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where faith and film are intertwined

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The Meaning Crisis; This Is Us

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Have you ever wondered “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid”? We attempt to give an answer in this new episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast by looking at a popular Atlantic article with that title from cultural commentator Jonathan Haidt. Points of discussion include social media, its influence and some possible ways to curtail its negative effects.

Sure… social media is a problem and has amplified our fragmentation, like languages at the Tower of Babel, but isn’t there a deeper issue? Yes – what’s currently being discussed as “The Meaning Crisis” by a growing number of voices, such as Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein, Jonathan Vervaeke, Paul Vander Klay, Johnathan Pageau, Tim DeRoche and others. We look at this current moment, try to unpack some of its causes and history, and ultimately contextualize it with the Christian faith.

Popular (and excellent) show This Is Us reaches its final few episodes and Nate has thoughts. What does our current pop culture have to say about things like love and marriage? How should a Christian respond when non-Christian ideas about such topics are presented and even celebrated in our pop culture?

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Conspiracies Vindicated! Friends Reunion

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What happens when a “conspiracy” is vindicated? In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we take a look at the Wuhan coronavirus lab leak hypothesis and its fascinating transformation from shunned conspiracy to legitimate possibility over the course of the past year.

Along the way we discuss other conspiracies that have turned out to be accurate or otherwise gained credibility, including the Christian faith itself. Also included: How to be a good friend to someone under the influence of a more radical strain of thinking, why to keep friends of varied perspectives and other related epistemological best practices.

Continuing the theme of friendship, we unpack the recent Friends reunion show on HBO. Was it good or bad? How do shows like Friends connect to our different phases of life? What are the benefits and dangers of nostalgia? Is Nate more a Ross, Joey or Chandler?

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

This Is Us / perfect title zen

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words wind around us,
obscuring, diffusing,
piling atop each other like
snowflakes on snowflakes,
making seeing true meaning
hard through the white,
like moments in life

thus does This Is Us succeed,
not just as “quality entertainment”
(important in its way),
but more importantly, truly,
as a light to help
color through white,
making meaning in moments in life

and it starts
where it ends:
perfect title zen

This: the occurrences
Is: the nexuses
Us: the identity

just three words.
word times three.
a singular triplet.

it was all they needed,
all that is needed,
to crystallize, to clarify,
the medium, the message:
This.
Is.
Us.

it is a reminder to
we who inhabit this
world of white on white,
this world of
swirling, obscuring,
diffusing words,
like moments in life

it is the lesson that,
though less may not
always be more,
more meaning will
always be more,
and all the better
if it take less space

and in this universe
where brute,
unordered facts
constantly, consistently
cry for it,
meaning, perhaps,
coalesces most clearly
in that perfect title zen:

that name that
captures it all
in one hand

Westworld & Trump, Optimism & Hope

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westworld_2
i’m highly optimistic about
HBO’s new hit show, Westworld
 
(if you’ve not seen it,
imagine a
sort-of sci-fi,
cyberpunk Western,
steeped in
J.J. Abrams style
cerebralism and cliffhangery;
a deliberately paced show
full of sweeping
panoramic shots,
shootouts, sex, robots
(rinse, recombine, repeat),
acting clinics put on
by a superb cast
(Anthony Hopkins
can do no wrong),
and enough intrigue to
[insert your own
cowboy-themed
capper here]
 
of course,
i’ve obviously seen the show,
so it’s not its
continued quality or excellence
i’m expressing optimism about, no
 
i’m optimistic that –
though at present
the plot has the
titular theme park
twisted into a knot
so dense and
so tending towards a
negative, gloomy,
“dark” view of things
(the future,
human nature,
etc.) –
it will
(eventually, ultimately)
take a turn towards a
positive, upbeat,
“bright” view of things,
or at least
use this view
to sweetly temper itself
and give us that
at-least bearable last look
 
i have this
optimistic opinion
for multiple reasons, chiefly:
i’m familiar with people
and with stories
 
i know the
showrunners,
the creators,
the people behind
Westworld
will want that
at-least bearable last look,
because that’s what people want;
so too this is what
watchers of Westworld will want;
so too this is
what stories uniformly give us
(why this is so
is a great question, though
attempting an answer
belongs elsewhere)
 
i have this
optimistic opinion,
in other words,
based on evidence –
previous knowledge,
experience, etc. –
and it seems to me
that it makes sense to be
optimistic in such cases
 
d6d107341a8cb99e2fe6be48fff69ee56898ed8a
on the other (small, orange) hand,
i’m not highly optimistic about the
USA’s new hit show,
Donald Trump, Prez Elect
 
(if you’ve not seen it,
imagine a
post-truth “reality” TV show
so unimaginable,
you’d never be able to
imagine it happening
in actual reality,
and then
imagine it happening
in actual reality)
 
if it makes sense to have an
optimistic opinion
based on evidence –
previous knowledge,
experience, etc. –
then it seems to me
that it doesn’t make sense to be
optimistic in this case
 
quite the opposite, in fact,
unfortunately
 
however
 
though there may not be
reason to be
optimistic about
the prospect of a
President Trump,
there is always
reason to be
hopeful
 
hopeful in that old
Bibley, Christiany, Jesusy
way, where –
despite current
circumstantial evidence,
despite lack of evidence
that might lead to an
optimistic opinion –
you still know that
*it’s going to be okay*
because how things go down
in this world (and beyond)
isn’t ultimately up to us humans
 
hopeful in that old
it’s-Friday-now-but-Sunday’s-coming
kind of way,
that old
“in this world you’ll have trouble,
but i’ve overcome the world”
kind of way,
that old
“God will wipe away every tear”
kind of way
 
hopeful, in other words,
in that old kind of way that
optimism,
for all its
sometimes sensible charms,
can only aspire to
 
are you hopeful like this?
not optimistic, but hopeful?
if not, you can be;
would you like to be?
 
would you like to have
an option beyond
understandable pessimism?
justified fear?
anger?
an option beyond
bemoaning on social media,
assuaging pains with
Obama Biden memes?
 
an option beyond
the current
irrationality of optimism?
an option beyond
just another shot in
just another four years?
 
you can;
would you like to?
 
all it takes,
humbly, hopefully, friend,
is a ride west of
present perspective,
on a horse of a different color,
made just for you,
just for all of us
 
a horse with a new name
for a new world
 
a horse that you don’t have to drive
alone
 
a horse that alone can take
us to a place
where actual action can happen
 
from here
right now

VeggieTales’ Third Season Arrives March 25th

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The third season of Netflix’ VeggieTales in the House will premiere on March 25, just in time for Easter. Bob, Larry, and all the veggie housemates return for more faith-based adventures learning what it means to be the best friends they can be.

In addition, there will be lessons on being a good listener, not over-reacting, being honest, and appreciating the good things you already  have.

Here are a few first looks at the new season:

(Photo: DreamWorks Animation) AND LEGAL LINE (© 2016 Big Idea Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)
(Photo: DreamWorks Animation) AND LEGAL LINE (© 2016 Big Idea Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

(Photo: DreamWorks Animation) AND LEGAL LINE (© 2016 Big Idea Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)
(Photo: DreamWorks Animation) AND LEGAL LINE (© 2016 Big Idea Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

(Photo: DreamWorks Animation) AND LEGAL LINE (© 2016 Big Idea Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)
(Photo: DreamWorks Animation) AND LEGAL LINE (© 2016 Big Idea Entertainment, LLC. All Rights Reserved.)

Here’s a clip of Captain Mike Asparagus on a journey to find the “Best Pet Ever.”

First Look: New DuckTales

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In the late ’80s/early ’90s, the best television show was Disney’s DuckTales, hands down! It is, after all, Emmy Award winning! The new DuckTales will be part of the Disney XD line up and will premiere in 2017.

Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President, Programming and General Manger, Disney XD, made the announcement:

 “DuckTales has a special place in Disney’s TV animation history, it drew its inspiration from Disney Legend Carl Barks’ comic books and through its storytelling and artistic showmanship, set an enduring standard for animated entertainment that connects with both kids and adults. Our new series will bring that same energy and adventurous spirit to a new generation.”

Of course, the new series will feature the same beloved characters from the original: Scrooge McDuck, the patriarch of the family, the nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, the crushable Launchpad McQuack, Donald Duck, Duckworth, Mrs. Beakley, and Webbigail Vanderquack. And there is a high chance that we’ll see Uncle Scrooge go up against the likes of Flintheart Glomgold, Magica DeSpell, and the Beagle Boys.

The animation style for the series seems to be borrowing from the style of the popular Mickey Mouse short series.

DUCKTALES - Disney's "DuckTales," an all-new animated comedy series based on the Emmy Award-winning series. (Disney XD)
DUCKTALES – Disney’s “DuckTales,” an all-new animated comedy series based on the Emmy Award-winning series. (Disney XD)

No doubt the new generation of DuckTales viewers will appropriate the high-flying adventures of Scrooge and the gang. And perhaps it will spark within them, as the original did for so many of us, a sense of curiosity about the world, that may or may not have resulted in some mischief-making.

Murray’s Christmas is Kinda Merry

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A Very Murray Christmas

Bill Murray has done what few have been able to do in the last several years. He has put together a likable Christmas special that is not a parody and is not a variety show. Murray, along with his director Sophia Coppola and co-writer Mitch Glazer, write the bad-weather plotted story of Murray’s Christmas special that doesn’t happen.

Murray begins the special lamenting that his live special from New York isn’t going to happen because none of his high profile guests can make it into the city.  “The airports are closed,” he laments. “The trains are closed. The buses and bridges and tunnels are not working. A couple of saloons have closed. The entire city of New York has shut down.” After convincing Chris Rock to sing with him, the power goes out, putting an end to it all.

Murray, along with Paul Shaffer, spends the rest of Christmas Eve in the hotel’s bar. This is where the bulk of the special actually takes place. Because the show was produced for and aired on Netflix, bar language is permitted but not in a way that is vulgar, if that makes sense. And of course, there’s drinking.

And lots of singing.

Murray is like a Dean Martin, emceeing a group of his friends asking them to sing. Some of it is ridiculous, like Murray and Rock singing, “Do You Hear What I Hear?” Or humorous like Murray and George Clooney singing “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin’.” But much of it is really good. Miley Cyrus sings “Silent Night,” reminding us that she really can sing. Maya Rudolph and Jenny Lewis balance out the ridiculous and humorous with their selections, not to mention Pogues’ “Fairytale of New York.”

There is an air of gloominess throughout the special. Murray opens the show with singing “Christmas Blues” due to the snow storm. There is a bride and groom unable to get married. Rudolph is drinking alone. It’s Christmas Eve and no one seems to be happy. But Murray is not Grumpy Bear. He tries to replace the grumpy with the merry. I’m not convinced that he gets there, but it is only an hour-long special. The important thing is that he tries.