I assure any readers that this blog is not turning into a movie review. It's just that recently the movies I have watched have rung true to things happening in my life or in the world around me. A recent incarnation of the book, Blue Like Jazz, into a movie has caused me to scratch my head and think. I've read the book, but it has been a while. I've watched the movie, it's been about 30 minutes. There are a few things that I noticed throughout the movie that were very interesting.
*If you plan on watching the movie, there may be spoilers below.
Donny, the main character, has moved to Reed College to escape life in Texas. Many who grow up in small towns wish to "escape" the environment they have always been in. There are many wild nights for Donny as he begins his freshman year, but one person he meets is unique; her name is Penny and she persuades him to not drink the water. In the first picture above, where the two characters are near a gravestone, Donny begins to seek answers about Penny's life. We get this little vignette into Penny's life that later turns into the point at which Penny is able to open up about herself for the first time. Honestly, the more Donny learns about Penny, the more Donny shuts his own life and history down. Most of the movie is Donny's journey from clean-cut Southern Baptist, to shabby liberal college attendee. Donny loses himself for much of the movie but Penny's convictions seem to shake something awake in Donny that had lain dormant for a while.
Towards the end, Donny takes the throne as the new "pope" of Reed College, meaning he headed up the anti-religious movement on campus. Also at a festival held each year, the pope would take confession from students for their sins and forgive them. Totally sacreligious I know, but Donny's recent jolt back into his faith leads him to put a spin on the tradition.
As the pope, he welcomes the first confessor into the confessional, the former "pope". Donny had picked up that this guy had been molested as a child by a priest, therefore his hatred of all things religious. Donny apologizes for all the bad stuff that happened to him, and then proceeds to apologize for how he didn't represent Jesus well. The movie ends with a new confessor entering the booth and saying,"I have a confession", to which Donny replies,"No, let me go first."
Spoilers end
I believe there are many great ideas in this movie. One being that when our faith is placed in and around the company of nonbelievers or atheists, there are definite challenges. Don't ever overestimate how strong you are. We are influenced in big and small ways, most of the times the little things pile up and knock us over and we are left wondering what happened. The second thing is that I think we should be more open and honest about our sin. Too many people see Christians as perfectionists and not followers. We are seen as "whitewashed tombs" as Jesus stated. Our outsides look slightly different than the nonbeliever, but our insides are no different. Yet we try to hide this, WHY? God is working on us to the end, as Paul says in Philippians. We have faults, shortcomings, and mishaps just like everyone else. We repent, God forgives, and we continue to ask the Spirit to refine and shape us into the image of Christ.
I enjoyed this movie and feel that some who would not normally watch a movie like Courageous, or Facing the Giants, or Veggie Tales, or whatever the newest Christian flick is, would watch Blue Like Jazz because it's relatable to the culture of today. For us to make a difference, we have to own up to some of our crazy. We have to deal with the tough issues from a biblical, not a visceral, point of view. We have to reach out the hand of mercy and grace to those who are seeking it through the questions they ask, the debates they get entangled in, and the viewpoints they hold.
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