Entertainment dollars can be scarce to come by and should be used wisely. Last weekend, I had a choice to make. My son and I were going to have a "boys afternoon" and we were going to see a movie. Our choices were "Noah" or "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." I opted to take him to see Cap without a second's hesitation.
It wasn't out of hand because of the debate swirling around "Noah." Sure, I was more than aware of it (you can read posts for and against the film here, here, here, and here). I don't expect a Hollywood movie to ever capture a Biblical story in such away that theologians, pastors, priests, bishops, ministers, deacons, elders, and laity all and everywhere would put their stamp of approval on. Talk about your impossible tasks(!), especially since we haven't even gotten beyond the "Christian" section of the audience demographic to include people of other faiths (Noah, after all, appears not just in the Christian Bible, but also plays a part in the Jewish and Islamic faiths as well), let alone non-religious persons who just might want to go see a Hollywood blockbuster starring Russell Crowe! Furthermore, in approaching such a film there is sure to be some "artistic license" taken, since the Bible isn't exactly a day-by-day diary of Noah's journey (before, during, or after his time on the ark). For the faithful to expect it to be both "faithful" and "accurate" is almost an impossibility, even if (spoiler alert) there weren't giant rock monsters involved!
All that's fine and well. Maybe there is an argument to be made to seeing "Noah." Maybe the artistic decisions and theological discussions are worth having. Maybe it is enough to get a big name director and stars to talk about faith at all in an age of secularism. But those aren't the kinds of debates and discussions I wanted to have with my little man. He's to young to grasp fully all those ends and outs on the level (especially the theological) they deserve.
But he isn't to young to understand good and evil. He isn't to young to understand that people make choices that have consequences. He isn't to young to understand that ideals matter. He isn't to young to understand that standing up for what you believe in might require pain and suffering on your part (and might be painful--both mentally and physically, as well as cost you people you thought were your friends). Nor is he to young to believe in heroes. And for all those reasons, not to mention that I've been a Captain America fan since I was about his age, we went to see "Captain America 2."
Now, did all those messages sink into my little man's head? I don't know. But we did have a good time together, and maybe that matters even more. We did have a good discussion about some of the issues raised, and how they were different than the cartoon version of events he knew (the unfortunately cancelled Avengers: Earths Mightiest Heroes)....indeed, someday, we might even talk about the "artistic license" that was employed blending several comic book story lines into one movie. But that, perhaps like "Noah," can wait for another day. For me, what we had last weekend as father and son (not to mention that "Captain America 2" was just an awesome movie!) more than justified my entertainment money.
No comments:
Post a Comment