That Blue People Movie

Posted on December 22, 2009 by rbirkey

Went to see this epic James Cameron sci-fi, fantasy film over the last weekend with my wife. Saw the 3D version which you wear the glasses for. Unfortunately the theater was so full we could only find seats in the back row or the front row, so we went with the back row. Had a HUGE guy with a BIG head sitting in front of me. My neck got tired.

Aside from that, I really enjoyed the incredible computer generated graphics and special effects that made the other world (Pandora), otherworldly. The story was interesting too… how these future earth humans could link up a human with a “genetically engineered” avatar version of themselves, one mixed with the DNA of the local world inhabitants. This genetic combo produced some pretty interesting “blue people” avatars (See Jake Sully below).

Neytiri and the Avatar of Jake Sully

The biggest problem I had with this movie was the worldview that the filmmaker “preached” to me during the whole thing. It went like this…

Humans are bad
They destroy the environment of their own world
They move on to other worlds and destroy those as well
They form evil capitalistic corporations that are only interested in the bottom line
Humans/corporations do bad things like kill innocent indigenous beings just to make a buck

On the other hand…

Native indigenous humanoids are pure and near perfect
The indigenous humanoids may be more technologically “primitive” but they are in tune with Nature
Native indigenous humanoids are “spiritual” and can connect with the “spirit” of all animate and inanimate things and are therefore superior to earth humans
They apparently can only do good
Only humans that understand the value of these indigenous humanoids and work with and for them are noble and worth anything
In the end the “good” guys (indigenous natives) win against the bad guys (earthlings) through the power of their superior spiritual networking with the planet.

I mean, I love a good “evil vs. good” sci-fi/fantasy epic thriller as much as the next guy… but this kind of overt anti-human, environment-worshipping, nature-spiritualizing preachiness was just too much.

It doesn’t even come close to Lord of the Rings – still the master standard in my book.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

Posted on December 7, 2008 by rbirkey

Shmuel is the name of the boy in the striped pajamas. He is an eight year old Jewish boy in a Nazi concentration camp. Bruno, the eight-year old son of the camp commandant meets Shmuel across the electric barbed wire fence. The film, based upon the book by John Boyne, uses this powerful story to explore issues of innocence, friendship, good, evil and what it means to be human.

As Catherine Barsotti and Robert Johnston say in their helpful book, Finding God in the Movies: 33 Films of Reel Faith,“ Successful movies do not merely transplant us somewhere new; they inspire us to become one with one of the characters.” And this film certainly does that. We look at the Holocaust through the eyes of an 8-year-old whose country and family would have him believe that the Jews were enemies and were getting what they deserved. But Bruno’s childlike identification with Shmuel tells him otherwise. — Breakpoint.org

This is a very powerful, emotionally gripping story with implications for our current culture and world situation. I encourage any adult who reads this blog post to go see the film, or read the book (it is not for children!)… then sit down over coffee with some friends and have an open discussion about it. There is a discussion guide available below to help.

Watch the movie trailer (above)

Book: Boy In the Striped Pajamas (Movie Tie-in Edition)

Discussion Guide: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

May we never forget.

Go See “Expelled” – The Movie

Posted on April 20, 2008 by rbirkey

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

$Ben Stein\'s \$ My wife and I went and saw the newly released movie “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” last night, and I’ve got to say it is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. We had not heard about it before yesterday, and we knew very little about what it was about. It just sounded more interesting than anything else playing. It turned out to be not only interesting, but also entertaining, thought-provoking, and it actually draws you in like a good drama with a compelling plot and interesting characters. Yet, it’s a documentary!

Ben Stein is a well-known actor, comedian, speech writer, syndicated columnist, economist, lawyer, professor and TV game show host, author, commentator and financial adviser – to name just a few of his accomplishments.

In recent years Ben has taken on “Big Science” and what he calls the Darwinian Evolutionists establishment, charging them with suppressing free and open scientific inquiry, and persecuting those who do not toe the line in the politically correct academic environment.

As Ben writes on his blog: “America is not America without freedom. In every turning point in our history, freedom has been the key goal we are seeking: the Mayflower coming here, the Revolution, the Civil War, World War II, the Cold War. Tens of millions came here from foreign oppression and made a life here. Why? For freedom. Human beings are supposed to live in a state of freedom. Freedom is not conferred by the state: as our founders said, and as Martin Luther King repeated, freedom is God-given.”

Of course there are critics in the media and in the scientific community who claim the movie is propaganda, or just a sleazy cover for creationism. This will no doubt continue as the film gains more viewers in the coming weeks and months.

I particularly enjoyed the interviews with Richard Dawkins, John Lennox and Alister McGrath because of my personal connection with Oxford, England having studied there with the Zacharias Trust in the summer of 2006. I heard lectures from both Alister and John, and heard other lectures in a lecture room down the hall from Richard Dawkin’s office.

My hunch on this film is that most people who have thought about these issues before will either love the film or hate it depending on their pre-existing worldview. However, I think there is a large number of people in the middle, who are not aware of there being a growing “issue” with Darwinian Evolution, nor the growing Intelligent Design movement within the scientific community. This movie will be the first exposure to the issue for most people. For this reason alone, I personally think it is fantastic… even if all it does is get people aware and thinking about it, and asking questions.

The scientific method is based upon free, open and honest inquiry. I don’t see how anyone who understands this should have a problem with an open debate between Darwin’s theory of Evolution, and the proponents of Intelligent Design. Let’s have an open, fair fight and may the best theory win!

Watch the official movie trailer: