1. Some Christian parents have lists of books for kids to read. Classics which every boy or girl should read by the time they reach adulthood. Cliche examples include The Chronicles of Narnia.
However, I haven't seen comparable lists for movies. I mean, there are lists of "safe" movies for kids. Bubble-gummy G-rated fare. But I mean something more intelligent and growup, parallel to serious literature.
Due to the overwhelming dominance of the cinematic artform in contemporary culture, it's useful to make a list. At the same time it's a daunting task due to the thousands of films. This post will focus on male-oriented movies because that's what I naturally relate to.
There are films by categories, like sports, horror, science fiction, Western, war. Sports movies about an underdog athlete or team that defies the odds are popular, and there are movies on that theme which represent different sports:
• Friday Night Lights (football)
• Goal! (soccer)
• Miracle (hockey)
• Hoosiers (basketball)
• Vision Quest (wrestling)
There are popular Westerns like the Lonesome Dove series.
Although it may not be a technical genre, wildness films set in the high country, Yukon, or safaris (African savanna, Amazon jungle) are naturally appealing to guys.
There's a large category of war films. This can include Arthurian tales which model the virtues of chivalry.
2. From the standpoint of Christian parenting, what interests me more than genre are memorable films that can provide a frame of reference to illustrate and stimulate thinking about philosophy, theology, and ethics.
3. There are films that explore the relationship between appearance or illusion and reality:
• Harsh Realm
• The Matrix (1999)
• Dark City
• The Prisoner (2009)
4. There are existential films that explore the meaning of life:
• Last Holiday (1950)
• Tuck Everlasting
5. Some films probe moral issues, like Strangers on a Train
6. Final Destination (2000) is a convenient illustration of fatalism.
7. There are time-travel/parallel universe films that compare and contrast tradeoffs involving alternate life choices:
• Mr. Nobody
• The Butterfly Effect
8. October Sky is good coming-of-age film
9. An important plot motif, that's not unique to any particular genre, is the story of "friends" or comrades who are thrust into a group survival situation. This can take place in different settings: wilderness, battlefield, island, POW camp.
This becomes a test of friendship. Will they be altruistic? Will they takes risks for each other? Or will they turn on each other, double-cross one other, leave the sick and injured behind to die? Theme of loyalty, deception, betrayal, revenge, and/or reconciliation. A winnowing process.
That theme is sometimes explored in war films, wilderness films, and spring break teen films. I don't have any particular titles in mind.
Just as certain books like The Pilgrim's Progress, The Chronicles of Narnia, Lord of the Flies, and Perelandra can function as a lifelong frame of reference which grown children continue to reflect on and refer back to, it would be good for Christian parents to select a dozen or so films which can serve the same purpose. For instance, fathers and sons can watch the same film together, then talk about the significance of the film. Some films may raise important questions but lack the Christian resources to give good answers.
Off the top of my dome, here are some of the ones I might consider (excluding tv and films already mentioned):
ReplyDeleteArsenic and Old Lace
Band of Brothers
Black Hawk Down
Breaking Bad
BSG (2004). Some episodes.
Chariots of Fire
Community. "Remedial Chaos Theory."
The Dark Knight
Dunkirk
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Fountain
In Bruges
The Iron Giant
Knives Out
Logan
Minority Report
Rear Window
Saving Private Ryan
Signs
The Social Network
To End All Wars
To Live
Up! At least the heartbreaking first 15 minutes or so.
The Walking Dead. Some episodes.
No Country for Old Men
DeleteThe Revenant
The Road
True Grit (2010)
Unforgiven
Wind River
1. It's an interesting comparison. I think some Christian parents overemphasize literature at the expense of films to combat illiteracy. But for better or worse their kids are likely to watch a huge number of movies and TV dramas over the course of a lifetime, so it's a mistake to neglect films. Either parents make some choices for their kids or leave it entirely to their kids to watch whatever they want.
DeleteOf course, some parents ban TV, but in the age of the internet, laptops, iPads, and Smartphones, kids have other ways of seeing movies. Not to mention visiting a friend's house.
2. Another reason is that it seems easier to compile a list of fictional books (and poetry). Literature has been around for millennia, and there's a sorting process of "classics".
Mind you, the lists seem rather dated, not because they include so many older books, but because they don't seem to keep up with newer fiction. There's not much variation in the lists.
3. Reading Leland Ryken's A Christian Guide to the Classics, I was struck by the omission of major authors like Virginia Wolf and James Joyce. Not to mention the omission of somewhat more exotic Christian writes like George Bernanos (French Catholic). Or popular writers like Bradbury. Despite his credentials, he has rather Bourgeois taste in literature (as well as hymns).
4. It's challenging to compile a list of movies, not because there are so few candidates but because there are so many. I can't begin to remember all the movies and TV dramas I've seen over the years. I skimmed some lists by Roger Ebert and two books by Pauline Kael just to jog my memory. And those lists are already dated.
the 1990s era Batman: the animated series covered nearly everything in the enumerated list and was one of the better takes on the DC character. Dini and Timm also went on to make one of the only versions of Superman I like, and they ran with a series long exploration of how Clark Kent had to wrestle with discerning the good and fighting the bad in both his Kryptonian and earthly heritages. For the superhero genre I'd say the peaks would be Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and the first two of Sam Raimi's Spider-man films (not that I haven't enjoyed aspects of the Tom Holland version (Keaton as Vulture finally made that villain not lame and Gyllenhal was great as Mysterio but I'm biased toward the old Lee/Ditko era villains).
ReplyDeleteI will totally second the Coens' True Grit.
I skipped The Walking Dead, The Sopranos and Game of Thrones after I saw that Peter Dinklage was doing a great job as Tyrion but not great enough to keep me watching after Sean Bean's inevitable death. :)