Sky High
—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film
Class is in session at Sky High, and hopefully, a majority of folks will enroll. Seriously, I figured Sky High would be a fun, light-hearted, hero-joking jaunt, and it was. But it was also a tutorial the ins and outs of family, friendship, decision-making, child raising and more. Filled with laughs stirred by lines like “It’s not like I’m Wonder Woman� from the ever-smiling Lynda Moore as Principal Powers to the sarcasm of Coach Sonic Boom (Bruce Campbell), the humor isn’t simply about watching people fall down the stairs. Aiming for the stars, this coming of age super hero movie gets at least…(drum roll please)….sky high!
Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) emerges from the shadow of The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston) AKA Mom and Dad as he enters high school. Unfortunately for him, he appears to lack the powers necessary to become a “Hero� and ends up as a “Sidekick.� This allows for two interesting observations. One, what do we need to experience as pre-parents to remember what unfair expectations feel like prior to becoming parents? We may know that we are “made in the image of God� and find our purpose there, but our psyche still gets a majority of its formation from the work our parents put into us. Second, as adults, we find the need to differentiate ourselves from others, and tend to stereotype people to make ourselves feel better. In this case, powers divide Heroes from Sidekicks—some powers aren’t worthy. The segregation is over ‘power’—that segregation has occurred outside of superpower world based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. cannot be ignored. That also collides with the gospel and quite a few letters of Paul: “the meek will inherit the earth� and the body is made up of many parts, none of which can survive without the other. Needless to say, all of this is well illuminated by the high school setting, but the same can be said of discussions around the water color, local work out gym, etc.
As Will comes out of his Sidekick shell, he begins to take ownership of his powers. Based on the preview alone, my wife turned to me and said, “that will illustrate Jesus coming into an understanding of who he could be�—and she was right. Will has a built-in arch enemy (Warren Peace played by Steven Strait) who hates him because of the relationship their fathers had [nice C.S. Lewis-ish illustration of God’s children vs. Satan’s children.] Will does remain the most compassionate superhero toward the Sidekicks, and that isn’t lost on our view of his development either.
Departing from the Will as Jesus motif, the pride of the father and the son causes the major conflict/danger in the movie. One brings a ‘trophy’ of a victory home; the other breaks his word by allowing someone into the “Inner Sanctum.� I also don’t believe that the adolescent Jesus would have bailed out on his friends when he got those powers, but the fact that Will called on them in his time of need is priceless. The Hero in all of us can best be seen in the resurrected heroic career of Ron Wilson, Bus Driver. More than anything, this movie continues to flip expectations upside down, and prove that everyone has opportunities and must make choices.
The fact that forgiveness wipes over the mistakes everyone made is the most important concept that can be taught here. Grace occurs in the forgiveness that the Strongholds show Will after his party and his breaking his word. Grace occurs again when his friends forgive him for jilting them momentarily for the cool crowd, specifically in Lana’s (Danielle Panabaker) love exceeding all of his mistakes. And finally grace occurs in Will’s closing voice over that informs us that his girlfriend became his enemy, his best friend became his girlfriend, and his enemy became his best friend. We should remember that each of us needs forgiveness and understanding, that our enemies are only baby steps away from being our friends. Thanks to Introduction to Grace at Sky High, we might just learn a little more for Life 101.
—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film
—Photos
—About this Film
Class is in session at Sky High, and hopefully, a majority of folks will enroll. Seriously, I figured Sky High would be a fun, light-hearted, hero-joking jaunt, and it was. But it was also a tutorial the ins and outs of family, friendship, decision-making, child raising and more. Filled with laughs stirred by lines like “It’s not like I’m Wonder Woman� from the ever-smiling Lynda Moore as Principal Powers to the sarcasm of Coach Sonic Boom (Bruce Campbell), the humor isn’t simply about watching people fall down the stairs. Aiming for the stars, this coming of age super hero movie gets at least…(drum roll please)….sky high!Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) emerges from the shadow of The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston) AKA Mom and Dad as he enters high school. Unfortunately for him, he appears to lack the powers necessary to become a “Hero� and ends up as a “Sidekick.� This allows for two interesting observations. One, what do we need to experience as pre-parents to remember what unfair expectations feel like prior to becoming parents? We may know that we are “made in the image of God� and find our purpose there, but our psyche still gets a majority of its formation from the work our parents put into us. Second, as adults, we find the need to differentiate ourselves from others, and tend to stereotype people to make ourselves feel better. In this case, powers divide Heroes from Sidekicks—some powers aren’t worthy. The segregation is over ‘power’—that segregation has occurred outside of superpower world based on race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. cannot be ignored. That also collides with the gospel and quite a few letters of Paul: “the meek will inherit the earth� and the body is made up of many parts, none of which can survive without the other. Needless to say, all of this is well illuminated by the high school setting, but the same can be said of discussions around the water color, local work out gym, etc.
As Will comes out of his Sidekick shell, he begins to take ownership of his powers. Based on the preview alone, my wife turned to me and said, “that will illustrate Jesus coming into an understanding of who he could be�—and she was right. Will has a built-in arch enemy (Warren Peace played by Steven Strait) who hates him because of the relationship their fathers had [nice C.S. Lewis-ish illustration of God’s children vs. Satan’s children.] Will does remain the most compassionate superhero toward the Sidekicks, and that isn’t lost on our view of his development either.
Departing from the Will as Jesus motif, the pride of the father and the son causes the major conflict/danger in the movie. One brings a ‘trophy’ of a victory home; the other breaks his word by allowing someone into the “Inner Sanctum.� I also don’t believe that the adolescent Jesus would have bailed out on his friends when he got those powers, but the fact that Will called on them in his time of need is priceless. The Hero in all of us can best be seen in the resurrected heroic career of Ron Wilson, Bus Driver. More than anything, this movie continues to flip expectations upside down, and prove that everyone has opportunities and must make choices.
The fact that forgiveness wipes over the mistakes everyone made is the most important concept that can be taught here. Grace occurs in the forgiveness that the Strongholds show Will after his party and his breaking his word. Grace occurs again when his friends forgive him for jilting them momentarily for the cool crowd, specifically in Lana’s (Danielle Panabaker) love exceeding all of his mistakes. And finally grace occurs in Will’s closing voice over that informs us that his girlfriend became his enemy, his best friend became his girlfriend, and his enemy became his best friend. We should remember that each of us needs forgiveness and understanding, that our enemies are only baby steps away from being our friends. Thanks to Introduction to Grace at Sky High, we might just learn a little more for Life 101.—Overview
—Photos
—About this Film
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