One of the most interesting things about Blue Like Jazz for me was reading the reviews after opening weekend, before it opened near me - before I saw it. One of the criticisms was that the portrayal of Reed College was over the top and sometimes unnecessarily vulgar. After seeing it, I was under the impression that these critics were probably much like myself. Inexperienced. Sheltered. Tucked away in my holy huddle.
My realization that I have never really been out of my comfort zone spiritually was a tough one to swallow. I have rarely experienced life outside of Christian webs of support. Don't read me wrong: I have and do operate in non-Christian circles, but my Christian support is never far away. Even when I was in Mongolia I was there with fellow believers. As I studied in the collegiate theatre world, I had my Campus Ministry friends waiting each night as I came home. I wonder how true this is for others. How often do we operate outside of Christian, or at the least moral, company? I believe for most of us the answer is: rarely.
This then leads me to ask the question: How often did Jesus operate outside of expected Jewish circles? The answer a resounding: often. He would not have been surprised by the best-friend lesbian, the atheist genius, the author cynic. He wouldn't have been surprised by them, he would have befriended them. Known them, loved them. He would have taken the time to figure out why they were that way. Just as he took the time to invest in the swindler, the embezzler, the liar, the whore.
I had to laugh at the portrayal of the church - not because it was so hokey (and it was!) but because it is so accurate. Seeing it so plainly was almost comical. We think that puppets and pinata crosses will minister to a generation that is growing up with school shootings and pornography and cutting. We really have no idea what we are up against, and when we see a real portrayal of how yearning souls live out their longing, we assume it's "over the top". It's not. It's scandalous, and offensive, and very real.
But it's more than just the culture that offends - Christians tend to forget that the culture is made up of people. People who make decisions because on a life they have lived. Because of a parent they have lost. Because of a hurt that hasn't healed. Because of a truth they have never known. Because of a treasure they haven't found, a freedom they so desperately want.
I don't know what it is like to be in a culture where if you believe in God, then you are labeled "foolish", "stupid", "close-minded". I mean on a small scale I know this - but I have never been ashamed. But I can see how I so easily could be. Blue Like Jazz made me ask the questions - Have I ever dared go where my faith is persecuted? Would I go if I was called to such a place - alone? Would I stand if I went? What does it look like to love my neighbor as myself when all of my neighbors are the 'heathens' I've spent my whole life learning how to avoid relationship with? What do I think of he ways I was brought up in "church" and how has that effected how I operate in the desperate and broken and wonderfully diverse waiting-to-be-free world?
CHARACTER: Me
SETTING: Christian, Moral Community - easy
SETTING: Broken, Real World - messy
CONFLICT: I've been called to more mess than ease. So now what?
Hey Brystal,
ReplyDeleteI heard you once say that no one ever comments to your blog and that is when I realized you had a blog for the first time! So here I am posting. I was interested to hear what you thought of Blue Like Jazz. Scott and I watched it (seriously I could just pick up and call you this very moment and I'm writing this laborous comment instead!!) anyway, we saw it just two weeks ago. I really didn't like it at all. I was disappointed because I liked the book a lot. I thought that it didn't show much "light" and a lot of dark and I feel like I'm trying to avoid movies that are dark, but I thought this would be different and inspiring to me. Instead I had an icky feeling at the end and I thought it just gave a horrible testimony of Christians. Now after reading your thoughts I am thinking that it is a movie more for Christians than non-Christians. I guess I was hoping for the general non-believer to watch the movie and to think or be attracted to Jesus, but it wasn't really doing that in the movie. Now if the audience is "Believers" I can see how it would make you think, "what would you do in this setting" as opposed to attracting others to Jesus. Anyway, still didn't like the movie much. Now Family Man, THAT is movie-making magic, but that's for another blog post.
Jenny, thanks for your comment! I agree that this is not a feel good movie. Not one I would choose to watch again and again. I do appreciate the opportunity it provides for conversation between believers and non-believers. You do miss some of Don's inner-monolauge that you get in the book - and I think that provides more of the "light" you refer to. I don't know that I think the movie is "for" believers and "not for" non-believers. I don't think it is meant to bring people to faith. I don't think it shares the gospel (although you could argue there are thematic elements that can be brought out that help show the gospel.) I do think it is meant to help people talk and think and more openly converse about life and faith and how they play out in their lives.
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