What Christians can learn from Hollywood: The Fate of the Furious

Truth be told, I have only seen this installment, namely Fast and Furious 8 or The Fate of the Furious as it is called in the USA, the rest I have not seen fully, so I am operating on limited knowledge, despite light browses on Wikipedia. It is a franchise that involves illegal street racing and heists (Can't say I would condone those things but I digress.)

However, one thing has caught my attention with this franchise (thanks to a parody), namely, family. In fact one of the films (Furious 7 if I recall) has one of the characters, Dom Toretto say "I ain't got friends, I've got family". There was a video that I saw a few weeks ago that pertains to this issue, that despite the fact the film series are dumb entertainment, they do have an emotional tether that does make you connect with the characters, that they are in a certain way, a family, not necessarily by blood relations, but just by the fact that they care for each other in that way.

I would guess you would have to watch the previous films to get the full weight of it, specifically from Fast 5 onwards (I assume), but The Fate of the Furious itself retains this running thread. There will be spoilers from this point on.

Dom is happily married to Letty Ortiz but he is forced to work for Cipher, a cyber terrorist when his former lover, who is revealed to have a son held captive on a stealth plane, forcing Dom to work with her or watch his family die and even betray his current family, Letty included. There is an interesting contrast, a man who loves his family and a woman who is cold and detached from humanity, seeing emotion as merely a biological axiom.

Cipher kind of reminds me of Jezebel to a certain extent, holding Dom under her thumb much like Jezebel did Ahab (Of course Ahab consented to Jezebel because he loved her, whereas Dom doesn't love Cipher but I digress.) I don't want to read too much into this but nevertheless it is fascinating, even if this isn't what the writer intended.

While the subject of family not being limited to biological relation but can refer to kinship towards each other for knowing each other for so long is a common thread in most movies, Not just in The Fast and Furiverse (what I call the franchise in general), it does raise an interesting point, especially for the Christian walk.

The church, the body of Christ is itself a family, which may entail blood relations but also those who are not even related in that way. The same could be seen in the past in Israel, such as the friendship between David and Johnathan (not a homosexual relationship as some are fond of propounding), they could be considered as family, brothers in particular because of their friendship.

It is when the church is divided that the family falls apart and that needs to be restored. Paul speaks of the church marching in step with the spirit, the believers walking together and keeping each other on the straight path and watching over each other, taking care of one another. See the following in Galatians 5:
"16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.".

If the Lord Wills, more maybe added to this paper.

Answering Judaism.

What Christians can learn from Hollywood: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars is approaching it's 40th anniversary on the 25th of May 2017 and has so far spawned 8 live action movies, cartoons, and a formerly canon expanded universe now known as Star Wars. It's a big franchise, but is there something that Christians can learn from said franchise? Yes. Specifically I want to focus on the Force Awakens, an amazing movie if you want to check it out.

There will be spoilers for the Force Awakens in this article so I say check it out first before coming back to this video.

Reconciliation and Restitution

One of the interesting things I noted when I went to see the Force Awakens again (and possibly in a facebook post that looked familiar), what one of the things that caught my attention, was that of reconciliation.

To reiterate a point I made in the previous paper on Doctor Strange, There is something here to take from the film, that restitution has to be made, whether it's criminal, civil or other ways, some compensation or a lot has to be made, even if it's being punished for a crime accordingly or restoring a relationship. Sometimes however, it may not be possible to restore a broken relationship between two people or several, it may be too late, but it's worth giving a try.

See David Pawson's talk on Philemon, specifically the section on restitution: 27:29-30:45: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj6VvtIQBIU

Some of the characters are running away from their past, Specifically Han, Finn and Luke:

• Han running from his family that has been torn apart by his son, Ben Solo aka Kylo Ren turning to the dark side of the Force, with he and Leia separating from each other with Han going back to his old way of smuggling, the only life he knew outside of family. He is a bitter man running away from his past. Maz Kanata, a friend of Han tells him that he must go back to Leia. Han is confronted with this and has to rebuild his family, with the road to possible reconciliation with Leia as well as Leia trying to convince Han that there is good in in Kylo Ren. Han is given the courage to bring the family back.

• Finn is running away from the First Order. He was born and bred to be a stormtrooper, While it was commendable he was getting away from the First Order, he had to deal with his past by overcoming his cowardice and begin an active fight against the First Order. He was a flawed man, he lied to Rey, a scavenger about where he came from and claimed he was a resistance fighter, He rescued Poe Dameron, a resistance pilot for his own reasons rather than because it was right the right thing to do (though he confessed the truth to both Poe and Rey). He has fight the First Order in order for his past to truly be dealt with and brought to a firm conclusion.

• Luke Skywalker functions more as a plot device rather than a character, but he went into exile when Kylo Ren destroyed the Jedi and fell to the dark side. The ending of the Force Awakens can be interpreted in a number of way but just his brief encounter with Rey at the end can tie into this putting the past right. Is Rey trying to say while holding the lightsaber out "Come with me, we can restore the galaxy together" or "we need your help to put things right", to which Luke is saying "You're right, I must". No dialogue is spoken but that goes to show how good the ending scene is, nothing needs to be said.

The characters know they shouldn't run away from their problems, but must deal with them. It's a common thread found in many films, including Disney films, be it The Lion King and Aladdin.

The unbelieving world understands much better than too many Christians that you must try to make restitution, it is a common thread not only in the films I mentioned, but many programs point this out.

If anything, television does bear witness that man knows right from wrong but chooses to suppress it. 

Lord Willing if there is anything else we can take from Star Wars, I'll write on it.

Answering Judaism.

What Christians can learn from Hollywood: Doctor Strange

Most Christians are quite dismissive of the movie industry, As pointed out in a previous paper, Both movies and video games are controversial among Christians. Some condemn them as worldly or childish and some see them as harmless but exercise caution in what they see. Me, I myself am a movie fan and fit in the latter category: http://answering-judaism.blogspot.co.uk/2016/09/what-christians-can-gain-from-movies.html

Lord Willing, there may be more articles made on more movies but we'll see what happens.

Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is the 14th installment in a movie franchise called The Marvel Cinematic Universe, a film series based on comic books as made by Marvel. 

The series has made an incredible $11 billion at the box office and is currently unadjusted for inflation is the highest grossing film franchise in history, with James Bond and Harry Potter following behind. If you are wondering what my opinion of Dr Strange is, it's actually a really well written movie, pretty good overall.

Preface

Let me make one thing clear before I continue, I am aware that in the movie Doctor Strange, the characters engage in practices that the Bible condemns and warns people to stay away from such practices, make no mistake about that.

The characters use energy from other dimensions to cast spells, whether it be magical weapons, astral projection or drawing on dark power from another dimension. Witchcraft is something that must be repudiated, it mustn't be embraced (The same principle can be applied to Harry Potter if you can find anything in that franchise that agrees with and contradicts the Bible.)

That being said, Because there is an interesting message found within Doctor Strange that I think we can take aboard, but first, we need a quick run down of the story, spoilers if you have not see Doctor Strange.

Story and what we can learn

For those not in the know, Dr Stephen Strange was a brilliant (but egotistical) surgeon who is involved in an accident that ruins his hands and his career. He is forced to seek a cure for his affliction and in desperation tries various methods of healing to restore his hands to no avail. He learns of a man who was involved in a serious accident who was able to walk again and learns of a person known as the Ancient One whom he believes can help him.

Long story short, he is caught up in being involved in super heroics and is forced to become a sorcerer to defend the world from evil forces, including Dormammu, an evil demon from another dimension. There is a conversation that takes place in the movie where the Ancient One gives Dr Strange a choice, either go back to the life of being a surgeon or be something more and help more. There is more to just fame, there is more than just demonstrating incredible talent in an area.

Strange himself had a "friend" named Christine whom he didn't realize he didn't treat with a greatest respect until it was too late. Despite Christine trying to help him, Strange pushes her away and while the two reconcile and Strange is helped in recovering from wounds he sustained in a battle, that doesn't change the damage that has been done as a result of his selfishness.

There is something here to take from the film, that restitution has to be made, whether it's criminal, civil or other ways, some compensation or a lot has to be made, even if it's being punished for a crime accordingly or restoring a relationship. Sometimes however, it may not be possible to restore a broken relationship between two people or several, it may be too late, but it's worth giving a try.*

Disillusion

The villain, Caecillius, also suffering trauma of his own, lost his family and came to the Ancient One for help in the hopes of reviving his family, which she doesn't teach and feels betrayed by her. Stealing the Book of Cagliostro, a dark magic book, which would connect him to Dormammu, and grant him eternal life, seeing death as an enemy as well as time and that the only way to escape death is to become one with Dormammu and become part of the Dark Dimension. In fact he criticized the Ancient One for drawing on the power of the Dark Dimension to sustain her life.

This is where another interesting point comes into play, namely hypocrisy.

Baron Mordo, one of the Ancient One's loyal students looks up to the Ancient One as the one who helped him confront his demons, but is horrified when The Ancient One is using the Dark Dimension despite her prohibiting everyone else from doing it. Hypocrisy is damaging in any given situation but think of a case where the pastor of a church criticizes his congregation for engaging in sins that he himself is guilty of. Is it any wonder that the congregation is disillusioned with him and cannot trust him, ending up going their seperate way. They even feel this way possibly when one of their own breaks the rules without any remorse or regret that leads to repentance. Baron Mordo is disillusioned with the Ancient One and later Doctor Strange using the Eye of Agamotto, one of the Infinity Stones in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (despite his success in saving the world) that the sorcerers are not following their rules and thus walks away. 

Interesting considering when hear the story of a person who has left the Christian faith because they have been let down by people in the church and in many cases this is quite possible. Shadid Lewis' disillusion with his church and Mundane Matt's frustration with organised religion or other persons who have been hurt in some way, not knowing what Jesus is really like. It's not quite the same as Baron Mordo's story, but it's similar in concept.

Conclusion

Despite the fact the characters use spells to accomplish good or evil (Biblically its inconsequential what magic is used for because it involves using a source that's not God), there are many things you can take away from Doctor Strange that can resonate with us as Christians.

Lord Willing, there may be more papers similar to this, but you'll have to wait and see.

Answering Judaism.

*Let me bear clear I am not denigrating a job such as a surgeon or any lawful and right career, if anything Christians should be diligent in that work and do it as if Jesus himself is running the company or is a customer to whom you are providing a service. 

David Pawson has even said regarding God "He'd rather have a conscientious taxi driver than a careless missionary".

The point is, would you rather go back to a life that goes well and ok for you and helps others or do you want to serve others with a higher purpose and a greater good? In a Christian's case, doing his job in such a way it glorifies God, loving him and loving your neighbor. One could just be content with living his life out, but what does it amount to in the end?

You don't need a college degree to serve God, he can use anyone, be it a housewife, a construction worker, a surgeon etc. Even cleaning your workplace can be done in the name of Jesus.