The "Left Behind" movie - a priceless Dopefest opportunity?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Ah, David, you must be one of them “secular humanist” who control the world and warp our heads with that learnin’ and shit. Can 'ya cut me in on the the deal?

I hope I didn’t imply that it was. I’d guess it was about two weeks ago. I was looking for either Robert Wright’s The Logic of Non-Zero, or Betty Edwards’ Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Of course since I was looking for them, they didn’t have either on stock. So I was wandering around like a gypsie–cloak and all, and I come across Mind Head um, I mean, Mind Siege. Of course the cover screamed bad science fiction thriller, so I thought I’d read a few pages just to see how so. Of course after I read the pages on how evolutionary psycologists (I guess. I don’t think he called them that.) were equivicating on theory by saying how our behaviours evolved from a different environment (And I guess lying to us using that demon-spawn, Darwin! Anyway, I had just finished reading Wright’s other book, The Moral Animal), I think that’s when the bulb blew out in my head. This is Christian Science Fiction (place the emphasis wherever you like).

Anyway, now that I know what to expect, I hope the Mind Head is as entertaining as Pat Robertson’s old hit The New World Order. That was fun reading back in the Nashville Greyhond depot.

42

An acquaintance of mine told me Friday he was thinking of seeing this movie this weekend. I’m so glad he has a girlfriend…I was half afraid he was going to ask if I’d go, what with the Darwin fish on my car and all. But he didn’t.

He did, however, offer to answer any Bible questions I might have. Somehow, I don’t think he’d really enjoy the process if I started in on him. And I don’t want to do that to him anyway because he’s a nice guy otherwise.

43

Not necessarily. Like Ebert says… “It’s not WHAT a movie is about, it’s HOW it’s about it.” A movie can be spectacularly bad even if you agree with it’s underlying premise. I’m sure at least a few of the critics- most of whom have ripped into “Left Behind” like starving dingoes- have been Christians. It seems like people are annoyed that the flick has the production values of a “Lifetime Original Movie”, not that it’s a religious film.

44

Point well taken.

45

–Okay, I just accessed The Wall Street Journal (wsj.com) and discovered that Dow Jones is jealous of their material.
If I quoted it here I’d have to get permission from their Copyright Clearance Center.
Anyway, the cite is from last Thursdays Wall Street Journel, Section B (Marketplace), front page on the bottom.

46

Is this the lawsuit that you’re talking about…

47

Your cite is a better article with considerably more detail.
The WSJ article concentrated on the unusual method
of financing local theater distribution.

48

Since I don’t know if he will remember to post this (the idea came up during the Boston Dopefest this afternoon), Robot Arm came up with the excellent idea of checking out the movie from the library, taping the Straight Dope TV show over it and returning it.

49

I must concede that my elaborate plan had one glaring hole in it, and that was Jess not being in a hot-tub. How could I have omitted that?!

This film obviously has to be watched in its entirety only through a haze of brominated mist, marijuana smoke, alcohol, and barely-repressed sexuality. After the skeet-shoot, I suggest we dress as Vikings and rent one of those amphibious tour busses, so we can claim we tried to recover the VCDs.

We’re going to have to have to make a good case for St. Peter, don’t you see? Although frankly, I’m more concerned with Mir crashing into the turtle’s shell that holds up the Earth.

50

Clinton himself had that same problem. And you wonder why the situation in the middle east isn’t resolved yet?:wink:

I feel your pain, Sofa King. HEY! Not THAT pain!

51

Note to self: when I become Dictator of All That Is Worth Controlling In the Known Universe, With Dibs On the Other Shit That We Haven’t Figured Out Just Yet, Jess will have access to a hot tub at all times.

iampunha will have a separate hot tub, which I will not enter under any circumstances.

Now it’s time to get back to work on that Wave-Motion gun, and exhuming the wreck of the Yamato.

52

RTF said:

True. But it still strikes me as excessively scary that two of these guys would back this kind of ultra-conspiracy bullshit. Among other things, LaHaye specifically says that no humanist is fit to hold public office – and, of course, the way he defines “humanist” puts pretty much everybody (except, of course, born-agains whose actions he agrees with) in the “humanist” category.

SterlingNorth said:

And this is my fear – that some people who like the Left Behind series (which apparently has over 30 million copies in print) will see an apparent science fiction book from LaHaye and pick it up without being as inquisitive as you were. Then they will take it home and read it and might actually believe his utter bullshit. Ugh.

53

Having not seen the book, I’m going to take a wild-assed stab at this:

senator - Orin Hatch
congressman - Bob Barr

Am I close?

54

For the sake of stampin’ out ignorance, mind naming these two members of Congress?

I’ve an itchin’ to head down to the Capitol and stamp out some ignorance on my lunch break.

55

I just wanted to be in a position, if I brought this up anywhere else, of being able to say that I wasn’t just making it up. I think you guys took care of that.

The crosswalk.com piece that Sterling linked to is particularly interesting. Written by a journalism prof at Regent University (aka Pat Robertson U.), it mentions in passing the Biblical injunction against taking fellow Christians to court (1 Cor. 6:1-9a), but the tone of the article is that it is optional in this day and age - something that doesn’t apply due to changed circumstances since the first century A.D.

Funny how that seems to be the case when it’s convenient for them. But I bet that doesn’t apply, as far as they’re concerned, to Paul’s condemnation of homosexuality - in the very same passage. (v. 9b.) :rolleyes:

56

Nah, not Orrin. Mormons have their own distinct eschatology. Maybe Lauch Faircloth?

David, it’s true that the series has sold 30 million copies, but that doesn’t mean it has anywhere near that many distinct readers. After all, they’re up to, what, book #9 already, and everyone who’s read that book has probably read books 1-8 as well. (OTOH, those who read book 1 didn’t all continue to book 2, etc.) So we might have more like 5-7 million distinct LB book buyers. I’m willing to write off that many fundies as people who already believe everything LaHaye might tell them, other than filling in a few minor ‘factual’ details.

57

…has yet to be made, and this definitely isnt it!

I’ll admit that I’ve always held a certain fascination with the concept of a rapture, and a period of seven years of tribulation. While I can’t say I believe it will come to pass, it has always intrigued me as a fascinating, what if.

Unfortunately, Hollywood has yet to take this concept, and produce a truly gripping movie, one that isn’t bogged down in preachiness. Either they go for the horror of an AntiChrist, such as the Omen series, in which the villain might as well be Freddy Krueger for all the attention it gives to the biblical text. Or they go to such an extreme, trying to convert/scare us all into belief, that we are left with a deeply flawed, unsatisfying movie.

“Left Behind” wastes the premise, and becomes an example of the latter. I mean, come on, this is a story of dare I say epic proportions. And the key to any future movies in this genre, is to make the implausible, plausible. Sure, the world of Star Wars is a fantasy, but if we believe in the characters, if the setup is played with absolute conviction, we accept the parameters the movie operates under.

I guess my babbling, is basically to say, that any movie concerning the rapture/endtimes, is going to have to establish that reality with absolute conviction and honesty if an audience is going to buy it. Which means, you need a competent screenwriter willing to create three-dimensional believable characters. Also doesn’t hurt to have actors who can play these roles with conviction.

Left Behind fails on all counts. And the sad thing is, its greatest failing is that its actually boring! Any movie which can manage to make the end of the world as we know it boring, has truly missed the mark…

…still waiting for that classic Rapture movie…

58

Well hell, Kim, does this mean I should scrap my plans for the used-car dealership??

Y’know, there’s just so much potential in both Sofa King’s and Jess’ plans that there has to be some way of combining them both. Like MSTie-ing the hell out of the movie, then making a brief expedition to the Potomac for flaming destruction of fundie propaganda on electronic media, then repairing to Jess’ house for alcohol, barely-repressed sexuality, and hot-tubs[sup]*[/sup]. It just sounds too perfect. It cries out to be done. If we need a couple people to get this planned, I want in on it.

[sub]*Marijuana is optional and should be consumed only where express permission is given or where we won’t get busted or kicked out.[/sub]

59

…is Job: A Comedy of Justice, by Heinlein. A recommended read. His treatment of the characters is interesting, and no more implausible than any other theory, Christian or not.

o

vidi vici veni!

60

Damn, Jeff, that’s a big WHOOOOSH here! My mind keeps trying to combine Jubal Harshaw and Ralph Spoilsport, for some reason. (Reply hazy, ask again later. ;))

One problem is that Jess lives near the confluence of the James and the York rivers, IIRC, but a long way from the Potomac. Of course, one river’s the same as another, AFAIAC…