Tag Archives: Movies

Diehard is a Christmas Movie

So @EdStetzer has been saying Diehard is not a Christmas movie… and after enough argument, he put a poll together to see folks thoughts. While the poll isn’t over, the results so far are interesting.

Poll on whether DieHard is a Christmas Movie or not. It is a Christmas movie by 63% when this image was captured.

 

 

 

 

I always considered it a Christmas movie, mostly because of Run DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis”. Since I was such a fan of the tune, I’d get raised eyebrows from my late wife, albeit we both enjoyed the Die Hard movie itself.

Granted, outside of the music, and maybe the decorations, I’ve often thought Die Hard to be an escapism sort of movie, similar to the Hallmark movies etc. It doesn’t deal with hardcore themes, its merely extreme escapist fantasy… At least that’s what I thought until I came across “Why you are Dead Wrong About Die Hard… and Christmas”

Some interesting commentary from the author @Bert_Fulks 
“All over the world, Christians celebrate Christmas as the day of Jesus’s birth.  The very foundation of Christianity proclaims that Jesus came to set the captives free from evil (Luke 4:18); to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17); and to offer himself as the groom who risks everything to rescue the bride (a biblical metaphor for restoring mankind’s relationship to God after Satan severed that connection)

If you’re a diehard Die Hard fan, you already see where we’re heading, because it should be obvious.

Its a really cool post, and the themes he pulls out of there are mind blowing… including a reference to CS Lewis. Its a must read!

And that’s the thing… so much of Christianity is boxed into the scriptures that we don’t make the connections to the obvious, even when they are right in front of us. This one really caught me off guard.  I’ve got a lot more understanding towards the folks who missed the obvious in this.

Claremont UMC Nativity

 

 

I wish I had an idea how to address the aforementioned disconnects.

 

Movies and Boring Scriptures

In a lot of ways, it seems it would be easier to preach “The Force” rather than Christianity. The cultural backdrop is more widespread, significantly more unified, and the message is a lot less subjection to corruption. Its a rare person indeed who doesn’t make an immediate positive connection with “These are not the droids you are looking for”

Thinking a bit more about movies, someone on FB made a comment about the huge interest in “The Conjuring” $41 million in its first weekend…

Its easy to say matters of faith and entertainment are very distinct from one another. This line of discussion isn’t meaningless, some might even say its irreverent to discuss them on the same page. Yet, within the Star Wars framework there are a number of parallels to matters of faith. Within the “The Conjuring” even more so depending upon ones reference frame.

These films are not successful as they are merely forms of entertainment, but that they trigger something within making a connection wit their audience in some fashion. They are making connections to cosmic issues (fictional or real) greater than the life experience of individual viewer. Sadly its pretty rare to see a similar spark fire up as concerns the stories and lessons within the scriptures.

The thing is, those Bible stories and such are bigger than life,  whether one is a Christian or not, but they often get framed and sanitized so as to be family friendly and not to offend puritan morality and/or open the door to really uncomfortable questions. This framing is a dis-service, as it moves the huge big deal stuff of the scriptures for all, into a nearly exclusive domain of puritanical religiousity.

Is it any wonder kids get jazzed about the movies, but not so much the scriptures? Granted, parts of Ezekiel 23 are likely to inspire much interest among the younger crowd, lasting long after a given Bible study… but the parental pushback might be even more intense. There obviously a balance to be found… but  bottom line the scriptures should not be boring.