About
I started working on Sinema7 in 2007 for a couple of reasons. First, writing a book was one of the few things on my turning-50 bucket list. I wanted to be a writer when I grew up but sort of drifted into library work instead. Since I don’t actually feel like much of grown up I was sort of lulled into thinking I had plenty of time. I was actually 51 when I finished the book. The second reason, the reason I wrote this particular book, is that I kept noticing that even people who think they are “morally neutral” seem to be able to recognize who the villains are and who the heroes are in movies. They will identify the characters’ flaws and virtues. Discussions I have with people about movies often lead to discussions about ethics, and sometimes about God. I started thinking that movies might be the parables of this generation.
As a lover of books and stories I believe that we engage with stories emotionally and spiritually in a way that is different from how we receive factual information. We can know something, but a story makes that information personal. I think that’s why Jesus told stories, parables, to help his listeners identify with what he was teaching them. Movies are the way we tell our stories in the 21st century. Most stories, not just those we call dramas, but funny ones and even scary ones offer us glimpses into human need and human motivations and attitudes. I suspect that conflict, personality flaws, burning questions, and life experiences are pretty universal.
To be honest, the word “sin” makes me a little uncomfortable. It brings up images of angry, red-faced preachers with slicked back hair and smug “church ladies” passing judgment. People who will never agree about what behaviors, if any, to call “sin” seem to be willing to agree that pride, envy, anger, sloth, greed, gluttony and lust are negative traits and that their opposing virtues: humility, kindness, patience, passion, generosity, purpose, and purity are positive. I think Jesus was talking about the attitudes that have come to be known as “the deadly sins” when he equated hatred with murder and talked about having “already sinned in our hearts”
We personally identify with characters and situations in stories because we see ourselves. Often it is the negative addressed in a story that reveals what most of us see in others but would rather not face in ourselves. Perhaps that is why the bad guys are often the most interesting and memorable characters. To some extent our culture seems to find pride, anger and envy to be more powerful over the things that hurt us than humility, patience or kindness. Sloth seems more comfortable than diligence. Lust, gluttony and greed provide the immediate fulfillment that discipline; moderation and generosity seem to lack. When we can sit in a theater and see how those attitudes play out in a story we often understand more about our own situations and attitudes.
After writing Sinema7 I decided to keep writing about new movies and how they become parables for my life. When something about a character or story nudges me in God’s direction, when I see myself, when I see common ground that may lead to a good conversation I will post. It is my hope that the ideas expressed on this blog provide a springboard for culturally relevant conversations and personal transformation. Ultimately Christ is the agent of change and he uses all sorts of delivery methods.
