Saturday was a great day out with James, and we had the pleasure of watching two movies. I Saw the Light was one of them. Here are my thoughts.

Now unlike most of my reviews, this one wasn’t a single take. I had to go back and redo it because of my cats and some technical difficulties. Thor and Loki are usually mischievous, but they were particularly ornery for this review. Perhaps because we have been gone so much. Perhaps just because.

I have been looking forward to The Last of the Firedrakes for quite some time. Actually a little over a year. And now it’s finally here! What a thrilling day. Let’s dive straight on in.

Biases

Let’s start off with my biases. First, Farah is another one of my friends and a fellow member of the WPC2014. Second, I have a weak spot for fantasy stories with a fairy tale theme and a fantasy world. Particularly high fantasy. Oh, be still, my beating heart! How I love worlds and stories that remind me of Narnia, Middle Earth, Asgard, Neverland, and beyond!

Best Audience

This story is ideal for younger teen readers. It’s enjoyable for older readers, but it’s important that they recognize this book for its target audience. It’s easily accessible to Jr. High readers and will likely appeal more to girls than to boys due to the nature of the narrative, overall pacing, and focus. Those who love classic fantasy, particularly high fantasy and fairy tales will also thoroughly enjoy this.

General Summary

The beautiful young Aurora has struggled all her life with feeling as if she does not belong, and her despicable aunt, uncle, and cousin do nothing to make things better. In fact, they do just the opposite. But what starts out as a terrifying kidnapping transforms into a remarkable experience as Aurora escapes and discovers her true identity in the land of Avalonia. Not only does she learn who she is but she learns who she must become as she prepares for battle against the evil Morgana.

Characters

Aurora, sometimes known as Rory, is an interesting heroine. She’s the sort of girl that most readers could envision themselves as being. She’s sweet but somewhat self absorbed, oblivious, and irresponsible. She’s got great power trapped inside her but she doesn’t know how to channel it yet. Her biggest weakness is that she isn’t very smart. Things that should be obvious often elude her. But given the enormity of the power within her that comes from her birth, it’s good to see her have something that she can grow through. She is not perfect, and I count that as a good thing.

Aurora is also quite vain sometimes. At one point, she has to assume another appearance, and she is quite distraught about being cursed with brown hair and brown eyes instead of her stunning black locks and emerald eyes. At times, I did want to give her a shake and remind her that girls with brown hair and brown eyes can be beautiful too, but it seems to be more of an indication of Aurora’s immaturity and childishness (which she notes herself) rather than an actual commentary. Though whenever a girl has mousy brown hair and plain brown or mud brown eyes, it seems that she is to be regarded as plain or ugly and only ceases to be when the hair and eyes have been changed or transformed. Aurora’s self centered behavior tends to range from the more innocuous to understandable, which is good as she does not become despicable. For instance, when she meets the pegaus, the pegaus introduces herself with a slightly complex fantasy style name. Aurora at once wants to know if she can call her Snow as that is part of the name’s meaning. It’s a childish act that is both endearing but is also rude in that it assumes possession of the character’s identity and places Aurora’s expectation and preference on it. But as she’s a princess and an ultra rare, so to speak, it’s somewhat to be expected that everyone will bend to her will and preferences.

With that said, Farah Oomerbhoy does a good job of showing ways that the world does not revolve around Aurora. A difficult feat given the fact that this story is told exclusively from Aurora’s perspective.

The character development is fairly static as is often the case in fairy tale styled stories. The characters are what they are. There are some “surprise” revelations, but these do not relate to transformations in their personalities so much as they are revelations of who the characters actually are. While Aurora becomes more responsible and more self aware and heroic as the story progresses, most of the others remain as they were when they first started. This allows Aurora’s own development to take the forefront, and she has much to learn.

World Building

The world itself is quite lovely. One of Oomberbhoy’s knacks is of relaying the feasts and the different meals here without it being boring. It reminds me of Brian Jacques’ Redwall stories that could make you want to become a vegetarian just so you could try the amazing spreads. While it isn’t necessary to be a vegetarian to enjoy the selection of dishes presented in The Last of the Firedrakes, you will find yourself with some cravings. Most likely for strawberries and cream. Though perhaps for snowberries if you’re able to find some. They have remarkable properties.

Farah Oomberbhoy makes it easy to immerse yourself in the world. It feels quite familiar but not in a boring way. It’s just enough so that you can pick up the story and be comfortable. She adds to the world with various elements like the gorgoths, the dragaths, and so on. The fae and the mages have an intriguing pseudo rivalry, and the politics play a key role in this story. But the story itself doesn’t drag to explain all this. What must be known is incorporated as it is required, keeping the pacing going quite well.

When Farah Oomberbhoy sets up the scenes, she does a lovely job, and she doesn’t waste too much time and rumination on the appearances of the scenes. There’s just enough to get a clear picture in your head before you move on to what’s important or the character’s emotional state of being.

Plot

The story contains many fairy tale elements to it. These fae are the good and fun kind. They’re not the ones that steal you away, and they aren’t tricksy or conniving. That’s all in Morgana’s, Lucian’s, and Oblek’s hands. And they are persecuting the fae, herding them out, spreading rumors, and driving them as near to extinction as they can.

In terms of the philosophy and the engagement, it also reminds me of Redwall. There’s not much nuance in characters. They are either all good or all bad. And ugly characters or characters with bad voices are always evil. Particularly if it’s noted that they are fat or have bad skin. If they are plump, then it’s all right. Characters who are unpleasant or cruel to Aurora almost always turn out to be evil, and the baddies are really quite stupid. Particularly one who lives at the school and who misses a great deal that should be obvious. The lessons contained in the story are easy to observe and absorb for younger readers. If you’re a fan of the classic fairy tales, you’ll pick up on a lot of these traits, and it certainly made me smile to see them incorporated so well.

Some have compared the story to a cross between Twilight and Harry Potter. I certainly see the Harry Potter elements, but I would not say that it’s derivative at all. A couple minor spoilers if you will allow me to demonstrate the distinction. Both of these stories involve schools for mages/wizards, but the schools themselves vary significantly. While the majority of Harry’s education revolves around Hogwarts, Aurora’s life only focuses in part on Evolon and what it embodies. It helps her to grow, as a school should, and it serves as a valid starting point for her to develop and her hone her skills.

Another similar point involves the mothers and their children. Harry’s mother gives her life to save Harry, causing him to be marked (sorry if you didn’t know this already). The power of her love within him is part of what sets him apart and makes him so powerful. Aurora’s mother, Elayne, likewise gives herself up to save her daughter. But there are a number of key distinctions as well as, most importantly, the fact that Aurora is already powerful in her own right. In fact, even as a baby, she caused all kinds of mischief. (That scene brought about a number of chuckles. The subtle touches of humor are played well throughout.)

I mentioned before that the story will appeal more to Jr. High girls than boys partially because of the romance strain and the focus on clothing and décor as well as significant internalization of the emotional events. It’s handled quite lovely, and the tension between Aurora and the boy who has caught her eye is quite well captured. In fact, it’s the strongest component of the story. The desire and the growing awareness of them as well as his perpetual good timing in some areas and obliviousness in others makes for a fantastic subplot.

The story doesn’t contain any surprises really. If you’re widely read in the fantasy genre, you’ll be guessing most of these plot twists and how they will play out as soon as the first hints or certain elements arrive on the scene. But the lack of twists does not make the story poor. I may not have been surprised, but I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Aurora evoked emotional responses from me, and I wanted to see more of the world. I also look forward to returning because this is the sort of story where one enjoys the journey.

Voice

This book is familiar and sweet. It is another one of those stories that lends itself well to reading aloud, and younger readers don’t have to worry about missing anything. In terms of the narrative style, there is a lot of filtering. Aurora spends a great deal of time internalizing and summarizing. At times, this can become repetitive, but the way that it is handled suggests that this is more of a character trait and part of who Aurora is. When something happens, she has to chew on it awhile. She doesn’t make fast judgments or rash decisions except when disregarding something. All of this makes it easy for younger readers to get all the details. It’s easily accessible. Easy to set aside and pick up again without losing your way. The word lover in me also wants to point out that Farah Oomerbhoy incorporates a lovely mix of larger vocabulary words with easily accessible ones, allowing younger readers to acquaint themselves with a number of new terms in a comfortable setting.

Also, though I wish that this wasn’t notable and perhaps may be a commentary on a number of the other books I have read and not reviewed, this book is not about hopelessness and futility. I have read so many fantasies lately where the world is dark, drear, and all is hopeless and soon to be lost. This world, despite having danger and dire circumstances, never reaches that point of gloom and doom where it becomes difficult to keep going. Instead, it maintains a light and cheerful tone even in the darkest moments. It’s certainly a safe one to read before bedtime though it will keep readers turning the pages to find out what happens next.

Would I Read Again? Would I Recommend?

Oh yes, I certainly recommend this book, and I would absolutely read it again and enjoy it. As with any book, it’s important to recognize what it is, and this is a book that is intended to be fun, enjoyable, and light. It isn’t a deep philosophical discussion. It’s an escape. And there are often days when I wish I could escape into a world like this where all is simple and obvious and where everything can eventually be solved by a good adventure and a magical item. For those days, in particular, I will be eager to return to Avalonia and see what Aurora, Rafe, and the others are up to.

I had enormous plans this year for my birthday. This year, after all, I turn 29. And I intended to launch a fun writing competition on Wattpad, start daily updates for a new Gothic vampire multicultural urban fantasy, and increase updates on Tue-Rah Ecekom’s King, Ragnarok Undone, and Parnimo’s Prize while also updating Blessed? Battle for the Lunar Realm. Among other things. I also had a whole series of videos I wanted to finish shooting and preparing for my writing students, tutees, and so on, including some reviews of some great new books.

But all that went out the window because within a day of returning from Alaska, I went down sick. It’s been so frustrating. My immune system just doesn’t seem able to cope with things as I want it to. And, for whatever reason, I had had perpetual nightmares in the little time I have slept since returning from Alaska. As it takes me hours to fall asleep anyway and even then I can only manage a couple REM cycles before I’m up again, the nightmares are even more troubling.

Hopefully that ends. On the plus side, it has kept me in a great frame of mind for writing Of Blood and Teeth and Magic. It’s now live on Wattpad with daily updates, and it is doing fairly well, considering it’s a stand alone. I won’t be able to finish the spider story for “Defying Doomsday.” That was too creepy, and writing about an insomniac who must battle spiders was hitting a little too close to home.

I am so grateful that I am able to write though. I think it’s one of the ways that God gave me to help keep me sane. I can’t imagine what life would be like without stories. Especially without my characters.

In other good news though, now that I have my health back for the most part, the contest is live! I have the full details posted on my Wattpad account under Tue-Rah Fiction Appreciation Contest. I think it’s a fun idea because the categories are based off what my characters would like to read if they were real people.

So really, there was just a two week delay. Everything else will be taken care of. Tue-Rah updates continue to come. Parnimo’s Prize is currently rivaling Tue-Rah Ecekom’s King with readers while Ragnarok Undone is sitting quietly on its own. My Ragnarok readers have told me that they want to wait until the book is all done before they dig in, which I thoroughly understand.

Reading on Wattpad requires reading in a slightly different way. I’m really curious to see what the greater implications of that are in the long term, but that will be a post for another day.

It has been quite awhile since an update. In fact, each time I’ve sat down to try to write about life and blog, something has happened. And not all of it is bad. Most of it has just been busy.

But I’ve still been writing fiction, of course. I’ve spent about four weeks out of the past seven sick. But I’ve still been working on stories. It’s been fairly amusing going back through stories written while I had a fever over 101. It gets rather…interesting.

However, now that I have my voice back for the most part, I’m planning to get back into the Talk Story to Me and other plans. It’s been a whirlwind of a past month. But I think July is going to be even better.

As a child, I remember how often it seemed that days dragged on without end. The time between Christmas and birthdays often seemed the longest. But one of the sad things I’ve noticed about growing up is how fast time seems to race except in the worst of times. Emergencies. Car crashes. Funerals. Disappearances. Yet sometimes, even when things are falling apart, times seems to speed along.

January has been a month of surprise after surprise after surprise. Not all of them have been good sadly. The month started off with busted pipes over New Year’s. It was followed up by some family emergencies. The law firm struck some challenging cases and difficult clients. A host of other small things cropped up, most of them making life more difficult or challenging. February marks the beginning of cheesecake making for the Valentine’s Day dinner, a two nighter at the church this time.

A storm is about to strike the Midwest. A big snowstorm with thick flakes of snow and possibly some ice. The atmosphere has already changed significantly, and I can feel the pressure shifting. It makes my head hurt in an odd detached sort of way, my vision wobbles at the edges. Nothing to be concerned about. This happens before most storms.

I wish that time would slow down. Right now, it isn’t moving so fast. The sky is white and grey, and cars streaked with ice and salt stream along the road as people hurry into Wal-Mart and Aldis to pick up bread, milk, and whatever other supplies they need. And now that these moments have slowed and I am paying attention, I realize I am grateful.

There’s a lot to be grateful for. As challenging as the month has been, it is one that has revealed a great deal. I have failed a lot this month. Plans fell apart. Disappointment, depression, frustration. It was quite difficult. But I’m still here. And I am grateful to God and to my family for that.

I am grateful even though I am sometimes overwhelmed. My to do list sometimes feels unending. Not all of the items are bad. I dearly love some of them. Many of them in fact. It’s more of those few items on every to do list that drag everything else down. And sometimes I am just not as good at accepting my own failures as I should be. I intended to finish and publish Mermaid Bride as well as finish up another couple drafts this month. Obviously, I had not planned most of what happened. But I am learning to keep going, to love what I’m doing, and to keep going.

February will be better. I am grateful for the opportunities ahead and for what God has brought me through.

Earlier this week, I caught part of a TV show called Cutthroat Kitchen, a cooking competition show. In one episode, the contestants had to prepare spaghetti and meatballs.  One contestant prepared this elaborate three tomato pasta sauce with aromatic spices and savory seasoning. She pureed it and then, when she went to pour it out, she knocked it off the counter. Everything spilled on the floor and into the trash can. Nothing could be salvaged. The clock was counting down. She didn’t have time to make another batch, but then she realized that she had the drippings left in the pan. So she grabbed some water and balsamic vinegar, poured it in the pan, and attempted to make a substitute. She passed it off to the judge as a sauce reduction, though there was hardly enough to even color the noodles. According to the judge, it barely had the hint of sauce, let alone actual sauce.

That is what Left Behind is. Any elements of Christianity, story telling, disaster, and so on are no more than hints. Promises that are never delivered and that actually leave you feeling nauseated.

I hardly even know where to begin on this movie. Left Behind is a reboot of the Left Behind series, and I guess the best way to analyze this is just to dig right in.

First, let’s start with biases. I am a Christian. I’m from the heartland. I am familiar with the Bible as well as various eschatological theories and perspectives. This movie was an enormous disappointment. I had not viewed any of the previews or trailers for this movie. But even so, I found the movie bland, disappointing, and mind numbing. I actually left the theater with a headache. This review may be a little scrambled as I am not entirely sure how to organize it, so I hope you’ll bear with me.

Premises You Must Accept if You’re Going to Enjoy This Movie

Um…I really don’t know where to start on this one. I struggled to find anything good and noteworthy in this movie. If you enjoyed this film and have a perspective to share, please do. As it stands, I think the people who will most enjoy this will be the ones who fill in the blanks with the knowledge that they have and are just excited to see a bigger budget of a story they enjoyed or those who love to watch bad movies.

Characters….

So, characters are normally the best elements of a story for me. Mediocre stories can be saved by great characters or at least memorable characters. Critical flaws can be covered up with a character who is so real you are drawn in. Firefly, for instance, is one of my favorite series. Even if the stories hadn’t been well constructed, I would have still enjoyed the series because I loved Mal, River, Zoe, Shepherd, and all the rest. But in Left Behind, there is not one developed or memorable character.

The only things that we know about the characters are what we are told. No one is developed. Lea Thompson plays Irene Steele, one of the most clearly depicted Christian characters who has a name and something of a back story. (Though really, the back story is only in comparison to the other characters here.) She does the best with what she has, but we never hear her share her faith. Supposedly, she’s a new Christian who converted within the last year and is a bit of a wacko. Of course, in the one exchange where we hear her talking to her daughter, the only thing that she asks is that her daughter hear her out and that she wants her daughter to be ready. However, the discussion includes nothing about what the daughter should be ready for, why this matters so much to the mother, or even why she chose to convert. Most of the time, later in life conversions are related to some change within that individual’s life. Like a close brush with death or the loss of a close family member or something like that. So what happened? Also why was her daughter so hateful toward her about it? Neither the mother nor the daughter really seemed like unreasonable people, and so the animosity that the daughter had for her mother was quite strange.

The movie itself is divided primarily between Nicholas Cage as Rayford Steele, Chad Michael Murray as Buck Williams, and Cassi Thomson as Chloe Steele. All of the characters could easily be summed up as a stereotype. And none of them added anything. You could have substituted out just about any of them without losing anything. The most memorable individual in the film was Martin Klebba who played an agitated and manipulative character, Melvin Weir, who really didn’t get enough screen time.

Please don’t expect any character development or growth to come out of this. There isn’t even a Nicholas Cage freak out in this movie, though there’s a couple points when it would have been perfect. The pacing of the movie is only appropriate for a deeper emotional drama that looks into the dynamics of a family that is struggling with these new changes, namely the mother’s conversion and the father’s decision to pursue an affair. But that’s not all that this film is supposed to be about. For being a suspenseful nail biter where the audience is kept wondering what’s happening, none of that suspense or tension build up really occurs. It’s like an annoying acquaintance trying to scare you. You see him creeping toward you with the mask on, you wave at him, but he still keeps acting as if he’s somehow going to take you by surprise. It’s really rather sad.

An Example of the Acting

It’s quite incredible how poor the acting is in this film. Most of the time, I prefer to give the actors the benefit of the doubt. In this case, I had only doubt about whether anyone cared about this film. One of the best examples I can think of is how the parents, particularly the mothers, reacted when their children were taken in the rapture. There’s some screaming and crying, but for the most part, they’re remarkably composed. You can clearly tell that they’re acting. In fact, there’s not a single wet eye. Not a single tear. No smeared make up. Relatively little screaming.

Tell me…if you were holding your child in your arms and that child vanished, leaving behind nothing but her clothes, wouldn’t you be screaming and sobbing? I’ve seen mothers who have lost their children, and…you know what…they were hysterical. There was screaming, weeping, barely discernible words, shrieking, and more. The agony that those mothers endured, the terror, the fear of what had happened to their beloved children still tears at my heart when I remember them. Not one of the parents or caretakers of these children demonstrated anything close to that. And putting fake tears in someone’s eyes really isn’t that hard. The absence of tears and the relative blandness of the performances are painfully noticeable. The actors clearly don’t care, so why should the audience?

Chloe should be in absolute agony over what all has happened. Yet throughout the entire film, she remains fairly composed, only showing the most marginal of emotional engagement. When her character is flirting with Chad Michael Murray, it’s probably some of the most engaging moments of the film. There’s a definite chemistry between the two. They’re both trying, and they have facial expressions, body language, and everything! Looking back on it, it’s one of the best points in the movie, even though the two connect way too fast with Chad Michael Murray kissing Cassi Thomson on the cheek before he leaves for his flight, even though they only just met. They act like they’ve been dating for awhile.

Plot Holes and Audience Engagement

Once again, it’s hard to know where to start on this. A number of things are entirely unexplained, and even with my knowledge of the Bible, the Left Behind series, and eschatology in general, I can’t figure out what they were going for. For instance, apparently everyone in charge of ground control with the exception of one operator as well as whoever is in charge of satellites and so forth were all Christians because suddenly there’s no one handling these operations. Characters who were never established as Christians apparently are Christians and are taken in the rapture, and even though supposedly some of these Christians are radically obnoxious individuals who are always trying to force it down people’s throats, no one except Nicholas Cage (and an hour and a half into the movie I might add) even starts to consider that this might be the rapture.

In fact, there really isn’t enough time to go over all the plot holes. Disaster movies with cars trying to outrun earthquakes and tornadoes time and time again are more believable than this. Perhaps the most entertaining part of the movie was actually the three old women sitting behind us. For those of you who are familiar with the Pepper Pots from Monty Python’s Flying Circus, these three old women were a real treat. They had come to watch the movie after church and were planning to go out to a tea shop or some other such place. But throughout the movie, they clicked their tongues, exclaimed in surprise, and provided fantastic commentary every so often. My favorite was the little old lady in the blue and lavender flower print dress and the little black hat. Halfway through the movie, she leaned over to her friend and whispered, “I fell asleep, dearie. Has the plot come yet?” I thoroughly enjoyed those three ladies, and since they didn’t do it through the whole movie, their antics helped make it more palatable.

But back to the engagement with the movie, the story is entirely unbelievable. It struck me as odd that within seconds of the rapture occurring, the entire city shifts into chaos. I realize that looting thugs and chaos are necessary in any disaster movie, but once again let’s go back to all the Christians and children who disappeared. Even in a less than charitable look on religion, one could argue that the rapture, if it took Christians and all children (though who knows what age that cutoff is), would take about half of the world’s population. So that would mean that those thugs and villains would have family members who were all snatched up as well. But apparently the first thought on most of their minds is to grab televisions, gift bags, and clothing. In fact, in that sequence, you’ll see almost hilarious overacting as the extras play tug of war with plasma screen TVs and escape with prom dresses. Hey the end of the world might be coming, but at least they’ll watch it in style in front of the finest television screen.

I need to stop on the plot holes and inconsistencies because there really isn’t time. Suffice it to say, if you pay attention, you will see issues everywhere from the little details relating to consistency of time to the big details like “why was there a need for a slow motion explosion and running shot?”

Christianity

This movie has been marketed as a Christian film. Now what Christian film means is entirely up for interpretation. In fact, I’d actually like to dig into that later in a separate piece. In general, a Christian film seems to be one that deals with Christian themes, though even that is debatable, and it may be as simple as a film which Christians developed. But in any substantive sense, this movie is not Christian. The fruit of this tree is bad, even for bad movie standards, and any association with Christianity and spirituality is little more than the faintest hint.

At one point in the film, a random character who seems to be full of conspiracy theories suggests that perhaps the rapture (which incidentally is never named or if it is, I never caught it) was actually an alien abduction. For all the development of God we’re given, this might as well be the case. In fact, God is given about as much attention as any of the other conspiracy theories that in the know viewers will know is not the case at all.

Questions central to Christianity are asked by the atheists and agnostics. Good questions that should be asked. One of the best is how a compassionate God can allow suffering and tragedy. Early in the film, Chad Michael Murray, while chatting with Cassi Thomson, recounts the story of a woman who survived a tsunami with her infant though she lost her other three children. She immediately fell to the ground and praised God for saving her, but she refused to leave the village and was then killed that night in a mudslide. Chad Michael Murray uses this point to explain why he does not believe in a compassionate God. No one ever responds to him, unless you count the clearly crazy airport lady who simply says “it’s a fallen world that’s no longer perfect.” There’s no response to the obvious questions that even that statement raises. And don’t get me wrong the question of how a compassionate God who supposedly loves His creation can allow such things to happen is vital. What shocks me though is that there isn’t even an attempt to engage in this discussion. Not one!

At another point, a passenger on the plane suggests that they pray. Martin Klebba’s character at once jumps up and demands to know “whose God?” It’s a valid question that actually is more poignant now that I think back on it. What God is being represented in Left Behind? The easy assumption is that it’s the God of the Bible, since we do see the Bible and all. But God is never really portrayed, developed, or revealed in anyway. This God character could be practically any god.

Even more shockingly, Jesus is not mentioned at all. At least not that I recall. John 3:16, (the reference alone, not the full verse) appears on a watch in what is supposed to be a dramatic moment. In fact, God is portrayed in such a way that is actually quite cold and distant. The aliens in Independence Day and War of the Worlds are more engaged than God is in this story. The taking of the children and infants in the rapture is not portrayed in such a way that suggests mercy. It feels like they’ve been stolen. Now, many Christians will defend this as the pastor mentions that they were taken to be saved from the coming hardships and persecution. But that is barely touched upon. And it’s not even clear why the children and infants are taken nor is it made clear that only the Christians are taken. If you don’t know anything about Christian eschatology, you’re going to be extremely confused by this film because nothing is explained.

And frankly, if you’re going to do a story about the end times using Christianity as your base, Jesus is one of the most vital components. The end times are all leading up to the end of the world when Jesus Christ returns! Other key components include the plagues, tribulations, the antichrist, and far more. But none of this shows up in the story.

Most of the time in disaster movies the first few minutes are spent building up what’s going on in the world. You know…establishing the setting. Take World War Z for example. In the opening sequences, a series of shots establishes that something strange is happening in nature. They use news reports and bulletins to establish a feel for the world and some context. Into the Storm uses the opening shots to show a strange tornado occurrence with later events depicting the increasing oddity of this particular storm cell. Left Behind starts off with a very strange woman who comes across as a creeper. She references a verse from the Bible saying that there are “wars and rumors of wars.” Here’s the problem…there hasn’t been a period in history where that hasn’t been the case, so what is it about this time that has her convinced that things have changed?

            This world is vague and empty, white and bland. Christian movies as a whole can be quite badly put together and badly acted, but at least I often feel that the people involved cared. Here, there was no investment in the process, no passion in the creation, and not even the faintest attempt at integrity. Much of the time, it feels like the movie wants to be deep and surprise the audience, but it never provides enough information for those who don’t know anything about the subject to even begin  to unravel what’s happening and it doesn’t provide a twist for those who are intimately familiar with the content. In fact, at the end, it fades to black and then reveals a Bible verse, Mark 13:32…of all verses…it’s not that the verse is the worst choice. I suppose they could have referenced Jeremiah 17:2 or Numbers 11:9. At least Mark 13:32 is connected to the end times. However, that verse only references what did happen, and provides no hook for continuing forward or wanting to see the next film. Revelations is filled with many more enticing and gripping verses that would have been more appropriate.

Anti Christian Bias from Reviewers and Critics

Before I went to see this film, I heard from a number of friends that critics were panning this movie because it was Christian. That they hated it simply because of the subject matter. In fact, I was even urged to go see it so that I could support it and tell the film makers to keep making movies like this because “the world needs more!” I actually didn’t go to see the reviews first because I wanted to see the movie with as much of an open mind as I could.

Let me tell you this. Whether an anti Christian bias exists is irrelevant for this movie because the movie is so bad that even Christians will have a hard time defending it. From a quality standpoint, it is amateurish, clunky, and poorly developed. I have nothing against slower movies. I love a good atmospheric character study, but those types of movies let you know individuals. They don’t just present stereotypes. To say that the reaction is just an anti Christian bias is to be blind to the numerous issues with this film.

I know that a number of well meaning Christians have tried to support this movie and even give it positive reviews without having seen the movie. I beg you: do not review or support this movie until you go to see it. There’s an ethical issue there first of all that I can barely believe has to be addressed. But second, this is serious egg on the face for Christians. While the budget is bigger for this film and the overall quality in terms of resolution and camera steadiness is a step up, the movie as a whole is embarrassingly bad.

After seeing the review, I stopped by Rotten Tomato and a couple of other sites to see how people who liked it were reviewing it. Shockingly, most of the positive reviews were exceptionally general and sounded as if they had been bought from a PR firm. They said things like “greatest blockbuster of the year” or they went on and on about how clearly the rapture is presented and how this will serve as a warning. Listen, in all seriousness, the only warning that your non Christian friends are going to take away from this (absent a miracle from God) is that they should never agree to go see a Christian movie with you again, ever.

Make sure that you see this movie before you recommend it. Recommending any movie without seeing it and without being upfront about that is bad to begin with as well as irresponsible. But recommending this movie is particularly bad because of its quality and its message. Care for a real life example of how bad this is? One of my friends has been struggling with her faith. After she saw this movie, she said that she found the arguments presented by the atheists to be more persuasive, and she is questioning her faith. That’s the kind of movie this is.

Potential Discussion Questions and Possible Teaching Moments

            So if you decide that you still want to go and see this film and use it as a conversation starter here’s some possible ideas. The purpose of these questions is to get everyone thinking, regardless of where he or she stands in faith or outside of it.

1)      What is a Christian movie? What separates it from others? (And seriously, the lack of quality should not be one of the things that separates a Christian movie from all the others.)

2)      Why does a supposedly righteous and compassionate God allow pain and suffering to exist? Bonus points if you discuss why people today suffer even though they did not participate in the original sin (i.e. the eating of the fruit).

3)      Is suffering a good thing? How can it be discussed if it is without resorting to cheap platitudes or without becoming cynical and bitter if it isn’t?

4)      Should Christians support bad Christian movies just because they’re Christian?

5)      Does the presentation style affect the meaning of the message, and if so, how?

6)      What should be the foremost point in telling a good story in a Christian film? The story or the point? Why? And if the point, how do you avoid turning it into a legalistic sermon that annoys non Christians?

7)      How can you tell a Christian from a non Christian? Would it be apparent that you are or are not? Does it matter? Why or why not?

8)      Would the world really go insane and enter mass chaos if all the Christians vanished? Why? Other religious individuals and even atheists and agnostics are not all horrific people who have no moral compass. Most people do live their lives based around some central core of ideals.

9)      How would you respond to an atheist like Chloe? Chloe articulates some very strong positions among atheists and agnostics. Cheap trick answers wouldn’t satisfy a person like her. So how would you answer her questions and engage her in conversation?

10)  Could people who genuinely believed that they were saved be left behind?

11)  And if you’re really feeling brave, what does the Bible ACTUALLY have to say about the end times and the rapture? What comes from Scripture and what comes from church tradition? And is it problematic that the majority of the so called knowledge surrounding the rapture does not actually come from the Bible but from Jesuit priests a couple centuries ago?

12)  What are other perspectives on end times? A significant number of Christians do not actually accept that the rapture is biblical because of the history and the full context of the verses used to support it. What do you think? If you find yourself feeling particularly defensive and frightened by the concept that the rapture is not as biblically supported as you thought, why? Are you placing your trust in the rapture?

13)  Every generation of Christians has believed that they are the generation who will see Christ’s return. The Apostle Paul even had to tell Christians to go about living their lives! So are we really in the end times? Why do you think so? The most commonly cited verses used to justify this are general enough that they could be true of any point in history? So why now? What’s different?

Additionally there are two moments that might be considered teachable or effective moments. The first occurs when Chloe encounters her pastor in the church. He like all the non Christians was left behind, and he has to face the fact that he never really believed himself. Chloe confronts him on this and demands to know why she should believe when he himself never did. That little scene alone is a poignant question that many should ask themselves.

Jordin Sparks, at the very end, sings the song “I Wish We’d All Been Ready.” The structure of that scene and the image of the survivors standing in front of the flaming plane could be considered a teaching moment. It certainly leaves something of an impression and is rather haunting. But it would need to be set up better than this movie set it up. Though in fairness, the thrill I felt might have been more related to the fact that the movie was over rather than that it was good.

Personally, I think even those moments are somewhat weak, but I’m trying to be charitable.

One Possible Explanation

This movie truly boggles my mind, both in how bad it is and how the people involved could actually think it would be any good. I discovered an article in the Blaze in which the film makers stated they saw this as being the first movie in a series of movies where this first one would set up the characters. This was just the introduction, folks. The really good stuff is yet to come….This entire movie was basically a preview…A one hour and fifty minute preview.

Here’s the problem: the characters weren’t interesting, and there’s no incentive to return to theaters to see what becomes of

them. No hints were given except for vague generalities about it being the beginning of the end. But what does that look like? What does that mean?  This movie should have first established the reason that the characters were in the end times, what that meant, and what was happening to support the belief that this was the end times. In fact, it should have also established the characters beyond the cardboard caricatures. We didn’t need all those scenes of Cassi Thomson walking, contemplating suicide, and staring vaguely into the distance.

Here’s the other problem: what kind of a Christian would put this story together and claim that it has anything redemptive? Why ask the hard questions and then never even attempt to answer them. This movie is more persuasive as a case for deism or an absent God. Left Behind misses the entire point of such a story. In fact, it misses the entire point of any story. Stoney Lake Entertainment is an offshoot of Cloud Ten Production, I believe, which was involved with the original Left Behind. And while the original Left Behind was nothing spectacular, it at least had some attempt at heart, explanation, and passion. In my opinion, this movie was made for one reason: making money.

In fact, this is why I feel that the movie is so incredibly offensive. There’s a place for bad movies. Not every movie out there has to be Citizen Kane, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, or the Ten Commandments. But the thing about most enjoyable bad movies and popcorn flicks is that they know that they’re bad movies. They don’t pretend that they want to say something profound. They don’t act as if they hold some deep secret. Oftentimes, their actors play over the top characters who are more fun to laugh at than relate to or they depict mass carnage in increasingly unbelievable circumstances. Transformers 4, in my opinion, was nothing short of a cash grab and was actually a fairly poor movie, but it didn’t pretend that it was going to be anything deep. It delivered what it promised. So bad they’re good movies are generally upfront about what they’re offering. Left Behind promised something spectacular. A bigger budget and more revolutionary version of the original Left Behind movie that would leave the audience in suspense as the tableau of the end times unfolded. But what it was was a lazy account of a possibly adulterous man who is also a bad father trying to land a plane in difficult circumstances.

So if you’re considering taking your youth group to this film or

a group of friends or hope to take your non Christian friends to it to start a good conversation, I recommend skipping it unless you know what you’re getting into. You can make good conversations come up from this, but you’re probably going to have to spend just as much time explaining why Christians make such crappy movies and why God doesn’t care.

Of course, if the people in reality were as dull and simple as the ones in this movie, it’s little wonder that God wouldn’t care. I know I didn’t.

I have been planning to do a series of blog posts looking at the individuals who have influenced and encouraged my writing. The Tue-Rah series would actually be the primary focus, of course. And while I will certainly cover him once again when I reach that point in the Those to Whom I Am Grateful series, I would be remiss if I didn’t give a little preview right now.

Today is my father’s birthday. Yes, ring the bells, everyone. This is the day on which my father was welcomed into the world in a little hospital down in Texas on a warm summer’s morning.

Trying to recount what my father means to me and how much he has impacted me is almost impossible because the man has not ever pulled back from the unenviable task of being my father. And from a very young age, I found ways to test his patience and his resolve. Supposedly I had some sort of mental alarm that would trigger whenever he left the house, and I would treat my mother to siren like shrieks, bewailing his absence. (While I’m at it, it should also be noted that my mother’s patience is that of a saint!) And when he was home, I wanted nothing more than to follow him and know every detail of what he was doing. Supposedly I started talking at about 9 months and one of my early phrases was “what doin’?” I don’t ever recall him becoming angry with me for persisting with questions, and he never told me that I was too young to be asking the questions I asked.

One of the first things that stands out to me about my father is his faith and the way that he has always walked in line with that faith. One of my earliest memories of him was when I was about six years old. Mom and Dad were always telling us Bible stories. I remember the parable of the Good Samaritan and Daniel in the Lion’s Den best of all. On this particular day, we were in the old brown station wagon on our way to Richmond. The roads were slick with ice, and my sister and I entertained ourselves by drawing pictures on the windows (Dad didn’t want us to, which is why the game was fun; we had to see whether he would notice it). Then all at once, Dad pulled the car off to the side of the road.

A couple in an old blue pickup truck had pulled off along the embankment. A thin layer of snow already covered the roof and the hood. Hopping out of the station wagon, Dad went to see what the problem was. As it turned out, the couple had run out of gas. Dad didn’t hesitate. He invited them to get in the car with us. My little sister and I hopped into the back while my mother got out the spare blankets. The couple had been out in the cold for almost four hours.

When we reached the gas station, my dad purchased a large red container and filled it up with gas. The fumes made me want to gag, but there was no other way to get it back to the pickup truck. He and Mom both offered to take them out to a nicer restaurant or some place similar, but the couple insisted that they had to get back on the road. So Dad bought one of those stop and go pepperoni and sausage pizzas and an extra blanket. He then drove them back to the pickup truck and filled up their tank.

It was then that Dad noticed that the young man did not have any gloves though the young woman did. Even though it was cold and the snow started falling in thick clumps, my dad took off his black gloves, put them in the young man’s hands, and insisted he take them. The young man tried to pay him, but Dad refused.

After making sure they had everything they needed, Dad then got back in the station wagon and took us home. It was a long drive back, and the heating in the station wagon wasn’t that great. That was part of the reason that we had blankets and such in the car. But Dad didn’t complain. A few times I saw him warming his hands. My sister and I got back up in our seats, and we asked him, “Why did you give him your gloves when you knew you were going to be cold?”

Dad didn’t give us a long sermon. All he said was “it’s what Jesus would have done. It’s what I would have done for Jesus.” As a child, I accepted that. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I realized what a great thing my dad had done. See…at the time this happened, money was very tight. My dad was trying to run his own business from the house, and we had recently learned that my baby brother was autistic. Eating fast food wasn’t something we could afford. In fact, according to my journals, at the time, the only thing in the pantry at home was bread, peanut butter, and homemade jelly plus some pasta and raisins. But neither of my parents hesitated to be generous, and now more than twenty years later, I still remember that.

I could tell you many more stories. But I think I shall just end this post saying that I have been enormously blessed by my father as well as inspired by him. I thank God each day that he is my father, and I pray that this day will be particularly blessed for him as well as this year.

P.S. to anyone who is freaked out that I could remember so much from when I was just a little girl, don’t be. I kept very detailed journals, and I always kept my journal with me. 🙂

The Dove natural beauty campaign has been going on for awhile with a number of entries in their supposed support for natural beauty. At its heart, this campaign is still a marketing endeavor, intended to convince people to purchase their products. But it claims to be about empowering women and girls, giving them confidence and recognizing the beauty within. Here’s the problem though: that’s not what they’re doing.

I don’t doubt the good intentions of the people behind this campaign. On paper, it sounds great. Get “real” pictures of women and girls, exemplifying true and natural beauty. In fact, they call it “real beauty.” Real and natural beauty as opposed to plastic, stylized beauty sounds like a great idea, particularly given to all the alteration that goes on for women in the media to fit the supposed beauty standards.

The problem comes down to the people that they show and what they’re trying to do. Back a few years ago, Dove actually made the mistake of requesting women who fit within certain categories. One of the ways that you could be excluded? Not having flawless skin. You see this reflected in a recent video on Selfies as all of the featured women and girls seem to be devoid of scars or skin imperfections.

The Dove team goes in with Michael Crook to teach girls and their mothers to take selfies in an attempt to redefine beauty. At first, it seems like a normal enough group of teens. But something felt off. I replayed the video a couple times, and then I realized something quite amazing. All of the girls and women featured in the video look really good. There are remarkably few individuals who are overweight, let alone obese. Only a couple have braces. There’s no blotchy or red acne covered skin. The hair looks great and clean. And everyone seems to fall fairly close within societally accepted standards for beauty. Even the girls who supposedly have no make up on have incredibly smooth skin without scarring or blemish. Now perhaps I live in a “less attractive” part of the world. Maybe the high school and junior high school here is home to students who don’t all look like they could appear in a skin care commercial. But I don’t think so.

I’ve gotten to travel a fair bit, and I’ve met a lot of incredible students. The one thing I’ve noticed is that generally there’s a lot of variety in what people look like and even in what individuals find to be beautiful. While certain areas are more homogeneous, those areas do tend to differ from one another. So what is it saying when a video purporting to represent real beauty doesn’t actually represent the beauty found in real individuals?  Can a girl not be beautiful is she is obese? Or what if she is skeleton thin? Of course, many would probably say “well, we don’t want to promote unhealthy body images on either side,” and I would say “yes, but…” See, not everyone who is obese is obese because all she does is sit on the couch and eat potato chips and Oreos just as not everyone who is skeleton thin is anorexic or bulimic. Health issues of all kinds wreak havoc with the body. Does that mean that the girl who suffers from a glandular disease must accept that she cannot be a “real beauty” until after she loses all the weight? Or the girl who just survived cancer and chemo and is now as thin as a rail must accept that she will not be a “natural beauty” until she gains enough weight to be seen as healthy and not a risk for encouraging other girls toward a life of anorexia. And what about those with disabilities? Can someone with Down Syndrome or cerebral palsy not be recognized as natural or real beauties?

One of the girls on the video states that what some people see as making them less attractive actually makes them unique and that is what makes them beautiful. But that is not necessarily the case. For many years, I’ve struggled with severe and weeping eczema. The lesions covered my body, and sometimes they became infected, leaving me in agony. Just recently I suffered another setback, and the eczema sores spread to my face. It looked like someone had beat me up. The skin on my face had tightened, and the areas around my eyes were deep red, blotchy, bloody, crusted, and horrible looking. I looked like I was turning into Red Skull very slowly. That certainly did make me unique. No question about it. But did it make me more beautiful? No. Not at all. The beauty that I have was in spite of the physical imperfections. But does the presence of that imperfection mean that I can’t be beautiful? No, but that’s another topic.

Instead, think of how much more powerful Dove’s real beauty campaigns would be if they did take real women and real girls from all walks of life and showed them the “real” beauty that they possessed instead of taking those who are already, by and large, quite beautiful. Perhaps they could search for the beauty that might not be seen as easily at first, not through a makeover but through just that careful search. Beauty is often based on culture as much as personal preferences, and so some arbitrariness will always intrude. But it would be so much more effective if the girls and women they chose had beautiful aspects but were not entirely gorgeous. Can you be beautiful with flawed skin? Can you be beautiful with thinning hair? Can you be beautiful with anything more or less than a healthy BMI? Can you be beautiful with non symmetrical features?

Yet at the same time, I wonder if perhaps the wrong message is being focused on all together. At the end of this ad just as the Dove Real Beauty Sketches, the girls put up their pictures and receive compliments on how beautiful they are.  People recognize how these girls and women fit within the societally accepted standards of beauty. Often times, they point out that aspects that the girls thought made them less than beautiful fall within what others consider beautiful. One girl talks about how her hair just looks so ugly on her, when it’s really a beautiful and everyone comments on it. At the end of the day, these girls are getting acceptance and compliments for being what others consider to be beautiful. It’s true that this is telling this select group of girls and women that they fall within a category that could be considered beautiful, but it’s still telling them that what others think of their appearance and how others evaluate their beauty is an important component in their self worth and identity.

Not being physically beautiful is not the worst thing that can happen to a person. It isn’t easy to redefine what is beautiful in the cultural sense. And even if it is redefined, there will always be those who don’t match up to those standards. A large segment of the population doesn’t measure up to the standards that Dove puts forth in its “real beauty” ads. Not everything that is unusual or unique is going to be considered beautiful. And that’s okay. It really is. While you may feel relieved to realize that you meet up to a societal standard or that you fall within the “beautiful category,” don’t let that define your worth. Beauty does not make you strong. Strength may be something that makes you beautiful, but beauty does not create it.

Back to Dove, at the end of their day, this campaign is all about sales. They are targeting a particular demographic. This is about creating a brand and making women think that Dove supports natural beauty and real beauty. But they don’t. In fact, some of their other products such as the skin lightening crème to make you look fairer skinned even directly contradict what they’re claiming to do here. But even if they support their own perspective of beauty that may be more attainable than Victoria’s Secret, it still isn’t accessible to everyone. And once more, as long as you aren’t placing your value in how others rank your beauty, that may be all right. You don’t have to be a natural beauty or a real beauty to matter any more than you have to be a stylized beauty or a model beauty to have value.