Movies and Shows

I did spend part of my weekend unwinding by "escaping" to the imaginary world created by movies and shows.

One movie that I watched was the "Bed of Roses", made back in 1996.  It was a sweet movie of a character, played by a young Christian Slater, who enjoys delivering flowers in order to see the happy moments of those who receive them.   He gives flowers to a woman who he had seen crying at her window, and a romance, heartbreak, and reuniting follows.  The movie is a reminder to not let the busy-ness of life get in the way of the truly important moments; and highlights how special it is when there is someone who is sensitive and giving.

I also watched "The Inheritance", a TV movie based on the book by Louisa May Alcott.   It was wonderfully romantic, and demonstrated the virtues of integrity in character.  It was well cast and acted; and it was definitely a "feel-good" movie.

Then, I watched "Match Point", and was troubled by the philosophical viewpoint demonstrated, particularly in the outcome.  The movie starts with the main character reading Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"; and in the movie, the main character, like Raskolnikov, commits murder.  There are philosophical rationalizations, and the character even quotes that he thinks it is "better to be lucky than good".   Essentially, he expounds the Darwinian Naturalism point of view, that all is random chance.   He commits murder in order to keep the lifestyle he's become comfortable living, and unlike the ending of "Crime and Punishment", the character in the movie never confesses to the murders and essentially gets away with it.   While he did have some "struggles" with his conscience and at one point even admitted that he wanted to be discovered, justice never really prevails.  The outcome is actually a reflection of the naturalistic point of view; for in that philosophical viewpoint, there is no room for morality.   If all is by chance, where would the standard for moral right and wrong come from?   Naturalism does not provide an explanation for why a person would struggle with their conscience and recognize that murder is wrong.  That comes only from God, who defines the standard for morality based on Who He is.    Scripture explains that it is God who has given man a conscience to recognize right from wrong ("They show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them"  Romans 2:15); and in the Ten Commandments, it is clearly stated that man should not commit murder.   Without God, we would be left with a world with no true meaning nor morality.

Last night, my community group leaders invited me to join them and a few others to the Musical Theatre West showing of "The Marvelous Wonderettes" at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center.  The musical was fun and so was the music.  Of the four main characters, the one who played Betty Jean had the most impressive singing voice.  I enjoyed the time of fellowship with those with whom I went; and it was nice to have a fun light-hearted evening.