everything that's on my mind
(as if there's not already enough people doing this)Thursday, January 26, 2006
Beyond the gates
I've never read Elizabeth Elliot's book Through Gates Of Splendor, even though I intended to several times in years past. However, after having the DVD sitting around for several months now, I finally got around to watching the Beyond The Gates documentary last night. Like the book, it tells the story of the five American missionaries who were murdered by the Waodani Indians in Ecuador in the mid-1950's. The tribe was brutal and killed at will. The missionaries had attempted to befriend them, and did so for a while. However, due to what appears to be some misinformation, the Indians eventually turned on the missionaries and killed them.
A couple of years later, Mrs. Elliot (widow of missionary Jim Elliot) and Rachel Saint (sister of missionary Nate Saint) went to live with the Waodani, and continue the mission begun by these men. They taught the tribe about God, how he wanted them to live, and in the end the tribe put down their spears, stopped killing others (and each other), and began following the paths of God. It is truly a miraculous story. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, and you should see it soon.
End of the Spear
Also released by the same company last week was the film End of the Spear, which is the movie version of this same story. Now, let me first say I have not seen the movie yet, and probably won't until it hits DVD, so I can't really comment on the movie itself. I've read some reviews - positive, negative and all points in between.
Some of the negative reviews are concerned about a "watered-down gospel presentation" in the movie. But many of them are focused primarily on the fact that the lead role is played by actor Chad Allen.
I'm usually suspect of movies done by "Christian film companies" from the start. They have produced some of the worst films ever made. (I think we all remember the Left Behind movies.) But from what I've heard, these guys at Every Tribe Entertainment were out to make a quality film, not a film that will go straight to Christian bookstore shelves and never be heard from again. They wanted, among other things, quality acting, and they chose Allen as one of those actors.
Now, I don't recall having ever seen Allen in anything. And as I said, I haven't seen the film, so I don't know how he is in it, either. But the fact remains he's an established actor and the folks at ETE thought he was the right man for the job.
Oh, there's just one more thing: Chad Allen is also gay. Not only that, he's a gay activist. Which, evidently, makes him even worse. People are concerned about this guy's lifestyle and activism, and that people watching the movie won't be able to separate the actor from his life, and therefore he won't be convincing as the character he's portraying in the movie. Perhaps this is a valid concern, or perhaps not.
When I started looking at who was in the film several weeks ago, I was checking out some of the actors on IMDB to see if I recognized them from another film or television show. It didn't take long to find out that Chad Allen was gay, and not much longer to find out about his activism. I admit I thought it was an odd choice, and I won't argue with those who have said that, at the least, perhaps the filmmakers made a bad choice simply due to the controversey that has surrounded the film.
But here's the thing - I suspect that many people would have remained unaware of this, but now know because various Christian groups and "pro-family" organizations are making this into a huge story. Without this, many people would not even know who he was and, most likely, wouldn't care. But now I guess many will have a problem with it (just google search on it - you'll see lots of discussion, mostly negative. I actually saw self-righteous musician Steve Camp say "Jim Elliot would be ashamed." Not sure how Camp knows that.) They'll be pressured by friends to boycott it. They'll be pressured by "pro-family" groups to take a stand against homosexuality (how not seeing the film is taking a stand, I can't quite understand.) And some people will miss what might be a very good film because of it.
Grant posted about this same story earlier this week, and I thought this comment was on target:
A couple of years later, Mrs. Elliot (widow of missionary Jim Elliot) and Rachel Saint (sister of missionary Nate Saint) went to live with the Waodani, and continue the mission begun by these men. They taught the tribe about God, how he wanted them to live, and in the end the tribe put down their spears, stopped killing others (and each other), and began following the paths of God. It is truly a miraculous story. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it, and you should see it soon.
End of the Spear
Also released by the same company last week was the film End of the Spear, which is the movie version of this same story. Now, let me first say I have not seen the movie yet, and probably won't until it hits DVD, so I can't really comment on the movie itself. I've read some reviews - positive, negative and all points in between.
Some of the negative reviews are concerned about a "watered-down gospel presentation" in the movie. But many of them are focused primarily on the fact that the lead role is played by actor Chad Allen.
I'm usually suspect of movies done by "Christian film companies" from the start. They have produced some of the worst films ever made. (I think we all remember the Left Behind movies.) But from what I've heard, these guys at Every Tribe Entertainment were out to make a quality film, not a film that will go straight to Christian bookstore shelves and never be heard from again. They wanted, among other things, quality acting, and they chose Allen as one of those actors.
Now, I don't recall having ever seen Allen in anything. And as I said, I haven't seen the film, so I don't know how he is in it, either. But the fact remains he's an established actor and the folks at ETE thought he was the right man for the job.
Oh, there's just one more thing: Chad Allen is also gay. Not only that, he's a gay activist. Which, evidently, makes him even worse. People are concerned about this guy's lifestyle and activism, and that people watching the movie won't be able to separate the actor from his life, and therefore he won't be convincing as the character he's portraying in the movie. Perhaps this is a valid concern, or perhaps not.
When I started looking at who was in the film several weeks ago, I was checking out some of the actors on IMDB to see if I recognized them from another film or television show. It didn't take long to find out that Chad Allen was gay, and not much longer to find out about his activism. I admit I thought it was an odd choice, and I won't argue with those who have said that, at the least, perhaps the filmmakers made a bad choice simply due to the controversey that has surrounded the film.
But here's the thing - I suspect that many people would have remained unaware of this, but now know because various Christian groups and "pro-family" organizations are making this into a huge story. Without this, many people would not even know who he was and, most likely, wouldn't care. But now I guess many will have a problem with it (just google search on it - you'll see lots of discussion, mostly negative. I actually saw self-righteous musician Steve Camp say "Jim Elliot would be ashamed." Not sure how Camp knows that.) They'll be pressured by friends to boycott it. They'll be pressured by "pro-family" groups to take a stand against homosexuality (how not seeing the film is taking a stand, I can't quite understand.) And some people will miss what might be a very good film because of it.
Grant posted about this same story earlier this week, and I thought this comment was on target:
I have a question concerning that reaction. Can we think of another reaction to things other than boycott? Is that as creative as we can get? How about...ummm, I don't know...dialogue, conversation, bridge building?
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