Class Notes

Doctor Who - Blink

The director takes something so standard and safe and turns it into something that we absolutely fear.  Who knew that a still standing statue could instill so much fear.  Take Aurora for instance, a place that we felt completely safe in for so long has now become a place of fear.  No on will ever go into a movie theatre the same way after what happened in Aurora, CO.

Attachment.  

Post-war culture gravitates towards attachment theory.  Doctor Who is always searching for companionship - and not necessarily romantic companionship.  He is the only one left of his race and he loves earth because he can connect with humans so well.  Romanticism creeps in when the lady has to go back to the house to feel something...  facing darkness, not necessarily embracing darkness, but recognizing that there is something about taking us to the edge and recognizing that this is something that causes me fear...

A thought about the importance of feeling:

Feeling is not the same as embracing.  It's tough to know what to feel and what to outright reject.  The brethren encourage us to not watch violent media – to not embrace violence.  But then when something tragic in real life happens we’re encouraged to take time to feel it like when Lazarus dies and Christ tells us to feel it.  But what about historical films that depict the holocaust – possibly the most violent time that the entire earth has known…  Shouldn’t we take moments to feel that historical moment?  I think that when we start to overlook violence and justify our entertainment choices by saying that it doesn't affect us... that we're either lying to ourselves or have become numb to the violence. Feeling the effects of violence could be considered a sacred experience.  In order for you to be effected by violence, there has to be violence.  Not that violence is good - but its a life experience that is very serious and in that sense is sacred.  (I'm not explaining this very well... )

Atheist Stanford Professor - 

I wish that I could hear the music, but I feel like I’m tone deaf.  People like you can just hear god’s voice…  Today’s film will take an honest exploration of religion… the search just keeps going on…  Religion today in a scholarly culture is about exploring, and not necessarily about finding the one perfect clean doctrine that answers every question… but it’s more like Thomas putting his finger in Christ’s side.  We just want to feel…  more about asking the questions that it is about getting an answer.  It’s not an organized church that they’re looking for…

After WWI/WWII you have to ask, why would God allow such a terrible thing to happen?!  How?! Religion dies out for a lot of people in the 1960’s when we are starting to process what really happened.