The Soloist

"The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." Mt. 26:11

In the movie The Soloist, journalist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) was just looking for a heart-warming public interest story in a homeless street musician Nathanial Ayers (Jamie Foxx). But he was not prepared for what he truly uncovered.

Nathaniel Ayers is a real-life Julliad trained musician who had to drop out due to his schizophrenic condition, eventually winding up on the streets of Los Angeles, homeless and poor with nothing but a two-string violin to keep him company.

Steve Lopez initially takes interest because he feels Ayers' story would sell a lot of copies of his paper (and thereby save him from a possible layoff). Over time, however, he discovers the nightmare of schizophrenia and the reality of the wretched poverty that lies just a block or two away from his workplace, and it becomes his newfound mission to save Nathaniel from both situations (and potentially save all the poor and mentally ill throughout Los Angeles).

It's a noble new vision, but it doesn't last. He soon finds out that, no matter what he does, he cannot "save" Nathaniel from anything, nor can he really put a dent in the fight against poverty. Like so many of us who ask what one person can really do, Lopez wants to give up - on this new idealism and specifically on a seemingly ungrateful Nathaniel Ayers.

I have often felt this way, too. I look at the issues facing us (poverty, disease, prejudice, war, environmental crisis, abortion, terrorism, and so forth) and get frustrated that I am so small while the problems are so big. Sometimes I figure it would just be easier to give up trying.

I don't think that God calls us to solve everything. In the gospels, when Judas confronts Jesus about this, the Lord looks at him and says "The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me." (Mt. 26:11). I have always been troubled by that Scripture passage because it seems Jesus has given up on the poor. But when I saw The Soloist, this line finally made some sense to me.

What I think Jesus is telling us (and tell Steve Lopez in this story) is that to truly solve the issue of poverty (or whatever else worries us), we must stop looking at the issue as a problem to be solved - but rather as people to be in relationship with. We are called to be friends with the poor, to look them in the eye as a friend would, and offer them our compassion and company.

Steve Lopez learned that he could not eradicate the problems of Skid Row, but he could be a genuine friend to Nathaniel Ayers.

God calls us to be in relationship with the Christ in one another. I believe that "you will not always have me" was Jesus' way of saying that time may eventually take care of poverty as a whole, but there is still an urgency to meet the poor one on one, because they will not always be there, and we will have lost out on the chance to meet Christ in the face of those people.

In a way, God gives us a challenge: The poor you will have with you always... so what are you going to do about it - and whose friend will you be? Let us pray that we will find the strength to enter into relationship with the poor, the marginalized, the sick, the dying, the mentally ill, and the rejected members of our community and society.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters are your friends

In Monsters vs. Aliens, poor Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) gets hit by a meteorite on her wedding day and proceeds to grow to over 50 feet tall in the middle of the ceremony. But that's not the worst part for poor Susan.

After she literally outgrows the wedding chapel, she is wrangled by the military and shipped off to live a life of solitude amongst other "monsters," away from civilization. That isolation, more than her newfound size (or the fact that she is given the new moniker "Ginormica"), is what makes her the most miserable.

What saves her, though, is the friendly company of several other "monsters" held in captivity like Susan - such as Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie), the Missing Link (Will Arnett), and the lovable blob B.O.B. (Seth Rogan)... not to mention the Mothra-looking Insectosaurus.

If they weren't imprisoned, Susan is told, there would be mass panic by the general public. People would be repulsed, disgusted, and frightened by these "monsters," so for everyone's safety, it is best that they not come in contact with the real world.

Of course, when aliens come to earth (led by Gallixhar, voiced by Rainn Wilson), the only ones who have a chance at stopping them are those dreaded "monsters." And despite being rejected by society, the monsters rise above the humans in this story and give their all for the sake of those who persecute and hate them. It seems monsters aren't so bad after all.

We may not have Bigfoot locked up in Area 51 somewhere, but we still can treat others like "monsters" in our world today. For being a human race blessed by God with so much diversity, it seems we can hardly tolerate those who act, look, and think differently than us.

How do we treat those who are handicapped, disfigured, sick, overweight, or socially awkward? Do we embrace them as one of our own, or do we marginalize and isolate them?

And if we ourselves are treated like monsters by others, how do we respond? Do we react with anger and vengence, or do we love and give ourselves to others despite how they treat us?

No matter what side we find ourselves on, Christ calls on us to love unconditionally and respond without hatred. In fact, Christ sees no sides - instead he views us all as one, even if our society has created labels and divisions. "I call you all my friends," he told the disciples at the Last Supper, despite their differences (cf. John 15:15).

Monsters, it seems, are our friends, too.

Doubt

"You shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Ex. 20:16

After watching the movie Doubt, you naturally come to one of two conclusions: he did it, or he didn't.

This film follows a battle between two parish leaders in a Bronx Catholic church in 1964. One of these leaders is the parish priest, Fr. Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who is accused of sexual misconduct with a young African American boy who recently moved to the community. The other one is Sr. Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep), the stern principal of the parish school and the one who leads the charge against Fr. Flynn.

Caught between these two giants is Sr. James (Amy Adams), a young Sister of Charity who sees the good in all things, trusts others completely, and struggles between this innocence and a real-world pragmatism. In some respects, the audience watches this battle through her eyes, not sure whether to trust Fr. Flynn or side with Sr. Aloysius.

Doubt gives us enough evidence for either case to be made, but not enough to make a definite conclusion. And this, all too often, is the way life really is.

Our lives are not like those movies where the audience knows every detail and the characters search for two hours trying to discover what we have known since the first few moments of the film. Our lives are more like Doubt, where we know only a portion of the truth.

The question in any decision or situation in life is how quick are we to judge - and how easy it might be for us to fill in the gaps with conjecture and gossip. Throughout the movie, Sr. Aloysius justifies this by saying that as we pursue justice, we might step a few steps farther from God, but it's all for the "greater good."

How often do we fill in the gaps, to make things easier on ourselves? How often do we rush to judgment without knowing all the facts?

In our modern society, we let other people (even people we trust) and groups (like the media) fill in a lot of those gaps (and today, technology allows us to dangerously spread those thoughts like wildfire). Without a full knowledge of the situation, we create our opinions, whether they be truly right or wrong.

In a public way, we draw those conclusions about politicians and elected officials, clergy and church workers, actors and celebrities, newsmakers and so forth. In a private way, we might do the same for family, friends, co-workers and colleagues, especially those who we struggle to like. In fact, it's easier to do this with people we already have a grudge against (in the movie, Sr. James notices this when Fr. Flynn and Sr. Aloysius don't see eye to eye on the songs to sing in the parish Christmas pageant, making the rift between them even wider).

In Exodus, God gives ten basic commandments to begin his law among his people Israel. We often wonder why these ten were given prominence over the other 400+ laws that God gave in the Sinai wilderness.

One idea I have had is that these ten are sins that can lead to so many others. These are ten where the slippery slope begins. One of those is "You shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor" (Ex. 20:16 - and yes, sorry, I used the King James phrasing here since I have always found it carries more weight and authority).

Doubt reminds us that "bearing false witness" is filling in the gaps. It's natural and human to do so. We the viewers find ourselves doing that at the end of the film, drawing our conclusions: did he, or didn't he? "Bearing false witness" means that we don't have enough to judge another person.

And when we encounter similar situations in our own lives, do we have confidence in God's omniscent judgment (which truly knows all things) to make the final call if our own experience does not lend itself to making that decision ourselves? Let us pray that we avoid filling the gaps, and believe in the goodness of people and all God's creation.

Knowing

"But of that that day and hour (when heaven and earth shall pass away), no one knows." Matt. 24:36

Knowing, starring Nicolas Cage, is a movie rich in biblical imagery and allusion. But you don't realize it until the last act.

The movie begins as a crypic thriller - for no apparent reason, a young girl in 1959 begins franticly writing down a series of unrelated numbers and handing it to her teacher to put in a time capsule to be opened in fifty years. Jump ahead to 2009 when the capsule is unearthed and Nicholas Cage's son happens upon the page of numbers.

Out of curiosity one night, Cage notices that several numbers correspond to the dates and death tolls of major catastrophes over the past fifty years, with only three dates still in the future.

Knowing poses an interesting dialogue with Jesus in Matthew's Gospel, when he says "But of that day and hour (when heaven and earth shall pass away), no one knows." (Matt. 25:36). In Nicolas Cage's experience, he does know the day and the place of these tragic events - but for what good? Cage tries to stop a subway disaster in New York, but is powerless to do much. The film seems to say, even if we did know the day and the hour, what good would it do us anyway?

What Jesus tries to teach us is that we spend a lot of time worrying about tomorrow, without giving much thought to today. Not that future planning isn't good, but we can get wrapped up in anxiety that we miss the world in front of our eyes.

In another passage in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus tells us, "Can any of you, by worrying, add a single moment to your life?... Seek first the Reign of God today, and all will be given to you anyway." (Matt. 6:27,33)

SPOILER ALERT: In this movie, Cage eventually realizes that the final prediction on the paper of numbers is for the end of the world. However, there is hope - his son and a friend have been selected by angelic beings from another world (which look eerily similar to the beings in the first two chapters of the book of Ezekiel) to escape the earth before it is destroyed in flames (and to re=populate another earth-like planet as a new Adam and Eve). Just like Noah in the flood, hope exists on the other side of disaster.

This is the pascal mystery we must all face. We know that bad days, loss, saddness, and even death await us all one day. We cannot hide from that fact. But just like Jesus, there is always hope beyond the worst circumstances.

Many of us go through life dreading the inevitable - whether it be a horrible final exam, a crucial doctor visit, the end of a job, the passing of a friend, or our own death. Like Nicholas Cage, we might even dread the end of the world as we know it. But life always lies just beyond. And in the meantime, we must make the best of the life we have right now.

In our lives now, we must reconcile with others, give freely to those who ask, be compassionate to those around us, and be honorable in all our actions. We must be hopeful people, with a belief that every dying is just an avenue to new life. Knowing that is good enough.

Watchmen

Cynicism and Superheroes: What Would Jesus Think?

Watchmen is the anti-superhero superhero movie.

The film is based on a 1986 graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore, which was intended to subvert and parody the comic book superhero genre - posing the question: What if the adventures of Superman and Batman actually happened in history?

The graphic novel, and now the movie, concludes that - while superheroes might have been a blessing in the 1940s and 1950s, fighting crime and Nazis honorably, by the 1960s, they would have become corrupt and selfish. If we had a Superman in the Vietnam War, he would have taken out the Viet Cong in one fell swoop, ended the war early, and given a much-loved Richard Nixon five terms in office - leading to a near-apocalyptic, depressing state of America that we see in the 1984 present day setting of Watchmen.

The superheroes in this movie are just send-ups of previous comic book heroes. Nite Owl II looks like a someone in a knock-off Batman costume (and Ozymandias' costume seems to be stolen from the set of Joel Schumacher's Batman movies with George Clooney and Val Kilmer). The main characters' roles in this movie are to ask whether our society's obsession with superheroes is misguided and silly.

But this is where Watchmen creator Alan Moore and Watchmen director Zach Snyder got it wrong.

The point of superheroes (and thus, superhero movies) is to inspire and guide us... to give us a moral compass and a thirst for social justice. Their stories are allegories of our world, and how each of us is called to be a hero. The problem is that audience sometimes get too wrapped up in the special effects and nuances of the plot rather than the core messages of courage, bravery, compassion, justice, and heroism.

That's how Watchmen misses the mark. It's not the superheroes themselves that need to be criticized for their fictional stories; rather, it's some of the people in the audience of superhero movies and comic books who don't understand the deeper meanings that need to be criticized for just not getting the point.

Watchmen has an obnoxiously cynical view of the world. For instance, the character that gets the most sympathy is Rorschach (wonderfully played by Jackie Earle Haley), and he's the one whose acts of heroism are violent, bloody, and vengeful; conversely, the movie makes the most laughable hero Nite Owl II (Patrick Wilson), who prefers a more compassionate route to justice. Compassion is silly, but vengence is admired - the movie seems to say. What a horrible message!

The Book of Ecclessiastes took a similar route in the Scriptures. The author Qoheleth even goes as far as saying "Don't be excessively just and good, and don't be too smart, lest you be ruined." (Eccl. 7:16). But cynicism does no one any good, even in the Scriptures.

To counter cynicism in his day, Jesus instructed his disciples to be excessively just and good, to be as wise as serpents, and as harmless as doves. Jesus understood the value of heroism, so much so that he lived out the greatest hero story ever told - in his ministry, on the cross, and by the wonder of the empty grave.

Cynicism might get film critics excited about the edgy Watchmen, but it is not the route that I want to take. If you really want to see a movie about the reality of superheroism, go rent The Incredibles (2004), which poses the same initial questions as Watchmen, but ends with a nod to the gospel values that make heroism worth hearing about over and over, in comic books and summer blockbusters and in real life.

So no matter what this movie says, Jesus tells us to be a hero: be compassionate to the marginalized; love those who hate you; serve those who need protection; guide those who need your wisdom; and give yourself completely to one another. That's a story worth telling!

Spiritual Popcorn Oscars 2009

Who will win the Spiritual Popcorn Oscars this year?

The 81st annual Academy Awards are being held this weekend on Sunday, February 22nd. In that contest, actors and actresses, directors and producers, and every other member of the Academy will award a select group of films and performances for their outstanding achievement. We will know who Hollywood will pick as the best of the best. But from the vantage point of spirituality, which films should be walking home with Oscar gold?

Below is my annual Spiritual Popcorn Oscars for my picks for some of the most spiritually-enriching among the nominees. I must confess I have not seen every one of the movies up for an award, but I have seen quite a number of them. Feel free to comment to agree or disagree on my choices, but be sure to tell me why you feel your favorite is the most spiritually-engaging from your point of view.

With that in mind, the envelope please...

Best Picture (and Best Song): Slumdog Millionaire

At its core, Slumdog is a film about hope despite the worst circumstances. This year we are a nation, if not a world, in desperate need of hope. The economy is worsening, the politicians are getting more greedy and corrupt, jobs are shrinking, bills are growing, and morale is slipping. The United States may not be as destitude as the India portrayed in Millionaire, but we are still craving for something or someone to give us hope in the midst of darkness. For this reason alone, Slumdog Millionaire is not only the best and most hopeful film of the year, it is also the movie that truly defines where we are spiritually this year.

I include the song "Jai Ho" as the Best Song because of its placement in the closing credits of the movie. The actors and actresses dance a hopeful and exciting song, united with one another, as we end our time in Mumbai in this film. "Jai Ho" gives us a glimpse of a world without barriers and oppression, where we will dance with joy in the Reign of God "where the blind regain their sight, the lame will walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them..." (Matt. 11:5).

Best Actor: Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

In a society that increasingly de-values wisdom and age (what commercial out there doesn't try to tell us how bad it is to get old, wrinkled, bald, or impotent?), it is good to see a performance that transcends that conventional thinking. Like Indiana Jones earlier last year, which also acknowledged the power of age, Mickey Rourke's acting gives us pause from our societal obsession with dismissing people over 40. It harks back to the biblical principle of respecting and honoring our elders and those who have gone before us.

Best Animated Film: Kung Fu Panda

While WALL-E was a visual masterpiece (and for that probably pick up the Oscar), the tradionally-animated Kung Fu Panda had a spiritual message that far exceeded expectations. Panda reminds us that God didn't make any junk, and that each of us has a chance to be a hero. Popularity, looks, or physical strength are secondary to the God-given drive within each of us to be a hero and save the day.

Costume Design and Makeup: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The costumes and makeup work in Benjamin Button allowed the viewer to step back into time with Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, transporting us backward in time as Benjamin aged forward. By making this process easy on the movie-goer, we could more easily focus on Benjamin's incredible story. With the makeup, we were able to move with him gracefully into his next great adventure into each decade, evidenced by the costumes around him. For such an effects-driven movie, it took excellent work on the part of the make-up artists and costume designers to allow us to forget about those effects and concern ourselves with the beautiful story it told.

Original Screenplay, Sound, and Music Score: WALL-E

While WALL-E had few actual words (more "beeps" and "boops" than anything else), its script outlined how the animation would flow into those electrical sounds and the peaceful score that served as an undercurrent to the incredible visuals. To make an audience get emotional about the simple act of love between two inanimate objects is a testament to the writing and the simple yet profound music that played in the background. Spiritually, through the story, the sounds, and the music, we were gently led to rediscover that biblical truism that true love means sacrificing all for the sake of another ("no greater love than this than to lay down your life for another" John 15:13), and for that alone, it deserves any of these Oscars.

Editing: Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog shows us that God has given us all we will ever need to know in this life. There is nothing given to us that we cannot handle. The editing of this movie takes us seamlessly between three time periods (the present moment in the police station, the recent past on the game show, and the more distant past throughout Jamal's life), showing us that all Jamal ever needed to know he learned long ago. The same goes for us - we just need the self-confidence that our film's hero had to put it into practice for the good of the world.

Visual Effects: (tie) Iron Man and The Dark Knight

In my personal opinion, the two best films of 2008 were Iron Man and The Dark Knight, and I am sad that neither got a nod for Best Picture. However, what made them excellent is that their visual style drew millions of people to the movies this summer for two incredible spiritual messages. Those millions came for the visuals, but left with so much more. Iron Man showed us that radical nonviolence is the only true answer to a war-torn, terrorized world. The Dark Knight reminded us that humans are essentially good people, not naturally corrupt or sinful, and that we are all called on to be heroes and inspire others to go back to that core goodness tha God gave each and every one of us ("for God looked at everything He had made, and found that it was very good." Gen. 1:31). Because visuals brought in the crowds last summer, both films truly deserve this year's Oscar for Visual Effects.

Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Finally, we come to Heath Ledger, who gave an incredible performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Spiritually, one might wonder why such a villian charater like this deserves an Oscar. But what Ledger was able to do was to show how incredible Batman's message is (that people are essentially good) by serving as its polar opposite. Ledger stood in for us whenever we act cynical towards other or whenever we fall short of the gospel and hurt someone else. Ledger reminded us that we all have a shadow side, and our faith compels to seek the light.


As I said before, there are other races which I did not comment on because I did not see most of the nominees, and therefore could not make a fair judgment. But I am curious what you think. Feel free to respond and share your spiritual thoughts, too.

Pre-Oscar Fun

On the eve of the Oscars, I thought I would take a light-hearted moment and smile at the movies on my blog. Feel free to enjoy this one-of-a-kind video of the story of Star Wars set to the music of Close Encounters, E.T., Indiana Jones, Jurrasic Park, Superman, and Jaws (all of which John Williams also composed).

This weekend, I will share my Oscar thoughts - spiritual-popocrn-style. For now, enjoy!