Another day.  Another hollywood trailer.

I have to say that every once in a while they get it right.  Movies like Crash, Goodwill Hunting, and Blood Diamond really make a point of sharing with the viewer a story of what is, and countering what is by painting a picture of what should be, all the while staying away from shoving their one sided ideology down one’s throat.

But while watching a college football game last Saturday, I was introduced to the latest in end of the world propoganda crud by Tinseltown. (Believe me, I was just as hard on Left Behind)  Humans using great amounts of the earth’s resources, Aliens coming to earth, and of course, Keanu Reeves pronouncing that “If the Earth dies, you die. If you die, the Earth survives.”

Great!  Thanks for the heads up Keanu.

It’s not that I don’t think this is an important enough message (though the whole end of the world stuff has got to stop, and maybe it will… someday…), but personally, the movies are a part of the problem.  Please consider this:

I decide I want to go to a movie on Friday night with my wife.   First of all we go to dinner.  Let’s say…Moe’s. We have food and drink there in the form of burritos and cokes.  Then we drive to the theater across town in Millbury.  It’s a huge complex complete with restaurants, shops, and a Yankee Candle Store.  Before we go to the movies, Carie wants to stop by and smell the candles, ultimately buying my new favorite scent, “Harvest”.  Then since she bought something, I decide I want to go to Barnes and Nobles and buy a book.  So I do.

Afterward we walk to the theater and purchase tickets to see “The day the earth stood still” a remake of a 1951 movie of the same name.  Of course, I have to get a coke and a snack in order to watch the film.  We are awed by the special effects, and Keanu’s amazing acting ability (just so you know this is a fictitious story).  Then what?  Are we going to be inspired to not spend money casually, Waste money on gas, and make wise decisions in our spending because of a film that costs millions and millions of dollars to make?  And that’s after Keanu’s already been paid for his Oscar winning performance.

In the meantime, we can buy a couple dozen magazines with the picture of Keanu on the cover and watch Keanu and his date for the evening easily spend thousands of dollars on their wardrobe at some award ceremony where all the friendly folks of Hollywood will lash out at our current president for being rich.

As Americans, I hope that we’ve learned a lesson in the last several months that will speak louder than hollywood movies.  You can see this lesson in the current gas prices.  Riches and material possessions don’t produce goodwill, but a giving, loving heart whose “back is against the wall” does,

And that’s something money can’t buy.

2 things:
I like Keanu’s movies, I just don’t think he’s a great actor.
Tomorrow I’ll hit up on the “back against the wall” concept, and why that’s so important.

I wanted nothing to do with them.  Not because they were filled with witchcraft, spells, and snake talkers – CS Lewis cured me a long time ago of giving a rip about those things – plus I could never get my broom to fly anyway.

The reason I wanted nothing to do with the Harry Potter novels was simple – everyone else was reading them. It’s not a good reason not to read a group of books, but I had already been pressured to reading another series of books about 7 years earlier called “Left Behind.“  They started out fine I guess, grabbing my attention and moving me to enjoy reading about this post rapture age I’d been taught my whole life.  Then the authors got a bit money hungry, and what should have been a 7 book series at most became a 13-15 book series, sucking the life out of what once had been decent reading material (even if one disagreed with the premise).

So I was not going to get caught again.

And then I happened to be meeting a friend at Barnes and Nobles the day the last book came out.  That was a mistake.  As we talked, hundreds of people from the age of 7 or 8 to the age of 88 walked around the store dressed as Harry, Hermione, Ron, and any number of professors at Hogwarts, playing games and having a blast celebrating “the Deathly Hallows.”

Freak Show.

I just didn’t understand what was happening.  How could all these people enjoy this children’s book?  And then it happened.  A few days later, I was sitting in my office doing some work when in walks Darren.  Darren worked here at Fellowship for a while, doing odds and ends, and doubling as my secretary at times too.  It was not infrequent that he’d come into my office, especially when his mind whirred with thoughts on life.

As he walked in, I immediately asked him what the deal with this Harry Potter thing was.  Why were so many people dressed up like the characters in this novel and waiting anywhere from 3-7 hours for this book to come out?  It seemed crazy to me.  He agreed, and then said he only waited 2.  What happened next is the stuff of myth.

I asked him if it was worth it.  Is the story good?

And for the next hour and a half, Darren proceeded to explain the story to me, scene after scene, philosophy, action, good vs. evil, the climax, the adventure, and the epilogue – One after the other.  Four times he cried.  Other times he leaped out of his seat to physically demonstrate a battle scene.  And by the time he finished, there was only one reaction to his story…

The next Monday I took a trip to Barnes and Nobles and bought the first 6 books.

You see, this is what happens when a story connects with you.  When a story changes who you are inside, simply because you read it, you learned from it, and you are a different person after having experienced it.  And then you tell those close to you about the experience you had.  Hopefully affecting them with the story as well.

It kind of reminds me of another story of redemption that affected my life a while back.

The Trailer

I have a love for the art of story.  I love the eloquence of a finely told life experience, especially if it is accomplished across the bridge of two movies or two books.

It probably started when my dad and I sat down to watch “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Return of the Seven” one night.  I loved that a team of experts would come together, then accomplish their task, and then I loved the fact that I got to see it done all over again.  I mean, some of these series of movies and books have been life-changing for me.

Occasionally a book gets a solid first run, and they make a sequel not worthy of the original content.  In fact, many times the only reason it’s done is marketing.  Unfortunately this happens a lot in the Christian sub-cultures of our world.  Are you serious?  Give me a break, “The Power of a praying pet turtle?“  Or the Oh so popular “Chicken Soup for the One eyed radio DJ’s soul.”  So I thought I’d share with you my favorite series of film, literature, sports, or television:  (and no, American Pie is not on the list)

10.  Boston/LA 2008 – That sure was a long 21 year wait.

9.  Left Behind. It did become something of a marketing ploy, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless – inaccuracies and all.

8.  Young Guns. I love these movies, and Jack Bauer’s in them, so they can’t go wrong.

7.  Star Wars. Many would suggest this would be number 1.  I would not.

6.  The A-Team.  “I pity the fool…”

5.  Rocky. Nuff said.

4.  John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy series.  A collection of detective/legal thrillers set in San Fran.  Good stuff!

3.  Lord of the Rings books and movies – These last two were difficult, but an amazing story to walk through.

2.  Letters to the Next president by Andy Stanley – seriously, you have to hear or watch these.

1.  Harry Potter – I have no words to say how I felt after I finished those books in November of 2007.  And this was after I made fun of others who read the stinking things.  Whether its the movies or the books, these things are absolutely brilliant.  And of course I was drawn into witchcraft immediately after reading them.  (this is sarcasm)

Okay, your turn. What did I miss?