Being Human: Complete Second Season Blu-ray (Jacob Sahms)

The American remake of the BBC hit (carried on Syfy) is certainly more entertaining for this American to watch, given that the vernacular, dialect, and comic style translate more clearly in my mind. Pretty boy Aidan the vampire (Sam Witwer), the hauntingly beautiful Sally the ghost (Meaghan Rath), and the nerdily insecure Josh the werewolf (Sam Huntington) cohabit, stop others from getting hurt (sometimes), and struggle against their most primal instincts. In this second season, the stakes are higher, the impact is greater, and their need to stay sane in the midst of onslaughts by vampires, reapers, and more... It's supernatural, but it's relational, and it speaks to our human condition of "doing what I don't want to do."

Game Change (Jason Stanley) Game Change is the TV movie by HBO based on the book of the same title. Julianne Moore is Sarah Palin in the 2008 President campaign. As one of the filmmakers in the special feature "Game Change: The Phenomenon," pointed out, there was so much they could have used from the book, they needed to focus on a main part of this fascinating story. They decided to place that focus on how Palin was chosen, and the aftermath of that decision. Of course, it's 2013, we know what happened. But there has been much debate over why Palin was chosen. The film proposes that the campaign did not do its homework. As such they had a Vice-President candidate that didn't know Supreme Court rulings or anything about foreign policy. One of the most fascinating parts of the film was watching Palin make study cards regarding legal matters and foreign policy matters. At one point, she begins to crack under all this pressure.

What I found most interesting about the film was its portrayal of Senator John McCain, played by Ed Harris. Harris, though his body type is not like McCain's, he managed to get a lot of McCain's mannerisms, hand gestures, and facial expressions down pat. But more than that, McCain is kept in the dark and is balancing being a Senator in the midst of financial crisis while running for President. Steve Schmidt, a campaign consult played by Woody Harrelson, keeps the information from McCain so not to upset him or distract him. Schmidt will later apologize to McCain for choosing Palin. After Palin's positive performance in the debate, there was a new surge of energy. During a rally in this time, McCain is visibly moved with concern when people start shouting out things that aren't true about Obama. In one town hall meeting, McCain stops a woman with her untruths and corrects her. "No, ma'am," he says. At the end of the film, after they have lost the campaign, McCain tells Palin, "Don't get co-opted by the extremists. It will divide the party." It this moment, McCain becomes a prophet. Throughout this whole thing, he sees that a shift happening, but he doesn't seem to find his prophetic voice until the end.

The film raises a few ponderings for a person of faith. As a person of faith, it raises the question, "Where is my prophetic voice?" We, like McCain in the film, struggle between doing what is socially right and doing what is ethically and faithfully right. But, we don't have to be John McCain to speak up, we each have a voice and we each can be prophetic in our world, in our nation, and in our communities.

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