Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith

Review by PETER "PapaBear" CRUIKSHANK


Author: by Anne Lamott
Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (March 3, 2005)
Amazon link

Summary

Few people can write about faith, parenting, and relationships as can the talented, irreverent Anne Lamott. With characteristic black humor, ("Everyone has been having a hard time with life this year; not with all of it, just the waking hours") she updates us on the ongoing mayhem of her life since Traveling Mercies, and continues to unfold her spiritual journey.

Plan B finds Lamott wrestling with mid-life hormones and weight gain while parenting Sam, now a teenager with his own set of raging hormones. Her observations cover everything from starting a Sunday school to grief over the death of her beloved dog, Sadie; lamenting the war to bitterness over her relationship with her now-departed mother.

As she tugs and pokes out the knots in a slender gold chain necklace, it becomes a metaphor for letting go and learning to forgive. "…any willingness to let go inevitably comes from pain; and the desire to change changes you, and jiggles the spirit, gets to it somehow, to the deepest, hardest, most ruined parts." It’s her willingness to show us the knotted-up, "ruined parts" of her life that make this collection of sometimes uneven essays so compelling. |
"Everything feels crazy," writes Lamott, adding, "But on small patches of earth all over, I can see just as much messy mercy and grace as ever…." Lamott’s essays will serve as reminders to readers of the patches of messy mercy and grace in a chaotic world.--Cindy Crosby

Review

When someone generally says they are a Christian, most people will automatically (right or wrong) envision a Right Wing supporter of President Bush. Well, Anne Lamott (author of the best seller “Traveling Mercies�) proves that not all Christians fall into this category. First off, you need to picture a 50 year old white woman with dreadlocks who is an ex-drug addict raising a 15 year old son on her own and is a self proclaimed Right Wing Christian. And, by the way, she really has problems with the Bush Administration. Ok, now you are beginning to get an insight into the author of the book “Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith�.

When asked if I am a Liberal or Conservative I just shrug my shoulders and say “depends�. It depends on the issue. Sometimes I can be pretty conservative, and on other issues I might be extremely liberal. Sometimes I may be middle of the road. I guess I just don’t fit into a nice neat box. So there are many things I could relate to in Anne’s book, but then there are some things that she comes up with that I found a little extreme, even me.

But all-in-all, I feel like Anne Lamott provided a lot of insight into our daily life, especially for those of us in the second half of this (sometimes) wonderful and glorious life. Yet even those who still think their physical body is immortal can find nuggets of wisdom that might help them find their way the complex maze of what we call life.

Life is tough. For anyone who has had any experience in life knows that this is one of life’s truer statements. Anne Lamott has had a tough life and has taken her hard earned wisdom and put it down on paper. Again, her perspective takes on a highly liberal viewpoint on many issues, but even in this she speaks what many of us (both liberals and conservatives) have thought ourselves, just not put into words. For those that believe there is only way to look at a subject, they might not “get� Anne’s book. But for the majority who look at the many angles of an issue, regardless of whether they are Christian or not, this book holds a lot for them to think about. It is a book about faith in everyday life and faith that knows no bounds. Or for that matter, structure. That’s why those of you who have never felt comfortable in a traditional church will soak up this book.

To really understand where Anne comes from and how she interprets daily life, it is best to highlight some of her observations that I found of interest:

Anne tells the story of trying to start up a Sunday school at her church, though at the time she did not particularly like having more than two children around at any time and she has self proclaimed mediocre self-esteem. As she put it, “I grow anxious on my way to the dump with a car full of garbage, convinced that my garbage and I will be rejected, either because I am throwing out perfectly good stuff, or because it is so disgusting that the people who run the dump wouldn’t want it.�

So why start a Sunday school. She tells a Hasidic story [Anne leverages all people to get to her point] of a rabbi who when asked why God puts Scripture on their hearts rather than in their hearts. The rabbi answered “Only God can put Scripture inside. But reading sacred text can put it on your hearts, and then when your hearts break, the holy words will fall inside.�

The Iraqi war started during the writing of Anne’s book and greatly influenced much of the book’s content. In one chapter she relates of how the war made her feel the same as when her mother had Alzheimers and her entire family felt totally helpless. You didn’t know quite what to do as the old rules just no longer applied. She remembers a decal she saw that helped her through her mother’s debilitating disease and also through the beginning weeks of the Iraqi war. It had a picture of a gorilla on it and a caption that said “The law of the American jungle: Remain calm, share the bananas.� Her family tried to make one another laugh and stay calm, and shared their bananas. This is what she says we all need to do every day – share the bananas because we are all in this together and faith is about relying on each other and God.

Anne pulls on wisdom she has garnered from many different wise people (Christians, Buddhist, Hindus, whoever). There are a number of things that Anne says that really stuck with me. One was something she learned from reading the memoir by a Hindu writer; which she says is basically the same thing she was told by a close Priest friend of hers, “…when you pray, you are not starting the conversation from scratch, just remembering to plug back into a conversation that’s always in progress.� I now find my self sitting down and rather than beginning with a lot of re-introductions (after all, God probably knows me well enough from all my past failures), I just start right off like I had stepped out of the room to get a soda and was returning to an on-going conversation. Sometimes, I just sit and say “I’m back God�.

The book is really humorous, but I do caution – this is not your normal “Christian life insight� book, and if you consider yourself more on the conservative side and not really interested in getting into the mind of someone a bit different, you won’t enjoy this reading. One example I can give you is that Anne feels that there are times when only profanity is the proper response and she is not bashful about using it from time-to-time to express her feelings. Overall, though most Readers will probably not agree with all Anne’s observations, I believe that there is something for everyone in this book. Whether the parent of a teenager, an ex-hippy, recovering addict, single parent, or Sunday school teacher and devout Christian, you will recognize something in this book that you can relate with and will find yourself going “hmmm�.

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Behind the Sceen: Hollywood Insiders on Faith, Film, And Culture

Review by Kevin Miller

Author: Spencer Lewerenz (Editor), Barbara Nicolosi (Editor)
Publisher: Baker Books (November 1, 2005)


Summary
Hollywood: Devil's playground or God's mission field?

Joan of Arcadia, Mission Impossible, Batman Forever, and That '70s Show have been some of the biggest productions in film and television. But did you know that Christians have been behind the scenes of these and other box office smashes? Industry professionals Spencer Lewerenz and Barbara Nicolosi have discovered that the church is very much alive in Hollywood--and making a difference!

Behind the Screen presents a fascinating look at Hollywood through the eyes of Christian writers, producers, and executives living out their faith behind TV shows, on movie sets, and in studio offices. In their own words, they will take you behind the screen to reveal what Hollywood thinks of God and what you can do to close the gap between Christianity and culture.

Author Bio:

Spencer Lewerenz is a writer and editor whose editorials have appeared in The Washington Times, Crisis, Doublethink, The World & I, and First Things.

Barbara Nicolosi is the founder and director of Act One, an organization whose mission is to train committed Christian writers to work in the Hollywood film industry. Both editors live and work in Hollywood, California

Review

After a spate of books about Hollywood written by Christians who are observing the industry from a distance, it’s refreshing to see a book like Behind the Screen, which was written by a group of individuals whose day jobs place them at the heart of the most influential cultural enterprise on the planet.

The book was produced by the faculty and staff of Act One, a non-profit organization founded to train people of faith for careers in mainstream film and television. The list of contributors includes writers like Janet Scott Batchler (Batman Forever), directors like Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), producers like Ralph Winter (the X-Men franchise, Fantastic Four) and Dean Batali (That ‘70s Show), story consultants like Linda Seger (Making a Good Script Great), and many others. Their essays cover topics such as why Christians should be involved in the entertainment industry, how to know if you’re called to the industry, how to survive in Hollywood once you get there, and even practical advice on how to break into Hollywood on both artistic and financial levels. (On this latter approach, check out Charles B. Slocum’s fascinating essay “The $10 Billion Solution,� wherein he argues that if Christians really want to make a lasting impact in Hollywood, they should put their money where their mouth is and buy up one of the major studios.)

Some of my favorite contributions include “A Filmmaker’s Progress� by Scott Derrickson, where he uses Pilgrim’s Progress as a rough outline for his own spiritual and artistic journey; “Changing the Channels� by Dean Batali, in which he instructs Christians on how to communicate effectively with people of influence in Hollywood, and Linda Seger’s essay “What Kind of Stories Should We Tell?�, which issues a call for Christians to abandon overtly prescriptive stories in favor of those that take a more subtle, descriptive approach.

Apart from their association with Act One, I quickly got the sense that the contributors also share something else in common: strong feelings of frustration with Christians outside Hollywood who: a) treat Hollywood as if it is the whore of Babylon, b) assume there are no Christians working there, c) are shocked and appalled when they find out there are Christians in Hollywood or d) attempt to “take over the entertainment industry for Christ� without having the slightest idea about how the industry works, what audiences want or how to create a compelling, theologically significant piece of cinematic art. Clearly, this book was written to head such people off at the pass, and it definitely accomplishes that goal.

One thing I do want to take issue with in this regard is Lewerenz and Nicolosi’s opening remark about how Christians don’t like Hollywood. If they had prefaced the word “Christian� with the word “evangelical� or “fundamentalist,� and if they had written these words even five years ago, they may have been closer to the truth. However, today these and other Christian groups are embracing Hollywood like never before. (Remember that spate of books I mentioned earlier? Box-office attendance also bears this out.[1]) As it stands, such negative statements merely create a false picture of conflict—much like the one that has maligned the relationship between Christianity and science for the last few centuries—and ultimately work against the spirit of reconciliation this book is striving to create. That said, if I had to deal with as many sincere but ultimately ignorant Christian zealots as they have over the years, I would probably share their pessimistic view.

Part how-to manual, part meditation on what role Christians should play in the entertainment industry—and what role the entertainment industry should play in the lives of Christians—Behind the Screen is must reading if you’ve ever cast a stone at Hollywood, wondered how we can span the gap between Christianity and culture or considered getting involved in the entertainment business yourself.

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[1] According to a survey conducted in 2004 by the Barna Group, born again Christians who are neither conservative nor liberal on political matters are among America’s most prolific movie watchers. (http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=167)

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Movies and the Meaning of Life

Review by Kevin Miller

Author: Kimberly A. Blessing, PAUL J. TUDICO (Editor), Kimberly Ann Blessing (Editor)
Publisher: Open Court Publishing Company (April 10, 2005)
Amazon link

Summary
"The meaning of life is the most urgent of questions," said Albert Camus. And philosopher Woody Allen has wondered: "How is it possible to find meaning in a finite world, given my waist and shirt size?" Claims about what gives life meaning have not only been analyzed by philosophers but by the primary mythmakers in contemporary culture: Hollywood filmmakers. Movies and the Meaning of Life shows how a wide variety of films have tackled — to sometimes hilarious, sometimes surprisingly pointed effect — the same questions that have obsessed the deep thinkers. These essays draw on such sources as The Truman Show and Contact to explore the nature of reality; Fight Club and Being John Malkovich for cogent lessons on finding one's true identity; American Beauty and The Shawshank Redemption for pointers on life's purpose; Pleasantville and Spiderman for nuggets of wisdom on how to live one's life; and more.

Review

In the introduction to his essay on American Beauty, philosopher George T. Hole (one of the contributors to this book) says the film “does more than entertain us with yet another story of a man going through a mid-life crisis. It offers us a philosophical challenge, not simply to intellectualize about the meaning of the movie, but to examine our assumptions about the meaning of our own lives.� I could say much the same thing about this book. While it is definitely entertaining, and quoting from it certainly will make you sound more intelligent than you are, its greatest value lies in its ability to use film as a window into the soul. Reading this book won’t just give you a greater appreciation for cinema; it will also give you a greater appreciation for life.

In their effort to broaden our understanding of life and the movies, editors Kimberly A. Blessing and Paul A. Tudico bring together a sizeable team of philosophers who use some of the most popular, controversial, and memorable films of recent years to help us reflect on five of life’s most important questions: 1) What is reality and how can I know it? 2) How can I find my true identity? 3) What the significance of my interactions with others? 4) What’s the point of my life? 5) How ought I to live my life? The book is divided into five parts or “takes,� each based around one of the five questions.

One thing I found appealing about this book is that the authors did not restrict themselves to foreign, underground, or arty films that no one has ever heard of. Contrary to what you may think when you hear the term “philosopher,� the authors aren’t snobby at all. They look at controversial films like Pulp Fiction and Fight Club, comedies like Crimes and Misdemeanors and Groundhog Day, sci-fi films like Minority Report and Spiderman, as well as more serious, dramatic works like Shadowlands and Contact. The good news is, there’s something for everyone here, no matter what your taste in film. And if you’ve never cared much for philosophy, that just might change after you see how viewing a film through philosophical eyes can deepen your appreciation of the art form and life as a whole.

Something else I appreciated about this book was the opportunity it afforded me to revisit some of my favorite films from a completely different perspective. In this regard, my favorite chapter has to be James Spence’s essay “Grace, Fate, and Accident in Pulp Fiction.� While many critics—especially Christian critics—wrote off Tarantino’s film as nothing more than the soft, squishy stuff from which it takes its name, I have always suspected there was far more going on beneath the surface of this picture than most people give it credit for. Spence’s essay more than confirms my suspicion, revealing Pulp Fiction to be a masterpiece of modern cinema and Tarantino as far more than a former video store clerk who happened to strike it rich. Other standout chapters for me include Michael Baur’s chapter on Memento, Shai Biderman’s essay on Kill Bill, Volumes 1 and 2, and Nir Eisikovits and Shai Biderman’s chapter on Minority Report.

While I certainly got more out of the chapters that reflected on films I had already seen, for the most part, it didn’t really matter which point of entry I chose, because each chapter—and each film—had something profound to say about the human condition. My only real critique of the book is that it excluded one of the most popular genres around: horror. I would have loved to see an essay or two on zombie films, slasher films, or serial killer films, for example. I am certain that such movies (and our fascination with them) have much to say about the big questions of life. In addition, a chapter that looked at animé would also have been appreciated. But perhaps the authors are merely saving up such essays for the sequel—if and when they decide to write one, that is. (I certainly hope that they do.)

This book argues that, as with most things in life, movies are definitely worth a second look. I agree, and I encourage you to take a first look and then a second look at this book as well.

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