Kathleen Ross- Crisis of Self?

This class wasn't my cup of tea, I can admit that. The semester I feel i have a a crisis of self if you will or even a crisis of faith. I don't claim to be religious, although somedays I think having that guiding factor could help. This semester I struggled with wanting to please everyone that I forgot what I wanted. As graduation has approached I finally think I have it under control and no one could walk over me, even if the tried. This class, while not my favorite has opened my eyes on other ways to veiw situations. Even if I didn't like the movie we saw that week, once I was removed from being forced to watch it I was able to find some message in it that I could use in my life. With Graduation pending and only days away I now at least know what I path I want to charge down and am making strides towards getting there. Good Luck to all the other graduates and to those who still have time left, cherish it. Dont over analyze anything and love who you are.

Kathleen Ross- Spiderman 3

So I was dragged to see Spiderman 3. I've seen the other two and enjoyed them but people were giving the 3rd one a bad rap. The movie was too long and the conficts between the Sandman, Venom and Spiderman kind of played a secondary role to the true conflict in my mind. I think the real conflict was an internal one. Much like Hirata in Cold Fever. When spiderman decided that he wanted to marry MaryJane he aunt told him that to be married you had to put in front of yourself. The orginially thought he was ready to do that but as the movie painfully wears on her realizes he's not and before it knows it, looses her because of it. This internal fight that spideman goes through I found to be intriguing. Like Hirata in cold fever its almost like he has a lack of faith in himself. Spiderman turns into this cold, sly version of himself and creates havoc on those around him. While Hirata didn't necessarily turn cold, he was cold to start with and treated his journey as a burden.

Kathleen Ross- Karma

Karma to me isn't necessarily a religious thing but I do believe definitly deals with the spiritual side of things and in this class we talked extensively about spirituality , at least i personally feel this way. I have to say this semester by far was one of the hardest ever. Not necessarily in terms of class work, although it wasn't easy but more so personally. My life changed in more ways than one and I struggled to find the reasoning behind the changes and one day I just decided it was Karma. I bought some books on it and slowly began to see that maybe this was the universes way of telling me to wake up and take account for my actions and what I say. So i jumped on the bandwagon and remind myself daily that what comes around goes around. That I should never act negatively or cause harm on other because although I may not see the reprocusions immediatly in time they will come. So far my quest for better Karma has been sucessful. I no longer sweat the small stuff or worry about the future. I take things as they come day to day and do things to benefit myself as well as extend a helping hand. You never know when you may need a little help.

Kathleen Ross- Eternal Sunshine

The film Eternal Sunshine isn't something a would normally veiw in my spare time. In fact most of the movies in this class aren't something I would view. However I am coming to learn that I may like more things than I think and I should just go with the flow as I did with this movie. I liked that the movie focused on a person's ability to effect ones path and life or whether is its predetermined. Like many others have already stated I like that the movie seems to say that both are possible. Which I personally has some truth in it. The relationship between Joel and Clementine is one that is rather typical, starting out well ending in a breakup. I like how they showed that even when their minds were erased and choices were changed on both parites behalf, when the two meet again they are drawn together and again fall in love. This action denotes that fate is as much of a life indicator as choice is. I personally feel that everyone has a plan given to them in some form and that over time your own choices depict how the plan forms as time goes on but no matter what their will always be something things that just happen, just because.

Kathleen Ross- Spirited Away

Spirited Away was an interesting moving to say the least. I can't say that japanses anime is really my thing and the plot of this movie was so strange. Everytime you though it was over is just kept going. I do like the life lessons that were protrayed in the film though, outside of the crazy charcters and weird voice overs. I was intrigued as to how they incorporated the seven deadly sins, mainly gluttony in the first bit of the movie. How the nosey parents just decided to partake and partake and partake without permission until they were essentially turned into the pigs they had been eating like. I also like how the theme of gluttony was continually carried out with all the servants wanting gold from the stinking spirit and how they claimed the little girls friend, I can't remember his name out the moment, wanted to steal the powers of the two sisters, the one who ran the bathhouses and the one who was the sweet grandmother.

Kathleen Ross- Bridge to Terabithia

I was a little slow on the uptake and didn't actually see Bridge to Terabithia with the rest of the class but did make it to see it later that week. My roommate was nice enough to see it, although I fogot to tell her the little girl died in the end, she wasn't too pleased about that point. Its funny cause I read this book back when I was in elementary school and had to see it when the made a movie of it. Even though I hadn't see the the movie in year it still remembered the plot once the movie got going. I think this movie provides a great bridge between fantasy and reality which a majority of this class has focused on. Just like in Big Fish where Edward's stories become his life the two kids in this move did much of the same. They created and enviroment where they were the kings and life was their own. Although i struggled finding the religious symbolism in the movie, the creepy men sitting being my roommate and I provided to be a bit of a distraction, i enjoyed the message the movie brought to me. That life is what you make of it, live each day as you wish it to be, and never leave someone you love beind, you never know when you make not get to see them again.

Anna Backens - Spirited Away

I thought that this film had some great, underlying lessons. One most particularly that stood out to me was the way gluttony was portrayed. The huge, dirty-filled spirit that visited the bathhouse to be cleansed originally was tired and appeared to be hurting but after the main character, the hero, found the plugged in his side, an incredible amount of garbage came out and the spirit returned to its' natural state. This appeared to portray the idea,that hording eventually leads to destruction of the self and possibly to others. After the spirit was "cleansed" by the bath and was relieved of the weight of the garbage that was weighing it down, the bathhouse was seen as a place of refuge for it. The main character throughout, was struggling to find her parents, eventually finding that they had turned into pigs because they had feasted too much. Again, the idea of gluttony and the lack of self control was a theme. The artistry and imagery was fascinating to see. The creativity and colors were brilliant as well. Japanese anime is an interesting combination between providing a venue for imagination and and a platform for learning important parts of life. As the main character continued in faith to find her parents, she endured temptation and danger, teaching that worldly treasures, can have disastrous results. The character refused gold offered on many occasions by one of the spirits, whom she showed kindness to. Others took the gold and sometimes lost their lives to it. I saw here that the indulgence to greed does not reward.

Scott Springmann - Spider-man 3

****Spoiler Warning****
This blog describe much of the plot in detail, so unless you have seen the movie or don't mind it being spoiled, don't read it yet!







I saw a midnight showing of Spider-man 3 last night, and actually found that there was a lot of religious symbolism. Much of the story revolves around fighting the “darkness within” which can be thought of as the sins that people commit within the movie. As the movie continues it emphasizes forgiveness and putting things right.
We start by seeing Peter Parker’s popularity as Spider-man at an all-time high. This goes to Peter’s head, as we see him constantly talking about himself whenever he is with his girlfriend, Mary Jane. He is so obsessed with his own popularity that he is neglecting the needs and feelings of Mary Jane.

Peter Parker’s best friend Harry Osborne is consumed by rage towards Peter because Harry believes that he killed his father. He has made it his goal to take revenge on Peter no matter what.

Eddie Brock is a new photographer in town who becomes Peter’s rival at the Daily Bugle and is determined to do whatever is necessary to muscle out Parker. His girlfriend is Peter’s lab partner, Gwen Stacey.

Flint Marko is an escaped convict who turned to crime to get money so that he can help his sick daughter get well. He is also haunted by the memory of the man he killed in a crime gone bad a few years earlier, Peter’s uncle Ben.

Through out this movie these characters all do terrible things to each other, and each one has a decision to make about how they will react.

Toward the beginning of the movie Harry attacks Peter, and a battle above the streets ensues, ending with Harry seriously injured and going to the hospital. After he recovers, Harry has temporary memory loss and doesn’t even remember how his father died. Peter uses this as an opportunity to rebuild his friendship with Harry.

Soon after Peter takes Mary Jane out to dinner with the intention of asking her to marry him, but messes it up by not talking to her about the things in her life. Tensions rise even further when Peter’s lab partner Gwen shows up at the restaurant and says hi to Peter.

Sin in this movie is personified in the symbiote, an amorphous creature that crashes to earth in a meteorite and eventually bonds itself to Peter. The symbiote suit amplifies Peter’s powers, but also increases aggression and hostility, feeding off of these emotions. Peter puts on the suit after hearing that Flint Marko, his uncle’s true killer has escaped from prison. Peter then confronts Flint, who has acquire the power to turn into sand, and throws him into a water pipe believing that he killed him.

Mary Jane feels abandoned by Peter since he is so consumed with being Spider-man and she decides to spend more time with Harry instead. Mary Jane ends up kissing Harry, a mistake she regrets almost immediately. Harry then recovers his memory, and in an attempt to get back at Peter, he forces Mary Jane to break up with him, saying that there is someone else.

Peter is enraged at Mary Jane and Harry, and since he is wearing the symbiote suit his anger and aggression are elevated. He confronts Harry and a fight ensues with Peter seriously injuring and permanently scarring Harry.

Peter’s rivalry with Eddie Brock also heats up as they are both vying for the same position at the Daily Bugle. The position goes to Eddie when he sells Jonah a picture of Spider-man robbing an armored truck. Peter realizes that the pictures are fakes and tells Eddie that he is going to expose him. Despite Eddie’s pleas not to tell his boss, Peter shows him proof that the pictures were fakes, which permanently ruins Eddie’s career.

He then decides to humiliate MJ by taking Gwen Stacey on a date to the jazz club where MJ works. He does a sensual dance number with Gwen right in front of MJ, and when Gwen realizes that he did it to embarrass her; she is ashamed and apologizes to MJ. Peter then tries to talk to Mary Jane, but her boss and some bouncers intervene. A fight ensues which ends with Peter hitting and knocking down MJ. Horrified by what he just did, Peter runs off and resolves to get rid of the suit. He tries to rip the suit off, but it won’t come off that easily. He struggles with getting it of in the belfry of a church when in his struggle, he accidentally hits the bell. The sound resounding from the bell is too much for the suit, and it weakens enough that Peter can easily rip it off. As he does so it falls down into the church and onto Eddie, who was there praying for God to kill Peter. In the next scene we see Peter in the shower, cleansing himself from the sins that had committed.

In the finale we see Eddie, now powered by the symbiote, team up with flint and they kidnap Mary Jane and start terrorizing the city in the hope to lure out spider-man. Peter knows that he can’t beat them alone, so he asks Harry for help. Harry, now with scarring all over his face from his fight with Peter, refuses. His mind is change when his butler reveals to him that his father wasn’t killed by spider-man, but that he had killed himself. Here we see forgiveness as Harry joins Peter in the battle. They manage to save Mary Jane and Peter has to face off with Eddie. He devises a clever plan to get the symbiote suit off of Eddie and he uses one of Harry’s grenades to destroy it, but Eddie, consumed by his anger and vengeance, tries to rejoin with the suit just as the bomb goes off, and he is destroyed.

After this we see that Flint has given up the fight. He talks to Peter about the night that he killed his uncle, saying that he regretted it every day. Peter then forgives him for what he did.

The themes of sin and forgiveness are powerful in this movie and particularly echo many of the teachings of Jesus. The movie shows everyone hurting someone else, and also shows what a good thing forgiveness was, and compares that with what happens when we let anger and greed consume us. I really like the movie, despite that certain parts were over-the-top cheesy, and I think that there some great messages that are taught.

Scott Springmann - The Jacket

I originally was not enthusiastic about watching this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it. I had heard that it wasn’t a particularly good movie, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was extremely interesting to me to see how Adrian Brody’s character would enter into this ecstatic state, in which he would see visions of the future, and then used those to change his past. It made me think about the question: "If you could know your future, would you want to, and would you change it?" This question has been explored in numerous stores, but I still find it to be an interesting question. In the Jacket, Adrian Brody's charater chooses to change the Future, but he doesn't do it for himself. He does it for a little girl that he met in the past, and he makes her life better in the future. It was this selfless act that allowed him to join her in the future.

Scott Springmann - Jesus Camp

I expected to watch this movie and get really angry at the people being interviewed in it. The movie is a documentary about several children who go to a summer camp that is put on by a conservative Pentecostal children’s minister. At this camp these children are taught about the Bible and sin and evil, but they also are indoctrinated with the political views of the people teaching. We see people teaching that Harry Potter is evil, we see people talking about how global warming isn’t a huge deal, and then we see them teaching the children about how abortion is wrong. Later in the movie they bring the kids to Washington D.C. to protest abortion. They almost worship George Bush, and spend a lot of time praying that he will appoint “righteous judges” to the Supreme Court that will overturn abortion. There is a scene of them praying and repeating the words “righteous judges” over and over. As the movie continues, we see a few of the kids from the camp who profess Jesus and claim to believe a lot of things, but you can tell that they are just repeating what they have been told over and over. As we saw more and more into the kids’ lives, we could just see that they wanted to be normal kids. In the end the anger I felt towards the ultra-conservative people was outweighed by how much I felt sorry for the kids. I would love to see where these kids end up in the future.

Scott Springmann - Decalogue 5

This film was extremely compelling, much like the first one. This particular film was based upon the commandment “Thou shalt not kill” a weaves a narrative in which at first we see a young man murder a loathsome taxi driver for no apparent reason. We then see his trial and witness the defense case made by his lawyer. As we go through the defense, we see the lawyer get to know his client really well, and we see the client in a human light. The lawyer ends up losing the case and the murderer is sentenced to death. We see the cycle of killing continue as the murderer is forced into the hangman’s noose, and we feel sympathetic towards him. The film ends with the lawyer crying in his car and yelling “I abhor it!” talking about the cycle of death, and the death penalty in general. This particular film takes an obvious stance against the death penalty and it shows how violence begets more violence.

Scott Springmann - Decalogue 1

This was brilliant! In this short film we see an allegorical story played out that is designed to explain the first commandment: “I AM the LORD your God, thou shalt not have any other gods before me.” In the story we see a father who does not believe in God, raising his son, who has started to ask questions about death and God. Tells his son that there is no God, but does allow for his sister to teach him about Catholic doctrine. The father, a computer programmer, begins putting his faith into computers and believes that they can achieve a level of perfection. He has a computer at home that he programmed and he works extensively on it. This computer is his god, a graven image that he made for himself and worship. At one point the computer produces the phrase “I AM READY.” I AM is what God calls himself when he reveals himself in the burning bush. One day the son asks his father if it is ok to skate on the ice outside, the father makes calculations on the computer to see how thick the ice is. He figures out that it is safe for someone five times his son’s size to go out on the ice, so he lets his son go ice skate. Later that day he can’t find his son and eventually realizes that his son fell through the ice and died. The films ends with us seeing the father as he cries before the god that failed him. This film made a compelling story based up the first commandment and is truly a great film.

Scott Springmann - Spirited Away

I found this movie to be fascinating. The different representations of spirits in a Japanese perspective were particularly interesting to watch. We saw different embodiments of spirits that represented different things and I found it interesting that the spirits were drawn having actual physical bodies and that the spirits would go to a bathhouse to be cleansed. In western culture we tend to think of spirits as amorphous vapors that don’t really interact much with society. One of my favorite scenes was when they had to cleanse the “stink spirit” but when they actually cleaned it they found out that it was actually the spirit of a polluted river. I found this to be a very interesting commentary on the pollution that we have in our world.

Scott Springmann - Eternal Sunshine

This is one of my favorite films. There is so much symbolism in there as well as good messages that come out of the story. I’m sure that most people have things from their past that they would prefer not to remember, but in this movie we see people who decide to erase those memories. The main characters, Joel and Clementine, were in a relationship for two years when they decided that they couldn’t stand each other anymore, so they have each other erased from their memories. However, as Joel soon finds out, they end up taking away all of the happy memories as well. We also see some of the negative effects of the procedure through the employees of the Lacuna Corp. One of the employees of the corporation had had an affair with the head doctor and then they had her memory of it erased. She then repeated her previous actions resulting in greater emotional damage to everyone involved. The fact that she repeated her actions also brings up the idea of fate. This is also seen in the fact that Joel and Clementine meet again and get back together after they have their memories erased. These people are tampering with fate and trying to change it, but ultimately end up repeating it. The original ending to the movie had an older Clementine getting her memory erased again, and we see she has an extensive file in which she is has had her memory erased many times, each one because of Joel. This can be seen as a warning to take things as they come and not to forget your past.

Scott Springmann - Religion in video games

Throughout time mankind has developed different mediums through which it can communicate. This class has been looking at the concept of religion as it is communicate through the medium of film, but I would briefly like to talk about how religion can also be communicated through video games. There has been a very recent debate going on as to whether or not video games can be considered art. Recent developments in graphics and gameplay as well as improved storytelling have allowed more potential for innovative and fun games that can use the element of gameplay to allow the player to experience different themes in a new way. Religion is one such theme that often appears in video games

An example of this can be found in the Legend of Zelda series. The series itself can be thought of as an elaborate mythology in which an evil presence conquers the world, and a good savior figure appears to rescue it. The themes in this series vary from game to game, and the gameplay of each game factors into the overall story. One of the games, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, occurs in an end of the world setting in which the player has three days to prevent the moon from crashing into the earth. The gameplay employs a mechanic which the player uses to repeat the same three days over and over again in order to accomplish his task. This brings up the idea of sacred time that we discussed in class, but adds in the twist that at the end of this time there is the end of the world. The main character must cause time to repeat itself in order to prevent the end of the world, but in doing so he is stuck outside of time. For everyone else in the game this time before the cataclysm is sacred and meaningful, but for the main character, its just another chance to prevent the end.

This is just one example of how religion can be conveyed through the medium of video games. The player is able to experience this in a new way by playing through it and becoming one of the characters rather than simply reading or watching it.

Scott Springmann - 300

I saw this movie twice in the theater and neither time did I see much in the way of religion in it. Mostly it was just manly Spartans who defended Greece by killing lots of Persians. But after thinking about it I did think that there was one part in which I could see a religious aspect. At the end of the movie when the Spartans are surrounded by the Persians, Xerxes tells Leonidas that he will have mercy and even make him his warlord if he would just kneel and swear allegiance to him. At this point Leonidas takes off his helmet, and dropped his shield and his spear, and kneeled to Xerxes. The reason he did this was that the helmet obscured his vision, the shield threw him off-balance, and he kneeled so that he would be able to catch Xerxes off-guard and hit him with a throw of the spear and showing them that he was not divine. In Ancient Greek culture the armor of a Greek nobleman was an important source of honor and pride. However, in order to hit Xerxes and expose him as a false god, Leonidas had to give up his source of honor and drop to a position of absolute humility. When I thought about this I drew comparisons to Christ and his humility in laying down his life. At the end of the movie when Leonidas is dead, we even see that he has fallen in a cross position, showing him to be a Christ figure.

Anna Backens - Reconciliation?

What is real reconciliation? The technical term of the process is "the process of making consistent or compatible". I was recently in a discussion where there was question about what it means to reconcile with another. Someone brought up the topic that reconciling being able to understand another's perspective and then working with that. Then another person in the conversation said that reconciliation is forgiving someone. To me, it seemed like these two perspectives seem to be extremes of the process in a way. Just accepting another is not really reconciling with them after a disagreement or wrongdoing has occurred, it is avoidance or lack of confrontation. On the other hand, forgiveness seems to infer a self-denial of one's self. I think that reconciliation contains both actions but might not be entirely one or the other. The definition of reconciliation has been left so wide and vague, it is difficult to understand fully how then to be reconciled to one another. It can be both an agreement by the physical, symbolic showing of "shaking hands" to show that there are "no hard feelings" persons, but it also seems like a spiritual-like agreement of the hearts takes place as well for reconciliation to be complete. Avoidance and compromise, only justify inaction and do not seem to account for reconciliation.

Anna Backens - Noah's Ark mini series

There is a point when media becomes too involved as a storyteller for society and takes on the role, "interpreter", instead of simply that of entertaining. I recently, in my opinion, watched a distorted interpretation of the book of Noah in a mini series entitled, "Noah's Ark". It was advertised for several weeks as a drama-filled, action series that contained historical content of the Biblical scriptures. It was disturbing to see the show because of what appeared to be a misinterpretation and deviation from Biblical scriptures. Firstly, the movie began with Lot and Noah both traveling on the boat that Noah built, historically, this is inaccurate by several generations. Another twist in the plot that was not in line was the role of Noah's wife. When discouraged by the animals on the boat, or just out of frustration, she tried tossing them overboard, almost fanatically. Another interesting interpretations that I saw when viewing was that Noah, during the latter part of his journey, was met by almost to be what appeared a "pirate-like" boat. At this point, the movie's script was did not continue on a continual pattern but was filled with many plot problems. I think that films like this convey how fantasy and storytelling when combined with historical records and data can become so intertwined that the two become one story.

Nathan Davis

I have always found it quite strange how different people see God or thier particular religion. I find myself thinking about the major religions of the world and how similar they are as far as the stories and the people involved. i often question could all these Gods be the same person, just interpreted different throughout the world? I don't think i can ever get a concrete answer but i always think about that question when i think of religion and i often wonder which one is right.... that is a long and tough question to answer too.. i also find myself thinking as the little kid in the first decalouge. questions like who created the universe and or who created them, or whats beyond the universe and beyond that....

Jeff Pfeiffer -- Free choice

I just met with Kip for lunch to discuss what I am suppose to do after I graduate. I was hoping he could tell me what I am suppose to with my life. Our conversation was very interesting. We talked about God's plan and I began to understand better what that means. God's plan is not necessarily a specific path or even a specific thing. His plan is for us to be seeking him in whatever we choose to do. To explain more there is no right or wrong decision only a right and wrong way of pursuing the choice we make. This makes the decision process much less stressful because ultimately what I choose to do is irrelevant. That is unless God has made it clear what exactly he wants or if one of the choices is sinful ergo 'wrong'. God's plan is not a paved road that leads to a particular natural place. Just as long as we seek him in the choice we make. Therefore when we face a decision we should not need worry much about either or but to seek him in the path of our choosing. Since his plan is to bless us and use us wherever we are. After all when we take an eternal perspective my choice of whether I do business or go to Israel doesn't matter. The father of a close friend said before he died, "Nothing else matters but to live in the light of eternity." If I'm seeking the Lord than I will find him wherever I am. Therefore if we are seeking out the Lord in all things (as we should) we cannot choose wrongly because there is no wrong choice!! Our fulfillment than does not come from what we do but from how we do it. For example, I could choose either business or Israel or any other path for that matter and still successfully fulfill God's intent for my life as long as I pursue Him in that choice. The choice then is ours, it is left to me to chose, and to choose freely without fear of deferring from the Lord's providence. I may now with this realization joyfully choose the option I most desire instead of living in angst and stress while wondering what God would have me do. That is to say as much that God is not concerned with my selection, His concern lies only in how I pursue the choice I make. This is the character of God, because He allows us to find Him in our joys, as Christians, we follow our hopes, dreams, and desires rather than following order and laws.

Jeff Pfeiffer - Sunshine Movie

In this film starring Jim Carry, there is a similar theme that has been reaccurring in many of the films seen in class. It is another movie that foundation can be discribed to existential thought.
The movie is about a man, Jim Carry, who finds out that his ex-lover has purposefully erase him from her mind. So in an effort to get back at her and to stop his suffering he has her erased from his memory. During the process Jim decides that he would rather not continue and tries to find a way out of dream he is stuck in while the doctor erases his memory. The doctor here represents a possessive and controlling god figure. By the end of the movie Jim realizes a lot of things when it comes to facing his life, such as to live in the moment.
The class discussion afterward was very interesting. Kip used the work of Kirkegaard to express some of the existential ideas expressed in the film. I seem to have taken a liking to the concept of existentialism and with Kirkegaard, and have been doing some research on my own about it.

Jeff Pfeiffer - The Jacket

In class one week we watch the film, The Jacket, which was a great yet somewhat disturbing film. The movie is about a guy who is accused of a crime he did not commit. Yet unfortunatly he was injured in the event and can not remember what happen. The court sentences him to a mental hospital where a doctor performs usual and illegal experiments on him. He shoots the main character up with some sort of drug that causes him to hallucinate and locks him in a coroner's corpse cabinet. During these experiments the main character finds that he is able to travel into the future. While in the future he reconnects with a little girl from his past who is now grown and who also tells him that is going to die. The main character becomes obsessed with finding out how this will occur so that he may avoid it. The interesting aspect of the film is the transformation the character goes through. By the end of the movie he is no longer trying to save his own life but to help the girl he loves save her mother.

The film reminded me of another film called The Butterfly Effect. I think both show a human desire to control the outcomes of our lives but can't. This is something that a person must come to peace with to ever encounter the Divine because he is also outside our control

Nathan Davis Mysterium and Tremendum

i was in virginia beach last night playing a softball game and expierenced the mysterium and tremendum aspect we have discussed. we were all sitting around the house bummed out becaused we thought the rain was going to force the game to be cancelled and it was about a foot of rain at my house in virginia beach. upon arriving to the field which is only 5 minutes away from my house we notice a bright beam of sunshine shinning directly on the field we were getting ready to play on. all of my friends were in such shock and i tried to explain what the beam was and they looked at me like i was an idiot. but it was through this class that i came to realize when unexplainable things like that happens. the whole sky was dark and it was raining all around us but for the first 20 minutes of the game the sun was shining directly on our field.

Anna Backens - outside reading - The Power of Crying Out

I have recently been reading small portions of a devotional called, "The Power of Crying Out", which contains different aspects of prayer and the process people undergo as they pray. The book draws very expansive boundaries for prayer; it doesn't box in one to a ritual but more of a desire to pray. The author states that man is suppose to "cry out" to God during times of prayer. He specifies that "crying out" is not to be taken in the literal sense but it can be interpreted as more of the meaning of the form. Also, the it was mentioned that as individuals pray, they then are able to understand and are given faith as an in exchange for their prayers. Much of society today is busy and the thought of faith is sometimes a fleeting one and to have trust in something other than yourself can be very difficult. Self-reliance is a large part of life and interactions. People trust in themselves because they feel they know themselves, but oddly, in the context of the Bible, it says that God knows the number of hairs on a man's head. An unusual notion to think that another knows you better than you know yourself.

Ben Cook - Religion in Film

This class has been one of my favorites to go to. That's not just because we watch a movie every time but it's because I have learned to appreciate movies as a work of art. This has also ruined some movies for me though. If a movie has no intentions and is just stupidity for 2 hours there is not much to appreciate, except for maybe the laughs. I am just trying to say that this class has caused me to look a little deeper into the movies that I watch. My paper, for example, was about Batman Begins. Before I just watched that movie and enjoyed it but after writing a paper about the transformation of Bruce Wayne, I appreciate the movie so much more. It's nice to know you can take so much out of a movie and not just waste 2 hours in front of a tv screen. Sometimes they have some sort of redeeming quality that you can use later in life.

Ben Cook - Graduation

I can't believe this year is coming to an end. It is my final year of college and it has flown by so quickly. This year has been interesting because I have been hanging out primarily with people that are younger than me. I guess there is not many people older than me so this is necessary. That makes this whole graduation thing so much harder though. All of my closest friends this year are younger and I find myself wishing I would be around longer so I could keep hanging out with them. The other side of me though can't wait to get out because I hate school. I have never really been a big fan of class and I can't wait for it to end. Graduation is such a bittersweet time for me.

Ben Cook - Spirted Away

I have never been a big fan of anime and never thought it would find myself enjoying an anime film but I will admit that I was very entertained by Spirited Away. The girl character was so likable and the creatures were so interesting. It kept you on your toes because you really had no idea what was going to come next. The most random part of the movie was by far when the woman asked to be called 'granny.' I don't really know what I want to take away from the movie or if there is anything for me to take away other than it entertained me for the 2 hours we watched it. Maybe I will remember something from it later that I can apply to my life but as of right now I will just say it was entertaining.

Ben Cook - Decalogue 1

This movie has stuck with me since I saw it. We do put so many things in front of God, especially technology. The father had put his faith in the calculations of his computer and it ended up having eternal consequences. It was powerful way to convey that humans are putting there faith in things of this world when it should be put in things that are bigger than us. We created a computer and all the programs that come with it, why then would we want to place all of our faith and trust in something made by human hands? It is a powerful question that this movie poses and I haven't stopped thinking about it since.

Nathan Davis Decalouge #1

This film was interesting in the way that it showed how humans try to overrule God in a sense. God is usually the controlling factor, but as we see in the film the father and the kid tried to predict how thick the ice was to see if it was safe to skate on. Although the measurements on the computer showed that the ice should be thick enough God intervened and the result was the child falling throgh the ice. there were also a number of symbolic elements in this film such as the computer, with the ability to calculate and even speak as if it had human feelings. The computer said to the scientist "I am ready" maybe showing that death was near or the idea of being ready to die. The little kid is also fascinated with the meaning of life and his aunt was very religious, but his father was not. his father would give im defintitions of what death is such as the heart stops beating as opposed to what the son really wanted to hear, such as a more philosophical answer. The major question i had about the film was why so much emphasis was placed on the computer and why was the father so opposed to religious aspects.

Princess Mononoke - gordon mallonee

The movie Princess Mononoke is a movie about acceptance of life and cooperation between Nature and the world of Men. The character in the on Natures side are Princess Mononoke, the wolves, Nago who is a demon the Boars and the Forest Spirit. Lady Eboshi and her people built iron town and have cut down much of the forest and pull iron from the ground taking from the earth but never giving back. Ashitaka is a man that lives in both worlds and tries to bring them together with peace. Nago invaded Ashiaka’s land and was killed by the man but not before spreading his blight. Ashitaka was banned from his home and set out to discover the source of the evil and stop it. Threw out the movie Ashitaka fights evil and tries to spread good wherever he goes. He is searching for the spirit of the forest who in the end is able to cure Ashitaka of the cure from the demon Nago. In his journeys he meets Princess Mononoke who is a girl of the same age that has been raised by wolves. The wolves are gods and protectors of the forest spirit. They fight against Lady Eboshi who is trying to kill the forest spirit and give its head to the emperor. The movie shows the constant struggle between man and nature with a bit of a love story in it.

Sabina Holtby - Roadkill

I want to be a mythologist. I love the idea of making up a story and telling a story of purity and justice and mercy to anyone who will listen and pointing them on to harmony. Why do I need a college degree for this?
I strive to live in a world of seeing not only a single reality but to see every person’s reality. I tend to ignore the facts and embrace my emotions. I am learning how important it is to understand reality in order to create myth. I spent a bunch of time ignoring my own reality hoping that it would disappear, but now that I have unpacked the boxes in my mind and begun to understand my own reality I am learning that I can use that reality to understand the possibility of another reality and be a whole person as I enter them.
I have been told that I can be like a child sitting in the middle of traffic with my eyes and ears closed assuring myself that if I can’t see it, it is not there. As I moved from the interstate I have become more whole and more able to engage myself and learn about realities other than my own.

Sabina Holtby - A Desire to Know

I was involved in a group that I would consider a cult last year. I consider myself a Christian and while I was involved in this group they manipulated me into thinking that I was not a Christian unless I belonged to the group, they also attacked other strong Christians who I know from my life.
“What is going to happen to those who want to know but they can’t?” it’s a line from The Seventh Seal. It was as if my own thoughts had been slung up on the projection screen. Once I left the group I spent moths trying to know again. A verse that I was told, Romans 8:16 “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.” It was difficult to discern what my spirit was saying, I wanted to know so badly but I didn’t know.
I identified so much with Block’s character who was searching for the answers but unlike his character I did not want rational proof of my salvation I wanted spiritual, emotional, irrational confirmation.

Sabina Holtby - The Seventh Seal

“Love is the blackest of plagues and you don’t even die of it.” A line from The Seventh Seal it has really stuck with me since we watched the film. The film was very haunting; there was much symbolism and powerful dialogue. The images of Michael as an actor spoke particularly powerfully to me as a theater major. Michael had his eyes open to many realities which in the end lead to his safety and symbolically his harmony.
Love is so frightening. It is in many ways the blackest of plagues because it can consume your life, it was funny to see the different representations of love, especially the religious group who were whipping themselves in an attempt to cure the land of the plague. They claim that they were hurting themselves out of love for their neighbor but they do not have love for themselves for themselves so for them it has become a plague.
“Idols are things we can touch and feel and know” This line was super powerful because it was such a simple truth. The people in the film were all worshiping something different but all were tangible things. Many worshiped their health, obviously with the background of the story being the plague stricken country. The characters in The Seventh Seal were all very well developed and powerful characters.

Sabina Holtby - Children's Literature

For my research paper I read an article about children’s literature. The article was very interesting. It talked about how adults write children’s literature and use it to push their children in the direction that they wish they had pursued. They put their values into the pure world of children’s literature and hope that those ideas will be instilled in the children and they will be able to accomplish the harmony that they could not.
I read a book called Mandy this year and it was about a little girl who lives in an orphanage and one day she climbs over a wall that boarders the orphanage’s property. When she leaves her world she is in the forest and she stumbles on an old house, at first she is afraid but soon she enters the house and finds that there is an entire room in the house that is made of mother of pearl, the author, Julie Edwards, describes this place in great detail with an affection for the place that makes it evident that she had often dreamt of finding such an escape. This house represents for Mandy an escape from the old stone building that she shares with thirty other children. She takes great care in making the place her own and she makes it more and more beautiful every time she visits. This is an excellent piece of children’s literature and it uses the concept of another world very well.

Sabina Holtby - Till We Have Faces

I have been in the process of reading Until We Have Faces for about a year now and I am still not finished with the book, my friend’s mother suggested that I read the book so I went out and bought it. I think C.S. Lewis is a brilliant story teller and this book is no exception. It is a beautiful fable or as it is called ‘a myth retold.’ As I have discussed many times previously, myth is a way for a story teller to point the listeners in a direction. This work is unique because the story has already been told, so the way to see which direction the mythologist is pointing is to see what he added or subtracted.
Lewis tells the story from the view of one of Psyche’s sisters who cannot understand love or anything supernatural. Psyche brings her sister to a palace built by her lover and her sister cannot see it, she is unable to be a part of this world that is out of the realm of natural. This coincides with my paper which asserts that when a person’s mind can be opened to the idea of a second reality, the reality is strengthened and it becomes more real. If the sister could open her eyes to this other realness then she would be free from her ignorance of love.

Sabina Holtby - Reflections on The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The topics covered in class have been very relevant in my life. It amazes me how I walk into class and the lecture before the film is always something that has been on my mind all week. This is especially true of the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. I had been working on figuring out my emotions, identifying them and naming them. When the lecture began I was amazed at how the material spoke right into my life.
When the film began I was drawn in by the almost documentary style camera work and the raw reality feel of the film. It was about real people who were struggling to do the right thing and to live their lives the best they could. The interesting thing about the movie was in spite of the feeling of ‘raw reality’ the film was largely psychological, meant to let you feel rather than know. It was interesting to see how the characters minds worked.
It is very frightening to let someone see how your mind works. I discovered this about myself earlier this year, I have always thought that I was afraid of thinking, but I am really afraid of thinking with others. That is one reason we need film and other arts, so that we can feel less alone, like we can know that other people feel the same way you do even if you cannot express it.

Gordon Mallonee - Koyaabusqatsi / not sure if it worked the first tiem

The film Koyaabusqatsi has an interesting approach at gaining the viewers attention and getting the meaning across to them. The film portrays the destruction of nature threw human societal build up. It starts off with showing an image of a rocket taking off into space. There is also an image before the rocket of a painting of people drawn on a rock. It looks very primitive. Then the film shows the beauty of nature through the landscapes of different places. The first interaction with humans is a big tractor work the land. Human culture is based around agriculture and because of agriculture the world has been able to reach levels of human population that it should never have been able to and as a result nature is being taken over.

A good example that the film uses to show that nature if being taken over by humans is when the full moon is shown moving through the sky and is then eclipsed by a skyscraper. This portrays the idea that humans can block out nature and no longer need it to be here. The buildings in different scenes where shown reflecting images of nature in its windows. This gives the impression that the buildings are the new nature, a human made nature. More of this human made nature can be seen when images of cars on the interstate are driving. They all look like worker bees or ants going about their jobs without thinking of anything else.

The aesthetics of the film were very good. The way the music and the images interacted was very in sink. When panning over the landscapes of nature the music was very mellow and flowing. When showing people in a subway or driving on the interstate the music was very sped up and full of energy. When showing nature in the film the colors were always very bright, while most of what was man made, besides the lights, where dull in color and not as aesthetically pleasing. One example of this was when images of different flowers where all lines up in bright colors and then later shown was an assortment of different cars all painted differently.

At the end of the film the images come full circle back to the rocket taking off into space. Then the rocket starts to fall apart and explode and you see the engine falling back to the earth in a fireball. Its just more human destruction that symbolizes what will happen to humans that continue to place themselves over nature.

Matt Brookman RSTD 326

I have been looking forward to this class since I signed up for it. I knew we would be watching excellent films that would make you really think. I can honestly say that due to this class I am able to read into and discuss themes and concepts present in movies better than before this class. I really enjoyed the discussions after the movie to get feedback on how my peers felt or what they obtained from different scenes and in depth looks on religious subjects that were present in the films we viewed. Movies that I would normally think were boring or not exciting enough became very interesting due to the presentations and the readings that were given before the movie was shown. Religion plays a huge part in most human lives, but as we’ve seen now religion also plays a huge role in the movie making business. The suits behind the movies would not produce them if they were not in demand and there was no money to be made off them.

Matt Brookman 300

The field trip we took to the movies was great. I went and saw 300. In the movie a king and three hundred of his men go off and try to hold off an army that is going to attack his people and his kingdom. He is the leader of Sparta. The reason he only could take three hundred men was to get by the politics of his government that voted not to send the army and fight. This as in most cases is due to a few corrupt people that always seem to make things difficult. The king and his men fight off the largest army ever formed up until that point. The men are not only fighting for their home, but as the movie goes on they are fighting their hearts out for each other. This is still true today in are military. Men and women are fighting to protect the person beside them. The king and his men might have been able to fight them off and defeat the Prussian army due to the strength, smarts, and courage of those three hundred men. There was a turning point when an outsider from the three hundred betrayed them and showed the leader of the Prussian army a secret passage that would lead to the death of all the Spartans. The king sent one away so he could tell their story and also prepare for the enemy that would soon be attacking Sparta. I enjoyed this movie as much as any other we saw this semester. I do have to say that it was little different to see the whole cast of actors on human growth hormones to make them in the best possible shape they could get.

Matt Brookman Spirited Away

The film Spirited Away was an animated film we viewed during the last class. I’m not a big fan of animated movies, but I had a feeling if you were showing it that the movie was going to be good and also have a deeper meaning than what we might first think. The movie follows a little girl through a place where spirits go to cleanse themselves. She becomes trapped in this place or alternate world. She begins to go along with the rituals at this place because she is trying to get her parents back because they were turned into pigs after eating all this food that was for the spirits to enjoy. The young girl becomes distracted from her parents to help out someone else. The determination of the young girl ends up changing attitudes of the spirits and others who seem to be humans. Her hard work and determination payoff in the long run because she saves the young boy and got her parents back. I think the message in the movie was focused in on sacred places. The point was to show the audience that certain places are not to be disturbed. I found it similar to that of your experience in or near Japan when the lady smacked you because she felt you were not showing respect for the sacred burials, or that she was just trying to teach you something about the culture and how they view the dead.

Matt Brookman Ground Hog Day

Groundhog Day was a movie with Bill Murray playing the lead actor. He was a news reporter who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. Bill Murray goes to the town to be there when the groundhog sees his shadow or not. The funny thing is after the first day of covering the event with the groundhog he goes to sleep and when he wakes up it’s the same day over and over again. This repeats over and over and Bill Murray begins to have fun with his situation and also does things to help others. How does sacred time transcend itself was a question we discussed in class concerning the film. The significance of his life becomes more of his concentration as the movie progresses. Throughout this time in the movie Bill Murray’s character goes through a slow transformation in life. The first time I watched this movie I turned it off before it was over so when we watched it in class and discussed certain aspects of the characters and the film I seemed to really enjoy what it brought to the table.

Matt Brookman The Jacket

Matt Brookman The Jacket
The Jacket was one of the first movies we watched in class. The first scene in the movie was a little too much for me to handle. I think it was just very alarming for the first scene. The main actor in the movie seems to be going through some sort of torture and not knowing what was going on made the first scenes hard to watch. It was a lot to do with the director and the way certain images were used. The main character would be placed in a straight jacket and placed in a drawer where he experienced an ecstatic state, or an out of body experience. He dreaded going into the draw until he went through some form of transformation. He was motivated to go back in the draw to save another person. The ecstatic state was similar to Shamans and the choice to save others before yourself was similar to the actions of Jesus. Overall I thought the film was exciting and kept you wondering the whole time.

Nathan Davis Monsters Inc.

Monsters Inc. is a movie that deals with characteristics of monsters that differ greatly from common perceptions of scary monsters. The film is based on myths of monsters coming out of the closet or hiding under the bed to scare little kids. The monsters however, are using the childrens screams to power thier city with electricity. the main character Sully, is the leading scream getter and finds himself on a journey to say the little human girl Boo. during his journey he encounters a number of obstacles such as competing monsters trying to further scare Boo, secret agents who are terrified at the notion of a human being in the underworld, or monster realm. There is a great deal of mysticism involved in the movie, a few examples would be the doors serving as a passageway for both humans and monsters to go through. the sheer concept of monsters coming through the closet is mysterious and the fact that screams can serve as a power source for a whole city is a crazy thought. Although the movie is for little kids and its animated it shows a ton of examples of mystery.

Nathan Davis Boondock Saints

BoonDock Saints is a movie about two brothers who find themselves as missionaries of God sent to kill evil or bad people. They begin a journey to rid the world of evil. There is a number of symbols and rituals involved in this movie such as the crosses they wear and their ritual prayer they recite before killing their victims. they are viewed as saints because they are killing only bad people who are terrorizing the community. i draw a strong comparison to that of a super hero who saves the day by doing away with the bad guys. although they are supposed to be people of God the moral question comes into play in this movie of how can they be saints when they are killing the creations of God whether the bad guys are commiting sins or not maybe they should be thrown in jail as opposed to being murdered. this movie was very interesting and showed the journey of two brothers and incorperated religious elements and a huge amount of ritual.

Nathan Davis Hail Mary

As a college football player i have always noticed the impact that religion has on sports. I realized a long time ago that the game of football has a special play called the Hail Mary Pass. Throughout my expierences with football i have never knew the origins of the play. I always noticed that the play was ran out of desperation at the end of a half or end of the game. my understanding was that the play was designed as a last prayer for victory and i always thought that it was just a term meaning to pray for a miricle. Upon further review i came to the conclusion that the term was coined by The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame football team. Being that Notre Dame is a very religious university the football team coined the term after a desperation heave to the endzone to win the game. The coach was also religious and required players to pray before during and after the game.

Nathan Davis Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day was an interesting film that introduced the life of a television reporter, who was stuck living the same day over and over again. I believe that i would have felt the same way as he did, enjoying the fact that he gets to make his mistakes right, but after a while of the same process i think i too would have been frustrated and angry. He did a number of crazy things througout the film to take advantage of his situation, such as trying to gain the trust and love of his boss. The problem was that he has not changed and was still trying to get over on people and as much as he tried to cheat to gain her love he continued to fail. It was only towards the end of the film that he gained her love after he replaced all his negatives with positives and began to lead a better life.
I made a number of references with this film from a religious aspect. I noticed that the the reliving of groundhog day could possibly symbolize the idea of reincarnation, eternal life, or cyclical form of life. i also noticed how he began to try to play the role of god by saving peoples lives just as he did with the little boy falling out of the tree. My idea of the movie was positive and i believe that he needed to repeat the same day in order to realize that he needed a change of life.

Nathan Davis The Jacket

The film The Jacket was very strange but interesting. While watching the film i noticed a lot of symbols and characteristics such as, crosses and graveyards, and toombstones arranged as a cross in the snow. The idea of a Gulf War veteran being shot in the head in the beginning was hard to handle, and then when he got framed for murder, then put into a mental institution was also crazy. He has been through a number of hard times such as the war but none was as hard as being sentenced to a mental institution. While in the mental place he was put through a number of expierements, but none as straining as the jacket and being enclosed into a tiny box, which was like where they place dead people in at the morge. It is through the box and the jacket that he reaches a totally different spirtiual realm, and is even able to see and live in the future. It is in the future where he begins to help out others with very unselfish acts and try to prove that he is not totally crazy or insane. The purpose of him being placed into the box was to create a womb like environment that would hopefully give rebirth to the person placed there. In his case it was a place of horrible memories and adventures into the future. He helped the doctor with Bebeck to cure him of his problems and gained a friend who was willing to listen to him so he can go and save the lives of the initial family he helped on the side of the road when their car was broken down.
His real body died in the drawer, but it was through his expierences that he in the jacket that he was able to help others. I had a mixed reaction to this film and personally believe that the drawer can symbolize a number of places that people can try to go in harsh times to escape reality, although he was forced into the drawer and jacket. overall i believe this was an excellent film and really showed how motivated individuals can make enormous changes in the world.

Nathan Davis The Jacket

The film The Jacket was very strange but interesting. While watching the film i noticed a lot of symbols and characteristics such as, crosses and graveyards, and toombstones arranged as a cross in the snow. The idea of a Gulf War veteran being shot in the head in the beginning was hard to handle, and then when he got framed for murder, then put into a mental institution was also crazy. He has been through a number of hard times such as the war but none was as hard as being sentenced to a mental institution. While in the mental place he was put through a number of expierements, but none as straining as the jacket and being enclosed into a tiny box, which was like where they place dead people in at the morge. It is through the box and the jacket that he reaches a totally different spirtiual realm, and is even able to see and live in the future. It is in the future where he begins to help out others with very unselfish acts and try to prove that he is not totally crazy or insane. The purpose of him being placed into the box was to create a womb like environment that would hopefully give rebirth to the person placed there. In his case it was a place of horrible memories and adventures into the future. He helped the doctor with Bebeck to cure him of his problems and gained a friend who was willing to listen to him so he can go and save the lives of the initial family he helped on the side of the road when their car was broken down.
His real body died in the drawer, but it was through his expierences that he in the jacket that he was able to help others. I had a mixed reaction to this film and personally believe that the drawer can symbolize a number of places that people can try to go in harsh times to escape reality, although he was forced into the drawer and jacket. overall i believe this was an excellent film and really showed how motivated individuals can make enormous changes in the world.

Nathan Davis The Jacket

The film The Jacket was very strange but interesting. While watching the film i noticed a lot of symbols and characteristics such as, crosses and graveyards, and toombstones arranged as a cross in the snow. The idea of a Gulf War veteran being shot in the head in the beginning was hard to handle, and then when he got framed for murder, then put into a mental institution was also crazy. He has been through a number of hard times such as the war but none was as hard as being sentenced to a mental institution. While in the mental place he was put through a number of expierements, but none as straining as the jacket and being enclosed into a tiny box, which was like where they place dead people in at the morge. It is through the box and the jacket that he reaches a totally different spirtiual realm, and is even able to see and live in the future. It is in the future where he begins to help out others with very unselfish acts and try to prove that he is not totally crazy or insane. The purpose of him being placed into the box was to create a womb like environment that would hopefully give rebirth to the person placed there. In his case it was a place of horrible memories and adventures into the future. He helped the doctor with Bebeck to cure him of his problems and gained a friend who was willing to listen to him so he can go and save the lives of the initial family he helped on the side of the road when their car was broken down.
His real body died in the drawer, but it was through his expierences that he in the jacket that he was able to help others. I had a mixed reaction to this film and personally believe that the drawer can symbolize a number of places that people can try to go in harsh times to escape reality, although he was forced into the drawer and jacket. overall i believe this was an excellent film and really showed how motivated individuals can make enormous changes in the world.