When a Good Movie Misses an Opportunity

So, a couple of days ago, I had the opportunity to watch Blended for the first time - excellent movie. I thoroughly enjoyed the humour, the story and how it went about handling the issue of blending two families.

You see, it focuses around two families who've lost a parent - one through divorce and one through cancer - and, frankly, it does a very good job showing some of the struggles of the parents and kids adjusting to the difficulties that come with both. It doesn't make light of any of the situations, but handles them with respect, showing and treating them fairly, while maintaining a casual, funny atmosphere. There was just one thing that was mishandled, though.

One issue brought up in the movie is that Drew Barrymore's character's older son (~13 y.o.) has been discovered to be viewing porn and has apparently been deep into it long enough to be superimposing crushes onto the magazines he's reading. When she first discovers it, she freaks, tearing up the centrefold, but later we see her apologetically looking through the magazine section of a drug store for a replacement. Throughout the movie the other characters' issues are shown and resolved, but for this character, his issue with what manhood means is addressed, but never the porn. Throughout the movie it's played off with sideways jokes, nudges, and winks. It's treated as just a normal part of a boy's life, with Sandler's character even admitting to having a couple copies himself and commenting to Barrymore on her son's "old school" tastes.

Yes, we see some of the effects of porn played out in the kid's role, chiefly a stunted ability to interact with women beyond simply as vessels for lust,but never do we see an admonishment from Sandler's character in a fatherly role towards pornography or its effects. Now, I know it's not a religious movie, but you don't have to be religious to see some of the exploitative work and trafficking that is enabled by the porn industry.

It's good to see such an issue brought out into the open on the silver screen. I just wish the producers had done a better job addressing it.

Iron Brotherhood

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

- Proverbs 27:17

Today, I was reminded of one of the reasons why we humans live in community and why we Christians put so much emphasis on fellowship.

Let me just start this off by saying that I am thankful for my leadership team that I have this year. There are a number of really great guys on the hall, getting to know whom has been an immense pleasure.

Of these, there's one particular person that I've clicked with. [I'll leave him anonymous for anonymity's sake, sorry] Now, we both have the same U.S. History Survey class and we were meeting up to study for an upcoming test <cough... erm... tomorrow>. Afterwards, we started chatting and just rambling through a ton of different topics, ranging from evolution (the bias in textbooks, logical fallacies committed [straw man, oversimplification], general holes in the autonomy of the theory that, to me as a Christian biology student*, scream "God works here!"), to the state of the church, to the efficacy of short term missions, to toxic charities/missions trips, Convocation, how God has worked in the past and recently, etc.

Needless to say, we rambled and it was a good rambling. It brought to mind the verse written above and I thought about it anew. Too often Christians use this and limit this to the context of accountability, but, in all honesty, it's about living in community and engaging in meaningful conversation with people. When you're doing this, you're guaranteed to come across different views, or a facet of your thoughts or ideas you had never before considered. In these ways, we temper each other and, well, sharpen each other. we hone our edges, wearing away the rough edges into a clean, sharp razor.


*I would love to engage in reasonable, intelligent discussion about evolution/science from a Christian lens vs. an evolutionist lens

Point of Exchange

Have you ever had a moment where you said to God, "I have no clue what to do or how to do it."?

I can say most certainly that I have. I'm sitting here, on my dorm floor, thinking and praying about each of the guys in my prayer group and I come to realize that many things that are happening in their lives are things beyond my experience. Sure, I could give speculative advice or advice to seek other, wiser counsel, but I cannot give advice from my own experience. It's a sense almost like futility when you realize that something is beyond you.

But, that being said, it is precisely at this point where I realize that I need to hand this over to God. I have reached the point where I can do no more and that everything is in God's hands. Come to think of it, it's most definitely better that way. I'm a fallible, flawed, finite individual whereas God is infallible, indefectible, and infinite.

It's a humbling experience, and a breaking one at that, when you realize your limited capability, but  the sense of peace that is present when God says "I got this." is breathtaking. My guys are in good hands - God's hands