Bumps on the Creative Path

One of my favorite movies is UP by Pixar.  I remember looking around the movie theater and

watching the adults cry and the kids laugh.  It reached nearly everyone.  The marriage montage at the beginning is already a classic sequence.  The crafting of the story must have come easy, right?

Wrong.  

Read these comments on the creation of UP from Ed Catmull, Pixar Animation Studios President in a speech at BYU:

"The first version of UP took place on a castle floating in the sky, and there was a king in the castle who had two sons; the sons didn't like each other. And the people in the castle were at war with the people on the ground, and...the two sons happened to fall overboard and ended up wandering around in enemy territory. And in this wandering around they came across a large bird.

"This version of the movie didn't work; all that was left was the bird the word 'up.' [Creativity] is a path that is filled with false turns and errors, and the errors are a necessary part of the process."

As I like to say, trust the process.  And of course...

...Keep writing and keep living!

More tips on creativity: Double Your Creativity in 3 Hours

10 Faith-Based Movies

Since Easter is nearly upon us, I thought I’d make a list of faith-based movies for Christians to consider watching.  These are not ranked in any kind of order.

The list

Ben-Hur (1959) – This classic has everything, including a genuine chariot race.  The director once said privately, that it took “a Jew to make a decent movie about Christ.”  Eleven academy awards.

Les Miserables (2012) – The story is Christ-centered, although I wasn’t completely enthralled with the motion picture version, particularly Hollywood’s idea of Heaven—an even bigger barricade with dead soldiers on the ground.  I might prefer Les Miserables in Concert: The 25^th Anniversary (2010).

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005) – For those who love the writings of C.S. Lewis.

The Scarlet and the Black (1983) – You’ll love watching Gregory Peck defy the Nazis.

Chariots of Fire (1981) – Eric Liddell keeps the Sabbath during the 1924 Olympics.  Four Academy Awards.

Wide Awake (1998) – M. Night Shyamalan’s first movie.  A 10-year-old, coping with his grandfather’s death, embarks on a mission to find God. 

Amazing Grace (2006) – The campaign against the slave trade in the British Empire and the conversion of John Newton, a slave ship crewman.

Saints and Soldiers (2003) – What if your enemy is someone you converted to Christ?  Based on actual events of LDS (Mormon) soldiers in World War II.  There are two sequels, but this is the best.

Fireproof (2008) – This is about making your marriage work.  As the second of a double-feature, consider Courageous, which is produced in the same spirit as Fireproof. 

Jesus of Nazareth (1977) – This mini-series features an incredible cast.  Some may prefer Son of God (2014).

Bible-based videos about Christ  

If you’re interested in high quality and authentic videos about specific events in the life of Jesus Christ, visit this page.  

Four more movies worth considering

The 10 Commandments (1956), which is much more faith-based than Exodus: Gods and Kings. 

The Robe (1953) – A Roman soldier who helps crucify Jesus becomes a Christian.

Going My Way (1944) – Bing Crosby plays a singing priest and wins an Academy Award.

A Man for All Seasons (1966) – Watch Sir Thomas More maintain his integrity while under pressure from Henry VIII.  Six academy awards.

Christmas movies

I did not name any Christmas movies in the above list, but three I would include are It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, and The Bishop’s Wife (1947 version). A great Christmas comedy is Elf, although the makers managed to keep religion out of it.

What did I miss? 

Do you have a recommendation?

Is religion good or bad?

My favorite In-n-Out Burger was packed, so Bob, a business acquaintance, made small talk while we stood in line, “What was your favorite rock group in high school?”

“The Association. Saw them in concert and they seemed positive and filled with promise. I loved the song ‘Enter the Young.’”  And then I recited a verse:

            “Here they come, some with questions, some decisions

            Here they come, some with facts and some with visions

            Of a place to multiply without the use of divisions

            To win a prize that no one’s every one.

            Enter the young!”

“You still remember that?”

I nodded.  “I’ll tell you why.  Jules Alexander was a member of the group whose stated goal was to study the religious life of India.  He left the band at its height just to do that.  And when he returned, I saw The Association once again in concert, but this time they were all drugged out and seemed empty…all except Jules Alexander.  It made a huge impression on me.”

By now, we had had received our orders. I dived into my no-salt hand-cut fries.

“So you think religion made the difference, huh?”

“In general, I think religion is good for people and makes them better than they would otherwise be.” 

“Are you kidding?  Look at all the wars fought over religion!” Bob declared as he bit into his Double-Double.

I pointed a fry at him. “Name a religious war of the 20^th Century.”  He frowned.  He couldn’t think of any.  “I’m sure there was one, but World War I and World War II were not fought over religion.”

And then he smiled and said, “Well in this century, we have jihad.”

“You have a point there,” I relented, “although I wonder how much of that is thugs using an ideology to unite the masses.” 

“Still religion,” my friend emphasized, “and they want to kill every Jew alive.  I’m sensitive to that because I’m a Jew.”

“But do you think religion itself is bad?”  He shrugged, so I said, “Let me paint a picture.”

He nodded “okay” as he sucked his chocolate shake. 

I charged on: “Imagine it’s late at night and you’re on a dark street.  You see a gang of teen boys walking towards you.  Would you be glad to know they just got out of a Bible class?”

“Okay, you got me. And I’ve been baitin’ ya.”  He laughed. “I kinda agree with you, but here’s the problem: most religious people don’t practice their religion.  But if they did, I would agree that they would be better people and the world would be a better place.” And that was that.

So is religion good or bad?  I share this conversation with you because Bob makes a good point. In my opinion, we shouldn’t be “In” and then “Out” with God.  I firmly believe that we become better with God and religion in our lives and hearts, and so I urge you to include God in yours…and to keep living.

I am an abolitionist

In 1860, there were 4 million slaves in the United States.  But slavery did not end with Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation.

About 50,000 people are sold into slavery every year in the U.S., and there are probably about 100,000 slaves in the U.S. today. The statistics may not be entirely accurate, but they are close enough to indicate a serious problem.

Globally, there are about 27 million slaves (statistics from the State Department and U.N.).  Of those, about 10 million are sex slaves, and about 2 million of those sex slaves are children, some as young as 3 years of age. 

 

I’ve decided to be an abolitionist. 

As owner of keepwriting.com, I announced on January 1 that I am donating a percentage of every purchase of services and product to charity.  One of those charities—Operation Underground Railroad—is devoted to abolishing child slavery.

A documentary film is about to be released about Operation Underground Rescue. View the trailer.

View a newscast about a sting operation that involved actress Laurie Holden.

Let's keep living and help others to keep living.  

John Cleese on Comedy and Intelligence: Are we losing it? –Intelligence, that is?

In reading interviews of John Cleese of Monty Python fame, I was surprised to see a common a theme—John Cleese longs for more intelligence these days. Maybe I better let him explain that.

The millenials

“In my day, anyone who was vaguely educated—in other words, they knew where Pakistan was—

would give you the opportunity for all kinds of humor,” he says. Mr. Cleese thinks that too much comedy revolves around sex and other “mundane” topics.  He worries that the “general feeling [among the younger set] is that anything that doesn’t affect you personally is not worth knowing about.” So there’s a smaller universe of shared knowledge for comedy writers to draw from.

This is not good news if you are a comedy lover because there is less variety in the comedy you are served.  It’s getting to be a one-page menu.

Political correctness

Cleese thinks some of the blame is due to PC.  “Political correctness started out as a very good idea. But it got latched onto by people who hang onto a small number of truths. In my stand-up, I’ll make jokes about Germans, Canadians, the English and the French. And then I say, ‘There’s this Mexican joke.’ And the place freezes. Why is everyone uncomfortable? Is that because the Mexicans need particular protection?  There is a lot of condescension in it…. Of course, jokes about Muslim fundamentalists are problematic because they threaten to kill you.”    

He continues, “There can be major developments in the Ukraine and ISIS and Putin, and the top story…will be that [someone] has used one of the ‘forbidden words.’”

Laughing at ourselves is good medicine

Cleese states that most comedy is critical of human behavior; it is saying, “This is not a smart way to behave.” Although Cleese is always pushing boundaries, he still longs for smart subjects. He even claims Monty Python fans are smarter than fans of the Rolling Stones or the San Francisco 49ers.

That certainly made me feel better: “Gee,” I said to myself, “maybe I’m smart after all.” One of my favorite short comedy films is The Crimson Permanent Assurance, which is at least a little bit funnier if you understand something about corporate raiders and takeovers.  

If you want to take a peek, you can click the following link, but I don’t guarantee it will always work: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyqxc_the-crimson-permanent-assurance_fun

So what’s a comedy lover to do?  Expand our universe, of course. Improve our behavior so that we are not the butt of jokes. And keep living.

Sources:

“Weekend Confidential” by Alexandra Wolfe, Wall Street Journal, 11-15-14

“10 Questions” by Belinda Luscombe, Time, 11-17-14

“Former Monty Python John Cleese,” The Independent [UK], 2-4-15