Comments on: Predictably Unpredictable

By: David Dunham

David Dunham — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:30:59 +0000

That’s a good point Charles, and to be sure I am not knocking escapism itself. I know a great deal of Christians who are totally against the concept of escapism, Leland Ryken has written on it and does not view it favorably. But you’re right, in my view, to say that where escapism becomes bad is when people live in it or let it dominate them.

By: Charles Jones

Charles Jones — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:15:45 +0000

My wife and I play the same game watching Numbers. It's almost uncomfortable when we're wrong. For us, at least, books hold a much stronger power than TV or movies. In order to get the full effect of a novel you have to put yourself in the environment, visualize the characters and events (which can easily take the form of your own fears and desires), and walk with them internally and externally through the story. It takes work, and it lingers. I don't have a problem with using fiction as a means of escape, as long as it's not where you hide, or you allow yourself to be mastered by it. Lately I've been watching Sliders through Netflix streaming, and I am constantly caught off-guard by the plot twists and the social commentary. I've actually found myself referring to the metaphors of the show to describe things in conversation. Which illustrates another point - sometimes you have to lose yourself in (good) fiction to better understand reality. Charles Joness last blog post..Of Mice and Moms: Inheriting Intelligence

By: Mink

Mink — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:22:36 +0000

I don’t watch many hyper shows or movies (I don’t watch much, period), but I still get bored by life. I attribute it to acedia, which impeded hermits in the desert millenia ago, and which will seek all sorts of things to distract itself, TV or no TV. Like, as David points out, books. Or other art. Or people. Or food. Or exercise. If I’m using those things to distract me from being present to my calling in the mundane, that’s sin, even though those things are in themselves good. I could plausibly watch a hyper show without using it as a crutch to acedia. Then it’s just predictable. And boring.

By: Jason

Jason — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:05:06 +0000

I certainly think it’s possible to make engaging film/television that is realistically mundane. A few examples that come to mind (these are all films):

Café Lumière – Hou Hsiao-Hsien
The Vertical Ray Of The Sun – Tran Anh Hung
The Scent Of Green Papaya – Tran Anh Hung
The Son – The Dardenne Brothers
Yi Yi – Edward Yang
The World – Jia Zhangke
Junebug – Phil Morrison

I’d consider all of these films to be “realistically mundane”, and in their finest moments, find a sort of transcendent beauty in the more mundane aspects of life without resorting to “outrageous, cataclysmic, life-threatening events that get solved in 45 minutes” (as you put it).

By: Minnesota Attorney

Minnesota Attorney — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:45:17 +0000

It may be that the mind constantly yearns to be stretched, challenged, and experience new things. Movies and books that accomplish this provide a sense of pleasure or satisfaction to the mind. Minnesota Attorneys last blog post..Employment Law: Information for Small Businesses