ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

college

Fall Kickoff: Sports; Future of College & Work; Meaning in Life

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your sunday drive podcast

Fall is here and with it the 150th season of college football in the U.S.!

In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we use this occasion as a kick-off point to revisit the topic of spirituality in sports.

Then the conversation goes deep into the current state of higher education, and the future of college and work.

Finally, the concept of God’s image is used as a touchstone principle to connect these topics to larger questions about purpose and meaning in life.

Take a listen and let us know what you think! Want to interact with us? Comment here, or on Spreaker or Facebook!



The Test and the Art of Thinking – Is the SAT Meaningless?

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“Mathematics, science, being able to use the English language. These tests don’t measure it and they don’t improve it. So why do they exist?” (Leon Botstein, President, Bard College)

Eighty percent of graduating high school students will take the SAT and/or ACT tests. The results may determine the schools they get into. Some students will have tutors that help them boost their scores. In fact, there is an entire industry built around helping people take the test. But do these tests actually measure one’s potential ability for college? The Test and the Art of Thinking attempts to pull back the curtain on the myth and mystique around the SAT and ACT.

The film starts with a historical overview of how nearly a century ago the SAT became a substitute for individual entrance exams for prestigious schools, like the Ivy League. It also was designed to help them find those who might do well, in spite of not having a prep school education. After World War II when college enrollment jumped, it became widely used by other schools looking for those who might excel. But in time, instead of finding diamonds in the rough, the test became a gatekeeper.

As the years passed, some began to question the validity of the test itself. Is there really something there that can measure intelligence or aptitude for college, or does the test provide an irrelevant measurement—essentially measuring the ability to take a test. Yet in spite of the questions about the test, it has become a way of keeping score of our lives and educational institutions.

The film is made up of interviews with a wide range of students, parents, testing experts, and academics. Some of the time we sit in with students being tutored to help them beat the test. Or we hear college admissions officers who talk about how poorly the test measures what they are looking for in students. But at the same time, for colleges to be highly ranked, they have to have high SAT averages. It should be noted that some universities have begun to step away from testing.

The question comes up often: if this test really doesn’t measure what we think it does, why do we keep making people take it. For me this issue is most clearly seen in listening to a group of SAT tutors—people who make money off of training people for the test—talking about how long it has been known (as one of them puts it) that “the emperor has no clothes.” In fact, the very idea that by going to a tutor you can raise your score undermines the very foundation of what the test claims to do—measure innate aptitude. Yet in spite of evidence that the test is not really useful, it continues to be used.

I found this a very interesting examination of something that is an almost universal experience in our society. Almost everyone takes these tests. But to what point? Because of the weight given these tests, they may well affect people’s lives in very important ways. But even though it seems they are flawed and inaccurate, no one can ignore them. And like much of our culture, it seems we will just keep doing it because we always have.

Photos courtesy of Canobie Films

Genius Ep. 2 – Taking Responsiblity

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(National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

My years in college and graduate school were ones I will always remember.  There were the times where I was thrown into the campus lake for my birthday—without fail.  There were times where I would just sit outside and enjoy nature, not having a care in the world. Of course, there were also times where I found myself stressed out to the breaking point with reading assignments, exams, or relationships. Those years weren’t always the best of times, but the moments of joy and satisfaction far outweighed the moments of despair.  As a result, I began to truly become an adult.

In the second episode of Genius (National Geographic, Tuesdays 9 PM /8 CT), young Albert Einstein (Johnny Flynn) finds himself at Zurich Polytechnic, where he’s attempting to make something of his life. He has an incredible mind, but it can be swayed by the only girl in the class, Mileva Maric (Samantha Colley).  Not only does she have her gender working against her, she also walks with a noticeable limp—one that caused noticeable mockery in her early schooling. But she’s quite smart and her brain intrigues Albert.  Not only that, she has zero interest in guys.  Albert is still in a relationship with Marie Winteler (Shannon Tarbet), but has stopped talking to her completely, noting that she’s too simple-minded to have discussions about math and science with him.

(National Geographic/Dusan Martincek)

The viewer gets to see a different side of Albert when it comes to schooling. He’s not studious and tends to fly by the seat of his pants, showing little regard for authority or academic structure. His professors are incensed, but he keeps passing classes with flying colors.  Mileva doesn’t help matters, as his interest in her seems to cloud his mind.  She pushes away from him, even auditing classes at a school in Germany, but runs into the same issue with being a female—nobody wants her. She returns to Zurich, where Albert admits to her, “I’m head over heels in love with your mind.”  But what is he to do with Marie?  In the end, somebody is going to get hurt—the question is who and how much.

Ron Howard’s opening episode of Genius took a broad paintbrush approach to the cultural and global events of Einstein’s time. The second part is directed by Minkie Spiro and is significantly less loud and bombastic in nature, focusing on more intimate portrayals of the characters.  I think it works quite effectively—even moreso than the first episode—since the focus is mainly on young Albert’s schooling in Zurich.  Spiro does offer a few glimpses into Mileva’s early childhood, providing much-needed perspective about her personality.  She’s never had it easy—and it doesn’t seem Albert’s going to make it any easier.  I do wish more attention had been placed on Marie, however.
Taking responsibility for one’s actions is an important attribute for a person to have.  Over time, God wants us to slowly begin to put the childish portions of our life aside, replacing them with the maturity that comes from being an adult (see 1 Corinthians 13:11).  At this point in Genius, however, Albert hasn’t completely learned this lesson. Having a brilliant mind is a blessing, but only as it is coupled with appropriate actions. One letter Albert writes near the end of the episode demonstrates this in perfect clarity. It’s simply not our place to go around hurting others; instead, we should care about other people more than ourselves, looking out for them in the same manner (see Philippians 2:3-4).  In this way, we can become both responsible and respected at the same time.

Everybody Wants Some!! – What a Great Time That Was

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“Frontiers are where you find them.”

Richard Linklater in recent years has done films that follow the evolutions of relationships over a period of time, such as Boyhood and the Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight films. In Everybody Wants Some!! he takes us back to a specific period and reminds us what those days were like. Everybody Wants Some!! has been called a “spiritual sequel” to one of his early films, Dazed and Confused. Just as the Dazed and Confused captured 1970s high school life, this film focuses on the life of an incoming college freshman in 1980.

Jake is entering the fictional Southeastern Texas University as a pitcher on the baseball team. He and other team members live together in a couple of off campus houses. Much of the film is spent displaying jock culture—testosterone-fueled tribalism and the hunt for (or sometimes the talk of the hunt for) women. But the fact that these are baseball players is just the way the story is dressed up. It is really a look at that brief moment (here, the weekend prior to school starting) of new found freedom at the cusp of adulthood as Jake and the others of this ensemble piece begin to define who they will become. While the time setting may trigger nostalgia (I loved those clothes and hairstyles) the film really is not so much about 1980 as it is about that particular time of life.

The setting of 1980 works well to show the various options people might follow. In the course of the weekend the ballplayers make their way to disco, country-western, and punk clubs, each with their own style of music and dress. Those music genres were all alive at that time (although disco was on the wane as the others were growing). Music often was one of the ways people identified where they belonged. For Jake et al. this represents options they are still exploring. So far they are all only identified as baseball players. That is what they have in common and what at this point is giving them a sense of belonging. But we notice that they all are individuals as well and their personalities will at times clash or open into realms that won’t appeal to others. Defining who we are is a matter of where we belong and also how we are individuals. That is the task that these young people are just beginning to confront.

Because we only see them over a few days, we may have a shallow understanding of who they are. But with Jake, as the film moves into the last act (in which he begins to explore a relationship with a drama major), we begin to see a touch of the depth in his persona as noted in how he describes his search for meaning that he wrote about in his admission essay.

The film reflects a slightly romantic view of this period of coming of age. These people are filled with optimism as their lives lay open before them. Of course we know that there will be stumbling blocks in the life ahead of them. But it is pleasant to watch them in this brief window of time and remember when life seemed so hopeful and wish them luck in fulfilling their dreams.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures and Annapurna Pictures.