Watchmen and the Impossibility of Ethics
In a recent re-reading of the classic graphic novel Watchmen (a reading spurred by the not-too-distant theatrical release), it was noticed that despite being written nearly thirty years ago near the climax of the Cold War, Watchmen holds its force still. The classic work written by Alan Moore with art by Dave Gibbons, recounts a world in decay and on the edge of destruction. Superheroes, often viewed as saviors, are impotent since they were outlawed almost a decade before... Read More
Just Like God, Indie Rock is Resurrected
One year ago, Paste Magazine’s associate editor Rachel Maddux wrote a provocative article that asked the question, “Is Indie dead?” Comparing the question to the one TIME writer John T. Elson wrote forty five years ago concerning the more existential question, is God dead?, Maddux ties the theological question to the musical one: Elson wrote of some believers who accepted God’s death as truth but chose to continue as if nothing was different, just to maintain... Read More
The Ecstasy of the Black Swan: Eroticism & Transformation
In 1991, the Academy Award for Best Picture went to the disturbing psycho thriller, The Silence of the Lambs. Movie-goers were left wondering what meaning lies behind awarding such an horrific, grotesque, and arguably evil tale about serial killers with cinema’s highest honor, the Oscar. In the volleying commentary between art and culture, what does it mean that cannibalism is featured in the year’s Best Picture? The Oscar nominees for 2011 were recently made public by the... Read More
Eat This Chip. Drink This Pop
The venue is being prepared. The teams have been set. The hype is beginning. Parties are being planned. High definition televisions are being bought. Recipes are being passed around. Massive spreads of high-calorie food will be laid out for all to see. People are buying gear and clothes for the big night to support their favorite teams. Football fans are excited to watch the culmination of the 2010 regular season. But even people who don’t watch football are tuning... Read More
Loneliness, King Midas and The Social Network
“The Social Network” was one of the big winners at the Golden Globes on Sunday, picking up Best Picture, Best Director (for David Fincher, best known for his notably darker films “Se7en” and “Fight Club”) and even Best Score for the moody electronic soundscape conjured up by Trent Reznor (aka Nine Inch Nails). It is a powerful film, about much more than the back-room dealings that gave rise to the monolithic Facebook phenomenon; in this postmodern... Read More
Jon Stewart, Media’s Corruption, & Evangelical Responsibility
On September 29th, 2010 Fresh Air host, Terry Gross interviewed The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart at the 92nd Street Y in New York City.i Though September 29th, 2010 seems ages ago (in media time), some of the content from that interview has lasting significance and relevance concerning our perspective on media and (in parallel) on the Church. About halfway through the interview, Gross inquired as to whether or not Stewart felt more politically engaged due to his involvement with... Read More
Edible Sculpture: Cake Boss and Mortality in Food Art
In his small pamphlet on a Christian view of the arts entitled Art & the Bible, Francis Schaeffer argues for a broad perspective on art. He expands a working definition of art to not only include high art, “but also the more popular expressions–the novel, the theater, the cinema, popular music and rock” (33). Popular expressions, for all intensive purposes, are catalysts for celebrity, and since the humble beginnings of Julia Child there has been a... Read More
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