“But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6 Given the above verse, I thought it was particularly interesting that conservative evangelicals got all bent out of shape over President Obama’s [...]
Over the course of this semester, I have been teaching a course entitled “Theological Crises and the Development of American Cinema.” In it, we have been looking at, among other issues, the representation of race and ethnicity in the history of American film. In preparation for the final series of classes, I am developing lectures [...]
Check out the latest from Jason Derr after the jump, an attempt to look at the theological concepts in the ABC TV series, FlashForward. The article is written in consideration of the first six episodes and not of the series as a whole.
“Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever [...]
Last summer, we saw an alien spaceship settle over a capital city. Despite the potential for inter-galactic diplomacy, let’s just say the relationship between the aliens and earthlings, in Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 ended (or suspended) less than amicably. Though of a different sort, aliens have once again arrived and are hovering over numerous capital [...]
Getting into the mind of a 12-year-old boy is no easy task. Crafting that internal world into a film is even more difficult…I would imagine. Maurice Sendak did it effectively enough in his book, Where the Wild Things Are, a fantastic tale untainted by the ravages of internal or external dialogue. The book’s ten or [...]
Students of religion and film or theology and film must reckon with the ever-presence of violence in much of contemporary cinema and throughout film history. However, this is only slightly different from the engagement that theologians, religious studies scholars, and the faithful must undertake in relationship to violence in their sacred texts. On one level, [...]
“I’d love to watch that film with the Women’s Studies Group at the Graduate Theological Union.” You won’t hear me say that phrase too often; however, Lars von Trier‘s latest release, Antichrist, would make for an engrossing discussion with the right audience. I also wouldn’t mind discussing the film with ministers, therapists, and those in [...]
