Beyond Nostalgia with Midnight in Paris

by Ben Howard

Hey everybody!  Today I'm going to post some quick thoughts about Midnight in Paris from our Movie Discussion Night two weeks ago, but first a little business.

Tonight at 7 pm, we'll be watching 50/50 at St. B's in the Youth Room.  It should be cool, so I hope to see you there.

Also, in addition to writing/posting your own work, if you have any suggestions for something you'd like me to write about, please pass them along.  I'm always looking for ideas and material that might bring up something interesting.  You can email, leave a comment, or contact me on Twitter @BenHoward87.  Thanks!

Without question Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris bathes in a continual fount of nostalgia, but it ultimately finds its heart by deconstructing the desire to return to a so-called “Golden Era” and finding peace in the present.  The film’s protagonist, Gil, spends much of the movie in a overly-romanticized haze.  When he finds himself transported back to 1920s Paris, the Paris of his dreams, he becomes deeply immersed in the culture, mesmerized by reality of his dream.  In most movies, Gil would come to realize that the 1920s are not as amazing as he dreamed, and would then find happiness in his own time period by overcoming his nostalgia, but I like Allen’s take here.  Instead of Gil becoming disillusioned, he encounters his 1920s proxy in the form of Adriana.  Adriana possesses the same romanticism as Gil, but for a different time period.  From this experience, Gil is able to come to the realization that though the present isn’t perfect, it can still be magical and romantic.  He does not disavow his romantic worldview, he simply embraces a dynamic view of perfection.

I think this has a lot of parallels for Christianity.  Churches and individuals so often search vainly in pursuit of some romanticized idea of perfection and grow more and more disillusioned with the present as they go.  I’ve often taken the cynical tack of saying that the mythologized ideal never really existed and those in search of it should get over their Platonic nostalgia, but I like Woody Allen’s take more.  Perhaps that world did exist, perhaps it was perfect, but why can’t the present be perfect too, but in a different way.  Why does perfection and beauty and transcendence have to look the same then, now and in the future?  This ability to both embrace and move beyond nostalgia allows for a deeply dynamic view of the world which allows for the present to become just as magical as the past if we only free ourselves to embrace it for what it can be.

-Ernest Hemingway.  I don’t think I have the mental capacity to get into what this character says about courage and morality and all sorts of other subjects.  Needless to say if you watch the movie, you will love him.

-Expertise.  Michael Sheen’s character is this movie is lovely caricature of the guy everyone loves to hate.  He plays a know-it-all academic who may be making up some of his expertise to save face.  Definite connections to the church where we all too often come up with answers to questions that rightly deserve an “I don’t know.”

-Two favorite lines, worth some reflection: “The artist's job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.” and “That's what the present is. It's a little unsatisfying because life is unsatisfying.”  Both are perhaps a little more despairing than a Christian worldview, yet both speak to a certain existential crisis within most if not all of us.

Peace,

Ben

You can contact me on Twitter @BenHoward87, via email or just leave a comment.

Quick Thoughts on Les Miserables

by Ben Howard

If you weren't at the Movie Night last Thursday, here are a few quick thoughts on Les Miserables with Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes.

The central conflict between Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert ultimately boils down to the question of justice.  In Javert’s opinion, justice is the law and the law is justice in return.  I’m of the opinion that this view misunderstands the intuitive complexity of true justice.  Jacques Derrida argues that justice is what stands behind the law.  It is what we continue to strive towards as we deconstruct and reconstruct the law over and over again.  Ultimately, the law attempts to achieve justice, but falls short, much like the rest of humanity.  Jean Valjean is able to embody this concept of adaptive justice.  He is changed by the experience of justice and grace in his life and is therefore responsive to the changing needs and circumstances which affect the true administration of justice and the application of grace.  He understands that sometimes in the pursuit of noble goals, such as the safety of Cosette, we can violate true justice.  Additionally, he shows that real justice is more than retribution through his response to Javert both when he finds out that he has been slandered and when he allows Javert to go free outside the rebels base.  Jean Valjean shows us that in order to achieve true justice we must become intimately connected to the grace we have received and the beauty of the life we live.

-Jean Valjean is often shown to be a man who has flaws and works to rectify them.  His relationship to both Cosette, Fantine, and Marius highlight this.

-Javert at point tells Valjean that if he is not punished then his life would be meaningless.  I feel like this connects strongly to a strong Augustinian view of sin where people are made to feel as if they need punishment to purify them.

-Jean Valjean’s growth from beneficient, fearless mayor to overprotective father struck me as an interesting parallel to the life of a new convert, especially in evangelical circles.  At first, the passion and desire overwhelm all fears, yet when they have children they try to protect them from the same times of painful, yet formative events which created the dedication in the first place.

Peace,

Ben

Quick Thoughts on Back to the Future

by Ben Howard

So far everything written on this site has been structured like a long form essay.  Those take some time to craft and write, so I wanted to try a few quick thoughts posts from our two most recent Movie Nights.  First, Back to the Future, and hopefully later today, Les Miserables.

Back to the Future places a heavy emphasis on the belief that your present life is eventually at the mercy of your past.  The person you were will eventually become the person you are.  The McFly’s, Doc Brown, and Biff are all the same characters they were in high school.  The only way for the McFly’s family life to improve is a change in the past because in the future they are locked into a life of lower-middle class despair and angst. 

This is really opposed to the Christian notion of an active God and redeemer.  The idea of redemption and the capactity for growth assume the ability to develop and change over time.  Essentially, they assume that, with the Spirit, we are not forever the person we are at any one time.  The movie even makes a somewhat similar point when Marty, an outside agent, forces George to confront his fears, thus enabling him to be the kind of man who becomes “successful” as seen in the return to 1985 at the end of the film.

Other topics of interest:

-Masculinity and bullying in the relationship between George and Biff.  George has to punch Biff to assert himself as the dominant male.

-Stories we tell ourselves and their relative truth. Lorraine tells Marty that she was never “that kind of girl”, but we learn that in the past she truly is.  Why do you avoid telling the truth about who we are/were?

-Success is based on power and monetary wealth.  Marty’s family is portrayed as poor and sad, but then when they are rich and successful later, they are happy.  The assumption is that “good” people overcome their obstacles and become successful.

-The myth of the idyllic society.  The 1950’s are presented as sparkling and clean, but there is the same violence, the same dark motivations, and the same problems as in 1985, only under a shiny veneer.

Peace,
Ben