As part of the Cinematics program at church, we had a discussion of the Dark Knight last evening. It was sponsored by Wheatstone Academy, and John Mark Reynolds was the speaker.
He made his usual assertions that we need to look for "goodness, truth, and beauty"; and that we should not be caught up in being "edu-tained"; but, to pull away from the virtual reality and recognize what is truly real around us.
In terms of films, he suggested that we should view films openly, while still thinking critically; and also, to be accountable to know what we personally can and cannot handle viewing.
Specific to Dark Knight, he pointed out how the director controls our perspective and how the music affects the impact. We talked about the use of color. We also talked about the lack of emotion displayed by everyone except the Joker, and consequently how at the end people seem to identify or sympathize more with the Joker than any other character.
We talked about how there is no use of greenery and natural beauty while depicting Gotham, possibly to depict the dark, cold, rigid environment. And while we talked about the use of square framing of scenes and close-ups, as a reflection of our society's familiarity with viewing through a "small screen"; I thought the square framing seemed to reflect the stoic coldness of the characters giving a contrast to the Joker's erratic and more "colorful" personality.
We viewed the scenes where the people did not enable the detonators, as reflections of Christian morals displayed in the film. It was interesting when John Mark Reynolds said that because God is the Creator, there is nothing in this world that is totally and wholly evil. I could see that while we all have a sinful nature, yet, we still bear that image of God within us, however marred by sin.
One thing that was mentioned, that I may not totally agree with was, that when people sin they actually set out to do good; but, they either do it too much or don't do it well. The reason I disagree is because, with the sin nature, there is no one who does good or wants to do good. Not all sin is just too much of a good thing. But, I do believe that all sin is a belief in a lie.
Well, it was interesting to discuss the movie critically. I do think it is helpful to evaluate all things in this way; so, that we will not be unaware when something else sways what we think or perceive. That is one of the goals of the Truth 101 class, to help us all gain the perspective of the Christian Worldview; and be able to critically assess all that is around us through that filter of truth.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Dark Knight
As part of the Cinematics program at church, we had a discussion of the Dark Knight last evening. It was sponsored by Wheatstone Academy, and John Mark Reynolds was the speaker.
He made his usual assertions that we need to look for "goodness, truth, and beauty"; and that we should not be caught up in being "edu-tained"; but, to pull away from the virtual reality and recognize what is truly real around us.
In terms of films, he suggested that we should view films openly, while still thinking critically; and also, to be accountable to know what we personally can and cannot handle viewing.
Specific to Dark Knight, he pointed out how the director controls our perspective and how the music affects the impact. We talked about the use of color. We also talked about the lack of emotion displayed by everyone except the Joker, and consequently how at the end people seem to identify or sympathize more with the Joker than any other character.
We talked about how there is no use of greenery and natural beauty while depicting Gotham, possibly to depict the dark, cold, rigid environment. And while we talked about the use of square framing of scenes and close-ups, as a reflection of our society's familiarity with viewing through a "small screen"; I thought the square framing seemed to reflect the stoic coldness of the characters giving a contrast to the Joker's erratic and more "colorful" personality.
We viewed the scenes where the people did not enable the detonators, as reflections of Christian morals displayed in the film. It was interesting when John Mark Reynolds said that because God is the Creator, there is nothing in this world that is totally and wholly evil. I could see that while we all have a sinful nature, yet, we still bear that image of God within us, however marred by sin.
One thing that was mentioned, that I may not totally agree with was, that when people sin they actually set out to do good; but, they either do it too much or don't do it well. The reason I disagree is because, with the sin nature, there is no one who does good or wants to do good. Not all sin is just too much of a good thing. But, I do believe that all sin is a belief in a lie.
Well, it was interesting to discuss the movie critically. I do think it is helpful to evaluate all things in this way; so, that we will not be unaware when something else sways what we think or perceive. That is one of the goals of the Truth 101 class, to help us all gain the perspective of the Christian Worldview; and be able to critically assess all that is around us through that filter of truth.
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