ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

violence

Guns Akimbo: Gamified Murder

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In a world where even cooking shows have been gamified, why not psychopathic murder? In Guns Akimbo, from director Jason Lei Howden, such is the world of SKIZM, a streaming underground game in which contestants advance to the next level by killing their opponent. People around the world watch this in real time.

For nerdy Miles (Daniel Radcliffe), this offers an opportunity to troll the comment section of the site, commenting on the pathetic life reflected in watching such “sport”. But when the game’s controller Riktor (Ned Dennehy) takes offense, he and his cohort come to Miles’s apartment, drug him and bolt pistols onto both his hands. Miles is now the newest player in SKIZM and the reigning champion Nix (Samara Weaving) will be his opponent.

Miles is definitely over his head. First of all, consider what it’s like to try to get dressed with your hand bolted to guns. Consider the difficulty in trying to urinate. (Yes, that is kind of the slapstick this film utilizes.) Once he begins to run, he is ridiculed by the online community watching this. They can see his incompetence and know he’ll be killed off soon. But as Nix and Miles have a running battle, he manages to survive. (It should be pointed out that although she is an efficient killing machine, while chasing Miles, Nix shoots with the precision of a Star Wars stormtrooper.) To further incentivize Miles (as if surviving isn’t enough), Riktor kidnaps Miles’s ex-girlfriend (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) with whom he is trying to reconcile.

All this becomes a cross between The Truman Show, The Purge, and your favorite blood-and-gore first-person shooter video game. It is designed as a comic action movie, but it never quite achieves a level of parody of the nihilism that is represented in The Purge and video games.

The film is not without social commentary. It does critique the current obsession with turning everything into a contest. And at times it takes issue with how we live our lives through screens. But all of that is buried beneath the constant and graphic violence. That violence never really leads anywhere—except to more violence. That means that there is no real redemption that takes place within the characters. In fact, in the end, Miles, although changed through this trial in his life, is not changed for the better. His mission at the end of the film need not be applauded. Rather he seems to have succumbed to the very nihilism that propelled SKIZM.

Photos courtesy of Saban Films.

TIFF17: 1%

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Set in a world of motorcycle gangs, violence and crime, 1% brings us a character driven tale of loyalty, family, betrayal, and personal struggle.  This unconventional crime genre film never actually shows us the criminal activity the Copperheads Motorcycle Club is involved in, though we know that they are raking in a profit that must be concealed.  Taking notes from numerous Shakespearean tragedies, this drama is both shocking, destructive, and fateful.

Through its use of cinematography, director Stephen McCallum gives us a unique perspective by allowing the camera to act as another person in the room.  Moving unconventionally, the camera is not always steady and, as a result, give us a more documentary-like feel.

Although this is a character driven film, we don’t always get a complete background on certain characters, which adds an element of mystery to a cast of multi-dimensional characters.  It’s almost as if the writer (Matt Nable) is trying to teach us a different existential lesson with each individual character.

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Knuck (Matt Nable) is the quintessential motorcycle club president. He is an angry, violent, and gritty character who takes no non-sense from anyone. Knuck feels as though his authority has been threatened during his absence in jail.  While also dealing with the new struggle with his sexuality, his conflicting emotions manifest themselves in a violent manner. Knuck shows us the difficulty and even shame and embarrassment that can come along with hiding a part of yourself and not feeling as though you will be accepted in your social circle.

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Paddo (Ryan Corr) has a deep and violent past and is largely involved in Copperheads as vice president. However, we also see an extremely loving side of him in his relationship with his girlfriend, Katrina (Abbey Lee), and his brother, Skink (Josh McConville), who is another member of Copperheads and has a developmental delay. Paddo lives to take care of the people he loves most. He poses the question of ‘how far are you willing to go to save your family’?

During Knuck’s stay in prison, Paddo steps in as acting president of Copperheads and attempts to take the club in a different direction, causing tension upon Knuck’s return. Paddo and Katrina both play an intricate game of chess in their desire to control the club and how they should handle Knuck’s return and ultimate disinterest in their plan. Katrina, specifically, is always striving to secure her stake in the club. She is always looking forward and ensuring that every move she makes (or Paddo makes) will take them one step closer to their end goal.

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Katrina, as well as Knuck’s wife, Hayley (Simone Kessell), are both very strong female characters that are almost the brains behind their boys. In a male dominated club, these females could easily have been lost in the story. Instead, there was significant intention behind the placement of these women, and a spotlight placed on them.

This film, although unconventional in its genre, is very smart and intentional. Writer, Matt Nable, and director, Stephen McCallum, knew what they wanted to say and executed it well. A cast of incredible actors rounded out this vision.

My recommendation for this movie is not to go into it with a violent action movie mindset. Be prepared to think, absorb, and be driven by the complex emotional turmoil.

 

To stream audio of my interview with Ryan Cord and Abbey Lee, click here.

To stream audio of my interview with Matt Nable and Stephen McCallum, click here.

Don’t Kill It – Demon Runs Rampant

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“And though the world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us.” (Martin Luther, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”)

Many modern people—including many Christians—may be uncomfortable with the worldview of devils and angels that seems to be part of Luther’s hymn. In a world where science continues to expand our knowledge of the world, the supernatural gets pushed aside. Yet many people love horror films that show us a “world with devils filled.” Don’t Kill It certainly has such a world.

In small town Chicory Creek, Mississippi, a series of multiple homicides are taking place. The police chief thinks he can handle it. FBI agent Evelyn Pierce (Kristina Klebe) comes back to the town she grew up in to aid the investigation. Soon thereafter demon hunter Jebediah Woodley (Dolph Lundgren) barges in to tell them they are dealing with the supernatural. Obviously, they think he’s a bit crazy—or involved. But soon it becomes clear that he knows what he’s talking about.

This particular demon sets whoever it inhabits into a murderous fury, killing anyone in sight, until that host is killed. Whoever kills the host becomes the new host carrying on the murder spree. To defeat the demon will mean doing so without killing it—until someone is willing to sacrifice themselves. Jebediah has a history with the demon that goes back to when his father was demon hunting. Evelyn has a history with the town, where when younger she was known as “Evil Evelyn”. But Jebediah thinks that rather than evil, Evelyn may be a descendant of angels. And if the demon manages to connect with her, it would be catastrophic.

This is a film that does not rely on tension to create horror. Rather it loads the screen with carnage. There are several gore-fests as the demon attacks the community. Blood, limbs, and internal organs are plentiful, as are various ways of killing. The difficulty for Jebediah and Evelyn is that soon, someone steps up to kill the current host to try to stop the attack. So in some of the bloodbaths the killer changes every few seconds.

While the film creates a world in which demons and angels are real, there certainly isn’t much here for people of faith to see the working of God. The priest in the local church is not only not helpful, he stands in opposition to Jebediah’s work, believing that Evelyn (and Jebediah by association) is an agent of Satan. The priest isn’t so much demon possessed as stupid possessed. Not a very pleasant reflection on God’s people. Indeed, in this story, the demon is not fazed by anything godly, only by the human ingenuity of Jebediah.

In Luther’s “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” the line about the “world with devils filled” is only a set up for Luther to reflect on the power of God in Christ to defeat those demons. While the film seeks to create a world that allows for the reality of good and evil, it does so without showing us anything that actually represents the power that can defeat evil.

Photos courtesy of DKI Films

John Wick: Chapter 2 – The Soul of the Soldier

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NOTE:  The following article contains major spoilers for John Wick: Chapter 2.

John Wick: Chapter 2 continues the story of ‘retired’ hitman, John Wick (Keanu Reeves).  Set a mere two weeks after the events of first film, Wick has successfully finished his manic vengeance and settles in at home for his new life… for about 10 minutes.  Soon after, he is met by Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a former associate who reminds him of an old debt that needs to be repaid.  Despite his protests, Wick is forced back to work to fulfill his obligation—after all, there are rules to be followed—and he finds himself in the middle of a global turf war.

In the most surprising mash-up of the year, John Wick: Chapter 2 opens with a clip of Buster Keaton projected on a nearby wall as the action takes place below.  The immediate imagery is clear:  This is a film that will emphasize the visuals and physical performances.  In essence, this means that, like Keaton, Reeves’s character will show you through the story with his actions, as opposed to his words.  By utilizing a unique style of violence that some have dubbed ‘gun-fu’, the appeal of the Wick films seems to lie with its almost dance-like action sequences, combining the use of martial arts and firearms.  Whereas the majority of actioners now make use of the infamous ‘shaky-cam’ style of filmmaking (I blame you, Paul Greengrass), the Wick series follows the violent acts in ways that develops genuine intensity.  Although extremely violent, it remains both visceral and stunning visually.

Still, there is far more to the film than choreography and headshots.  Whereas the first film follows Wick’s grief-filled heart, Chapter 2 focuses entirely on his soul.  As the film builds to its climax, he seems to straddle two different worlds.  With the final battle taking place in an art gallery featuring an exhibit entitled ‘Reflections on the Soul’, John Wick has no time to do so. By literally making his descent into the underworld that he is caught between heaven’s gates and hell’s flames.  Through the director’s ingenious choice to place the final battle in a hall of mirrors, we see that Wick is actually two men – one seeking redemption and the other forever damned.  (Admittedly, this reflective setting is hardly new to the action genre, but the subtext keeps the moment fresh.)

What’s more, in John Wick: Chapter 2, justice is swift and vengeful.  In an “eye for an eye” world, Wick is reminded that he is “still Old Testament”.  We see this evidenced in the penultimate moment of the film where, in a scene reminiscent of Genesis 4, John literally kills his ‘blood brother’ in the Continental’s dining hall.  However, in doing so, he also breaks one of the key rules of his profession and thus, destroys the only place of Edenic shalom that he has enjoyed.  As a result, such an act causes him to be thrown out into the night.  Yet, even so, the Continental’s benevolent and ever-present manager, Winston (Ian McShane), continues to care for him.  In a moment reminiscent of Cain’s exchange with God after the murder of Abel, Winston informs John that the only reason he remains alive is ‘because he wills it’.  (What’s more, to deepen the comparison with this moment, Winston even hands John a marker as he departs.) As the film closes, he is cast out into the night with nowhere to wander.  Through Winston’s act of grace, he takes on a God-like persona as he watches over Wick, yet because of his actions, there must be consequences.  John is a man who has sinned against Winston and, although there remains the desire to forgive, Winston cannot erase the actions that have already taken place. As a result, he is now the target of everyone yet protected by none.

This is a film that explores the moment where one is forced to decide who they shall be.  While on his way to meet underground crime boss, Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), Wick is met with a sign that says ‘Jesus saves’, yet he walks right past it.  It is a reminder that the justice of the Old Testament can appear dark without the light inherent to the New Testament.  Wick is a man who needs salvation yet finds no absolution in anything.  Near the end of the film, he sits in his burnt down home, clutching his wife’s rosary and reflecting on the events that have just taken place.  Although he is clearly repentant, he refuses to—or, more accurately, is unable to—move beyond his past.

After all is said and done, what people will most likely remember about John Wick: Chapter 2 is its stylized violence and spectacular battle scenes.  Still, the deeper story within the film reveals a man who wishes to take steps into a world of freedom but remains a lost soul, running from his past and leaning into an empty future.  (“Am I free?,” he asks as he is reminded that he ‘never will be’.)  Though called ‘the Boogeyman’ by those who fear him, Wick is, in fact, more of a ghost, floating through life without any firm spiritual grounding.

One only hopes that, in the inevitable (and likely, final) Chapter 3, Wick finally finds some shred of light in the darkness that continues to swallow him whole.

not knee-jerking over Deadpool (or in general)

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ty0neic0o4jqee5oms8e

what do you think
the “typical Christian review”
of Deadpool is like?

[Google if you wish . .
go ahead, i’ll wait]

perhaps you correctly predicted
that many “Christian reviews”
focus on its rating

[UNNECESSARY SPOILER:
Deadpool is unabashedly R-rated,
prolifically profane,
conspicuously sex-laden,
intentionally irreverent,
vehemently violent,
et cetera, et cetera]

in fact,
maybe surprisingly,
not only are
“Christian critics”
focused on the rating,
so are most other critics
and the film industry
in general,
leading to a
digital deluge
of conversations
and articles about how
Deadpool is
“kicking the door open”
for R-rated superhero flicks

[Google it if you want . .
go ahead, i’ll wait]

but here’s the thing:
why?

why has this become
the conversation to have
about this movie?

for the larger culture,
perhaps we can
chalk it up to just the
basic need to have a fresh story

i mean,
if the story isn’t
“dirty Deadpool!”
or whatever,
what else is there to say?
the movie itself,
in fact,
sells itself this way

and just think:
how boring would it
be to have some
same-old-same-old
conversation just about how
Deadpool is super well made
and impeccably cast,
even by Marvel standards?
how Ryan Reynolds nails it?
how the writing is
consistently hilarious
and refreshingly original?
how the action is
viscerally satisfying?
how the meta, fourth-wall-breaking
snarky tone – so easy to mess up –
is spot-on here?

super boring.
that won’t do.
what we’ll do is
focus on the rating.
spin it.
click bait it.

for the “Christian culture,”
however,
the issue isn’t the
focus on rating
so much as it is
the fact that
*you knew*
the rating
would be the focus

we’re used to the
Christian focus
on the rating,
and that’s the point

nevermind that –
if you care to look –
the web is full of
Christian takes
that focus on
redemptive elements
(like this or this),
what’s important
is that the
“Christian culture”
has taught us
to expect
rating-focused
takes like this or this

in other words,
the “typical Christian review”
of a movie like Deadpool
reflects what’s
(unfortunately)
seen as the
“typical Christian response:”
to focus on rating,
morality . .
on calling out and
counting up
and valuing according to
sins first

but here’s the thing:
should it be this way?

should the
“typical Christian response”
be to immediately
focus on sins?
to immediately
focus on the negative?

i submit that it should not

i submit that this
(unfortunately) typical,
“Christian”
knee-jerk reaction –
focusing on,
calling out,
counting up,
valuing by
sins first,
as opposed to
focusing on,
calling out,
counting up,
valuing first
by positive,
redemptive elements –
needs to change

to be sure,
as in the links above,
seeking for redemption
in dark, R-rated stories
currently gets done often
by Christians,
and has for years,
but the problem is
that it’s certainly
not what the
larger culture expects
from us . .
they expect
sin counting . .
a focus on the negative . .
and unfortunately
we often oblige

and sure,
sin counting
*does matter* . .
it’s important
to discuss the negatives
of a movie like Deadpool,
but not at the expense
of discussing positives . .
and again,
when it’s expected
of us to focus
on the negatives first,
there’s a problem

however,
as most are,
it’s a fixable problem

and,
as usual,
looking to Jesus is instructive

i notice, when dealing with
sinners like Deadpool,
Jesus seemed to like to say
things like:
“I do not condemn you, either.
Go. From now on sin no more.”

i notice that he offered water
before rebuking sin

i notice that both are present . .
the positive and the negative,
the redemption and the judgment . .

but i notice that one comes first

Rev. Rob Schenck: Being Pro-Life Is More Than Abortion

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Reverend Rob Schenck, a pro-life activist and missionary to politicians on Capitol Hill, broke with his expected evangelical position on gun ownership when he found himself questioning what it meant to be pro-life. In her directorial debut, The Armor of Light, Abigail Disney documents Schenck’s conversations on the subject with politicians and people of faith, while also highlighting his interactions with Lucy McBath, the mother of an unarmed teen murdered in Florida. To find out more about Schenck’s story, we caught up with him in the midst of his ministry to those struggling with the violence at Umpqua Community College in Rosemont, Oregon.

The Armor of Light documentary focuses in on Schenk, who is the chairman of the Evangelical Church Alliance and president of the National Clergy Alliance. Schenck has been serving as a commissioned missionary to elected officials since 1995, sent to Washington, D.C.  intentionally for that purpose of ministering to members of all three branches of the United States government. While he has been pro-life when it came to abortion, he began to question his stance on guns after being repeatedly asked to pray after violent situations involving guns, like the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012 and the Naval Shipyards in 2013. The change in his position on guns and laws concerning guns caused many of his previous supporters to question his beliefs and his politics. The controversy escalated, drawing director Disney to him.

When the opportunity for the documentary presented itself, Schenck admitted that it was intimidating at first to have the cameras following him around but that, ultimately, it proved therapeutic to give voice to his internal struggle over whether Christians should be gun owners or not.

While some issues tend to be defined based on divisive lines between those who claim to be religious and those who are not, Schenck’s stance has been highlighted by what some Christians, like Tenn. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, have said in response to recent violence. Ramsey posted on Facebook that Christians should better arm themselves to be prepared for similar situations, and Schenck gently rebutted him.

“While the Lt. Governor of Tennessee may be well intentioned,” Schenck wrote, “it’s not good advice. Anyone with good firearms training knows that when you strap on a gun, you are psychologically ready to kill another human being. That’s a paramount moral decision. Guns are lethal weapons that put lives at risk, including the gun owner’s own life and the lives of loved ones, neighbors, and friends. The best people to give moral advice on guns or any other issue are church leaders, and they’ve been conspicuously silent on the question of Christians arming up in fear. I appeal to pastors and other church leaders to speak out clearly, prayerfully, and biblically on the Christ-like approach to guns, fear, and even love of enemy. I appeal to Christians not to look to secular sources for their most important moral decisions. We must turn to God in prayer, search the Scriptures for wisdom, and look to Christ as our only model for dealing with evil.”

That silence by Christian leaders with conviction about escalating violence troubles Schenck, and is why he chose to step out and take a stand. “I’ve received a couple of emails and a phone call,” Schenck said, “but people have to sit with this kind of challenge. It took me months to accept Abby’s invitation because I had a reticence to share my voice. I had to find courage. I knew that the film could cost me long-established friendships, so I had to weigh the cost. We’re told to count the cost by Jesus, but the truth is that people are starving spiritually, ethically, and morally for guidance.”

Schenck wanted to be clear that many of the things that made people defensive about his stance were natural, and that he respected them for holding those values. “I’m careful not to dismiss the impulse to take care of your family,” Schenck said, passionately. “Some of those things don’t make the film because we had ninety minutes to share two years’ worth of conversations, distilled down.”

“The challenge of the gospels is to go beyond that, but we’re missing that in the Western church,” he continued. “We talk about how to live for Christ but we don’t talk about how to die for him. I know a few pastors who are armed in the pulpit in case someone comes there, but I’ve been asking if it’s always the will of God that we survive?”

The theologian, evangelist, and missionary said that we have a natural human response that is powerful but we’re called to work to get to Jesus’ response. Schenck pointed toward Jesus’ injunction to his disciples to put their swords away in the Garden of Gethsemane as he was being arrested, and his encouragement to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

“Paul tells us in Philippians to refer to others as better than ourselves,” he shared, “so I have to remember that I’m not the most important person in the equation.”

The film’s impact certainly has Schenck aware that what he expected and what happened are often miles apart. “People tend to jump to conclusions,” Schenck continued, “because the conversation questions their orthodoxy. It puts people on the defensive, so I’ve learned to be sensitive and work to relax their defensive reactions.”

Regardless of what you believe about the Second Amendment, guns, or faith, The Armor of Light is a discussion starter that allows us to see one experienced pastor’s perspective in a world where violence is becoming more and more prevalent. Hopefully, audiences will watch the film with their friends and family, and then offer up their opinions about how our communities, our churches, and our country can move forward, holding the Constitution of the United States in one hand and the hand of God in the other.

The Armor of Light will be in select theaters on October 30. 

“Armor Of Light” Director Abigail Disney: “I Don’t Think Everyone Has An Itchy Trigger Finger”

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armoroflightDirector Abigail Disney is out to push your buttons, make you think, and openly challenge the things that you believe to be true about guns, violence, and peace. Since she engaged fully in charitable work in her thirties, she has had a love for people often dismissed by society and the issues that either bind us together or drive us apart. In her latest film, The Armor of Light, Disney serves as both executive producer and director, taking aim at our understanding of what it means to be faithful, gun-carrying citizens of the USA.

“I started traveling when my kids were older, and I encountered these stories that I felt needed to be told,” Disney shared from New York. “In Liberia, I found this fully ready-for-film story [Pray The Devil Back To Hell] and it worked.”

Disney has admittedly pushed buttons with her films, and Armor of Light is no different, saying that there’s a weight that comes with her last name. [She’s the daughter of Walt Disney World co-founder, Roy Disney.] “I’m willing to push buttons, and not everyone likes that. Some people think that the Disney name means that I should keep everything comfortable,” Disney told me. “But the end result is that after they’ve seen it, the name seems to push them toward too happy or too mad; my name really drives out the neutrality.”

The Armor of Light is the kind of polarizing movie that everyone should see… but they will be extremely divided over. When Rev. Rob Schenck found himself praying as a representative of faith at situations like the Navy Shipyard or Sandy Hook Elementary, his convictions about being pro-life [in regards to abortion] began to challenge his politically conservative thoughts on gun ownership, control, and ideology.

“Our country is built on an identity entrenched in certain attitudes and frames of mind,” the director continued. “Gun ownership is a way of declaring who you are, and people feel threatened by more than gun control. They see it as a confrontation over respect for authority, tradition, and history.”

“People seem to be divided into two camps, where the other side has been traumatized by situations where guns were involved and can’t imagine why some people are so connected to their guns. We tried to explore the story with a sensitivity for what people are thinking and feeling.”

To find the right person to frame their documentary around, Disney told me that she called people on the left and the right. As executive producer and director, Disney put in calls to see who had worked on the Narnia movies, and encountered people along the way who weren’t willing to say what they believed publicly. Then, a progressive friend of Disney’s told her about a minister who she had met at an interfaith forum, and Disney called Schenck to see if he would be willing.

After Disney’s crew filmed months worth of footage, the director sat down for a year to process the footage. “We knew that we needed to find the story,” Disney said, chuckling. “It’s like there’s a giant pile of spaghetti, and you pull out the one strand that’s just right to keep it all connected.”

This exploration of gun-related deaths, Schenck’s involvement and inner musings, and conversations featuring both sides of the argument resulted in a ninety-minute film that will leave you questioning how you handle confrontation. But Disney is clear that this is a bigger issue than just ‘gun control.’

armoroflight2“I don’t think that everyone who owns a gun has an itchy trigger finger,” the director shared. “I think that not everyone has run the risk/reward analysis, but they’re presented with facts from both sides that are contested. I wish we could get everyone to agree to let a neutral third party provide the ‘facts’ of the situation.”

“I really struggle with the language we use: ‘stand your ground,’ ‘make my day,'” Disney said. “There’s nothing Christian about that as an approach. I could say I was going to run over and kick someone in the shins, but there are other ways to handle things. There are non-lethal, non-violent options. In this land of creativity, where we trumpet ingenuity, we can’t think of another way to fix these situations?”

I asked Disney what she thought of more recent situations, including Schenck’s response to the shooting at Umpqua Community College or the ‘justified’ shooting of Tamir Rice in Cleveland, and the way we respond to them politically. “There are higher principles than what’s written in the law,” she said. “Whether you’re Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, you believe there’s something else. You’d hope that our elected officials would carry those things that many of us believe into their responsibilities as they represent us. We would certainly be better served by principled decisions, but that hasn’t been happening.”

The making of The Armor of Light has drawn Disney herself back to a place of faith. After years of running from conservative, Catholic faith, she has accepted faith over simply ‘believing’. “I was always that kid who was listening, and it never really left my heart,” Disney shared. “I think it’s liberating to be part of the community, to find faith together.”

Disney’s desire for peace – and her recently renewed faith – have set her on this road, and what happens next will be determined by how far she can take this message. No matter what, she’s telling stories that need to be told, and asking others to put down their arms and sit down to talk at the table.

 

Hollywood & Violence: More Than Gun Control

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gunIs peace even possible?

The Umpqua Community College has my Facebook feed in its grip, not because of its desire to “be the center for quality teaching and learning, and a key partner in the wellbeing and enrichment of our communities,” but because of the violence which encroached on the campus’ safety and wellbeing last week. My friends are divided; some say guns are the problem, while others say more guns are the solution. Some blame mental health, while others talk about sin and brokenness. Some play video games, while others blast them for their first-person shooting. Some want change; others seem to think the world is the way it is.

I don’t have any easy answers, but I believe there’s plenty of blame to be spread around our society. As someone who constantly digests media and pop culture, I’m aware that the answers (and questions) all start with our societal values – but I think we choose to ignore some of the red flags. Still as I explore the aspects of our society that fall into ScreenFish’s purview, I wonder if ‘blame’ isn’t the wrong word.

Walking out of the theater a few weeks ago, I was sickened by the thought that Oscar buzz could stretch out the amount of time that we’d be talking about Black Mass. While Johnny Depp’s performance (or is it amazement at prosthetics?) was above reproach, the biopic about Whitey Bulger troubled me for a number of reasons. The film highlighted the casual negligence of governmental oversight for its own gain. It portrayed the easy way in which a bully, a psychopath, could go from nothing to esteemed community leader. And it glorified the life and times of this notorious psychopath who was apprehended at the age of eighty-two.

blackmass

In a world where people are motivated by their quick ascension into the world of the ‘known,’ where Facebook and Twitter followers are resume builders, the media gives a certain credence to what is newsworthy, trumpeting the intentions of killers in Roseburg or Charleston. What is news and what is inflammatory? I am not sure I know the difference, but in watching Black Mass, I see the embers of hate and power, now turned into a moneymaking illustration of what Hollywood will willfully emphasize.

But you say one is just the reporting of facts and one is the telling of a true story, so what do the two have to do with each other? In the social media commentary of the UCC shooter prior to his rampage, he wrote, “I have noticed that so many people like him are all alone and unknown, yet when they spill a little blood, the whole world knows who they are. A man who was known by no one, is now known by everyone… Seems like the more people you kill, the more you’re in the spotlight.” Hardly original, but hauntingly similar to the thoughts of the man who killed two news reporters just a month ago in Virginia, the thoughts reflect that of a fictional serial killer … The Joker.

In the second episode of FOX’s Gotham, we saw the Clown Prince of Crime kill for sport, kill those who steal his lines, and kill the chief of authority in opposition to him, Captain Essen. In doing so, he tells her that he’s going to kill to get attention, to become famous, and strike fear, negating any value other humans might have. He’s reciting the thoughts of killers through time, and terrorists everywhere. And yet, we know that Jim Gordon (and later Batman) will stand against him. Fiction, or skin crawling fact?

gothamvillains

While the reality and fiction of these situations continue to blend, I’m left wondering what Christians will do to make a difference. I’m struggling internally with what it means to follow Christ in a world where security, freedom, and safety are as fleeting as taking a breath. I’m questioning what we as Christians should do with our vote, our voice, and our decision-making.

Is it enough to outlaw guns, or buy more weapons?

Is it enough to evaluate mental health, and tag some individuals for further testing and care?

Is it enough to shake our heads at a fallen world with sinful people, of which we are numbered?

Or… is there something more?

There are certainly some actions that could be taken – we might stand to make it more difficult to own a gun or consider whether a hunter needs an automatic, military grade weapon to kill a deer – but the answer isn’t simply political or legalistic. It’s not about “gun control” or “gun safety.” The issue is deeper than that.

We should consider what we glorify as a culture. We should consider what we value for ourselves and those we call our community, in our families and in our churches. We should consider what you and I are responsible for aiding and abetting ourselves.

Do we elevate those who are truly good, or do we bring further unwarranted attention to those who don’t merit our societal praise?

Do we practice what we preach in our individual, day-to-day interactions with our family, neighbors, and strangers on the street when it comes to exhibiting peace?

Do we engage in ministering to each other, and especially the least and the lost, as we encounter the opportunity to walk hand-in-hand on the journey of life?

Do we exhibit a life that seeks to follow Jesus, or are the trappings of our temporal society more powerful than the call of the creating God of the universe?

I don’t know what it will take to stem the tide of violence in our schools, in our communities, and in our world, but I believe that the solution starts with you and me.

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.–Romans 12:18