tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post8890175476491761712..comments2023-05-02T03:25:43.143-06:00Comments on Blessings Like Winged Horses: Quantum of Solace, Bros. K, and a little about writingSarahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05220448315369951650noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-52064034250091067662009-02-16T09:27:00.000-07:002009-02-16T09:27:00.000-07:00Thanks, Jen. My brain isn't forming my thoughts co...Thanks, Jen. My brain isn't forming my thoughts coherently yet this morning, so I hope this all makes sense ;)<BR/><BR/>Overall, I think you're right. Since I wrote this, I've developed a similar sense--that sometimes we just don't need to see it all and it is, in fact, harmful for our souls if we do.<BR/><BR/>I still want reserve the idea, though, that there might be a place where something like that is necessary or is beneficial. I'm not sure if that's because I hate closing doors completely or if it's legitimate, but it's my intuition.<BR/><BR/>My problem is that I can't entirely explain that intuition. It FEELS right, but I can't back it up with much, so I guess I'm waiting...waiting to see if my mind can catch up to my intuition (which sometimes happens) or if I can't back it up because it's totally bogus.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and I can't get the link to open, so I'll try to find the sermon somewhere else and read it later.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05220448315369951650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-29363062305280512762009-02-15T23:08:00.000-07:002009-02-15T23:08:00.000-07:00Hey, Sarah. Thanks for this post (and your whole ...Hey, Sarah. Thanks for this post (and your whole blog—I love reading it!). <BR/><BR/>In answer to your question about the portrayal of evil in art, I think you might find insight from Cardinal John Henry Newman's pastoral comments (circa 1908) on walking that line between good imagination and gratuitous exploration of evil. I stumbled across a relevant sermon of his in the fall and found it very challenging, convicting, and helpful in providing distinctions and clarity.<BR/><BR/>And,happily, it is online for free! See "<A HREF="www.newmanreader.org/works/parochial/volume8/sermon18.html" REL="nofollow">Sermon 18: Ignorance of Evil</A>" from Parochial and Plain Sermons, volume 8.<BR/><BR/>Like you, I appreciated many aspects of Quantum of Solace, including, especially, the journey and resolution Bond experiences. On the other hand, some things, for example, the rape images, I found completely gratuitous and harmful to my soul. Do we really need to see how he bound her or what position he had her in when he victimized her? I don't think it does me any good to have those images now burned in my soul. I can't imagine it edifies anyone else either. I also do not appreciate the copious amounts of voyeurism replete in this and pretty much every other film now made. I used to really like seeing all the hot sexy people in amazing clothes and provocative scenes in Bond films and film in general, but lately, I've seen this as a perversion within myself and repented of it. (I wish the movie industry and the American public would repent of it, too. But that's not going to happen any time soon!) <BR/><BR/>I general, I am not prudish about art and believe that portraying ugliness and sin can be an appropriate, even necessary, way for the artist to explore the truth of the human condition. For example, I love Bros. K! But there does seem to be a very real line that, as artists, we would be wrong to cross. God help us!Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10026656418305395243noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-84837394793156864272008-11-29T18:13:00.000-07:002008-11-29T18:13:00.000-07:00I am a girl into guys, well, I mean ONE guy. But ...I am a girl into guys, well, I mean ONE guy. But hey I've seen the movie Kissing Jessica Stein and can certainly identify with being curious about "the other side",) and I love Bond movies partly for how perfectly gorgeous the women are. Filmed with the ultimate lighting, backdrops, clothing, hair make-up etc.<BR/><BR/>Sheer gorgeous visual feast.<BR/><BR/>To me Sean Connery is The Real Bond and I cannot watch another.Jannie Funsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11595786402510366043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-6246913490310476112008-11-24T11:17:00.000-07:002008-11-24T11:17:00.000-07:00LL--I'm with you on the walking it part...if only ...LL--I'm with you on the walking it part...if only I could FIND it ;) And note, I read Bros K for school...tried to read it again later and couldn't get back into it. Maybe I'll try again, though.<BR/><BR/>Heather--I love your thought threads. And I should have mentioned about CR--I kept leaning over to Dave and asking him if I should know who these people were or what was going on ;)Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05220448315369951650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-56409224803525743392008-11-24T11:03:00.000-07:002008-11-24T11:03:00.000-07:00Chris and I saw the movie on Saturday finally. I w...Chris and I saw the movie on Saturday finally. I wish I had watched Casino Royale again or at least read the synopsis before we saw it. I'd forgotten so much of CR, I was confused during Quantum, trying to piece (or peace--ha) things together.<BR/>But I like the interactions with M--issues of trust and vengeance and duty and what it means to be human (it's a cold bastard who doesn't want revenge, or whatever she said versus Bond's statement that the dead don't care about revenge). It's about discovering truth and understanding what makes a person who they are. And Bond getting answers in the end and being able to let things go and forgive himself (as M told him in the beginning).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-16295480930365180932008-11-21T12:33:00.000-07:002008-11-21T12:33:00.000-07:00The line... is thin. But that doesn't mean we shou...The line... is thin. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to walk it.<BR/><BR/>I loved your discussion of this movie. I mean, wow, <I>Brothers Karamazov</I>? I bow in admiration. :)L.L. Barkathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13333960142447144678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-91127551753492203942008-11-20T15:23:00.000-07:002008-11-20T15:23:00.000-07:00Sarah- you go into these deep reflections that bri...Sarah- you go into these deep reflections that brings a outsider inside your head. That is interesting. Maybe we all do that to some degree, but I would estimate that most people watch movies for entertainment, not self-reflection. <BR/><BR/>I say self reflections because along with questioning the movie, you are taking an introspective look as well. <BR/><BR/>You leaving that movie with those questions totally makes me think of things that i do myself. Right now i am at a weird point in my life. I am questioning all sorts of things within myself. I feel myself getting really depressed in doing so. There are lots of questions, and I am demanding answers, and I am not producing them.<BR/><BR/>Believe it or not your blog made me think about how cold i am on the inside right now. That was my introspection of your movie review. It is nothing new (my thoughts on coldness), I think i will write a blog about that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-49126011782285821572008-11-19T09:32:00.000-07:002008-11-19T09:32:00.000-07:00Heather--you know, I always liked Batman and Bond ...Heather--you know, I always liked Batman and Bond but I like the new ones a lot more. They aren't pleasant or even fun sometimes, but they are real, and well-done. Art pursuing truth, huh? And then I wonder about truth's relationship to things like mercy and goodness, justice and beauty...wow, more good questions.<BR/><BR/>Joelle--I imagine you have an interesting perspective, as far as the teaching goes, particularly because you have to ask, "What can they handle now? What can they see?" And maybe that's a key to all of this...what can people handle? If they see the new Bond and all they see is violence, not his journey, what then? Hmm...<BR/><BR/>Christianne--Asher Lev is totally another book that does the same thing. I left that book feeling so much conflict...he was right, he was wrong, he couldn't do anything else, he's responsible to his culture, etc. Wow...brings it all back. And I used to be more opinionated, too...now I wonder if it's less of a line and more of a gray area. Life is full of those...<BR/><BR/>Sojourner--if you want to see this movie, you have to see the previous one first. It totally follows and this one won't make sense if you don't see it. I think you have some wisdom here...if we share something true, from ourselves, there's something in me that, along with you, says it's good. But what if I'm sharing the cesspool that I know is inside, without hope or promise? What then? Hmmm...I don't know.Sarahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05220448315369951650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-66237127530238595762008-11-19T05:54:00.000-07:002008-11-19T05:54:00.000-07:00You've made me want to see the movie! As a writer ...You've made me want to see the movie! As a writer I do not think it is wrong to write about what comes from your heart and or imagination. The emotions that are brought by the reader brings the piece of art to life for them personally - separate from the artist. That is what connects the two. The greatest thing for me is when a reader brings something to a piece that is unique for them - something that comes from between the lines - something that touches the heart and imagination of the reader. If I can inspire a reader to create from a seed I have planted that means my piece of art has life and breath for other people. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!sojournerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03995591556892143652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-19544278059138017842008-11-18T17:15:00.000-07:002008-11-18T17:15:00.000-07:00I'm glad you're encouraging thought on this, too. ...I'm glad you're encouraging thought on this, too. And I don't really have any answers. I used to think I did. I used to be deeply opinionated about this stuff. But I've not thought about it much in a long, long time, and walking with you through this post was like meeting up with a long, lost friend.<BR/><BR/>What you described here is the way I felt when I read Asher Lev: sucked in, totally inside it, and completely shredded. I remember setting down the book afterward and not being able to move. I felt immobilized. Wait, I mean I <I>was</I> immobilized.<BR/><BR/>I love the Brothers K. Thanks for taking me back into it. I always think about that book when I read or hear the passage, "Unless a grain of wheat fall into the ground and die . . . "christiannehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06278757714101308785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-49138787022742643732008-11-18T15:51:00.000-07:002008-11-18T15:51:00.000-07:00Ditto--great questions. I wonder how much is nece...Ditto--great questions. I wonder how much is necessary, how much is too much especially with teaching. I firmly believe art, be it literature, music, or a painting, must speak to us from the depths of human experience. What is the balance? What is healthy? Don't know, but glad you're encouraging thought.Joellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01548545260637445141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1863554872321330259.post-2983099091467267982008-11-18T14:31:00.000-07:002008-11-18T14:31:00.000-07:00Great questions. I'm guessing we'll all be working...Great questions. I'm guessing we'll all be working through that our whole lives. Interesting, I'm about to post a podcast that's the first part of an interview with Dr. Reg Grant (professor, published author, actor, and apparently, tap-dancer), and we talk about art's pursuit of truth.<BR/>I've been wanting to see this movie. I wasn't a Bond fan until the last one (kind of like Batman--I wasn't a Batman fan until Batman Begins and Dark Knight). I didn't know his name is Daniel Craig. I call him the Layer Cake guy. (Another great film.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com