Following the Oscars, Thoughts on Art
While I was watching a little of the Oscars last night, I heard an interesting quote. One of the recipients of the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Brokeback Mountain said, "The purpose of art is to shine the light into the darkness of men's heart." I had to agree. That is at least partially the purpose of art.
The question to be answered is what is "light"? Because there are differing worldviews, there are many different positions that could be considered. According to the biblical worldview, Jesus said that he is the light by claiming to be the way, the Truth, and the life. Going on, he said that no one comes to the Father (God) but through him. One of his apostles, John, said the following about Jesus being the light:
So the question is this: what is the light that is supposed to shine into the darkness of men's hearts? This is an important question since the Bible also calls Satan the angel of light. It is, therefore, possible for us to shine light into men's hearts only to find out that what we were shining was deceptive and contrary to God's way.
This is clearly a difference in worldview since people in our culture will interpret "light" in different ways. For some, light means "enlightenment," as in "The Enlightenment." In the case of the Oscar winner mentioned above, enlightenment means showing those stuck in the "dark ages" that homosexuality is good, normal, and should be accepted. Yet, again, when we put that beside the Book of God which tells us what Jesus was like; that tells us what God requires, we don't get that picture. Jesus was compassionate with those who were in the darkness of their own sins, living according to what was right in their own eyes, yet never once did he condone their choices. True enlightenment comes when we understand Jesus' mind on an issue and adopt it for our own. True art accomplishes this. Beauty is when we understand the world in the context of the God who created it and called it "Good," and when see that goodness manifested in various forms.
It is when we see ourselves and all of our depravity and understand what we can be through Christ; what we will be when we turn away from our sins rather than simply fight for their acceptance and argue for their normalization.
I don't really see the kind of art discussed above in much of Hollywood, though it shines through every so often. I don't find that kind of beauty in many of the films of today, though I can applaud the craft, the creative process and the elements of truth that come through it all. I can watch a film and enjoy the story and learn many things from it. I can watch any number of movies out of Hollywood and find truth, both positive and negative because all truth is God's truth. I don't have to be afraid of that. The danger comes, though, when I accept as truth all propositions presented as truth.
Many artists try to convince the culture that their works are simply mirrors reflecting the world around them. That is a very naive approach and every so often, we hear the truth. We heard it last night. As was well stated by another Oscar recipient, just moments after the Brokeback speech had been delivered, "Art is not a mirror to be held up to society, but a hammer to shape it." That is the truth. Clearly, that is the goal of the controversial films being produced today. The important point to consider as we experience these movies is who is holding the hammer and into what are we being shaped.
The question to be answered is what is "light"? Because there are differing worldviews, there are many different positions that could be considered. According to the biblical worldview, Jesus said that he is the light by claiming to be the way, the Truth, and the life. Going on, he said that no one comes to the Father (God) but through him. One of his apostles, John, said the following about Jesus being the light:
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.That is what the Bible, the Book of God, says about Jesus. Yet, in the very same book that tells us about Jesus, we are told that homosexuality (which, of course, Brokeback Mountain promotes in this case) is wrong. The Bible says that that those who practice such things cannot inherit eternal life. Now, please don't get me wrong here...this is not a tirade against homosexuality. It is not an attempt to say that Jesus hates homosexuals. He loves homosexuals just as he loves all the rest of us sinners. At one point, as a matter of fact, he tells the religious leaders of his day that there would be prostitutes and tax-collectors (swindlers) that would enter the kingdom of God instead of them. Yet, at the same time, we cannot gloss over this. He didn't tell them to behave or believe as they pleased and everything would be fine. Jesus said to those same tax-collectors and prostitutes that by trusting in him their sins were forgiven, but for them to go and sin no more. In other words, these sins you are known for are forgiven, but knock it off.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
So the question is this: what is the light that is supposed to shine into the darkness of men's hearts? This is an important question since the Bible also calls Satan the angel of light. It is, therefore, possible for us to shine light into men's hearts only to find out that what we were shining was deceptive and contrary to God's way.
This is clearly a difference in worldview since people in our culture will interpret "light" in different ways. For some, light means "enlightenment," as in "The Enlightenment." In the case of the Oscar winner mentioned above, enlightenment means showing those stuck in the "dark ages" that homosexuality is good, normal, and should be accepted. Yet, again, when we put that beside the Book of God which tells us what Jesus was like; that tells us what God requires, we don't get that picture. Jesus was compassionate with those who were in the darkness of their own sins, living according to what was right in their own eyes, yet never once did he condone their choices. True enlightenment comes when we understand Jesus' mind on an issue and adopt it for our own. True art accomplishes this. Beauty is when we understand the world in the context of the God who created it and called it "Good," and when see that goodness manifested in various forms.
It is when we see ourselves and all of our depravity and understand what we can be through Christ; what we will be when we turn away from our sins rather than simply fight for their acceptance and argue for their normalization.
I don't really see the kind of art discussed above in much of Hollywood, though it shines through every so often. I don't find that kind of beauty in many of the films of today, though I can applaud the craft, the creative process and the elements of truth that come through it all. I can watch a film and enjoy the story and learn many things from it. I can watch any number of movies out of Hollywood and find truth, both positive and negative because all truth is God's truth. I don't have to be afraid of that. The danger comes, though, when I accept as truth all propositions presented as truth.
Many artists try to convince the culture that their works are simply mirrors reflecting the world around them. That is a very naive approach and every so often, we hear the truth. We heard it last night. As was well stated by another Oscar recipient, just moments after the Brokeback speech had been delivered, "Art is not a mirror to be held up to society, but a hammer to shape it." That is the truth. Clearly, that is the goal of the controversial films being produced today. The important point to consider as we experience these movies is who is holding the hammer and into what are we being shaped.
Labels: David C. Price
posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 3/06/2006 02:00:00 PM
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9 Comments:
Excellent post David and a good way to use the Oscar's to project a deeper truth than the crassness of the Hollywoondenheads!
That last quote on art, who said that? I think it is somewhat of both. It truly depends on who is doing the art and why.
Well written post!
Thanks. Unfortunately, I don't remember the guy who said it, though he was quoting someone else...don't remember his name, either.
The problem I see in "artistic circles", and I have been discussing this recently on another blog, is that art is revered on its own merit. That is, simply by being cast as "art".
This leads to art being accepted as an absolute, thus becoming the hammer of which you spoke.
Art must remain subjective. For Christians it must be subject to the morals of Scripture, otherwise, we elevate it to the level of Scripture.
Art must remain subjective. For Christians it must be subject to the morals of Scripture, otherwise, we elevate it to the level of Scripture.
I don't think that works. If any form or being is truely subjective, then there is no means to which it can be judged by an absolute source of truth. I think the Christian role in judging art takes into consideration both Biblical merits and artistic standards of excellence.
For example, I think the Christian community has given such movies as The Passion of the Christ and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe a certain pass from artistic criticism, althought there are a couple of issues with each film that prevent it from achieving a level of true artistic greatness. Both films convey absolute truth, but not as effective as they could have.
If art remains subjective, then there is also a means to which can be called excellence. Does a Left Behind film stack up artistically with The Passion of the Christ? No. Passion is a better film, because it does meet a certain standard of mertiable, objective excellence, where Left Behind fails to meet that standard.
We can't leave art as a subjective experience, otherwise art as a form would suffer. However, the Christian cannot subject art as a higher form of absolute truth, otherwise we do worship a false idol.
In my comment, replace:
If art remains subjective, then there is also a means to which can be called excellence.
With:
If art remains subjective, there there is no means to which art can be called excellent.
I knew something looked fishy after I re-read that comment. :)
I think that's a very good point, CM. Movies shouldn't get a pass simply because they are "Christian" (and I would argue that they shouldn't rejected simply because they are not). They may have a great message, but if they're B-quality, those few who do go see them (I not being one of them)will get a distorted view of Christianity because there is missing the necessary quality of excellence.
Fortunately, there are those few, talented believers who have been called to movie-making who understand that in order to clearly and adequately communicate the truth must do so by meeting objective standards of excellence and quality expected from a A-level Hollywood film.
Funny how the Truth works. Read my post from Monday. The same things were on our hearts.
MOD
Great post, David!
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