a slacker loser because you haven\u2019t made a film based upon the work of Alan Moore. Bad birthday television.<\/p>\n

I love the Oscars, especially when Billy Crystal hosts. I like the glam, the gossip and the suspense. I marveled at how skeletal Angelina Jolie looked, at the trend to wear colorless dresses, at how Michelle Williams has transformed since I wrote her off as a \u201cforgettable blonde\u201d back when Dawson\u2019s Creek aired, and at how George Clooney has replaced Jack Nicholson as the go-to reaction shot in the first row.<\/p>\n

Really, my favorite part of the Oscars is the tribute to everyone who has died in the past year. Jane Russell was an amazing actress, and I didn\u2019t even realize she had passed. I\u2019d forgotten Liz Taylor had passed. But the one that got me was remembering Sidney Lumet<\/a> had died last year.<\/p>\n

The director of such great films as 12 Angry Men<\/em><\/a>, he wrote a book called Making Movies<\/em><\/a> that I read years ago, and it really stuck with me. Aside from all the fascinating insights into acting, directing and filmmaking, Lumet gave me insight into the art of storytelling. One of his pet peeves soon became one of mine. It\u2019s called rubber duckie-ing<\/em>. It\u2019s a lazy way of explaining the why<\/em> of a story, character or event. Here\u2019s a simple example:<\/p>\n

When Bob was a small child someone took his rubber duckie away from him. That is why he is an ax murderer today.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pretty stupid huh? I make spotting rubber duckies<\/em> in stories a sport. I mock them mercilessly. It\u2019s not much of a hobby, but it\u2019s what I\u2019ve got.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of my favorite stories completely lack even a whiff of a rubber duckie<\/em>. Cormac McCarthy has become one of my favorite writers for this reason. He doesn\u2019t explain why his characters are the way they are. They simply are. He just lets them be. And it\u2019s marvelous.<\/p>\n

Modern storytelling places a lot of emphasis on backstory, on reasons why things came into being, and on rubber duckies<\/em>. We want to know why<\/em>, but what keeps us fascinated is not knowing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In McCarthy\u2019s No Country For Old Men<\/em><\/a> we never know why Chigurh is the way he is. He is simply a force of malevolent chaos, unrelenting, and he fascinates us. So much of Wolverine\u2019s past is shrouded in mystery, and it\u2019s partly that mystery that makes him such a popular and enduring character. In post apocalyptic books like The Road<\/em><\/a> and A Canticle for Leibowitz<\/em><\/a>, the details of the apocalypse and even the pre-apocalyptic world are never revealed.<\/p>\n

Thinking about Sidney Lumet this morning, I find myself thinking about theology and the quest to understand the spiritual realms. The grand mysteries we so often treat like riddles to be solved. While I\u2019m hardly going to abandon my interest in gaining a deeper understanding of my faith and the spiritual world, I also know I want wisdom more than details. I want understanding more than answers.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to lose the mystery. I don\u2019t want to strip the essence of my faith bare down to it\u2019s cogs and gears. I don\u2019t want to discover the man behind the curtain. I don\u2019t want to be satisfied with an answer that works just to have an answer. I don\u2019t want my faith to fall victim to bad storytelling or soulless theology.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t want to rubber duckie my religion.<\/p>\n

An answer that works, that ties the loose ends together, that is pat and neat, isn\u2019t necessarily a good answer. It\u2019s good to remember that.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that you are roughly the same age as Natalie Portman, and you feel like a slacker loser because you haven\u2019t made a film based upon the work […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":4818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[85,2293,2292,1277,1285,2711,1456,2294,2291,2211,1773],"class_list":["post-4817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-academy-awards","tag-cormac-mccarthy","tag-making-movies","tag-oscars","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-religion","tag-rubber-duckie","tag-sidney-lumet","tag-spirituality","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nDon't Rubber Duckie My Religion<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that\" \/>\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\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Don't Rubber Duckie My Religion\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PANTHEON\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-27T15:29:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-02-27T15:46:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/102\/2012\/02\/512px-Rubber_duck.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Star Foster\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Star Foster\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/\",\"name\":\"Don't Rubber Duckie My Religion\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-27T15:29:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-02-27T15:46:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d\"},\"description\":\"Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Don’t Rubber Duckie My Religion\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/\",\"name\":\"PANTHEON\",\"description\":\"Where Star Foster Attempts To Be Clever Regarding All Things Pagan\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d\",\"name\":\"Star Foster\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Star Foster\"},\"description\":\"Southern polytheist in the Midwest.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/author\/star-foster\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Don't Rubber Duckie My Religion","description":"Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that","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\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Don't Rubber Duckie My Religion","og_description":"Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/","og_site_name":"PANTHEON","article_published_time":"2012-02-27T15:29:31+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-02-27T15:46:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"512","height":"600","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/102\/2012\/02\/512px-Rubber_duck.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Star Foster","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Star Foster","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/","name":"Don't Rubber Duckie My Religion","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-27T15:29:31+00:00","dateModified":"2012-02-27T15:46:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d"},"description":"Watching the Oscars on your birthday is the worst thing you can do. You are sitting there in your yoga pants eating chocolate when it occurs to you that","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/2012\/02\/dont-rubber-duckie-my-religion\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Don’t Rubber Duckie My Religion"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/","name":"PANTHEON","description":"Where Star Foster Attempts To Be Clever Regarding All Things Pagan","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/ac61b8c1a66bae870ac040938898606d","name":"Star Foster","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/448d4588747284e753d07aecb599dd2c?s=96&d=retro&r=g","caption":"Star Foster"},"description":"Southern polytheist in the Midwest.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/author\/star-foster\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4817\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/pantheon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}