Brynne Valla--Outside Reading #1

A film review of Tron: Legacy raises interesting points about Buddhism within the film that tie in nicely to this class. In the movie, little attention is paid to religious ideology. However, direct religious themes are apparent in the film, according to the reviewer Joseph Laycock.

He states, “The most pleasant surprise in Tron: Legacy is its proficient use of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy.” He compares it to The Matrix and parallels its incorporation of Buddhist ideals throughout the film. Laycock says such movies can be labeled under the genre “cyber-zen” and also notes that Jeff Bridges, who stars in Tron, is a practicing Buddhist.

There is a scene in which Kevin is meditating on traditional Buddhist cushions, and another one in which he tries to teach his apprentice how to “remove the self from the equation.” In addition, Laycock mentions the symbol of the flame throughout the movie. He says, “Flame is frequently used in Buddhism as an allegory for the ephemeral nature of reality.” Laycock goes on to say that this view of reality is consistent with the Buddhist notion of “non-duality” in which everything is subjective. He closes his argument by saying that the film ends with the realization “that ordinary reality (samsara) is no different from nirvana and that suffering arises from our own ignorance and striving.”

These instances are representative of Buddhist ideology, though the film is about something entirely different. Because I do not know a lot about Buddhism, picking up on these themes was harder for me. After reading Laycock’s argument, however, I see that the film was actually riddled with religious symbols and Buddhist ideology.

Laycock, Joseph. “Film Review: Tron: Legacy.” The Journal of Religion and Film. Vol. 15, No. 1, April 2011.

Willie Mears: Blog 8

I am almost finished with the book The Prodigal Son, by John MacArthur, I assume this is what is meant by outside readings. I have been reading a little bit every day to supplement my daily reading of the bible. The book is an in depth study of the parable Jesus tell in Luke 11 about the lost son, and it is very interesting. The first thing that caught my attention was in the introduction to the book, where MacArthur makes the claim that the parable of the lost son is the most well-known study on Earth. Now from my perspective of someone raised in a christian household of corse I had heard it, however I had never though non-christians knew the story to the extent that they did.

As I continued throughout the book it was full of interesting facts, deep insight, and profound ideas, but nothing out of the ordinary in terms of other books of its kind. But what I particularly liked about this book was the authors analysis of the Greek text, and of the culture of the world when the story was written. For example, when the son returns home his father given him a robe, a ring, and sandals. Formerly I thought that each of those things meant nothing special in particular but were merely things he did not have that the father gave him, however each item has significance. In those days servants typically went barefoot, so the father giving his son sandals showed that he returned him to the status of a son. The son did not have to work to get back to his old status, but rather he was given it thanks to the grace of the father. The robe was a garment only worn on the most special of occasions, the best of the best, so the father giving his robe to his son gave the son honor. The ring, which had the family seal on it, gave the son authority to sign and seal documents and whatnot, and it was the gift of authority. All that is interesting as crap and has to due with the culture of that time, valuable information that is otherwise lost.

The author also points out how much the father takes the sins of his son upon himself. By giving up his robe, running to the boy, and forgiving him outright, the father was defying the culture of that time. By doing so, the community they loved him would forget about the son and rather focus on how the father should not have been so graceful, thus putting the burden of sin from the son and taking it upon himself. Overall an awesome book which is not by one of those big name authors. A great 'outside read.'

Willie Mears: Blog 7

I recently watched the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, just after reading the book for the second time. All I can say about the film is that it is a great story, and effectively shows the sacrifice Christ made on the cross through the sacrifice Aslan made for Edmund. What always amazes me about Lewis' writing ability is how he can fit so much information and theology into a book that reads like a children's book. I spent the better part of my sophomore year reading the entire Chronicles and was amazing at how challenging they were to read. Some of the lines that Aslan said really took me back. Although I forget the book there is one time when he is speaking to Lucy and he says "the older you get the bigger I will become," he says that after Lucy was amazed at how much bigger Aslan became since the last time she had seen him. I first read that when I was an 11 year-old and passed over it without realizing any significance, however the second time I read it, as a 20-year old, it was a profound statement. As you get older and the problems of life get more serious, the stresses pile up, and the problems get more real, the bigger you realize God is. The more broken you realize you are and the world is, the more you come to learn you need God, a big God.

Another of my favorite Narnia moments is in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the movie stunk, however the scene when Alsan rips the scales off of Eustace and it hurts him a lot is very profound. The scales represent his sin and Aslan ripping them off is God changing the life of a person to make it one that glorifies God. The most profound aspect of that scene is the pain that Eustace must endure. It shows that to change your life is not easy, and it does hurt to leave your life of sin, however God is there and will help you along the way. No matter how difficult it is, he will get you through it.

Now while both of those two things are great, while they are profound, and while they can challenge full-grown adults with how deep they go, the greatest part is that they are in a children's book. The fact that Lewis can take a story that is interesting for kids, and make it challenging to adults is really what is amazing, and the filmmaker of the Cronicles of Narnia does a good job of taking those themes and putting them into the movie.

Willie Mears: Blog 6

On the way to the theater I was not expecting much out of the movie 'Limitless.' According to my little sister, who is the families movie buff, Bradley Cooper is a sub-par actor (although I thought he was great in The Hangover), and the movie would not be very good. However after seeing it I was pleasantly surprised at the movie, while I do not think it will win any oscars anytime soon, it was still a very good and thought-provoking film.

One of the most interesting concept in the film was the ending, where I was very surprised that Lindy was still dating Eddie. Regardless of whether or not he was still taking the drug, which is unclear, I still feel that her staying with him was inconsistent with her personality and mindset throughout the rest of the film. What she did not like about the drug was that it made him someone who he was not, regardless of if he was better or not, it was not him and she did not like that. At the end of the film, when Eddie interacts with Carl Van Loon, it is apparent that he is not the person he was when the film started, either he is still on the drug or has learned how to be super-observant and have other attributes he did when he was taking the drug, without it. But despite his new characteristics that make him not himself, Lindy is still with him, Eddie being himself, something she was very adamant about after she took the drug herself, was no longer important to her.

Another concept of the film that was interesting was the overall message it sent to the viewers. Eddie is a nobody when the film begins, and he becomes a big shot by becoming an addict to an illegal drug. After cheating his way to the top, Eddie then almost dies, kills others, and is responsible for people dying, however faces no real damage himself. When the movie ends Eddie is either still on the drug, or somehow is still on it without being on it, and everything works out. That message sucks. Take drugs and everything will work out. I was expecting him to hit rock-bottom and discover that life was better without the drug. But instead everything works out. If I had kids of my own, I would not let them see that movie. However despite its poor message, I did enjoy the movie, way to go Bradley, sorry I ever doubted.

Rachel Fralick - Blog #3: Limitless

I was surprisingly impressed with the movie that the class went to see in theaters a few weeks ago - Limitless. The question is immediately posed in the title; what is the unlimited “thing” that the movie will introduce to the audience. We soon find out, though, that it is the human brain that is “limitless” when under the influence of a special pill called NZT.

There are several main themes that can be found in this particular film. Power is one of these themes as the characters go in and out of having power over the things happening in their lives. The movie begins with the main character, Eddie, about to be broken up with by his girlfriend while at the same time being on the verge of losing his job as an author because he can't seem to focus enough to write the rest of his book and meet his deadline. He has completely lost control and the has no power over the things going on in his life. As the movie progresses and he encounters the drug NZT, he discovers that he can, for once, control his status in life. He goes from being a loser to someone who people respect and, ultimately, need. This movie was interesting because, while I did think it was “cool” that he was able to use 100% of his brain activity, it also made it seem as though someone is only useful and worth anything if they have help from an outside, and often illegal source. Eddie gained power. He got money, he got respect, he got a job, he got his girlfriend back, and all because he was taking this drug. His status changed from being a nobody to being a somebody, but why would the film show him as a powerful man because of doing something illegal?? I wonder.

Another one of the themes in this movie dealt with the idea of understanding good and evil. The way that the film is produced, the audience is meant to believe that Eddie, even though he is participating in an illegal act, is the “good guy” and all others are the “bad guys.” He is shown stealing and embezzling and manipulating all so that he can get ahead. When any type of law enforcement tries to apprehend him, he gets away. In these parts of the movie I found myself proud and excited that he was able to stay alive and out of trouble with the law. In reality, though, he is the kind of person that I would have wanted to be arrested for his illegal activity. I thought it was ironic at the end of the movie when he is trying to get out of his apartment but the “bad guys” are trying to break in, the audience is rooting for Eddie, not the other party. Since when did we start rooting for the “lesser of the two evils?” Shouldn't it have been that we wanted both of them to get caught and arrested and sent to jail? One would think so, but in this case, that wasn't the way it works.

All in all, I thought the movie was great. I walked away thinking about how cool it would be to take a pill that would allow me to use all of my brain instead of just 20% like the average person. I thought about how it would be even better if there were no side effects like there were in the movie. It was a great performance and the actors and actresses did a wonderful job. I was, however, displeased that there was no resolution. At the end of the movie, Eddie gets a haircut, becomes Senator, and goes on about his way without ever being caught. There was a short encounter at the end with a man whom Eddie used to work with, but other than that, Eddie was never found out. I liked the way the movie ended, but it seemed as though it would have been better morally to have him get caught and punished for his actions.

Rachel Fralick: Blog #2 - Northfork

The movie, Northfork, was a very interesting film in my opinion. It was somewhat depressing at points and I didn't particularly feel uplifted after it was over the way I would have liked to. The movie was about a town that was in a state of evacuation after hearing news of a new dam about to be built. This process could not fully continue because there were a few stragglers who had yet to leave and were being forced out.

There were a few of these people who refused to leave, one of which was Irwin. Irwin was a young boy who was orphaned and very sick. A man stayed behind to take care of him and for this reason they were both being forced out of the town. There was a sense of death that hovered over the entire movie and even though there was talk of angels and such, it was still very depressing to watch. One of the characters in the movie asked what death smells like, to which another character responded, "You know when you've smelled death, cause when you smell it, you say 'something died.'" There was just a constant feeling of death being everywhere. Even with the way the movie was filmed it was very cold and dark. There were more neutral color tones that were prevalent in the movie and I don't remember ever seeing vibrant colors. There were 6 men dressed in black who were responsible for forcing the remaining people out of the town and it was almost like they were the "angels of darkness" preparing to bring death to people. Death is something that almost everyone fears. For me personally, I'm not as much scared of death itself as I am of dying. I know there will be a time that I will no longer be living, but HOW it happens is what is hard for me to swallow. Through a religious lens, death is the vehicle for change because it is only with death that we can truly be freed from life. There were even subtler, comical statements dealing with death in the movie. At one point, one of the characters was in the outhouse and another man said to him, "are you stacking up logs?" This question is comical because of the obvious irony in his word choice, however, when I think about it in further detail, waste is dead. Even the season that they are in shows of the still very evident idea of death being one of the main themes in the movie. The town is experiencing a hard time and they are in winter. Winter is the time of year when things become cold and begin to die off. Plants can no longer sustain in the frigid temperatures and it is not until spring that they can begin to blossom again. It is interesting all of the different ways that the producers of the movie illustrate and discuss death without even having to say the word.

At the end of the movie, the last scene is where the father and son drive off in their car away from the town of Northfork with a coffin on the top of their car. Inside the coffin is the man's wife and son's mother. This is tragic because she has passed on, but it is even more meaningful because of the way that she is being taken away. Most of the time, people are given a proper burial. Because of the situation, however, the family does not have time or money to spend on a burial service and chooses to take the body away. Overall, the movie seems to have a somewhat sad overtone to it, though I did think it was interesting with the main theme being an idea of death.

Whitney Hendricks- Limitless

The main character in the film Limitless, Eddie, is first shown as sort of a loser. He and his girlfriend have just broken up and he is failing to meet his dead line for finishing his book. He ran into his ex-wife’s brother who gives Eddie this powerful new drug that increases his focus and his intelligence. Not surprisingly, Eddie wants more of this drug and goes to his brother in-law’s apartment just to find him dead. He quickly realized that the drugs were somewhere in the apartment and begins to search. He found a large stash of the drug and left. These drugs soon became a very important part of his life; little did he know that they would control his life from then on. Eddie creates a new image for himself, ditches the writing and moves on to the stock market where he becomes very successful. This drug has been the cause of some troubles with some people on the streets and Eddie, resulting in deaths and a near death experience for Eddie as well.

I thought it was very interesting that while on this drug, an individual can basically do what they desire. I found this fascinating because while growing up we are always told that we can achieve anything if we put our minds to it. This film conveys the total opposite; one can succeed if they take this drug and you will fail if you do not. Eddie relied on this pill to continue the image he had developed from using it in the first place.

I viewed Eddie in two different ways in this film. First I saw him as a mere drug addict, then I saw him as a driven individual. No questions asked he became addicted to this miracle pill. He was living off it and believed that there was no other way; he made it a top priority to get his hands on some more. We are able to see through the media what an addiction looks like and how people live with them, there is a strong comparison to the film Limitless. A more positive way to view Eddie is by seeing him as a determined man wanting to be successful. The reason he took them in the first place was to finish his book, which he did along with cleaning his while apartment. A lesson to be learned from this film is to strive for greatness on your own; there is no need to bring negative people or substances into your life just to bring you down.