Writer's Block

Well… Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints. If you don’t follow sports, there was a big game yesterday… They call it the super bowl. Peyton Manning decided in the fourth quarter to let the team his dad quarterbacked for 10+ years win their first super bowl. There’s just no other way he could’ve lost. It was nice of him.

And you’ll never be able to tell me otherwise. Nothing like blind ignorance of the facts to start a Monday, right?

The other day, I waxed somewhat eloquent about snow falling. This morning, I’m listening to ice fall. It’s a pretty wild thing to listen to. It’s like someone’s throwing tiny little pebbles at our house. It’s kind of a fun sound… but it wouldn’t be if I didn’t have a 40 second walk to work.

Don’t fall down!

So, I had recently posted about arguing semantics when it comes to Christian art. The comments really helped me along: particularly, in a response, I said:

There ought to be at least two discussions occurring:

1. What does a movie that reflects/supports/advocates/illustrates a Christian world view and Christian values look like?

2. What should the quality of a movie that reflects/supports/advocates/illustrates a Christian world view be like?

Because right now, the conversation breaks down at “is it a Christian movie / song / painting” and breaks down into semantics like, “There’s no such thing as a Christian movie.”

So, I thought perhaps we could try to discuss those two things… and I thought we’d start with… number 2! Because it’s the easy one! Exclamation marks!

What should the quality of a movie that reflects/supports/advocates/illustrates a Christian world view be like?

There are whole Christian industries formed around books, movies, and music. I work in one of those industries (so I guess I should tread lightly). What’s interesting to me is that I can most easily identify the problems with the industries I’m not involved with.

Starting with music, find a 16 year old at your church and ask them what they think of their local Christian radio station. Here’s what you’ll likely find: “I wish they would play more than just the same 20 songs. And they all sound pretty much the same.” There’s not room for a whole lot of artistic differences within Christian music. You need to fit into one of the molds that has been proven to sell for the industry to get behind you. The problem with that isn’t the “proven to sell” part, it’s who the molds are proven to sell to. The primary buyers aren’t kids looking for new artists. The primary buyers are parents and grandparents trying to keep their kids from finding new artists that aren’t safe.

As a result, there’s a lack of depth lyrically and musically. It’s easier that way. If there are never complex lyrics, there are never questions to answer.

You see this in Christian movies, too. If you look across the bulk of the movies made, they are shallow, filled with superficial “tragedy” that in every case resolves perfectly, helping the protagonist to more exciting faith.

This is why so many believers who are artists choose to do art outside of the community of faith — or on the outskirts of it. You can communicate harder things, deeper things, if you’re not constrained by an industry that doesn’t want depth, preferring an easy sell. So, you get a movie like Primer, made by a Believer, that explores hard questions about man’s nature and does it interestingly (time travel and the relationship dynamic between best friends). This movie would be a hard sale into the Christian art buying community (Christian bookstores, web stores, etc). But, ironically, it found an audience with thinking people in the general industry. And it was better done than any Christian movie I’ve ever seen.

So, one thing that Christian art must have is depth.

Another area that current Christian art is lacking is technical excellence. Obviously, technical excellence is not necessary for commercial success these days, but the lack of it does hurt us. You can find this in a lot of different areas — the editorial quality of some Christian fiction, the repetitiveness of guitar solos, production techniques, and styles in some Christian music.

Lastly, instead of “blazing trails,” much of Christian art follows the not-specifically Christian market, usually by a year or two. This lack of originality betrays a bias (it worked for them, let’s try it!) that is harmful.

So, in my opinion, the quality of art supporting a Christian worldview should be marked by depth, excellence, and originality. What else should it be?

Knowing that there’s no where you have to be. This is the life! (Written Saturday, but just as true yesterday… it’s snowy in West Virginia!)

Last week, Steve Jobs (CEO of Apple, Inc) unveiled their newest gadget, the Apple iPad. I’m certainly not the first or last to opine on the topic, but I do want to talk about it a little bit. I should probably have a silly joke here about the terrible name they’ve given the thing, but I’ll let you come up with one instead.

So far, a lot of the opinions expressed about the iPad have been negative. It’s mostly gone like this: I already have a laptop and a smart phone, why would I need this device in the middle? I think it would be unwise to take a gadget geek’s perspective on the iPad. I don’t think gadget geeks were particularly in mind when they designed the device. It’s similar to the argument between people who like to play video games on computers (I can configure my PC however I want, use the controller I want, and change the soundtrack by modifying the MP3 directory) and people who like to play video games on dedicated video game systems (I put the disk in, I use the controller it came with, and it just works). The iPad is designed for people who want that dedicated device that is going to do just a few things easily and well.

I think the iPad fits on your coffee table, where you used to keep newspapers, magazines and nice books (or stacks of bills and receipts, or clean clothes). It makes sense as a “life accessory” like the note pad that my wife keeps around to scratch grocery lists on, combined with the books we have laying around, and the photo albums on our bookshelf. With 10 hours of active battery time (okay, make it 5-6, because of the silicon valley battery warp that nearly doubles battery endurance) and up to 30 days of standby time (15 days?), you really could pick this thing up to read blogs in the morning, set it back down, pick it up to show off pictures when your sister-in-law drops by, put it down, pick it up to update your grocery list or the family calendar, put it down, remember that there was something on TV you wanted to watch, check the listings, make a note of it, and so on… it could just make life easier.

Again, for people who have already integrated smart phones into their lives, there’s a little bit of “why would I need to duplicate functionality,” going on. But, I’d propose that the iPad wasn’t made for those people, even if they are a secondary market. The iPad is aimed at the consumers who haven’t already integrated a device into their life at this level. Oh yeah, also, I’d pretty much love to have one. So, maybe I’m a little biased (crazy?).

Have I mentioned that I love Winston Churchill?

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Love that.

While my Toronto Maple Leafs gear up to trade away more talented players (I wonder if the Bruins would trade us back our first and second round draft picks for Phil Kessel. That’d be ironic) for junk, I thought I’d ignore my growing dismay at the state of the Leafs and instead talk about my favorite sports movies. You know, films like Over the Top and Invincible… wait, I did say “favorite,” didn’t I?

5. The Replacements

Keanu Reeves is not my favorite actor, but he does a good job in this film about a theoretical strike in the NFL that leaves teams hiring washed up athletes to continue “business as usual.” I think I have a special place in my heart for this one because of the deaf wide receiver. The actor (Roy from the Office) does an admirable enough job of it that the first time I watched the movie, I had to look up whether or not he was deaf. And I’m the child of a deaf man. On a second viewing, it was a little more obvious. A silly premise, but a feel-good story.

4. Glory Road

This film tells the story of the first NCAA team to start 5 african-american players. Even within the team, the tension is palpable. A good reminder of the power of sports to spread unity and help overcome adversity. Also, the opening scene where the coach is yelling at the players about passing like girls… and then it turns out he’s coaching girls… that’s funny stuff.

3. Miracle

Okay, granted, it’s about the US hockey team beating the Russians in 1980. Through the whole movie, I’m waiting for the guys with the red flag on their jerseys. They don’t show up. Instead, it’s this red, white, and blue stuff. (Cue someone starting a slow chant… U… S… A… As hockey movies go, though, it’s a pretty darn good one. It features the only role I’ve ever believed Kurt Russell in. A quality film, worth the watch. U… S… A…

2. Remember the Titans

Another film about the intersection of race and sport. Denzel does a great job playing second fiddle to the young men cast as his team in this movie. It’s one that I can watch again and again. It’s not just about winning. The multiple levels that this movie communicates on really work… you can feel the awkwardness for the adults, as a black coach takes over, as the assistant coach sends his white daughter (a very young Hayden Panettiere, btw) to play with the black coach’s daughter, the frustration for the football players as they’re forced to integrate, and the relationship between the two little girls serves as a great counterpoint to the racial tension, in that the differences and awkwardness in their relationship had absolutely nothing to do with race and everything to do with personality differences.

1. The Mighty Ducks

Okay, this film doesn’t belong at number one on any other list of great sports movies. But, this is my list. The Mighty Ducks has a special place in my heart. I’m not sure why… timing probably played into it, as it released at the same time that my parents were deciding to move our family to a tropical paradise. The hockey thing probably tied the memories of the film to memories of home. I digress. This is not a great film, but it is a terrifically fun film, if you fell in love with it when you were 9.

No, shampoo is better. Sorry, I’ve been scarred by too many Adam Sandler movies.

Streaming media is all the craze. The theory of replacing cable, dvds, radio, and your CD collection with a media server in your house and a subscription to a streaming account actually sounds pretty good to me. It doesn’t work right now, but it sounds good. Here, in my opinion, are the four things that need to happen before we can actually easily make use of this:

1. Integrate: We need to be able to do it straight from our TV… we don’t need another set top box to go with our dvd players and our cable boxes and our video game systems.

2. Make it easy: particularly when it comes to media we already own, it’d be nice if it was easy to “rip” our media to a digital format and organize our collection. Currently, there’s not a really straight-forward solution for video. Audio is probably there, but unless we’re all going to re-buy every movie we’ve acquired (wouldn’t the movie studios love that) (also, some of us have already bought twice… VHS, then DVD, now digital? When does it stop?), this needs to get easy.

3. Improve the Quality: some of this has to do with the end user’s equipment, some of it has to do with bandwidth, and some of it has to do with immature technology. Bottom line, figure out a way that the average person can set up a functional implementation with at least a cable-equivalent quality, or this will never work.

4. Improve (and consolidate) the Selection: Right now, if I want to watch the latest episode of the Office, I have to go to NBC.com or Hulu. If I want movies that are at all recent, I have to have a netflix account. If I want movies that are recent and good, well… I’m out of luck (case in point — of Netflix’s 25 most recent additions to their “Watch Instantly” list, there are three movies I’ve seen, one of which I’d watch again. There is one movie I haven’t seen but would like to. Out of 25. I’m picky, but I’m not that picky! They need to be offering up-to-date content that I care to watch.

I’d be very content to give a company that did these four things the equivalent of my cable bill plus my netflix subscription. Wouldn’t even blink.

Because I know how many of you are drug dealers.

Not really. But, it is an interesting exercise, mostly derived from an excellent conversation between Michael Hyatt and Seth Godin. There was a time when most workers in north america sold productivity that could be easily measured. If you were a meat packer, you processed so many pounds of beef, pork, chicken, balogna (the other other meat). If you worked in automobile manufacturing, you tightened so many screws.

For most of us, the transaction does not work that way anymore. There are a lot more sales / service jobs out there than production jobs. But, if your employer is still signing paychecks, I’ve got to assume that you’re providing something of value.

So, what does that look like for you? Is success measured in checking accounts opened? Sales volume? Number of positive comments received in one month? Do you ever wish that you could just say, “Yeah, well, I tightened 125,000 screws today, so I’m getting paid?”

It’s a great challenge to engage our hearts and minds rather than our hands. Your hands can keep going in spite of adverse situations (unless they “break”). Your heart and mind are a little tougher to keep on track.

I read some interesting thoughts the other day about The Book of Eli. Apparently there’s some debate about whether or not it’s a Christian movie. In part, Mike Parker says:

But the question remains: is “The Book of Eli” a Christian movie?

I say, no.

Not because “The Book of Eli” is violent or at times profane.  But because I don’t think there is such a thing as a Christian movie.  Or a Christian novel.  Or a Christian radio station.

I think Christ died for people, and only people can be Christians.

What we do with the art we create, be it a painting, stage play, sculpture or film, should be a reflection of the redemption we have experienced.  It should be good art; art that deserves a place at the table of cultural relevance.

Unfortunately, most of what we get from so-called ‘Christian’ art is explicit art, and most of the time it is not very good.

No, I don’t think “The Book of Eli” is a Christian movie.  But I do think it is a good movie, and I think it is good art.  Just my thoughts, what about yours?

I agree with the sentiments he expresses about the art we create as people Christ died for. I agree with his criticism of a lot of “so called ‘Christian Art’” too.

What I wonder is, do we inhibit further dialogue about this by continuing the “There’s no such thing as…” argument. I mean, I get it. I see the point. I understand that it becomes easier to get away with poor quality when the community isolates itself, so by fighting the artistic isolation, perhaps something could be accomplished.

But maybe it’d be better just to speak the truth as honestly as possible, without the semantics. “Call it what you want, but as long as the art produced in the Christian community continues to be this bad, our seat at the world’s art discussion will be at the kid’s table.” After all, what it’s called isn’t as big a deal as the consistent quality issues, is it?