Manson's Memo 3/24

It’s an excellent year for California Golden Poppies. With all the rain we’ve had this winter, they have bloomed in abundance out around Lancaster and Palmdale. Some years, when it’s dry, the poppies can only be found in little bunches here and there. This year whole hillsides are full of them.

The weekend Jane and I went up to see them, people were parked by the side of the road long before we got to the State Reserve. At the Reserve, you’re supposed to stay on the pathways and wander through the fields enjoying the beauty. And it’s good to have such a place so that the poppies can thrive without the harm that comes from thousands of people walking on them. But out in the fields outside the reserve, people were out among the poppies enjoying them up close and personal.

Both experiences are worthwhile and valuable. But they are different. In the Reserve, the poppies are something that we can admire, but not really be with. It’s a very objective experience. When you get out and walk among them, carefully stepping over them, or sitting by them while someone takes your picture, you are taking part in a subjective experience – you discover that you and the poppies are sharing this corner of the world together.

As we approach Good Friday and Easter, we may think that these are objective experiences. We come to church and see Christ upon the cross and look into the empty tomb. Terrible and wonderful, awe inspiring, but not really a part of our world.

It is better to remember that these days are subjective in nature. The cross and empty tomb are not something we visit, but something that transforms our world, just as the poppies transform those hillsides. As we consider God’s work in the cross and Resurrection, we need to remember that in Christ, God shared this corner of the world with us. At the foot of the cross and peering into the empty tomb, we begin to share in God’s Kingdom.

Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

—Overview
—Spiritual Connections

It can be surprising to see the wildlife that can be found in urban areas. A case in point is a flock of cherry-headed conures living in San Francisco. There are lots of theories about how these green parrots with red heads got there. Probably some are pets that escaped. Perhaps several were released from pet stores or quarantine areas. Before long, they began to breed and the flock grew.

On one level, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is about that flock of birds. We do get to learn a great deal about them as a flock and also we get to know specific birds and their idiosyncrasies. But this isn’t really an urban wildlife film. As we watch we become aware that there is a certain unity of bird and human life. Perhaps it’s a bit of anthropomorphism, but it also reflects the interaction of the birds and their friend, Mark Bittner.

Of course, Bittner is something of a wild urban bird himself. He came to San Francisco twenty-six years ago to get a job playing music. That never happened. He says now that he hasn’t paid rent for the last twenty-five years. For most of that time, he lived on the streets. He is a person without any visible means of support, but he has found his calling in studying and caring for these wild birds. In many ways, he is one of them. As we get to know him through this film, we may see homeless people in a new light; he certainly doesn’t fit our stereotype.

The film really is more a study of Bittner than it is of the parrots. These aren’t his birds, they live in the wild. He takes them in when they are sick and need care. He brings them food. But they really don’t need him. They are perfectly capable of surviving in the city – and they had been for some time before Bittner began his work with them. It seems more that he needs them. The birds are what have allowed him to find his place in the world.

Although not formally educated, Bittner is well read, both about the birds and about life. He tends to think in Buddhist terms that reflect the oneness of the world. He sees that worldview reflected in his relationship with the birds.

We see the birds through Bittner’s eyes. He tells us about the various birds, their stories, their personalities. And we do begin to see that all of these birds are individuals. As much as they seem to all be alike, they all behave differently. We learn about their relationships with one another. We learn about the dangers they face – especially the hawks. We see what it is like for the lone blue-headed conure, who is part of the flock, but also not really a part. The more Bittner tells us about these birds, the more we begin to see human behavior reflected.

This film is a wonderful blend of nature and human nature. It gives us the joy of seeing these beautiful birds in their new environment. It also gives us the joy of seeing a man who has found something in his life that brings fulfillment and meaning. And it is a joy to discover the oneness that we can have with God’s creation.

Millions

Millions has a great shot at being the top family film of the year. Considering it’s only March, that says something. Not only is it a great family film, it is a great film about faith and about caring for the world around us.

Brothers Damian and Anthony have just moved to a new subdivision with their widowed father. Anthony has figured out that he can milk his mother’s death for sympathy and free stuff. It seems that he should be able to capitalize on his grief in some way. He is always looking to get more.

Damian is having a harder time dealing with his loss. After the move, he has built a fort – or perhaps it’s a hermitage – out of some boxes next to the railroad tracks. He sits out there and reads about the saints, and they begin to appear to him and talk with him. He always asks the saints if they have met St. Maureen. He’s trying to confirm that his mother is in heaven. The saints are always noncommittal.

One day while out in his boxes, a duffle bag full of money comes crashing into his fort. Damian sees it as a gift from God and is determined to use it wisely to do what God would want. He knows he needs to share it with the poor, but doesn’t really know anyone who is poor.

Anthony, on the other hand, wants to use the money to gain the maximum return. His first act is to "buy" a posse. The promise of money gets him a whole entourage of friends who do things for him. He considers buying a couple of houses that will appreciate and bring them even more money.

But there's a problem: In less than two weeks, the money will be worthless as the currency changes to Euros. Everything has to be spent or invested before that date.

Of course, before long, a bad guy comes looking for the money. (He was the one who tossed it off the train.) So there is a sense of danger that has to be dealt with as the story works its way to its conclusion.

The story has a nice blend of humor and seriousness that should make it enjoyable for the whole family. Some of the British accents may take a few minutes to get used to, but the dialogue is still fairly easy to understand.

Millions is an opportunity for us to consider issues such as whether the things we have are gifts from God. Is Damian right that God sent him the money? Was it just an accident? How does our use of money change if we understand it as a gift from God versus our own possession?

Anthony and Damian both live within us all. We want to use the wealth we have to make our lives better. But we also know that we have responsibilities to others that we can meet through the use of our wealth. We constantly struggle to try to balance these two desires.

What about the role our faith plays in our grief? Damian knew his mother must be in heaven, but how could he be sure? Damian has great faith. He seems to know all the saints and their stories. He wants to do good, to be like them. He knows, as we all do, that they are models for life. His mother’s death has made this all the more important to him.

As I said, this is a family film, not a kid’s film. This is the kind of film that parents should take children to see and then spend time afterwards discussing what they watched. Perhaps you can talk about how to spend money. Perhaps you can discuss what it means that heaven is involved in this world. Add to that discussion the lives of people who have been virtuous and exemplary – the saints who have informed our lives.

Maybe you’ll even be moved to find a charity to share some of you money or, better, yourselves with. (The film makes reference to the British charity WaterAid. You may be interested in their work, or you might find something in your own community.) The film’s website also has a �good deeds calendar� (.pdf file) that might help develop ideas of how to do things for others.

Millions has the potential not only to entertain but to actually bring goodness into the world, making it one of the rarest of movie gems in the vein of Pay It Forward and The Miracle of the Cards.

Manson's Memo 3/8

It is said that when movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn was filming The Last Supper, the following conversation took place:

Goldwyn: Why only twelve?
Employee: That’s the original number.
Goldwyn: Well, go out and get thousands.

I suppose we could look at that as an example of how Hollywood can mess up biblical stories. And watching things like The Ten Commandments or The Greatest Story Ever Told can get me grinding my teeth as I see all the changes, mistakes and exaggerations that filmmakers have done in almost every Bible film. Sometimes, it’s bearable, but often, I’d just as soon the film wasn’t even made. When it comes to the Bible, the book is almost always better.

But I really like Goldwyn’s comment, even if it belies the fact that he doesn’t know the story. (He was Jewish, after all.) Even though it may seem like a ridiculous comment, it really represents what the church is all about.

Maybe that night in the upper room that we remember each week when we gather around the table only had 12 people there besides Jesus, but that isn’t the way it is suppose to stay. We gather by the tens and hundreds and thousands and millions around that table each week. And there is always room for others to share with us.

We should listen to what Sam Goldwyn said. We should go out and get thousands.

Up and Down

—Overview
—About this Film pdf
—Spiritual Connections

How funny can racism and xenophobia be? Well, actually we have often laughed at such things, often inappropriately. But in the Czech film Up and Down, director Jan Hrebejk offers us a chance to laugh in the face of these things because of their underlying absurdity.

Up and Down is a collection of interconnecting stories. The first story is about a group of petty criminals who (among other things) smuggle people into the country. On one of their trips in, they manage to unload the immigrants, but fail to notice a baby that the sick mother has accidentally forgotten in the rush out of the truck.

And then there is the childless couple: the woman desperately longs for a child, but cannot have one; the man, who has serious anger management issues, is a devoted worshiper of the local football team. They end up buying the immigrant’s child from the smugglers, even though it is “black� or, more precisely, gypsy.

There is also the story of a university professor who likely has a short time left to live. Faced with his mortality, he seeks to divorce the wife he abandoned nearly twenty years ago, and reconcile with his son from that marriage who now lives in Australia. The professor’s current wife and their daughter are less than thrilled with prospect of this family reunion. (The daughter knew nothing of this first family.)

It is the story of this family that makes up the central metaphor of the film. Who does or doesn’t belong? Is the true family the legal one or the illegal one? Who has a right to feel resentment? What is it that draws them all together?

In a country with an influx of immigrants, who does or doesn’t belong to the society, the legal ones or the illegal ones? Who has a right to feel resentment? What is it that draws them all together?

The Czech Republic has undergone dramatic changes in the last two decades. Such changes bring tensions. This film is a way of addressing some of those tensions through a humorous look at the society at a very plebeian level. It looks at comic versions of ordinary people. To be sure, it exaggerates their personalities, but that is part of the comic nature.

Although it focuses on Czech society, the racism and xenophobia they deal with is not foreign to our society. As such Up and Down may serve as a chance for us to see the folly of our ways as well.

Nobody Knows

—Overview
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections

Nobody Knows shows us four children, each with a different father (all of whom are absent.) Not long after they move into a new apartment, their mother abandons them as well. If this were a Hallmark film or an After School Special, we would see the children conquer their problems and find a sense of family that transcends what their parents could have given them. But what would it really be like?

In 1988 such an incident did take place in Tokyo. The children were undetected for six months. Filmmaker Koreeda Hirokazu gives us a fictionalized account inspired by that incident. His treatment of the story and the performances he draws out of non-professional actors make this an absorbing film.

We begin by seeing their mother smuggle them into the new apartment she is renting, but children are frowned upon here, so she only tells the landlord about the oldest, Akira. The two smaller children are brought in inside suitcases in which they have been traveling. The oldest daughter waits elsewhere until her brother comes to bring her home while no one is watching.

Their mother is more childish than the children. Before long, she leaves some money and a note to Akira to take care of the others until she comes back. It’s no spoiler to say she leaves forever.

The children make do as best they can, but they really are not prepared for life alone. They don’t have the resources to maintain their apartment. They have to rely on handouts of food. They carry water from a nearby park.

They survive. They care for one another. But they are ill-equipped for the life that they are forced to live. They have neither the emotional or financial resources to get by and thrive. Danger is at hand, and the viewer knows that eventually something terrible will
happen.

Through the whole ordeal, nobody knew anything of these children. They had fallen through the cracks of societal care. They only had brief encounters with any adults, and even then the contacts were not opportunities to know how these children were living.

This is a story of abandonment and abuse. Primarily, the mother (and to some extent, the absent fathers) are guilty of gross neglect. But I believe we are also to understand that it is not enough just to blame them. There is also society’s responsibility to take care of those with no one else to care for them. Such an event as this is a rarity, and yet, there are still many homeless children and families in our midst. We have programs to care for them and to educate them. Are they adequate? I don’t know. Some will always be missed, and in being missed will lose out on some of the great possibilities that could be opened to them. Perhaps when that happens we are not to blame. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re blameless.

—Overview
—About this Film
—Spiritual Connections