Radical Womanhood

Christians and Integration

In honor of the Martin Luther King holiday, I watched a 1966 documentary that had been recommended to me, called A Time for Burning. It is about the efforts of a pastor in Omaha, Nebraska, to lead his church in repenting of the sin of racism and to take the smallest steps to integrate.

It was produced by Lutheran Film Associates, an arm of the Lutheran church, which makes it even more fascinating to watch. The camera crew got incredible access to the candid conversations of these church members as they resist their pastor's leadership. The film was nominated the following year for an Academy Award, which is not hard to imagine. It's so raw and engaging, even though it is mostly recording the conversations of people who are wrestling with how Christians should handle this topic. In 2005, A Time for Burning was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

The articulate black man in this film is radical activist Ernie Chambers, who went on to graduate from law school and become the longest-serving state senator in the history of Nebraska. I dug around for information about what happened to Rev. William Youngdahl, the pastor featured in this film, but didn't find much further information beyond the fact he ended up in California.

I highly recommend investing 55-minutes in this cinema verite film. It is a compelling examination of how Christians can twist or sidestep the gospel for the sake of our own agendas--and how the Holy Spirit can inspire His followers to repent and do what's right, anyway.

You can watch online, via the Documentary Channel's site on the DISH network.

Linus and Luke

This Christmas marks the 45th year of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and its shining moment of Linus reciting from the gospel of Luke. The program will air again on ABC this coming Thursday, but today The Washington Post carried a lengthy feature article about the making of this animated classic. 

I was fascinated to find out that a documentary filmmaker was at the bottom of it all, producer-director Lee Mendelson. He and "Peanuts" creator Charles Schulz worked with animator Bill Melendez to create this television special. According to the Post, "Charles Schulz was long viewed as a man plagued by anxiety, self-doubt and fear of rejection. Yet when it came to the production of 'A Charlie Brown Christmas,' Mendelson says, Schulz was the epitome of confidence and assured cool." He was also the one to hold the line about the show's focus, according to the newspaper.

Schulz insisted on one core purpose: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" had to be about something. Namely, the true meaning of Christmas. Otherwise, Schulz said, "Why bother doing it?"

Mendelson and Melendez asked Schulz whether he was sure he wanted to include biblical text in the special. The cartoonist's response, Mendelson recalls: "If we don't do it, who will?"

To Coca-Cola's credit, Mendelson says, the corporate sponsor never balked at the idea of including New Testament passages. The result -- Linus's reading from the Book of Luke about the meaning of the season -- became "the most magical two minutes in all of TV animation," the producer says.

In writing about the "Peanuts" special in "Manhood for Amateurs," [author Michael] Chabon -- a self-described Jewish "liberal agnostic empiricist" -- waxed: "I still know that chapter and verse of the Gospel of Luke by heart, and no amount of subsequent disillusionment with the behavior of self-described Christians, or with the ongoing progressive commercialization that in 1965 had already broken Charlie Brown's heart, has robbed the central miracle of Christianity of its power to move me the way any truly great story can."

Mendelson also credits part of the power of the scene to child voice actor Christopher Shea, whose tone of wise innocence, the producer says, fits the moment perfectly.

Below are two clips from the show, including the famous Linus recitation. Note how when he gets to the verse about "fear not," he drops his beloved security blanket. A wonderful example for us all this holiday season!

For additional perspectives on this program, here are two blog posts I've written about in the past: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and "Lessons from A Charlie Brown Christmas."

Waiting for Superman

A few weeks ago, I attended a screening of the new documentary, "Waiting for Superman." I went less for the topic of education reform than to analyze and learn from a well-received documentary film. I had my professional hat on, primarily because this was a film from Participant Media -- a company that does very well with activist films. Though I may not always fully agree with the perspective of their films, I am fascinated by their company structure and have much to learn from them. Plus, I know one of the cinematographers (Erich Roland) and I was eager to see his work.

"Waiting for Superman" is a well-crafted argument for change. It is both an essay film -- the "big idea" film -- and a character-driven story. While it examines the structural problems that have created "dropout factories" among a wide variety of school systems, it also offers some success stories. But what got me was the hunger of the kids to escape the futures that seem to be pre-determined for them. I didn't expect to cry at the conclusion. But I did. Yes, I will admit it. Watching the children work so hard to overcome the roadblocks created by the adults touched me.

I recommend watching this film in order to have a broader knowledge of the problems that plague many schools ... and ultimately our culture and economy. I have to give props to the director, Davis Guggenheim, for being willing to call out adults who have created structures that benefit them to the harm of the students they are charged with educating. We all have a vested interest in changing an educational system that offers protections to inept teachers -- job protections that workers in other industries don't enjoy, either. It's not good market practice and it certainly doesn't equip the next generation.

 

Two Thought-Provoking Documentaries

When I am under a lot of deadlines, this blog does languish. But I gather that all of you have lots to do, too, and probably don't mind my periodic silences! However, I'm back now with two documentaries for recommended viewing. 

The first is called "Dirt! The Movie." What interests me about this film is its mix of worldviews--or, rather, the potential for people with different worldviews to find ideas in this film that they support. This film cites both evolutionary theories and the slogan, "God made dirt and dirt don't hurt." I watched it through the eyes of faith, so I wasn't at all surprised to hear them say that humans are essentially the same as dirt. Or that Earth is the only planet in the universe with a "skin" of dirt. Nevertheless, it's an interesting film to watch because dirt is an element that we take for granted at our peril-- and this documentary presents a clear wake-up call to our neglect. It's informative enough for adults and entertaining enough with its animations to keep the attention of younger children. 

The second film is called "Good Fortune," another documentary I saw first on PBS. This film looks at development efforts in Kenya through the eyes of those who are supposed to be helped. One family is negatively impacted by the slum-upgrading effort by the UN. Another family is negatively impacted by a U.S. business that is bringing large-scale rice farming to the region. As the film portrays it, neither side really seems to be listening to the people whose lives they are affecting. (Which reminds me of one of the key points of the book I reviewed about poverty alleviation, When Helping Hurts.) PopMatters provides a solid synopsis of the film and I've included the trailer below. (The film identifies the U.S. business leaders as Christians and pits their views of progress against the experience of the residents. I looked to see if this business has posted any comment about the film, but found none.) 

I recommend watching this film because we don't often get to hear extended interviews with those who are the focus of so many relief efforts. It is a well-crafted film and helps to shake up our assumptions.

12th & Delaware

Wearing my other hat as a filmmaker, I attended the international premiere of the abortion film, "12th & Delaware," last night at the Hot Docs film festival in Toronto. It is a film about two clinics that are on opposite sides of the street at this Ft. Pierce, FL, intersection. One is an abortion clinic and one is a pro-life pregnancy care center with staff and volunteers that actively protest across the street.

The film is well-crafted, engaging the audience immediately in the subject. It also has tremendous access to the pregnant women who visit both clinics. As a producer, I was amazed that so many women would agree to be on film during such a stressful and pivotal time. The filmmakers spent a lot of time with both clinics and the film feels even-handed in the time it allots to both. It excels as a documentary, offering interesting characters and compelling tension.

Unfortunately, the "interesting characters" are all on the pro-life side. If you are pro-life, you have to admire on some level their dedication to the cause. But there wasn't much humility or grace exhibited, unfortunately, by many of the protesters. At least it was edited to feel that way. As the film progressed, I realized that may be due to the fact that the gospel never seemed to be reference point for these pro-life activists.

Even so, I found myself praying throughout this screening, especially when people snickered at the aborted fetus sign. That was a helpless human being whose lifeless, bloody body was on display. God help us all if that doesn't elicit some sympathy and respect.

The film ends with the statistic that there are some 4,000 pregnancy care centers in the U.S. and only 816 abortion clinics. And that was the focal point of the discussion afterward with the directors, Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing. Just like I was before I became a Christian, these were women working in the media who had never heard of pregnancy centers. I distinctly remember being shocked to find out about them when I began going to church--I didn't know there were any pro-life people who put their money where their mouths were.

And therein lies the offense. In the Q&A afterward, someone asked a question about what happened to the women who decided to continue their pregnancies. The directors said they got no help. All the aid that was promised by the pregnancy center evaporated, they said. That's when a man behind me asked if the directors were going to post "the truth" about these centers on their website. I raised my hand then to offer the perspective that not all centers are like that, but I was never called on.

At the conclusion, I was able to engage the man behind me in a short conversation. I asked if he would like to know my perspective, and I told him I had volunteered for five years with a pregnancy center that was quite dissimilar to the one portrayed (again, assuming an accurate representation). I had been a mentor to four pregnant women, relationships that had gone on for years in most cases. Each woman and her child received all kinds of material and emotional help from me and my church. To his credit, he listened politely and seemed willing to hear me out.

Then I was able to make the same point to co-director Rachel Grady afterward. I offered my sincere congratulations on a fine film, then I asked if she would like to hear my experience. I told her briefly about my years of mentoring work, which ranged from birthing support to baby showers to job networking to legal help with the immigration arrest of one baby's father. I wanted to let her know the center she profiled is not representative of all. She kindly heard me out and thanked me for coming.

I am grateful to have had these opportunities to speak up. My hope is that Rachel will remember this in future presentations and perhaps allow for the fact that not all pregnancy centers are represented in this film. I also hope you fine readers will attend screenings and humbly represent your perspective, however possible, to others present. I believe it is important that gospel-centered, gracious, pro-life people are present at screenings just for this reason.

Finally, we also have a responsibility to make sure the centers we know are accurately representing medical facts, are motivated by the gospel, are avoiding deception, are fulfilling their promises, and are in no way endorsing or justifying the murder of others--even abortion doctors.

Bright Star

I missed it when it was in the theater, but I finally had a chance to see Jane Campion's "Bright Star" on DVD. It is definitely a worthy "costume drama" -- right up there with Miss Austen for my fellow Janeites. It is the story of the 19th-century poet John Keats and his romance with Miss Fanny Brawne. It is sumptuously filmed. And (spoiler alert!), it doesn't hand us the typical Hollywood modern rewrite of romance. Keats shows restraint and unselfish conduct as he cites his conscience and declines to take advantage of Miss Brawne's affections. 

The New York Times listed it among the 10 ten films of 2009, as did numerous other newspapers--and for good reason. It is a beautiful film: well-written and wonderfully detailed in its settings and costumes. Highly recommended! (And here's a tip: my blog template likes to fight the size of embedded videos. Hit the four-arrow icon at the bottom right to see it full-screen.)

'My Dear Mr. Knightley . . . '

My fellow Janeites, please accept my most profuse apologies for neglecting to comment on the latest PBS celebration of all things Jane Austen: Emma. I will be honest that I was on the fence for the first installment. But yesterday's edition began to win me over. In this version, Mr. Knightley's growing interest in Emma is far more evident than in some of the previous editions I've watched. He also comes across less of a father figure. I also think Frank Churchill is more nuanced, as is Jane Fairfax. As for Emma herself, I am not yet completely won over but Romola Garai is making a good show of it.

UPDATE: After the final installment, I have just three words: Best. Knightley. Ever.

If you haven't been able to see any of these new films, you can watch them for a limited time online at PBS. Pour yourself a cup of tea, enjoy the show, and then leave your comment!

King Corn

As we continue our exploration of the changes in the food industry this week, I am grateful for the comment of one woman, Stephanie, who remarked on the last post that there are many hard-working, good-hearted people working in this field to provide feasible solutions for the many challenges of agriculture and food production. It reminded me of the perspective that the producers of another food documentary, "King Corn," introduced toward the end of their film: that many of these changes that we may regret now were introduced with the good intentions of feeding more at a lower cost. Thus, on this topic, we need to follow the Scriptural injunctions to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19), because the one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him (Proverbs 18:17).

"King Corn" is about how corn has become the staple of our diet, because its by-products are in nearly everything we eat. It is an important subject to understand because it may be a key factor in some of the dominant public health issues of recent decades. The filmmakers obviously have a concern about this widespread mutation in our food consumption, but they do include a poignant scene at the end of the film with former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz, who was obviously proud of what he had introduced in the early '70s. In an editorial last year, the filmmakers write about this scene and the juxtaposition of perspectives:

Dr. Butz recounted the birth of the modern food system with pride. Cheap food, fueled by federal production incentives for corn and soy, had quieted protests over expensive meat and eased worries about hunger. It had untied the hands of entrepreneurial farmers who wanted to experiment with economies of scale. And, in a point Dr. Butz returned to several times, it had left Americans with so much disposable income that even kids my age could afford cars. At his alma mater, Purdue University, there was a parking shortage.

For the better part of an hour, Ian and I tried to muster up the courage to challenge a system that spent, from 1995 to 2005 alone, $51 billion subsidizing cheap corn. Why flood the nation with processed commodities that become fast food? Why drive family farms out of business for the sake of grain companies? Why not subsidize fruits and vegetables in place of corn syrup?

But as our meeting went on, I realized that Dr. Butz’s policies of abundance were somehow understandable. When Earl Butz finished college in 1933, it was the middle of the Great Depression; when Ian and I graduated, it was the obesity epidemic. I had never known scarcity, and had little respect for its power.

That's well-stated and it's just one of the many viewpoint conflicts that surround the issue of food. Therefore, I am recommending that you join me as I continue to educate myself on this subject and watch "King Corn." It is available on DVD, from iTunes, and is streaming for free from Netflix. Below is low-quality version of the trailer. If you want a better quality version, click here.

Food, Faith, and the Global Citizen

I can clearly remember my thoughts as a young child when I discovered that not all the world lived the middle-class American lifestyle that I did. My life was the normal one. It was reality to me. Therefore, to discover that others lived far more deprived lives was a shock, but one more in the category of discovering a zoo exhibit. It was "over there," not something that was part of my day-to-day life. 

I had a flashback about this as I watched the reaction that my five-year-old nephew had as he looked at some of the footage from my trip to Africa this past fall. As he processed the fact that some children "over there" were sick and didn't have enough food, he began to cry. Then he ran to tell his sister and brother about it. I was moved by his compassion at a young age. 

At five, however, all my nephew can really do is share his discovery. But as we grow older, I believe compassion requires action. And sometimes action gets right at the core of our assumptions about what "normal life" should be.

Therefore, I'm kicking off a series this week about food and consumption that straddles the perspectives of several communities. For example, I've used the term "global citizen" in the title because I'm intentionally getting at the insulated idea that how we live here, now, is unrelated to the rest of the world and our global witness as believers. Yet, some of these phrases carry the freight of ideologies with which I disagree as a Bible-believing Christian. (Kevin DeYoung's post on the term "social justice," unpacks a bit of this verbal confusion.) Therefore, I am asking for your charitable response as I wander into intersections of nomenclature, ideology, and practice in my attempt to process my initial thinking on these matters.

So, back to "what's normal." Here's my normal: I don't grow any food. I live in a suburban area overrun by deer and anything I plant in the ground is simply opening a deer salad bar. That's true, but what is also true is that I don't have to grow my own food. Ever since I can remember, my food was delivered to me shrink-wrapped or boxed and sitting on a grocery shelf. As I've gotten older, food has only become more convenient. I have no other reference to food except as a consumer. 

And I've never given it any thought. Nor have I made a connection between my consumption habits and how it affects the very people that I am feeling compassion for. I support several charities that provide food and water to needy people in other parts of the world, but have no idea how my "normal" might affect them or how my consumption habits might undermine my Christian witness or even undermine my giving. It's just how I live.

However, over the weekend, I watched an acclaimed documentary called "Food, Inc." It is about the agribusiness industry that has exploded in our lifetimes. Like most good documentaries, it has a very clear point-of-view--which means it is examining an issue in-depth but not necessarily from all sides. (To the filmmakers' credit, they do state they tried to get interviews from all sides.) I highly recommend that you watch it (you can stream it for free from Netflix) and then do your own research . Certainly, it is important to watch because it explains the reason for the growing number of food-borne illnesses and fatalities from bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli--information that affects the health of your family. I will caution you, however, don't watch it before you eat. Some of the images of the beef and chicken industries are quite repulsive. Below is a section of the film (not with the repulsive images) that explains why these contaminations are happening.

If you watch the whole film, you may note one inconsistency that made me laugh out loud: when author Michael Pollan states that cows were designed by evolution to eat grass (not the corn they are force-fed now to make them fatter). Designed ... by evolution?! Designed is right, but the source is wrong. Nevertheless, his point is right. Cows were designed to eat grass (by a wise and loving God, not random, impersonal evolution) and the practice of feeding them grain has many negative by-products. Even so, Pollan makes some good points throughout the film.

So how do we process such information through a biblical grid? Food itself is a major theme in the Scriptures, including how the ways we eat can help or stumble others (I Cor. 8). Obviously, we need to be wary of a selfish entitlement that can arise because of our nation's overall prosperity. Humility should cause us to consider the interests of others as important as our own (Phil. 2:3-4). Toward the end of the documentary, the point is made that our subsidized agribusiness artificially lowers the price of some commodities, which hurts regional growers in other nations and contributes to food scarcity. As women, we need to consider that in a mechanized world, looking well to the way of our household (Prov. 31:27) may include becoming informed about such complicated issues. Equally as important is the biblical principle that what is honest is done in the light and that evil deeds are hidden in the dark. It is clearly evident from the legal chokehold that many leading companies in the agribusiness industry are not operating in the light. 

At the end of the documentary, the filmmakers remind viewers that as consumers we carry a big stick. We can demand changes and affect corporate actions by what we do or do not purchase. This is highlighted in the dramatic movie trailer (which is a lot more hyped up than the actual film, and my apologies that the one I could embed is low quality).

I look forward to your feedback on both this topic and the film itself.

Pilgrim: The Musical

I'm interrupting my holiday blogging break to let you all know about a DVD that my family and I watched on Christmas night that encouraged us all. Based on the classic book, Pilgrim's Progress, this new stage musical called "Pilgrim" is the brainchild of Janice Mays and Cathy Mays, two generations of talented theater professionals. The songs were written by the likes of Bob Kauflin, Mark Altrogge, and Zach Jones, among others. The music is memorable and the message timeless in this well-produced show. It's also a refreshing and meaningful reminder not to grow weary in this life. By the time Christian arrived in the Celestial City, not a dry eye could be found in our house as we contemplated the promise of heaven!

 

The DVD is available from the Sovereign Grace Store. Scripts and performances rights will be available soon from Christian Theatre Arts.

I'm taking the rest of the week off to enjoy my visit with my nieces, so I'll return to this space after the New Year, Lord willing. Happy holidays!