Long time, no bloggin'
I'm not sure why it's taken me this long to step back into the blog world. That's probably a completely different post! I just wanted to shout out and say a huge public thank you that I live in a world where God is in control. God exists, and he (and good) will ultimately triumph!!
What brought this on was a somewhat tramatic experience I had last night. Some friends came over for our first weekly movie night of the summer. (Wednesday nights at my house, for those of you in town!) Anyway - one of the gang requested we watch Sin City. I had not seen this film, but I'd heard many, many things about how great it was. I was looking forward to the experience. Wow. It was definitely an experience. Even now, I'm not sure what I think about it.
One of the guys said something I thought was really insightful. He said that in this film -- God is dead and good is relative. Yes. This film goes to edge of what the world would be like if that was true. If God really didn't exist and good really did depend on circumstances and perspective -- we might be in a world like Basin City. There was no character who acted heroically. Even the two characters that we might see as the "good guys," really weren't. One, Marv, was a mass murderer who tortured others gleefully to find the information he was seeking. The fact that he was trying to revenge the death of a young woman and ultimately killed her canabalistic killer, doesn't really change the fact that his methods were horrific. The other, Hardigan, seemed to be making good choices that led to horrific consequences. Yet, even he was convinced to do something he originally thought was wrong by a young woman he wanted to protect.
Every decision in the film seemed to be driven by the needs of the moment. What makes you feel good? What will protect you? What will make someone else hurt? There was never a thought beyond that immediate future. No thought of what was right. It truly was a movie about Sin City.
I woke up several times in the night, thanking God for being there. Just the fact that he exists is worthy of praise!! I'm so grateful that he has set up the rules for our world. Wether we acknowledge them or not -- they exist. Good is good, and evil is evil. Sometimes the lines get blurry, and it's hard to tell exactly where we stand -- but God knows, and I believe that he leads us in the path we should go.
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Psalm 23:4 KJV
posted by Jill Pole @ 6/07/2007
5 Comments:
First of all, "YEAH!" I'm glad to hear your voice in the blogging world again. I miss the comraderie of our former blogging pals and their thoughts here...especially yours, my friend. :-)
Second, wow. What thoughts. I haven't seen Sin City but it seems that it speaks to the very heart of our culture today: "What makes you feel good? What will protect you? What will make someone else hurt? There was never a thought beyond that immediate future. No thought of what was right."
From what you say about the movie, it seems like the worldview is one of a lack of knowledge of a loving, creator God who is in control... Kinda makes me think of Judges 21:25: "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
"
Good stuff...
Yes sin city certainly made me think, and left me squirming a few times too. I personally would say the the Bruce willis character was pretty much a good guy, certainly a man of principles. Which is why he ended up the way he did, perhaps there is no room for principles in sin city.
It's certainly visually striking in any case. I saw if for the first time on the plane journey over to china when we went a year and a half ago 9I just like getting that in there somewhere)
Thanks for your kind words about my blog.
Good thoughts on Sin City. I liked parts and as a little disturbed by others. Overall a very visually stunning flick.
You may want to check out "Magnolia" by PT Anderson ("Boogie Nights"). It has similar themes of but in the end has a really good message about how everyone needs to be forgiven and needs a second chance. It also has an amazing use of a killer soundtrack (mostly Aimee Mann) that seriously enhances the story.
Dave
Too bad I live all the way in Canada – I would have loved to be there for that movie night. :) [I hope you rented the extended cut DVD]. I am a huge fan of the Sin City graphic novels books (Marv’s story being my favorite, as you can tell from my avatar), and the movie is one of my all time favorites – certainly in my top 5. I could debate the merits of the movie ad nauseam. I’ve read a lot of reviews of this movie, and the thought provoking subtexts are often missed because of the stylized violence.
You do raise some good points, though. However, behind all the style and violence of the movie, the underlying theme to the stories is love. What the characters did wasn’t for their enjoyment in the moment, but for the love and protection of someone else. Also, a lot of the stories are about good vs evil, but not in our usual way of thinking. The concepts are turned on their heads – where the usual good guys (priests, senators, cops) are all corrupt. The usual bad guys (ex cons, thugs, hookers, even murderers, and those just doing what they have to in order to survive) are the only ones who make a difference in a truly corrupt world. In that world, where no one cares about anyone, the thing that finally brought these characters to do something, take a stand in their own way, and fight the corrupt way of things was, of all things, love. And I’d disagree with “No character acted heroically” and “No thought of what was right.” The characters did what they did because they believed it was the right thing to do, regardless of the inevitable and known high personal cost. Hartigan sacrificed it all for Nancy. In Marv’s case, he knows what it will cost him, but he even says his messed up life will have been worth it if he does this one thing right. In other words, stop a cannibalistic killer, avenge the dead hookers, and make up for the way he failed Goldie when she needed him.
Yes, they did some reprehensible things along the way, but their choices were limited. And what defines “right”? If there is no “justice system” to turn to, is it better to stand by and do nothing (so you can say you did nothing ‘wrong’) while someone kills or hurts the innocent and weak with nothing to stop him, or get your hands dirty and do what needs to be done to protect those that need help? Is it sufficient to simply stand back, fold our hands, and pray that God makes it all right? If that is all that is needed, and we don’t actually have to do anything, what are we really here for? Does God really need us to ask him to do the work to make things right, or is it up to us to make a stand and do the work, even if that means drastic measures are needed?
Even in the Bible (David and Goliath, Samson, coming to mind), there are those who stood for those that could not protect themselves, against tall odds, fighting evil with violence, and sometimes to their own sacrifice. It’s about making a choice – when all avenues to turn to (police, church, etc) are gone, and it’s strictly up to you to draw a line in the sand and say “This far, no further” to stop evil in its tracks, and you have to go all the way to do it (ie kill, maim, even die) and the cost is high, but it has to be stopped or others will suffer, is that “wrong”? Or did God purposefully put those on Earth to do just that, so that evil will know there is a Force to be reckoned with, a balance, and good can survive?
I don’t know if I have the answers to these questions, but it’s something to think about.
Have you seen 300?
I haven't heard from you in ages. Write me sometime so I know you're alive.
Rob
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