Meaningful Media Monday -- Blue Like Jazz

So this past weekend I got the privilege to preview the upcoming movie Blue Like Jazz. The movie is based on Donald Miller's widely popular book by the same name. I had never read the book but knew of it. However when I saw the trailer I was very intrigued and wanted to see the movie. The director was there and explained the movie to us and answered the questions we had about the movie. The movie has an incredible story behind it. It almost didn't happen but thanks to a campaign and funding from almost 4,000 individuals the movie will come out April 13 (Friday the 13 no less).

For those of you that have read the book, you should know that many things were changed so that the meaning behind the movie could get put across the best but before you get up in arms about changes you should also know that Donald Miller helped right the screen play and has his blessing. 

In Blue Like Jazz, the main character Don who grew up in a traditional, conservative, baptist church ends up going to Reed College (which has been labeled the most Godless campus in America). While there he turns his back on God and joins in with the people of the college. Through a series of events Don finds his way back to God. The movie has an open ending but is still excellent finishing up with the confession booth scene (similar to the book).

In a world where the media is just becoming more and more graphic (and not in a good way), its nice to be able to look forward to a movie that is not going to be 

Check out the trailer here and then go see Blue Like Jazz in theaters starting Apr 13.

Message In The Media - Movie: Immortals

Alright so I went last Saturday night I went and saw the movie Immortals. (Check out the trailer here if you don't know the movie) Typically it is not the type of movie I would go see but the people I was with said they wanted to see it and I really didn't care. (I was happy to be out of my house lol). The movie was so much better than I expected it to be though. Aside from one scene (I won't say much other than they didn't leave much to imagination) the movie was great. The more I watched it thought the more I realized that it was more than just an action flick with great fight scenes and lost of blood and gore. As anyone who knows me knows I like to do, I began to analyze the movie for points to make a message or messages out of (hence the title of this blog series)
Here is what I came up with for Immortals:

1. There is a battle between good and evil that is going on all the time that we never see.
        The movie is based on greek mythology. It talked about a war that mortals never saw. The gods even hid their form from the mortals. The entire movie is founded on events the mortals never saw, they only knew about them. This is similar to what goes on around us all the time. The forces of Satan wage war over us all the time with the forces of God and we will almost never see it. Now just like in the movie, every so often if we are paying attention we see something of this war; sometime involving us and sometimes involving others but overall we don't see it. This is important to remember because just like in the movie, although we don't have an impact on the outcome of the war, everything we do has an impact on the battle. So make sure that your impact is for the right side.

2. The unseen makes believers out of unbelievers.
        The main character in the movie starts out as a professed unbeliever of the gods. However, as the movie progresses he becomes a believer. One of the major factors in this is the fact that the war is going on and he saw the war happen. I think this is important because it reminds us that we don't change people, but that God does.

3. The battle between good and evil is never over (at least not in this life).
        One of the last scenes of the movie has the son of the main character being told that he will follow in his father's footsteps because the war between good and evil is never over. For the most part this is true. As long as this world exists this will be true. Yet as Christians we can be certain that in the end evil will be defeated and good will win. This is just a great thing to know and gives us hope to make it throug the battles around us all the time.
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(NOTE: This is not a review of the movie nor a recommendation. For more info on the movie itself check out www.pluggedin.com)