Archive for Movies
The True and Final Happy Ending
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I have never been a huge fiction reader, but over the past six months or so, I have read six books by Alexandre Dumas. I began with his lengthy, and very entertaining, The Count of Monte Cristo. I then picked up his five-book, D’Artagnan Romances (of which The Three Musketeers is the first). Last night I stayed up too late finishing the final book in his series, The Man in the Iron Mask.
Naturally, some of the books were better than others. In all of them, there were numerous historical figures used, usually with plenty of fictional stories attached to them (some flattering and others not so much).
One of the things I so readily enjoyed about reading Dumas is his ability to paint such a powerful picture of events with words. And not just the external events, but the internal ones, the various inclinations and desires and motivations going on within the hearts of his characters. Also the intrigues and looks and insinuations and tones. Not only that, but he weaved a whole host of characters with their differing issues into one coherent story. I would often find myself reading, asking to myself, ‘Where in the world is he going with this?’ And when I finally found out, I was usually filled with joy at how it all came together.
Until last night…
For last night, as I mentioned, I finished the final book in his series. And I could not help but leave the work a bit disappointed. Why, you ask? (And even if you didn’t, I am going to ask it for you). Simply because I didn’t like the ending. I personally, didn’t like how it all wrapped up. For after reading five full books and more or less traveling thirty-five years with his primary four characters, I had a certain happy ending that I wanted to read. But that is not what I found in the final chapters. Instead, I found one that left me wondering what could have been had Dumas consulted me in all my literary wisdom.
I realize that one of the primary reasons Dumas ended things as he did is because he inserted fictional (or exaggerated historical) figures into actual history. So many of his characters ended in their proper historical place. I knew that going into things, but a part of me wanted him to fix history so that it was more to my liking. I mean, after all, it is only a few minor details, and if you can leave you readers (or at least me 150 years later) with a better taste in their mouth by doing so, what does that hurt?
Yes, I know I am being ridiculous, but I am all about happy, even semi-ridiculous, endings. That’s part of the reason, no doubt, I usually like chick-flicks. I want to walk away from my dream world story with a dream world ending. I want to escape in my story from the way things really are (at least most of the time).
Is this healthy, I wonder? Yes and no, I believe. For on one hand, if you watch too many romance movies or read too many ridiculous Cinderella endings, you often end up looking at your spouse, wondering why he or she falls so short of Prince Charming or Cinderella. You distort reality by escaping too much (for evidence of this, check out the divorce rate). But on the other hand, this desire for a happy ending seems to be instinctive to us all. And I am of the opinion that that desire is a good and inevitable thing that ends up pointing the way to the only real, lasting happy ending.
Whether we believe in God or not, we all recognize instinctively that the world is not as it ought be. The Bible fully supports this notion, telling the story of why that is, what has been done to fix it, and the happy ending that is available for all who will believe in the One who did all the fixing work. What a story it is! So realistic, so rich and deep and difficult at times. But one that ends in the most glorious way possible, with the return of the Savior and the remaking of all things.
That being said, my disappointment with Dumas’ ending is put in its proper perspective by the Scripture. Not only that, but the way he ends his Romances actually ends up serving me well. For it leaves me longing for the true and final happy ending. And that is a good place to be.
Still, I confess, I am going to rent the movie (The Man in the Iron Mask), because I think Hollywood has one of those ridiculous good endings set for me tonight.
Don’t Waste Your Life
Posted by: | CommentsThis video was posted over at Desiring God a few weeks ago, but I missed it. It is powerful. After watching it twice, it is my new favorite song. The lyrics (and video for that matter) can be found by clicking here. Whenever I listen to rap, I find it helpful to have the lyrics available. This is especially true with this one, because he moves pretty fast. Great music. Great message. Both are well worth checking out.
What is Love?
Posted by: | CommentsOver the past two weeks, I have watched two movies that have led me to ask the question written above? The first was Sense and Sensibility. It’s a chick-flick, I know, but I like that genre actually. Plus, I was watching it with my wife. The second, interestingly enough is called The Terrorist Next Door. It is based on the real-life events surround a man named Ahmed Ressam, a man convicted of attempting to smuggle a bomb into the United States as part of an Al Qaeda plot to blow up Los Angeles Airport.
I won’t summarize the films, but only touch upon the parts that specifically relate to my question.
In the first, Sense and Sensibility, one aspect of the story involves a sister who falls in love with a man who eventually turns out to ditch her in order to save his own face and place in life. However, the story goes that he also was in love with her and eventually greatly regrets his decision to marry another woman in order to cover up an incident in his past.
In the second film, The Terrorist Next Door, the man who recruits Ahmed Ressam for Al Qaeda ran a Mosque in Canada and had a wonderful wife and little girl, both of whom are ignorant of what he is doing behind closed doors. By the end of the film, this man has been exposed as a member of Al Qaeda and is forced to remain out of the country and away from his family. But during the last scene of the film, his wife is shown saying something like this, “Even though he originally married me only to cover up his terrorist inclinations, he did fall in love with me and he is still loving and missing us now.” Those, of course, are not the exact words. The screen writer certainly did a better job than I, but the quote does capture the actual flavor.
In both of these instances, I was struck by this incredibly ridiculous and limited notion of love. For though I have no doubt that there were some genuine feelings on the part of both men, I have difficulty understanding how a woman (or anyone else) could believe they were truly loved as they ought to be loved when the men who supposedly loved them obviously loved something else much more.
In the first movie, the man obviously loved money and security and status more than he did the woman who had fallen for him. In the second, the man obviously loved his religion and terrorism more than his own wife and little girl. And yet, by the end of both films, we are supposed to believe that their love was rich and genuine.
And maybe to a certain degree it was legit. But if the standard for love isn’t high enough to exclude these two men, I have to think that the standard is much too low. For in both instances, the men valued their own desires more than the well-being of those they supposedly loved. So they are both exposed as lovers of self, rather than lovers of others. And if one loves himself above all, you have to believe that they loved others only with a view towards what those people could do for them. And that is by no means love.
Jesus said, “Greater love as no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). And then He lived up to what He said, thank God, showing us through His death and resurrection what love is really about. Revealing the simple reality that if one’s love is for real, one will be willing to sacrifice one’s own temporal desires for the good of others, even unto death.
Can you imagine if everyone in the world subscribed to such a notion of love? What a great place it would be. If nothing else, our movies would at least be a whole lot better.
