Blue Like Jazz – the book and the movie

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Lucille

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality is a book written by Donald Miller. It was published in 2003 and has sold over a million copies.

In Donald Miller’s early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God. You can follow his blog here.

This video will help you get to know him a little better.

In case you haven’t heard, the book has been made into a movie. The book has been made into a movie by director Steve Taylor. On his blog September 2010, Donald Miller stated that despite a strong screenplay, a stellar cast, and rave reviews, the project was put on hold indefinitely due to lack of funding. Two fans created a site called “Save Blue Like Jazz” where they urged fans to help raise money to fund the movie through a website called Kickstarter. This campaign raised over $340,000, more than doubling the original goal of $125,000 by October 25th, 2010.

The movie won’t show until April 13, 2012, but I got to attend a prescreening last night. I even got to meet Donald Miller.

The movie received a standing ovation but let me caution you, this is not your run of the mill Christian movie The term Christian film has become synonymous with substandard production values, stilted dialogue and childish plots. Blue Like Jazz is raw, it’s edgy. There is language and all sorts of offensive behavior. But that’s the whole point. The world is edgy and messy and raw and sacrilegious. God is here anyway.

I think this movie will appeal to both Christians and non-Chrisitan because it is not pushy or sanctimonious. In fact, when I asked the girl standing in line with me if she was Christian she told me she was Hindu.

I hope you’ll put it on your calendar. One day only: April 13, 2012.

“I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve. I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.” ―Donald Miller

For anyone wondering if the Christian faith is still relevant in a postmodern culture.

For anyone thirsting for a genuine encounter with a God who is real.

Reel Therapy – movies related to counseling

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Lucille

There’s just something about movies, books, and songs that get into our heads and hearts in a better way than talk therapy.

Often I have my clients tell me about their favorite movies because it gives me insight into their worldview. Just the other day a client told me her favorite movie was Farenheit 451. As she described the story (all the people living in a town where books were banned, memorized parts of a book so it wouldn’t disappear), I told her that the theme was common to all the things she had told me in our earlier sessions. The movie mirrored her fears of being invisible and disappearing.
As soon as I pointed this out, my client burst into tears.

In addition to having clients tell me about their favorite movies, I often suggest movies for them to watch. I ask them to journal about characters that remind them of themselves or their family.

Here are just a few of my favorites movies and their corresponding theme:

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape – Boundaries
Antwone Fisher – Childhood Abuse
Prince of Tides – Violence in family of origin
The Mermaid Chair – Women Who Lack a Sense of Self (ego)
Mr. Jones – Bipolar disorder
Thirteen – Teenage depression
Fatal Attraction – Borderline Personality Disorder
Lars and the Real Girl – Loss/Fear of intimacy
Good Will Hunting – Childhood abuse/Learning to trust
Reign on Me – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
The Story of Us – Marriage/Divorce
When a Man Loves a Woman – drug and alcohol addiction/codependency

Here are a few more links that list many movie ideas and the theme related to counseling:

http://www.zurinstitute.com/movietherapy.html#phobias

http://www.cinematherapy.com/filmindex.html

I would love to hear movies that touched you and related to a theme you might see in a counselor’s office.

“Seven Pounds”

Posted on December 29, 2008 by Lucille

I just went to see the movie, “Seven Pounds” starring Will Smith. Lots of people were blogging and twittering about it, so I decided it would be a good one to see.

I went with my daughter and her friend. I think we were all impressed with the quality of the film – from the cinematography to the pacing. But I wasn’t thrilled with the message being offered to moviegoers. Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, and Woody Harrelson all make the acting look effortless. Maybe that’s the appeal of the movie. Or maybe it’s the pull on the audience’s heartstrings – I mean, don’t we all want to do something wonderful to change the world?

As I glanced around the quiet, sniffling theatre, I could imagine even terrorists would yearn to do something this magnanimous.

***** Spoiler Alert *******

(If you don’t want the plot spoiled for you, please read no further).

There is a debate over the Internet about whether “seven pounds” refers to the weight of Will Smith’s human organs, or just his heart. Regardless, the movie title suggests that “something” weighing only seven pounds is going to be an extraordinary “something.”

As a Christian, the movie left me deeply unsettled. Not because of the intense self-sacrifice of Will Smith’s character, or those blessed by the organs he left behind. The movie left me unsettled because the message is the exact opposite of the Gospel:

The Gospel says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And that if we’ve fallen at even one point, we are held guilty for all. The gospel says the wage for sin is death. The gospel says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. The gospel says that Christ was an acceptable offering for our sin. The gospel says that Jesus Christ clothes those, who accept his free gift, in righteousness and that their sins are buried as far as the east is from the west.

(Romans 3:22-24, James 2:10, Romans 6:23, Romans 5:8, Hebrews 10:11-14, Philippians 3: 8-9, Psalm 103:8).

This movie seems to glorify a man who made a mistake (looking down at his cell phone while driving down the road and killing seven people). It glorifies a man who negates his mistake by the gift he is willing to give. The movie depicts a man who is justified in the end because he makes it all better by committing suicide.

The movie insinuates Will Smith is a “good” person who is willing to save other “good” people.

In the Bible, the number seven is significant. It symbolizes perfection or completion (in the book of Genesis the world is made in seven days, in the book of Revelation there are seven churches, seven spirits, seven stars, seven trumpets, etc). I could go on, but maybe you understand why the movie left me disconcerted. Mankind brings nothing to the table in which to justify himself. Not even seven pounds of organs.

Only Christ, the perfect Son of God, is able to make our lives meaningful.

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