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This Year’s Oscar Nominated Short Docs

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Short films can be good training for future filmmakers, or they can be an artform in themselves. Each year the Academy awards Oscars to three short films: Best Animated Short, Best Live Action Short, and Best Documentary (Short Subject). The nominees for these categories come from around the world and represent excellence, just as all the other films nominated for Oscars do. Each year, prior to the awards, there are programs of the short films that play in select theaters around the country. To see where you can catch one or more of these programs, check Shorts.tv.

The category of Best Documentary (Short Subject) is probably the shorts category that is most available to viewers in that many of these films stream or have played on public TV. Here is my take of the films nominated for Best Documentary (Short Subject) this year.

Audible. (40 minutes, USA). A football player and his friends at the Maryland School for the Deaf struggle with the end of a winning streak, the suicide of a friend, relationships, and facing going into the world. Director Matt Ogens gives us a coming-of-age story that is at once universal and specific. For more on this film, see my review from its Netflix release. Audible is available to stream on Netflix.

Lead Me Home. (40 minutes, USA). Homelessness has reached emergency proportions in many places. Directors Pedro Kos and John Shenk takes us to L.A., San Francisco, and Seattle to see into some of the encampments and shelters and to meet a few of the unhoused people and hear their stories and struggles. On any given night, half a million people in America experience homelessness. The film is a good way of putting these people in front of us. Solutions, of course, would take far more than a short film to examine. Lead Me Home is available to stream on Netflix.

The Queen of Basketball. (22 minutes, USA). Lusia Harris was the greatest woman basketball player of her time. In college she won three national championships. She scored the first basket ever in Olympic women’s basketball (and won a silver medal). She was drafted in the seventh round by the NBA’s New Orleans Jazz—the first woman officially drafted in the NBA. She was the first Black woman inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. But so few people know about her. Director Ben Proudfoot allows Lucy to narrate her own story along with archival clips. There was no WNBA at the time, so she had nowhere to go after college, which created problems. [Lusia Harris died in January of this year.]

Three Songs for Benazir. (22 minutes, Afghanistan). Shaista is recently married and trying to find a way to make a living in the displaced persons camps of Kabul. He would like to join the National Army, but his family won’t agree to care for his wife or offer the guarantees required by the Army. HIs only other option is to take part in the poppy harvest. It is a reminder of the difficult lives people faced during the war in Afghanistan. Three Songs for Benazir is available to stream on Netflix.

When We Were Bullies. (36 minutes, USA/Germany). Director Jay Rosenblatt recalls an incident from fifth grade in Brooklyn when he took part in bullying a classmate. Looking back fifty years later, he contacts other former classmates and their teacher for their recollections. The film is both a study in the dynamics that lead children to bully each other, and a way of working through his guilt for his part in the event.

My favorites among these films are When We Were Bullies (which was my favorite short from the AFI Docs festival) because it reminds me of the ways I bullied and was bullied at that age, and Lead Me Home for making homelessness not just the tent encampments we drive by, but the people in those tents.

Photos courtesy of Shorts.tv.

Mr. Birthday: Everybody Matters

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Everyone has a birthday… but not everyone is able to celebrate it the way they want.

Mr. Birthday tells the story of Barry (Jason London), a single father who works maintenance in an upscale hotel. Though he’s under constant pressure from his boss and works with a number of uncaring residents, Barry remains a positive soul and works hard to take care of his daughter. However, all of that changes when he encounters the mysterious Mr. Jay (Fred Sullivan). Mr. Jay runs the International Birthday Network, a non-profit agency that offers children around the globe personalized birthday experiences when their special day is lacking. When Mr. Jay offers Barry a job to help bring these birthdays to life, he can’t resist the chance to make other people’s lives better… but balancing his two jobs will definitely be a challenge.

Directed by Dan Hunter, Mr. Birthday is a cute independent family film that wants to remind us all of the importance of the individual. Lighthearted and silly, there’s a lot that works within this little romp. With an adorable script and fun execution, Mr. Birthday is an engaging and sweet film that stems from an entirely unique premise. (Seriously, when was the last time you saw a ‘holiday film’ about birthdays?). In many ways, the film almost feels like a Christmas film where the proverbial Santa Claus hires a new trainee in order to take over his mantle. Although London’s Barry is a man who is beaten down by his boss, he still tries to see the bright side of life and never forgets to put others first. Star Jason London has a delightful energy that keeps the film moving, enthusiastically leaning into the fun. 

In fact, the entire team seems to be enjoying themselves on this project. Sullivan is clearly having fun hamming it up as the benevolent Mr. Jay. Meanwhile, as Rick, the film’s moustache-twirling villain, veteran actor Eric Roberts is clearly having a blast as his character plots and schemes to interfere with Barry’s plans. There’s simply a joy amongst the cast that is palpable onscreen and reveals that this is clearly a labour of love for all involved.

At its heart, Mr. Birthday wants to remind us that everybody is important. Although major holidays remain times of celebration for the many, birthdays remain somewhat of an individual experience. Because of this emphasis on one person, Mr. Birthday recognizes that it can also be a really lonely experience for those who aren’t popular or don’t ‘fit into a box’. However, Mr. Birthday isn’t about to let that stand and fully leans into the belief that everybody should be celebrated. Everybody deserves to be remembered and honored, especially on their special day. (It’s also somewhat interesting that the film is that the birthday Institute is seem to be a nonprofit organization. There’s a definite emphasis on helping those who cannot do for themselves.) With each party, Barry and Emily offer an act of grace to those who need care. While the action of spending time with people on their birthday may seem fairly simple, so too does it show them that they matter.

It’s worth noting that Mr. Birthday is also interested about bullying. As Emily attempts to make friends in her school, she comes under fire for being the ‘new kid’. By mocking her for bringing cupcakes and ignoring her party invitations, Emily is left feeling unwanted by those around her. While Barry does his best to cheer her up, this sort of emotional hurt takes its toll. At the same time though, her father also has to deal with bullies at his work. Whether it’s his brutal boss or Rick’s snarky comments, Barry finds himself under constant pressure to meet the unreasonable expectations of others. Even so, this is a film that chooses kindness. Barry’s unflappable optimism frustrates his bullies and encourages his daughter. What’s more, their decision to help others who have been feeling left out gives them an even greater lift. There is a joy embedded in their care for others that enlivens their soul

By helping others, they also help themselves.

Sweet and silly, Mr. Birthday is a fun party that the whole family can attend. Backed by a unique premise, the film is goofy and charming with a cast that clearly cares about what they’re making together. Most importantly though, the film is an opportunity to remind the audience that everyone deserves to be celebrated on their birthday. After all, for Mr. Birthday, every child matters.

To hear our conversation with star Jason London, click here (YouTube) and here (audio).

To hear our conversation with star Eric Roberts, click here (YouTube) and here (audio).

Mr. Birthday is available on VOD on Friday, December 17th, 2021.

Day 5 at AFI Docs

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Often when important events happen, those involved pay homage to the past by talking of standing on the shoulders of giants. (This actually goes back to before its attribution to Sir Isaac Newton, so there are obviously lots of giants.) Today’s films look back at a couple of those giants upon whose shoulders others have stood and may still stand. One is well known. The other will likely be someone you haven’t heard of.

Celebrities often take part in social causes. In Andre Gaines’s film The One and Only Dick Gregory, we get a look at a comedian, a civil rights and anti-war activist, and healthy lifestyle activist. His humor was often built around race. He could play a room full of white people and have them laughing while at the same time making biting commentary. He was a friend to Medgar Evers and Dr. King. He was arrested frequently. He was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover. It was not enough for him to be rich and famous. He wanted to change the world.

In the film his autobiographiy coauthor Robert Lipsyte says, “He had a mission to accomplish, and it wasn’t just making jokes.” Indeed, very little of the film deals with his comedy, which was impressive in its own right. That comedy opened the door for many more Black comedians (some of whom pay a bit of homage in the film). What we see over and over is a man who was committed to the causes that affected people—racial injustice, the war in Vietnam, and later nutrition.

I was aware of Dick Gregory as a comedian/activist, but was never really connected to his work. This film, gives a very full picture of a man who was indeed a giant in many ways. The One and Only Dick Gregory will be available on Showtime July 4.

“I want to see America be what she says she is in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. America, be what you proclaim yourself to be!”

When filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West were making the Oscar-nominated RGB, they came across a citation that Ruth Bader Ginsberg had in her brief arguing for women’s rights before the Supreme Court. They thought it was worth finding out who this person was. My Name Is Pauli Murray is what they discovered. Fifteen years before Rosa Parks, Pauli Murray was arrested for not moving to the back of the bus. Decades before the Wilmington Lunch Counter Sit-In, Murray and other students desegregated restaurants in DC. Murray was one of the founders on the National Organization for Women. Essays Murray wrote were part of the arguments laid before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. Murray made the case that the Fourteenth Amendment could be used to protect women’s rights (as Ginsberg argued). And yet, so few of us have heard of Pauli Murray.

Murray was something of a polymath. She was an author, lawyer, poet, and eventually a priest. (Murray was the first Black woman ordained in the Episcopal Church.) You may note my lack of pronouns here. Murray was gender non-conforming, and in today’s language would probably identify as transexual. Murray often practiced confrontation by typewriter, writing letters to people of power. When writing to FDR, Murray would copy Eleanor Roosevelt, which lead to a friendship.

Much of the film is made up tape recording of Murray reading from an autobiography as it was being written. It is important that we can hear that story in Murray’s own voice. It is also important to hear the stories of people who knew Murray and who have continued build on that legacy. Pauli Murray truly was one of those unknown giants upon whose shoulders people are still standing seeing a future that can be made better.

For today’s shorts, I want to make special note of When We Were Bullies. Filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt coincidentally meets an elementary school classmate decades later, they recall a bullying incident they were part of. Rosenblatt tries to contact all those involved to see if they remember it. It’s a difficult thing to realize that one has been a bully. (I made that realization some time ago.) In a way, that may be a typical part of growing up. But does that absolve us of what we have done so long ago. An excellent short.

Other shorts for today include Lydia Cornett’s Party Line, which show scenes from the very long line on the final day of early voting in Columbus, Ohio, last year. Ohio law only allows one early voting site per county, and 117,356 people voted early in that county. We see lots of masked people waiting in the snow to take part in democracy. In Halpate, directed by Adam Piron and Adam Khalil, we see Seminole allegator wrestlers in Florida with a bit of background as to why they have done this.

Photos courtesy of AFI.

#ROXY: A modern take on an old nose… I mean classic.

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A modern take on Cyrano de Bergerac, #Roxy is a movie about Cyrus Nollen (Jake Short), a boy with a big nose who is very tech savvy and feels he can’t be loved because of his physical appearance. He is in love with his best friend, Roxy (Sarah Fisher), one of the more popular girls in school. However, Roxy likes the new boy in school, Christian (Booboo Stewart), the school’s stereotypical ‘dumb jock’ who likes her as well. After finding out that Christian has feelings for Roxy, Cyrus helps his new friend by using his technological skills to pose as Christian to Roxy. Their plan goes well up until Roxy and Christian meet face to face, where Roxy eventually realizes she has to decide if their relationship will survive.

#Roxy is a fairly enjoyable film that speaks about some modern topics, such as self-image and bullying. Throughout the film, Cyrus wants to confess his feelings for Roxy but is too afraid because of the size of his nose. Self-conscious about the way he looks, Cyrus feels like his nose is what is blocking him from finding love. His cousin, Bronwyn, keeps trying to tell him that “girls don’t care” about his nose, but he continues to put up a wall of doubt. In doing so, the film reminds us that, if someone you like judges you based on your physical appearance then it wasn’t meant to be. Your true partner will love you for who you are on the inside.

Another important topic within the film is its exploration of bullying. Although almost everyone in the school is too afraid to speak about Cyrus’ nose, the football team uses his nose to bully and make fun of him, not caring what he will do in return. At one point in the film, Cyrus is mocked in the library because of his appearance. However, instead of cowering, he uses different book genres to make even more j0kes about his own nose. Here, Cyrus turns the table on his attackers and takes the power back for himself. Moments like this serve as a reminder that, the more one can accept their flaws, the less chance others have to bully you.

At the beginning, #Roxy is an entertaining film and draws you in fairly quickly. Although the story and dialogue do become more confusing as it goes on, there are some positive lessons to be learned, especially for today’s teens.

Wonder – The Beauty in the Beast

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“You can’t blend in when you were born to stand out.”

What a frightening thing the first day of school can be—especially when you’ve been home schooled your whole life because you have a deformity that cannot be hidden. Wonder is a story of outcast and friendship. Though not exactly a tear-jerker, it does have a few weepy moments, not because of the characters’ pain, but because we see hearts open up so that they can see beyond the external appearance.

Jacob Tremblay as “Auggie” in WONDER. Photo by Dale Robinette.

Auggie Pullman (Jacob Trembly) had a problem birth and several surgeries that have resulted in a face filled with scars and deformity. He prefers to wear an astronaut helmet when he is in public. Younger children cry and run when they see him. He has been sheltered at home by his mother (Julia Roberts), father (Owen Wilson), and older sister Via (Izabela Vidovic). But going into middle school seems the right time for him to start going to school with others. It not just that he knows no one, but because of how he looks, no one wants to be a friend. As the school year progresses, some discover things about Auggie and themselves that will bring them together.

While Auggie is the center of the story, we discover that various other characters have flaws that are less obvious than Auggie’s face. Yet those flaws are just as devastating to their search for acceptance and happiness. If those flaws become evident, those characters could become outcasts, just as Auggie is. On the other hand, if we can see beyond the faults we can discover gifts that others have to share.

Jacob Tremblay as “Auggie” and Julia Roberts as “Isabel” in WONDER. Photo by Dale Robinette.

Although the cruelty that children are capable of is a key part of the story, it certainly isn’t a character flaw that is limited to them. Everyone makes judgments about other people that build walls between us and them. Maybe it is about race, or social class, sexuality, religion, or looks. How do we choose who we will be friends with? Do we shy away from those who are in some way outwardly different?

One of Auggie’s teachers gave them monthly precepts—short sayings to build character. One of those precepts was said to be found in an ancient tomb: “Our deeds are our monuments.” That is an important idea to keep in mind as we watch the children—and some adults, make choices of how they will relate to Auggie.

From L to R: Owen Wilson as “Nate,” Julia Roberts as “Isabel,” Jacob Tremblay as “Auggie,” Izabela Vidovic as “Via” and Danielle Rose Russell as “Miranda” in WONDER. Photo by Dale Robinette.

I think it is also worth noting that Jesus was someone who not only welcomed, but sought out outcasts. One of the criticisms of his ministry was that he was “a friend of tax collectors and sinners”. Even some of those closest to him were “tainted”: fishermen, a tax collector, women of shady morals. To follow in his way is to be willing to welcome and befriend the outcasts among us.

Photos courtesy of Lionsgate Entertainment

Lou – A Short Look at Redeption

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It’s not unusual for me to go to a Disney/Pixar animation film and be more impressed with the short that plays before the feature than the feature itself. That is certainly true of Lou, which plays before Cars 3. I thought Cars 3 was very well done with important ideas. But still, Lou was better. (I’m not alone in this assessment. When I checked the IMDB scores, Lou was more than a full point higher than Cars 3.) The film is written and directed by Dave Mullins, a long-time animator and animation supervisor for Pixar, now getting his first writing and directing credits.

On a school playground, a bully named J.J. terrorizes other children, stealing their most precious possessions. Little does he know that there is a monster living in the Lost and Found box, made up of all the lost and stolen articles that have been collected. That Lost and Found creature comes to life and stops J.J. It even knows that his teddy bear is in the box from when he was bullied. He teaches J. J. an important lesson about sharing and respect of others.

While the story seems simple enough, it is actually a serious look at redemption. As J. J. does what’s needed to earn back his teddy bear, he is changed by the process. On one level, this might be seen as salvation by works, i.e., he gets his reward for doing what he needs to do. But there is a grace that fills the tone of the story. The real reward that J. J. receives is not his teddy bear, but the understanding that he can be a better person, and in so doing find an acceptance he has never felt.

All of this in just six minutes. That is the wonder of shorts. They are often overlooked, but as with Lou, they can carry a powerful message in a concise package.

Before I Fall – It’s Not Groundhog Day

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“Maybe for you there is a tomorrow…. But for some of us there is only today. And what you do matters.”

In Before I Fall, high school senior Samantha Kingston (Zoey Deutch) lives the same day over and over. She is popular. She has a hunk of a boyfriend. She and her friends have a good time. But something just isn’t right. So Sam’s day keeps resetting. If you think this sounds like a YA version of Groundhog Day, you need to keep in mind that this is not a comedy and does not have a happy ending. In the only class we see her in, her teacher is trying to lead a discussion about Sisyphus, who must spend eternity rolling a rock up a hill, only to have it roll back. That is certainly what Sam is experiencing.

Even though Sam’s life is going pretty well, when she begins living this day over and over, she begins to see the cracks in her happiness. Her friends may not be as good as she thinks they are. Her boyfriend may not be the love of her life. She may not treat her family with the love and respect they deserve. Some of the people on the periphery—a boy who has a crush on her, a gay classmate, a lonely classmate—may deserve her attention and understanding. All of this become important because the day she keeps reliving always ends with tragedy. Are there clues along the way that will give her a chance to prevent the tragedies—and at what cost?

Because this is a story of teenagers, there is a lot of angst. It is an age in which things come to seem very important. (It has always been so. Every generation experiences this discovery of a world that seem to matter deeply as they move into adulthood.) For Sam, this day she is reliving provides her a chance to examine the world she lives in—and also to examine herself. As she repeats the day over and over she discovers that her clique is something of a mean girl group. She notices the way she and the others emotionally bully others. She also begins to move from being self-absorbed (as her friends are) to caring about the people around her—even some who no one else will care for.

There is an undertone in the film about freedom. Sam and her friends seem to have freedom. They are experiencing life fully. Their parents are not restricting them. But for Sam, there is a discovery that freedom may involve something other than doing what you want. Sometimes freedom means moving away from what you want. So Sam must decide how to use her freedom. The Apostle Paul often wrote of freedom, but also about how we may use that freedom to enslave ourselves. Perhaps for Sam her desire for popularity and belonging to the right group has taken away her true freedom. So she finds herself trapped in the ever-repeating day. Her real freedom will only come when she is willing to give up all the things she thought she wanted.

Photos courtesy of Open Road Pictures.

Milton’s Secret – The Alchemy of Now

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In Milton’s Secret, eleven year old Milton (William Ainscough) seems to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. His parents (Mia Kirshner and David Sutcliff) are constantly worried about business and finances. He’s bullied by his neighbor. He describes his life as living on “Planet Fear.” He and a friend sneak into an abandoned house to do alchemy experiments, seeking to create some gold that will solve his problems. But the transformation his world needs will require some help.miltons-secretday-3sept_23_2015-iden-ford_81

The film opens with a montage of angry and frustrated people during the opening credits. That sets the world as one without much happiness. Certainly Milton’s family doesn’t seem to have much happiness in it. But then his grandfather (Donald Sutherland) comes to visit. Grandpa Howard seems to have evolved into something of an aging hippie. (He sips herbal tea, listens to 60s music, started riding a motorcycle, and is dating his Zumba instructor.) His daughter is not really pleased with the way he is acting recently. But he is at peace with himself and the world around him. While everyone is away at work and school, Grandpa starts pulling out the dead plants in the back yard and re-landscaping it. At the same time he begins the process of transforming the lives of the family.

The family has been suffering the caustic effects of worry. Milton feels alone. His parents’ relationship is strained. Failure seems to be close at hand on many fronts. But Grandpa Howard urges Milton to get away from worrying about what has happened or will happen and appreciate the moment he is in. That philosophy is the key ingredient in the personal alchemy that Grandpa teaches Milton—and Milton goes on to teach to others in his world.

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The way the philosophy is presented may have something of a Buddhist feel to it, but it is an idea that is also to be found in the Gospels. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches about worrying about what will happen (Matthew 6:25-34). Jesus tells us to look to the lilies of the field and the birds of the air and how God provides for them. Rather than worrying about tomorrow, we are to seek God’s Kingdom and righteousness. For many people that may be one of the most difficult of Jesus’ teachings to follow.

Photos courtesy of Momentum Pictures

Taking Off the Mask: An Interview with Brett Granstaff

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The Masked Saint, Brett GranstaffBrett Granstaff is no stranger to the silver screen. He’s acted and produced alongside some of Hollywood’s best in films like Vice and Black Mass.  In his latest project, The Masked Saint, Granstaff plays Chris Samuel, a pastor who lives a double life of a professional wrestler.  I recently had the opportunity to talk with him about the film and the lessons one can expect to get out of it.

Granstaff was motivated to take the lead role in The Masked Saint after reading Chris Whaley’s book of the same name, where the pastor detailed his adventures and lessons of preaching by day and wrestling by night. His first reaction was, “A pastor that doesn’t turn the other cheek?  Wait.  Is this real?”  People tend to put pastors on pedestals, and the book reminded him they’re people like everyone else. In addition, it immediately made the kid in him come out—you know, the kid who watched WWF (now WWE) and NWA matches on Saturday mornings and perhaps went to see Hulk Hogan or Ric Flair in person. To make it more authentic, Granstaff did his own stunts for the film, so you’ll see him actually wrestling as he plays the role of The Saint.

One unique aspect of The Masked Saint involves the film’s casting—specifically ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, who plays the role of Nicky, a wrestling promoter. Sadly, Piper passed away before the movie came out, but Granstaff noted that he was a fantastic actor and impressed everyone with his graciousness and humility. Piper made time to talk to everyone while on set—even fans who showed up on occasion to see the famous wrestler.

Recently, series such as Daredevil have featured protagonists who live double lives with their nighttime persona being a hero who helps others in their times of need.  Grandstaff’s character in The Masked Saint is similar, prompting me to ask him if he thought the movie was in the same vein as these series. People have noticed a similarity, but he notes the film was never conceived in that manner. Instead, he likened it to a battle of David versus Goliath, specifically with the contrasts of light/dark, various physical sizes of the wrestlers and other actors, and one person confronting and taking down an unstoppable force.

I asked Granstaff about a common issue that tends to plague faith-based films: showing/telling too much and not allowing the audience to think. At this point, he shared that in most films of this nature, the director and writers (of which he is one) often preach to the choir and beat people over the head with specific points. His goal was to provide multiple themes that are more subtle in nature (he gave the topics of bullying, domestic violence, faith, and judgmental attitudes as examples), allowing everyone to take something away from the film. “A good movie can reach all kinds of people,” he added. Two ways this was accomplished in The Masked Saint involved higher production values and authentic situations—including scenes in the locker room—that offered a more realistic feeling.

In the end, the test will be whether audiences come out to support the film and recommend it to their friends and family. By offering a non-syrupy movie that shows both sides of situations in day-to-day life, Granstaff hopes The Masked Saint will accomplish just that.

The film opens in theaters starting January 8th, 2016.

Carrie–The Least of These

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screamfish iter 2Consider: You’re an adolescent girl teetering on the cusp of womanhood, and you have an uncanny ability that allows you to move objects with your mind. You hide your powers away, scared of what you may do with them, scared of what others may do to you if they discover your secret. Then, one day, someone sees something wonderful in you and your ability, something beautiful in your red hair and bright smile that you’ve only ever seen as ordinary. And they take you in and surround you with a loving family, and they teach you how to embrace your ability and how to use it for good and soon, you are driving back the nightmares that haunt everything around you. And though the world may fear and despise you, you continue to fight for the good that you still manage to see through the hate. You are Jean Grey, and you are an X-Man.

Consider: You’re an adolescent girl teetering on the cusp of womanhood, and you have an uncanny ability that allows you to move objects with your mind. You hide your powers away, scared of what you may do with them, scared of what others may do to you if they discover your secret. Then one day, someone sees something wicked in you and your ability, something ugly in your red hair and bright smile that you’ve only ever seen as ordinary. They shun you and admonish your ability, warning that others will only ostracize you if your powers are revealed. And despite your hopes, that prediction comes true and in the instant of your greatest rejection and humiliation, you lash out, using your abilities to strike down your adversaries, orchestrating a nightmare of death and destruction the likes of which has never been seen in your tiny corner of the world. You are Carrie White, and you are all alone.

Stephen King credits some of his peculiar high school classmates as the inspiration for Carrie (his fourth novel, but the first to actually see publication)—that and an article in Time magazine about telekinesis. Whatever its origin, Carrie is the perfect horror twist on the classic superhero stereotype. It hit just the right audience at just the right time and launched King’s almost 50-year career. And the film adaptation has become nothing short of legendary, consistently named as one of the scariest movies ever. It even garnered two Oscar nominations for lead actress Sissy Spacek and supporting actress Piper Laurie.

It is a tortured, masterful tale that repulses and endears. It’s the ultimate revenge movie for anyone who’s ever been picked on or pushed around. But its ending is so difficult to swallow that it can literally leave you depressed for days (don’t you judge us).

But man is it ever good, on so many levels—even on a theological one.

Join us as we dance through the horror and heartache that is Carrie.

And just a suggestion: you might want to wear red.

Prom.

Has there ever been so common an event so romanticized, anticipated, dreaded, endeared and despised by so many on an annual basis for so long? Chances are, you still have photos of your own magical night tucked in an album somewhere. Maybe there’s a withered corsage pressed between the pages. Or at the very least, you remember the name of that certain someone that walked in on your arm that night. Maybe they’re still beside you to this day, decades later.

Nowadays, proms can be elaborate affairs, often held in off-campus banquet facilities with extravagant themes and budgets. But way back in 1976, most proms looked pretty much the same: push back the bleachers in the gymnasium, hang some art-class-made decorations from the rafters, hire a cheap cover band and rent a ruffle tux (or buy a gown with something called “chiffon”) and get your boogie woogie oogie on.

But there was one prom that defied the norm that year.

It all went down at the fictitious Bates High in Carrie, the feature film based upon Stephen King’s novel of the same name. And it made generations rethink the way they thought about that magical night.

The film begins a few days before the prom. Late blooming, mousy and naïeve Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) panics in the shower after gym class, when she gets her first menstrual period. Thanks to her strict religious upbringing, Carrie is clueless as to what is going on, fearing that she is going to bleed to death.

Carrie suddenly realizes something is terribly wrong while showering in the locker room.
Her classmates, who have enjoyed a long tenure of tormenting Carrie, pelt her with tampons as they laugh and taunt her. Carrie begins to panic and suddenly all the lights in the locker room begin to explode. Turns out Carrie is telekinetic—able to move objects with her mind—and the sudden trauma coupled with her emergence into womanhood triggers her latent powers. As the rest of the girls recoil from the supposed electrical surge, fiery gym teacher Miss Collins (Betty Buckley) breaks things up and consoles Carrie.

Miss Collins hands out the ultimate punishment on the bullies: revocation of their prom tickets if they don’t spend one week’s detention doing every gut-busting calisthenic she can throw at them. The ring leader, Chris Hargensen (Nancy Allen), refuses and loses all prom privileges. Immediately, she begins plotting revenge against Carrie (who, ironically, had nothing to do with the punishment in the first place).

Another classmate, Sue Snell (Amy Irving), feels guilty about her apathy during the attack on Carrie, and decides to be a bystander no more. She resolves to stay home from prom, deciding to set Carrie up with her football-team-captain-boyfriend, Tommy Ross (Wiliam Katt) as the ultimate prom date.

Sue and Tommy convince Miss Collins they have Carrie's best interest at heart; Tommy will be her prom date.
Meanwhile, we get a glimpse into Carrie’s homelife and it’s soon easy to understand why she is such a shrinking violet. Her insanely fanatical mother, Margaret (Piper Laurie), belittles and berates Carrie at every turn, using a constant, belligerent recitation of scripture to shame her for her uncontrollable metamorphosis into womanhood. “They’re all going to laugh at you,” she warns Carrie time and again, when she learns that Tommy has asked her to prom. After years of ridicule and closet-penance for doing nothing wrong, Carrie finally strikes back, using her powers to put the smackdown on her mother long enough to enjoy that one magical night, that first dance and maybe the kiss every girl dreams of.

Carrie's mother, Margaret, prays for her daughter's forgiveness, though, as usual, she's done nothing wrong.
But Chris hasn’t exactly been sitting around on her hands in the meantime. While Carrie was making her own prom dress, Chris was having her boyfriend, Billy Nolan (John Travolta), sneak onto a farm and kill and bleed a pig. Then she made sure to have her friends on the prom committee take the bucket of recovered pig blood and perch it, out of sight, in the rafters above the gymnasium stage. Finally, ever the schemer, Chris has her friends include Tommy and Carrie on the Royal Court voting ballot and rig the results so they will be crowned King and Queen.

Carrie’s prom begins wonderfully. She gets that dance. And that kiss.

For one brief moment, all the world is right as Tommy and Carrie are crowned King and Queen.
And then, almost unbelievably, she and Tommy are crowned King and Queen. Sue sneaks in to see the beautiful moment, all her hopes finally culminating with Carrie’s smile. But then she spies the bucket and before she can stop it, Miss Collins spots her and thwarts her, believing she is the villain. Just then, the bucket drops, dousing Carrie in a crimson cascade reminiscent of her horrible shower trauma. Tommy crumples as the bucket crashes into his head. Carrie turns to face her dumbfounded classmates but all she can see is their laughter, certain that her mother’s prophecy has come true.

The dirtiest high school prank in history. Carrie gets drenched in blood.
She turns on the crowd, friends and foes alike, unleashing a lifetime of rage and the full measure of her power. She brings down the house in a fury of flame—her own private hell— before chasing down a fleeing Chris and Tommy. And once she’s done with them, it’s time to return home to momma…

Carrie strikes back, unleashing hell on her tormentors.
Carrie’s message of bullying and the bullied resonates just as strong as it did when Brian de Palma brought it to the big screen forty years ago. Sadly, for Carrie (as for some today), home is never a refuge. The hurtful assaults of her classmates at least come from relative strangers; how much more painful must it be to be tormented by someone who supposedly loves her? Jesus warns against just such mistreatment in the Gospel of Mark. “If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea,” Christ says. Carrie’s mother, though perhaps well-intentioned, bruises her daughter’s perception of what Christ-centered love should be. Mrs. White perverts Christ’s message to keep Carrie under thumb. And Carrie, who has turned her cheek so many other times, finally can see only through her mother’s eyes, embracing her hate in a violent, hellish tirade.
Sue Snell is the only character who survives, testament to the consequences of sins of omission. Sue is haunted by the memory of Carrie and lives with regret for not stepping up to defend her earlier. Her story calls to mind more words from Jesus found in Mark.

“I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’… (Mark 23: 43-45).

When we fail to reach out or stand up, not only to or for the stranger but for those we choose to ostracize, we too will be judged harshly. But unlike Sue, our punishment may extend far beyond earthly anguish. We could be facing much, much more everlasting repercussions. It is not only our mission but our responsibility to take Christ’s love into the world to those who need it the most, whether in solitary confinement behind iron bars or the stone walls of their own internal, perhaps self-made, prisons. Everyone hurts, everyone struggles. It’s up to us to seek them out, to find them and to share the Gospel with them.

And as Carrie teaches us, waiting until the last dance is not an option.