God Camera Action

All good things come from God, including great movies and shows. These are just some thoughts on those great things.

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God On Mars

So I just saw this sci-fi masterpiece this weekend and I was pretty blown away. Is God in this movie? Of course. Here’s some quick thoughts.

We are meant to be happy. One of my favorite things about this movie is the main characters humor. Played brilliantly by Matt Damon. In the other recent “lost in space” movie (Gravity, of course), there is simply zero humor to balance out the angst. I still really like Gravity, and it had other positive aspects, but this movie found every possible moment for humor. Every possible moment for things to go wrong, too, yes, but also humor. Psalms 37:11: “But the Meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” 

Prepare and be smart. Proverbs 1:5: “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels.” This is one of a few places where scripture equates being learned with listening to wise counsel. Basically not being too “smart” for our own good. In this movie Matt Damon was as smart as he could be, as prepared and trained as he could be, and yet he still had to work with and listen to like all of NASA to make his rescue work. Even in learning about God, sometimes maybe listening to other people can help.

DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED. This is basically the “moral” of this movie, if that’s not too reductive a thing to say. Even in the midst of farming in his own poop, this character saw beauty all around him. And his whole speech at the end...Do the math. Solve one problem, then another, then another, and then when you’ve solved enough problems you get to come home. Seriously, we all know this feel. So much. Much discouragement. Yes. Like every day. We can feel pounded and pounded and like every single thing in the universe is stacked against us. In this characters case, it was almost quite literally. But just remember Matthew 24:13. “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

Go see this movie :) Its super fun. Matt Damon does a fantastic job, as does the rest of the cast. There’s a really neat and diverse mix of personalities in this movie. The score is awesome, the cinematography was gorgeous, and honestly Mars looks a little like the southern end of my home state :) (Yay Utah!) Anyway. Its super fab. Go see it.

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This is to brighten your Sabbath :)

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What Jesus and Pixar say about Depression

So I don’t think I’m the only one who kind of freaked out at the awesomess that was the latest Pixar movie. Like for real, it stunned me.

The whole thing was just a pitch perfect analogy for emotional experience, but one of the parts I loved most was the metaphor of the emotional control board. Particularly when our main character is on the bus, and her emotional control board goes dark. Basically she’s feeling nothing. Numb. She’s not even really feeling sad. To me, based on my own experience, that is true depression. It’s beyond sadness and melancholy. The Pixar team is both genius and brave for portraying such a real experience in a way that anybody can totally get.

Then they take it even further. It’s sadness herself, and only sadness, that breaks through this numb depressive barrier and finally gets some emotion, like blood, pumping again. Sadness brings life back to her emotional experience. 

Can you say MOURN WITH THOSE THAT FREAKING MOURN? Gah Pixar you make me so happy. I’ll be honest, I’m one of those annoying people who has an almost allergic reaction to sadness in other people. I’m the yellow one bouncing around trying to be sunny while often hiding the other things that are also going on inside. And sometimes (like...always) that is the least effective method of helping someone who is depressed on any end of that spectrum.

When Christ says mourn with those that mourn, maybe, ya know, he means just that. I’m learning that myself. Even though He says our eternal destiny is happiness and Joy, that doesn’t at all mean that joy the emotion is permanently at the controls. Sometimes sadness must take control and that is okay. And when we mourn with those that mourn, we’re letting that happen, and simply by existing in proximal space with someone whose sadness has taken over for a little while, we’re validating them and that emotional experience, and that can be huge. Having sadness as your driver isn’t freakish or strange. In fact often sadness can be a great driver. 

The point is this. Yes, Joy may be a strong driving force for this main character, and important in her development as a person. But in the end, who ultimately makes reparations and healing happen? Sadness. Sometimes Jesus wept too.