The 1980 comedy starring Robert Hays and Julie Hagerty quickly became a hit and is revered as a cult classic in many circles. The film is about Ted Striker, a former pilot in the Air Force, and his love for Elaine Dickenson, a stewardess (back when they were called stewardesses <--fyi, stewardesses is the longest English word one can spell using only their left hand, in proper hand position.) Ted follows Elaine onto a plane, trying to mend their broken relationship, only to be found crucially important, as he is the only one aboard that can not only fly the plane, but isn't suffering from the food poisoning that struck down the pilots and navigator. The movie is filled with so much stupidity and randomness, that it's easily one of my favorites.
What can we learn from such an odd movie? In watching Airplane! I was reminded of how in control of our lives God is. Ted's love story with Elaine, which he recounts to anyone who has ears, is one of many ups and downs, but because of everything that happened to him, the fateful raid Ted organized that killed 7 men, the flying experience, the fact that their relationship was bad and Ted felt he had to go on the plane to get Elaine, and his choice of dinner saved that plane full of people.
Jeremiah 29:11 says: "I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future."
This was written by Jeremiah during the reign of Babylon, as the Israelites were being forced out of their homeland (again). Jeremiah was writing to reassure the Israelites that God is in control, and His plan is perfect, and to trust in it.
All of the things that happen to us in our lives, we may not understand. We might not know why our dad lost his job when we were kids so we didn't get to have much, or why our best friend died at a young age, or why we couldn't go to this one thing this one time, but God knows. He has a plan for all of us. We may not know the ending, and it may not make sense at all (much like Airplane!) when we're in the thick of it, but, surely, God knows what He's doing.
He does know what He's doing. And don't call me Shirley.
Next week: Amazing Grace
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The Addams Family Values
The whole family is back in an all new adventure, this time, with a new addition: Pubert Addams, the new mustachioed baby boy. In search of a Nanny, they hire Debbie, (Joan Cusack) a woman who seems normal enough, but also seems to fit in perfectly with the Addamses. Fester falls head over heels in love with Debbie, who, as luck would have it, is a serial killer known as the Black Widow, who marries rich bachelors and then kills them on their wedding night, making it look like an accident.
Needing to get closer to Fester, Debbie tells Morticia and Gomez that the children told her that they wanted to go to Summer Camp. Falling for the ploy, Wednesday and Pugsley are shipped off to Camp Chippewa. "Chippewa. It's an Indian word. It means Orphan," Wednesday informs. While at camp Wednesday meets Joel (Andrew Krumholtz) a fellow social outcast. The two become somewhat romantically interested in each other, as romantically interested as two elementary aged kids can be. They're interested in each other for who the other person is. Pugsley, Wednesday, Joel and a small band of kids are the only ones at Camp Chippewa who act like themselves and aren't afraid of what people think about them. They are who they are and that's fine with them.
Wednesday and Joel devise a plan to create chaos during the performance of the lead counselor's play about the first Thanksgiving and end up tying one of the more annoying girls to a stake and pretend to light a fire beneath her.
Meanwhile, back at the Addams'...
Fester and Debbie get married, and Debbie, after several unsuccessful attempts at killing Fester, makes him swear that he will never see his family again, because it would make Debbie too upset. Fester, thinking Debbie actually loves him, agrees, to make her happy. He thinks that if he does all the right things, Debbie will love him more. He's changing who he is to be who he thinks Debbie wants him to be.
These two relationships are complete opposites if you couldn't tell. The Bible says that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart, so we don't need to completely change who we are to be accepted by others. Sure we may have to change some things or alter some of our habits or behaviors, or even our looks some times, to be taken seriously, or to respect others wishes, but not to seek approval. If you have to completely change the person you are to be accepted by someone else, you don't need their acceptance anyway.
Next Week is Airplane!
Needing to get closer to Fester, Debbie tells Morticia and Gomez that the children told her that they wanted to go to Summer Camp. Falling for the ploy, Wednesday and Pugsley are shipped off to Camp Chippewa. "Chippewa. It's an Indian word. It means Orphan," Wednesday informs. While at camp Wednesday meets Joel (Andrew Krumholtz) a fellow social outcast. The two become somewhat romantically interested in each other, as romantically interested as two elementary aged kids can be. They're interested in each other for who the other person is. Pugsley, Wednesday, Joel and a small band of kids are the only ones at Camp Chippewa who act like themselves and aren't afraid of what people think about them. They are who they are and that's fine with them.
Wednesday and Joel devise a plan to create chaos during the performance of the lead counselor's play about the first Thanksgiving and end up tying one of the more annoying girls to a stake and pretend to light a fire beneath her.
Meanwhile, back at the Addams'...
Fester and Debbie get married, and Debbie, after several unsuccessful attempts at killing Fester, makes him swear that he will never see his family again, because it would make Debbie too upset. Fester, thinking Debbie actually loves him, agrees, to make her happy. He thinks that if he does all the right things, Debbie will love him more. He's changing who he is to be who he thinks Debbie wants him to be.
These two relationships are complete opposites if you couldn't tell. The Bible says that man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart, so we don't need to completely change who we are to be accepted by others. Sure we may have to change some things or alter some of our habits or behaviors, or even our looks some times, to be taken seriously, or to respect others wishes, but not to seek approval. If you have to completely change the person you are to be accepted by someone else, you don't need their acceptance anyway.
Next Week is Airplane!
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The Addams Family
I was watching this the other day, and I was wondering how I was going to connect it to spirituality, and it wasn't until I had finished the film and was thinking about it that I came up with the overarching theme: Love, and how it can change someone.
Gomez Addams (Raul Julia) had a fight with his brother, Fester, 25 years ago, and Fester subsequently took off in anger. Now with a family of his own, wife Morticia (Anjelica Huston) and children Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) Gomez, feeling great guilt for driving Fester away, has been trying to reach Fester on the other side to make right what he has done. Knowing of their great fortune, the Addams' lawyer (or something), Tully (Dan Hedaya), who owes a large sum to his loan shark, Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson), decides to steal the money from the Addams'. Tully notices that Craven's son, Gordon (Christopher Lloyd) looks a lot like Fester. He devises the plan that Gordon infiltrates the manor, wins their trust, and absconds with the money. Gordon goes in with full intention of following through with this plan, but after being welcomed with such joy and passion, and love that this family has for one of its own, Gordon is transformed into Fester. He becomes this whole new person from what he was before. He turns from a man who wants to dupe these people, to someone who truly loves them because they love him for who he is, or who they think he is.
That's what I got out of the Addams Family. Next week, The Addams Family Values
Gomez Addams (Raul Julia) had a fight with his brother, Fester, 25 years ago, and Fester subsequently took off in anger. Now with a family of his own, wife Morticia (Anjelica Huston) and children Wednesday (Christina Ricci) and Pugsley (Jimmy Workman) Gomez, feeling great guilt for driving Fester away, has been trying to reach Fester on the other side to make right what he has done. Knowing of their great fortune, the Addams' lawyer (or something), Tully (Dan Hedaya), who owes a large sum to his loan shark, Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson), decides to steal the money from the Addams'. Tully notices that Craven's son, Gordon (Christopher Lloyd) looks a lot like Fester. He devises the plan that Gordon infiltrates the manor, wins their trust, and absconds with the money. Gordon goes in with full intention of following through with this plan, but after being welcomed with such joy and passion, and love that this family has for one of its own, Gordon is transformed into Fester. He becomes this whole new person from what he was before. He turns from a man who wants to dupe these people, to someone who truly loves them because they love him for who he is, or who they think he is.
That's what I got out of the Addams Family. Next week, The Addams Family Values
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
This one was difficult to think of something to connect with spirituality, but I think I may have a pretty good one. I think we should all be more like Ace.
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a film about Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey), who is, you guessed it, a Pet Detective. He takes cases involving animals, such as the one he is completing at the beginning of the movie: a couple who had recently divorced, the wife got the dog, but the husband took off with it, and Ace goes in and retrieves it. He's also planning on catching an Albino pigeon which has a $25,000 reward upon return. His case for the duration of the movie: Snowflake, the mascot for the Miami Dolphin has been kidnapped. He has narrowed it down to someone on the team that went to the Super Bowl in 1984 due to an orange emerald he found in Snowflake's tank that came from the championship ring.
No matter how many people think (or know) that Ace is crazy for thinking the things he does. He is so set on solving this case that he can think of little else. He is so singly focused, it's almost inspiring. He doesn't let anything get in his way of accomplishing this goal.
That's what I pulled out of Ace Ventura. This is a short post, but it was a difficult one to come up with spiritual connections. Don't worry, later ones will be better =P
Next Week: The Addams Family... =]
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective is a film about Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey), who is, you guessed it, a Pet Detective. He takes cases involving animals, such as the one he is completing at the beginning of the movie: a couple who had recently divorced, the wife got the dog, but the husband took off with it, and Ace goes in and retrieves it. He's also planning on catching an Albino pigeon which has a $25,000 reward upon return. His case for the duration of the movie: Snowflake, the mascot for the Miami Dolphin has been kidnapped. He has narrowed it down to someone on the team that went to the Super Bowl in 1984 due to an orange emerald he found in Snowflake's tank that came from the championship ring.
No matter how many people think (or know) that Ace is crazy for thinking the things he does. He is so set on solving this case that he can think of little else. He is so singly focused, it's almost inspiring. He doesn't let anything get in his way of accomplishing this goal.
That's what I pulled out of Ace Ventura. This is a short post, but it was a difficult one to come up with spiritual connections. Don't worry, later ones will be better =P
Next Week: The Addams Family... =]
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
10 Things I Hate About You
This 1999 film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Julia Stiles, and Heath Ledger (moment of silence), a modern day remake of Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, depicts Cameron (Levitt) as a new student. He is shown around the school by Michael (David Krumholtz) who tells him where all the groups hang out. Cameron sees Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) and falls instantly in like. Michael breaks the news to Cameron, that Bianca isn't allowed to date. This rule changes however, when Bianca's father says that she is allowed to date, but only after her sister, Kat (Stiles) does. There's only one problem: Kat is the proverbial shrew, a girl who rejects every single popular trend and instead, forges her own path and doesn't care what anyone thinks of her. She's not afraid of dying without ever having a date. Cameron and Michael devise a plan to talk the school psycho, Patrick (Ledger) into dating Kat so Cameron can date Bianca. Comic mishaps and romantic comedy tragedies ensue.
This movie is a very humorous and interesting film. I got a few spiritual ideas while watching, but not many. Cameron sees Bianca and all he sees is her looks. He completely overlooks her attitude toward others, her shallowness, and her complete lack of, well, intelligence, i.e., one of my favorite lines, "There's a big difference between like and love. Like I like my Sketchers, but I LOVE my Prada Backpack." Later when he gets to know her, and she changes a little bit, he begins to like her for who she actually is and not for just what she looks like. This is a problem many people have, including King David, who had an affair with Bathsheeba after he saw her bathing from his balcony. Later David wrote many Psalms about this time in his life and how difficult it was for him to shake these feelings of lust.
Near the end of the movie Kat reveals to Bianca that she actually dated Joey Donner, (Andrew Keegan) one of the characters that is also trying to date Bianca. Kat tells Bianca that she did things that she isn't proud of right now and it destroyed her, so Kat, knowing that their father would treat them equally, chose not to date so Bianca wouldn't have to go through the hurt and pain it can cause. Bianca gets mad at Kat for never telling her this and not allowing her to experience things for herself. I thought of God when she was saying all of this. God gives us the freedom to make our own choices. He gives us the ability to choose to love Him, because if He forced us to love Him it wouldn't be true love. Without choice there is no love. God let us choose to love Him so we need to make the right decision and choose to love Him.
Next week the movie is Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Oh dear, this might be a chore =P
This movie is a very humorous and interesting film. I got a few spiritual ideas while watching, but not many. Cameron sees Bianca and all he sees is her looks. He completely overlooks her attitude toward others, her shallowness, and her complete lack of, well, intelligence, i.e., one of my favorite lines, "There's a big difference between like and love. Like I like my Sketchers, but I LOVE my Prada Backpack." Later when he gets to know her, and she changes a little bit, he begins to like her for who she actually is and not for just what she looks like. This is a problem many people have, including King David, who had an affair with Bathsheeba after he saw her bathing from his balcony. Later David wrote many Psalms about this time in his life and how difficult it was for him to shake these feelings of lust.
Near the end of the movie Kat reveals to Bianca that she actually dated Joey Donner, (Andrew Keegan) one of the characters that is also trying to date Bianca. Kat tells Bianca that she did things that she isn't proud of right now and it destroyed her, so Kat, knowing that their father would treat them equally, chose not to date so Bianca wouldn't have to go through the hurt and pain it can cause. Bianca gets mad at Kat for never telling her this and not allowing her to experience things for herself. I thought of God when she was saying all of this. God gives us the freedom to make our own choices. He gives us the ability to choose to love Him, because if He forced us to love Him it wouldn't be true love. Without choice there is no love. God let us choose to love Him so we need to make the right decision and choose to love Him.
Next week the movie is Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. Oh dear, this might be a chore =P
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