Stranger than Fiction
I should really take blogging more seriously. I have precious little time to commit to this writing exercise so it would just make sense for me to be thinking about it during the day. Maybe scribble out a rough draft. Jot down a couple of notes. Something Johnson, ya bum!
But alas, no.
I usually wait until I’m far too sleepy to be entertaining. Like now. See? This is actually the opposite of entertainment.
Hey! I got it!
OK here.
We rented an incredibly refreshing movie this past weekend. We watched it twice we liked it so much. It’s ‘Stranger than Fiction’. Awesome movie. Some of the most innovative and fresh writing I’ve seen in a long, long time.
Have you seen it? Go check it out. I’ll wait.
See? Awesome wasn’t it. Totally.
There is one extremely profound line in the movie that I think could be applied to the Christian life. (If you haven’t seen the movie this will make no sense. Wait a minute. I told you I’d wait. Why are you reading this part if you didn’t go see it?) Will Ferrell says to Emma Thompson “I love your book. I think you should finish it.” The way the movie is written this scene could work like a person talking to God. I like what you’re doing. I don’t always understand it but I surrender to it. Whatever may come. It’s your book God. Write it.
Of course I watched the special features – twice. The company that did the special effects is MK12. The director of the movie said that this short clip is what made him decide to give MK12 the gig. Very cool stuff.
I know that you know who this is but let’s see what conversations and comments emerge from our similar, yet differing opinions.
I know that you and I now differ on views of why we are here and what happens when we die but I also noticed a few different “servant to God” references throughout the movie. I couldn’t help but notice the “Life Guard”/”Life Saver” aspect when Will’s character (Harold) was speaking to Dustin Hoffman (Professor Hilbert) at the life guard station. What was interesting to me was when the professor agreed to read the draft, Harold seemed excited (as if the prof. could figure something out that might save him from his troubles) and then instantly a little less excited when he noticed that he would read it only after he finished the book he was already reading and only after he was finished with the job that he was originally there to do (very omniscient, yet practical). I saw that as a “pray all you want for a change, but being in the right state of mind to accept that it may not happen (the way/when you asked for it) is sometimes the right place to be”.
Also the next day, after the professor reads it, Harold seemed to be pleading to him “is there no other way?/…take this (cup of) suffering from me.†Although at the end of this exchange there was a “yet, not my will†sort of surrender, I tend to believe that Harold didn’t find real peace until he relied on his own understanding (reading it himself) that he surrendered to the fact that certain things are in motion and we are either in front of a bus or we call off work that day and read about what happened in the paper.
Regardless, he made the “right†choice and things didn’t turn out as bad as he had feared… This could be viewed as “God is ultimately a fair God” or “You are going to die when you die and living in fear of it really isn’t living”.
On the subject of the G.U.I. effects, I loved when the “A tree doesn’t know it’s a tree†reference was taking place the camera cuts to Harold; he has closed his eyes and the clouds on the wall behind him start to move. Very subtle, but very cool. I think that the MK12 graphics company talked in the special features about how the graphics were utilized to let us see into his world and this one could pass you by pretty easily. The graphics were as low-fi as the moment.
Side note – That “crunchy-sensitive guy†character was played by Tom Hulce, the leading role in Amadeus!!!!
Best,
Kronecker Bus Driver
I’m sorry I didn’t respond to this immediately because these are great points. I’m trying to think of a way to add to what you said but I can’t. Your points are Biblically very sound from what I can tell and I never would have noticed them in the movie if you hadn’t pointed them out. I guess I’ll have to watch the movie again. I should really just buy it.
The moving clouds I did catch the second time we watched it. I told Angel “I think the clouds are moving” so she rewound it and it’s much easier to see in fast motion.
I only realized that it was the guy from Amadeus after watching the special features. How cool is that? His character was awesome.