The Thoughts Of A Storyteller

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The Laws Of Human Nature

I've just started reading the astoundingly profound chapter from C.S. Lewis' masterwork Mere Christianity.

It explores the ever-curious concept of a universal right and wrong. I have spoken with those that consider this a highly uneducated and ignorant proposal, but for those of us that adhere to Christian teachings this could not be more real. Still, I have no interest in re-iterating that with Mr. Lewis himself could convey with infinitely superior eloquence and succinctness. Rather, I wish to act as a proverbial devil's advocate.

In this first chapter, Lewis suggests that at the heart of all men dwells an instinctual awareness of right and wrong. Though cultures might differ in their moral concepts, at the core of all are recurring values and standards in spite of their places in history or geographical isolation. While I find this to be true, couldn't it be argued that this is not due to an awareness of right and wrong, but rather good and bad?

The key difference between these ideas is that good and bad does not deal with a standard that we are all called to live, but rather acknowledges that certain actions will benefit us while others will not. One could extend this further and say that good and bad also covers an empathetic communal existence. From this perspective, does this not account for the similarities across all cultures throughout history? I mean, I think we can all agree without morality's intervention that getting a boot to the face for no reason is both unhelpful and a waste of perfectly good energy.

Or is the very ability to feel empathy at all due to this awareness of right and wrong? Are they even connected? Aren't there actions that are universally agreed to be right or wrong that lie outside the aforementioned concepts of good and bad? Are these concepts of right and wrong or good and bad the same thing? I'd love to hear what you guys think about this.

And please forgive my misuse of the words "good" and "bad", but I was unable to find acceptable alternatives that expressed the correct ideas.

Posted by Luke at 10:15 PM | 0 comments

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Review: Transformers 2 [Spoilers]

So... many... explosions...

Seriously, this is probably the first film I have ever walked out of that I was too dazed to formulate an opinion. Every frame, even the most boring shots in the movie, have some crazy light filtering effect thrown in or crazy MTV music video angle. Normally I would use this to abuse the director, but I just can't fault Michael Bay on it. He couldn't restrain himself if his life depended on it, but the guy knows how to make any scene visually interesting and while you can't always tell what's going on in the action bits that's more due to the transformer's design than his directing. That, and he only makes movies where this directorial style is appropriate. In other words, you won't see him directing a remake of Schindler's List or anything that requires an ounce of subtlety any time soon.

So now that I've had a chance to recover, did I enjoy it?

I still don't know. I think that means I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it. It was just... there. Any awesomeness Bay put on screen was seemingly cancelled out by something wildly inappropriate right after it. You might think that when I say wildly inappropriate I'm slightly exaggerating... I'm not. There are two separate scenes of dogs having sex. TWO. Then, to top it off, a small transformer humps Megan Fox's leg... and she doesn't seem phased. She acknowledges it and just accepts it! Riiiiight. There's a sequence where our lead protagonist's mother is tripped out on weed and runs around his collage campus like a mad woman. It serves no purpose, and it feels really... wrong. Actually, her character in general feels really wrong. I don't know what happened between the original film and this one, but apparently in that time her whole personality changed and she decided swearing was awesome.

But none of that holds a candle to what many critics are labeling blatant racism throughout this movie. I don't think it's necessarily racist, but it's certainly tasteless. Two of the new transformers are... well, they really are black stereotypes. They just swear a whole lot, talkin' about pussy and bitches and slapping each other around for no reason whilst questioning each other's homosexuality. It's extremely off-putting and they never do a single damn thing in the story. It's like they thought that this would reel in the "dumb black guys" and the "idiot kids" in the same way that they thought Megan Fox and that chick from Home And Away would pull in the horny young males.

Well... that's automatic, but still. This movie, more than a few times, appeals to the worst part of you. The racist, the pervert, the part obsessed with hyper-violence, the idiot, all of it. But now I'm just sounding entirely negative, although the more I reflect on this film the less fond I am of it. There were, believe it or not, redeeming qualities. This is a big, dumb action movie and in that respect is delivers. Optimus is freaking sweet, perfectly combining his wise old man side with his kick-ass warrior side. Sure, a couple of times he goes for the slightly gratuitous kill, but it's a minor gripe. Soundwave is super cool floating above the earth like a god. Devastator is mind-blowingly awesome and, for a moment, I was wondering why he wasn't the big villain.

But then I come back to the bad again. The fact that one transformer can take on the appearance of a human and no one seems to care. The fact that only a Prime can kill the villain... for no apparent reason. The fact that right near the end they reveal that the main villain can TELEPORT... but he never uses it when Optimus is kicking his ass. But even then, I don't hate this movie. I just... nothing it. I'm indifferent to it.

As a result, I'm not scoring it. Consider it a neutral rating.

Posted by Luke at 11:19 AM | 3 comments

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Qur'an

Not too long ago I finally finished reading the New Testament from cover to cover. I couldn't be more glad that I did, as now I have a much greater understanding of God's teachings in context. I intend to read it again in the not too distant future, but for now I am embarking on a slightly different text.

The Qur'an.

As a Christian, I do not believe it fair to simply dismiss the Qur'an as false and ignore it. I wish to investigate for myself. I've been praying and will continue to pray for God to keep my mind and my heart open to new things but to protect me from that which is untrue or misleading. The wording of this prayer I find to be most important seeing as The Qur'an and The Bible really do share a lot of ancestral connections. After all, they are speaking of the same God.

Throughout my study of this book I will be consulting my pastor and others concerning it's meaning and relation to The Bible.

Has anyone else here given it a look? What are your thoughts?

"Allah forbid you should have any daughters!"

Posted by Luke at 1:20 PM | 7 comments

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Redefinitions Of Selfishness

I was just having a conversation with my sister and I couldn't help but flashback to an old blog post I'd made concerning the pressure for our generation to apologize for the stolen generation. I found myself, yet again, with a perspective on something I could not satisfactorily justify.

The correlation between knowing what's going on with someone and not caring.

What's funny is that this seems like the sort of debate I'd engage Mutt with, me being on the other side of it. But strangely enough I was on the side of the guy who didn't seem to care. Allow me to explain.

I love virtually everybody. It's this vague, general love where I care about whether or not friends and strangers alike are alright and I wish to help them if they're feeling down or be there if something bad has happened. This is not artificial, this is genuine. Hell, it's why I get so angry when I see some random celebrity getting torn apart by the tabloids over something that's none of their business. So really, it's equally strong for strangers as it is for my friends and family.

However, one must believe that the difference of friendship and family warrants a deeper kind of love than that of the love towards a stranger. Operating under that presupposition... how does mine differ? I blogged not that long ago about wanting to know my friends, really know them, that I may shift my focus outside of myself. It turns out that this is much more difficult than I ever expected. I have been asking those around me what's going on in their lives and even been making great efforts to remember the details, but I keep forgetting them regardless.

I don't want to forget, but I do. On the other end of the spectrum I remember the intricate details of some film I didn't even like. I still truly treasure my friendships and care if they're happy, but I struggle very deeply with the ability to recall the events of their lives. To me, this suggests that on a subconscious level I deem these details to be unimportant to my friendships and rather place entire emphasis of my feelings, which are very fond. This also means, then, that on some level I deem the tiniest details of a film to be more useful to my future as a filmmaker that I might learn from them.

As logical as that seems within my own logic, it also seems... wrong. It doesn't feel wrong, but it seems wrong. I know I love those around me, that's not the problem. The problem appears to be that I have misinterpreted real love, and skewed it in a selfish fashion. One might even deduce that I love not for them, but for myself. I care about whether those around me are happy because I depend upon it for my own happiness. I need my immediate universe to be right in order for me to be too. If this is true, then the very instant I move out of my sheltered environment my entire world would fall apart.

A general feeling and care is not enough, I need to remember these details that I so easily dismiss and take actions that do not serve my direct interests. But, as has been noted, I seem unable to do so, even though I wish to.

I think I should purchase a little journal I can carry around with me. This sounds extreme, but I think it's necessary. It might be suggested that the key to recalling the important details is to change the heart's priorities, but I can say with absolute certainty that I can't do that. I wouldn't know where to start. So, instead, I shall act and enforce the habit rather than simply sit and think about how to want to remember.

I just wish I knew why this is so hard for me. I care, I really do, but due to the number of people who are disappointed by my lack of knowledge as to what's going on in their lives I clearly need to address this in some manner.

Sorry for this long and awfully candid post, but this is how I work best... I reason aloud. I don't care if nobody reads it, such would be hypocritical on my part. Just thinkin' aloud.

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