Give Them Something To Talk About

I find myself in very unfamiliar territory. A major, life-changing project has been planted. The treatment is in the hands of the developer; he is shopping it around and doing … whatever producers do. It is out of my hands until some unknown entity expresses interest. Now what? With time on my hands, I find myself waxing philosophic, dwelling on the realm of the spiritual since I have the inability at this moment to affect the world of the tangible.

Here's a thought. There appears to be, in the entertainment business, a reluctance, hesitance, fear, to tackle the spiritual with anything but a tepid treatment. Two examples: The Gladiator and Children Of Men.

In The Gladiator, the hero has everything ripped from him and is left with nothing but the desire for vengeance. When the story delves into the depth of the character we find, not a struggle of the soul between the two major religious thoughts of the period but, an apparent belief in the obscure religious practice of ancestral worship lacking the necessity of a greater deity.

In Children Of Men, the major characters are faced with the potential elimination of mankind and yet can find no real reason why humanity should continue to exist. They want to save the human race from extinction but for what purpose? None is really presented in the story. I’ve watched it three times and have no idea what they see in people to make saving them worthwhile.

Long ago I determined I will not and could not thrust my spiritual presuppositions upon another. That does not say that I will not discuss what I believe with others, that is, after all, the beauty of what remains of free speech in America. The free discussion of ideas is the backbone of intellectual growth. However, as with my project floating out there in Hollywoodland, I have learned that I do not control anything beyond my mortal body. Change another person, not within my power. Unfortunately, the entertainment industry seems to believe that religious discussion is bad, really bad. So bad that even the mere mention of … well, you know, Him or Her or Them is not acceptable in polite society. But what that produces is bad films, really bad films.

Take Children Of Men. This was a very well shot film. The photography was good, the action scenes outstanding and the background exceptional. Nevertheless, the story fell like a stone on the clear surface of a lake. I wanted to scream at the film, “Challenge me! Offend me! Give me something to think about!” Instead, I was left like a schoolboy on the front steps of his date’s home without a good night kiss wondering what it was all about. In The Gladiator, we are left to speculate about what possible profit came to the hero by his death. Since he died killing a wicked, wicked villain, did he earn heaven? Did he win a vacation with his family? Or maybe a very nice trip to an alien planet?

There is in the universe a greater power than ourselves or we are but a cosmic accident. If it is the later, then what is the point? In Children Of Men I must ask so what if the human race ceases to exist? Perhaps another universal mishap will produce better intelligent inhabitants with a better right to live. Conversely, if we are the result of some divine intervention, let’s talk about it, hear about it, see it in our films.

Well, that killed an hour. Now what do I do until the phone rings? Work? Who can work at a time like this?