Film Comment: This Is the End

Collect up at least one hundred film actors, singers, and entertainers at a wild drug and alcohol fueled party, then start the end of the world, complete with giant monsters and demons. The Earth cracks open and people fall into a burning Hell. Have the actors portray themselves, thrown into this situation.

This Is the End (2013) has a cast filled with big name celebrities: Jamez franco, Seth Rogan, Jay Baruchel, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Dany McBride, Michael Cera, Emma Watson, Mindy Kaling, David Krumholtz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Rihanna, Paul Rudd, The Backstreet Boys, and many others.

When the trouble starts everyone runs outside as the world begins to burn and explode around them.  Too dumb, selfish, cowardly, drug-addled, gluttonous, etc. to “escape” some do not even notice the disturbance.  But they soon will. The six main protagonists run back into the “safety” of the house.

The guys tell themselves they will survive because they are “good people,” but they realize that they are not.  The film does not show any of these people in a good light.  They all realize that they are damned.

The film, a comedy with some undeniably hilarious moments, features violence, gore, impalement, decapitation, penis jokes, nudity, profanity, cannibalism,  homosexuality, demons, intentional blasphemy, obscenities, betrayal, alcohol and drug abuse, self-righteousness, taking God’s name in vain, urination, vomit, obscene gestures, discussion of intent to rape in the presence of the intended victim, masturbation, demonic possession, prayer for the death of another person, sexual slavery, cowardice, self preservation at the expense of other’s lives.  Did I forget anything?

The supposedly ”happy” messages of the film are:

1.     Self-sacrifice confers instant entry into Heaven.

2.     In Heaven, we become angels.

3.     In Heaven, you can have anything you want, even a dooble.

4.     There is no need to be a “Christian” to enter into Heaven.

5.     Heaven is just another wild party.

6.     The Rapture looks like an alien abduction with a beam of light pulling the person up into the sky.

This highly offensive film intends to offend in every way imaginable, showing a contempt or disregard for any conventional understanding of propriety or morality.  It made me wonder.  The actors, portraying themselves, know that they are damned.

In the film, they are facing evidence which, at the very least, proves that God and the supernatural are real.

These are extremely talented, supposedly very intelligent comedians who have gone out of their way to intentionally offend nearly everything related to Christianity and the End Times.  Should not this film prod these actors into actually thinking about their real-life situations?

To some, or most of the actors, I am sure that this was all just a big joke.  Perhaps they are like many people and do not believe anything at all.  Post-modern moral and intellectual relativism at its logical conclusion.

…………………………………………

This is an end of the world film where the Earth is not merely damaged, but is actually destroyed.  Two other prominent films of this type are When Worlds Collide (1951), which depicts the chaos which erupts when a planet the size of Earth is on a collision course with our planet.  The other is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012), a surprisingly tender and bittersweet love story.  Either of these two films would be an infinitely better use of your two hours than This Is the End.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

“It was snack time at Sunday School and the teacher was getting ready to hand out giant chocolate chip cookies.  Two young brothers began to argue over who would get the first cookie.  The teacher saw an opportunity for a moral lesson: “If Jesus were here, He would say ‘Let my brother have the first cookie.  I can wait.’”

The older boy turned to his brother and said, ‘You be Jesus.’”

From the Big Book of Church Jokes, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

Moral Behavior

"Even though morality cannot be legislated, behavior can be regulated.  While the law cannot change the heart, it can certainly restrain the heartless."  Rev. Martin Luther king

Several Random Indications That we Live in a Morally and Ethically Bankrupt World

1. A woman being offended that I dared to open a door for her.
2. A policeman turning on his blue lights and siren so he can pass through a red traffic light, then turning them off and resuming normal speed.
3. Able bodied persons taking handicapped parking spaces, using their handicapped aunt's parking sticker; some even using counterfeit stickers and placards.
4. Millions of persons download music illegally from the internet, and the business in pirated movie DVD's is a billion dollar affair.
5. Americans and Europeans consume billions of dollars worth of illegal drugs annually, ignoring the fact that the drug trade is built on smuggling, murder, theft, bribery, the use of children as "mules," and the fact that a large portion of the financing for international terrorism comes from the illegal drug trade.
6. Thinking that the hip-hop/rap music culture (based on the glorification of violence and mysogyny) is somehow "authentically  black."
7. 95% of US high school students admit to having cheated on their school work at least once.
8. As many as 22% of married men, and 14% of married women, have had at least one extramarital affair even though up to 90% of Americans say that marital infidelity is wrong.
9. Sexual abuse of children by schoolteachers, pastors, and priests is increasingly reported worldwide.
10. Abortions in the United States: 193,491 i 1970; 1,429,279 in 1990; 820,151 in 2005.

The list could go on and on.

Film Comment: Getting Ready Morally

This 1951 black and white film, Getting Ready Morally, would invoke groans and eye rolls from modern audiences, but the points it makes are still as valid as ever. It was made, surprisingly enough, by the United States military. The concern of the film is with innocent young men being suddenly away from home and family and expected to cope with the almost total lack of restraints and guidelines of free unsupervised adults.

Anyone whose son or daughter "went wild" during their first semester at college knows the validity of this film. One of the main points is that one's parents aren't there to help the young man (remember, this is 1951) make the right choices so the right choices must come from within the young man, ie. personal responsibility. The film counsels choosing one's friends wisely and avoiding some people altogether. Finding a mentor is also important as is thinking about consequences before taking actions. As the narrator says, "When you choose the start of a road, you also choose the end."

Secrets

Carrie Prejean, Miss California USA (2009), ran afoul of pageant judge Perez Hilton (a gay activist) when she answered his question about same-sex marriage by saying she supported traditional marriage. A firestorm erupted in which she emerged as a defender of traditional Christian morality. Then "the biggest mistake of my life" was exposed, a sex tape from years before.

In November 2009, Radaronline.com reported that there are an additional seven sex tapes and thirty nude photos of Ms. Prejean.
If the tapes and photos really exist this is greatly embarrassing for Ms. Prejean but also for the Church. Prejean presumably knew about all this and she should have known this would eventually come out.

“For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither [any thing] hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” Luke 8:17

“Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?
 Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?
 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.”
Romans 2:22-24

Young Christians must remember that everything they do reflects not only on themselves but on the Church. Christians are forgiven but their pasts can still cause damage to the reputation of the Church. If there are damaging secrets hiding in the past it may be best to expose them preemptively, acknowledge them, accept the consequences, and move on.