The above mentioned example may seem rather improbable, for what artist would do this to his own work? Yet, I would like to compare this rather ridiculous example with my thoughts reflecting from an experience of last night past.
After supper, a choice of movies made I and the guys' viewing cut. Considering the terrible pain inflected upon their souls by my insistence to watch a classic like "Fiddler on the Roof" the night before, I agreed to watch the boy classic "Hot Rod" instead of my own choice. Yet as we embarked upon this crowd pleasing journey into the world of Rod and his absurd aspirations to achieve stardom as a stunt man, I realized I remained the only one not caught in laughter's trap. For I could find nothing funny in the slapstick and often crass humor associated with this tale of daredevil stunts, sexual innuendoes, homosexual winks, and dry humor brought on by guys who, by the own admissions, just like to party.
Now before all the "Hot Rod" lovers in the room stand up and make a quick exit away from my rather harsh diagnosis...finish this page. In no way will I continue to bash "Hot Rod", nor condemn any of those who find humor in its ways. For me, however, as an artist I believe that America has lost the definition of art, and this one film provided an excellent example for my theory. What is my definition of art you may ask? I would have to agree with dictionary.com's assertion that art is the expression of what is "beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance" yet I would even take a step further by examining the last phrase. For in my opinion as not just an artist, but a Christian as well, art reflects the image of God within us as his sculpted creations. Our God is a creative God, and he has indued us with his likeness, giving us the gift of creating beauty through our imaginations in glory to His name. Therefore, I would have to argue that art has "more than ordinary significance", and that it is indeed an act of worship. This act of worship therefore, should show the world how we glorify our Savior and how we use His gifts He has placed within us. As 1 Corinthians puts it, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10: 31, NIV) Therefore we should put forth our best effort in appreciation for what we have received. The cheapening of art in film, meant only for penny laughs and nickel screams, devalues the very face of beauty God intended to grace art, His gift to man.
So where did this debasement of art begin? Where did America stumble so far from its early film roots such as "Ben Hur" or "The Ten Commandments" or even "Ivanhoe"? The key word remains desensitization. The facts remain that in the early days of film, everything was implied. Ladies would faint in a Western if someone flopped to the ground with a fake gun shot to the chest. Laughter began as the antics of Charlie Chapman and the Marx brothers lit up the screen. Yet over time, screenwriters suddenly realized the dynamics of their audience were changing with the social terrain. The era of the 60's and 70's brought wars and the counter cultural revolution. Free love and violence slowly seeped into the culture and then silently gilded into the world of the big screen as well. Fake gun shots turned to violent stabbing and brutal murders, occasional four letter words turned to more obscene expressions, and passionate love stories suddenly caught on fire and fled racing into other homes than their own, bringing a death to the thought of private intimacy. Suddenly, the beast inside man's sinful heart caught hunger, until baited with constant exposure it craved more and more fulfillment of its bestial needs. As a virus becomes immune to bacteria with constant usage, viewers took one to many views, leading to producers to invent more and more shocking scenes to receive the reaction they needed.
Yet somewhere in between this slowly evolving landscape of new radical films and the modern age of media, something even more tragic has happened. In C.S. Lewis's classic tale "Prince Caspian", a certain character named Trumpkin replies to the attack of a former talking bear by stating that if you treat a man like an animal long enough, that's what he will turn into. These words have invaded our world as well. For I would like to present the theory that modern man has turned itself into an animal. They have fed their carnal and bestial nature in film by indulging in base emotion where love turns to lust, justice to vengeance, and intelligence to oaths. In order to fill this nature somewhere a moral light within their mind had to be extinguished and with it, I would state, fled the beauty of the art. For when talented writers have to resort to stupid animal-like antic and brutish portrayals of love and affection to communicate what used to be called a story, something has gone very wrong indeed.
Art is beauty inspired by God's fingerprint on humanity, and when we sacrifice that beauty to satisfy the beast within us, when we render impotent the power of that art to convey a deeper meaning, when we trivialize the power of film to influence our culture and lives, we feed the monster that becomes savagery, and endanger the civility we have come to consider the American way, or what was once the American ideal.
Psalms 101:3 (NIV) "I will not look with approval on anything that is vile."
So where did this debasement of art begin? Where did America stumble so far from its early film roots such as "Ben Hur" or "The Ten Commandments" or even "Ivanhoe"? The key word remains desensitization. The facts remain that in the early days of film, everything was implied. Ladies would faint in a Western if someone flopped to the ground with a fake gun shot to the chest. Laughter began as the antics of Charlie Chapman and the Marx brothers lit up the screen. Yet over time, screenwriters suddenly realized the dynamics of their audience were changing with the social terrain. The era of the 60's and 70's brought wars and the counter cultural revolution. Free love and violence slowly seeped into the culture and then silently gilded into the world of the big screen as well. Fake gun shots turned to violent stabbing and brutal murders, occasional four letter words turned to more obscene expressions, and passionate love stories suddenly caught on fire and fled racing into other homes than their own, bringing a death to the thought of private intimacy. Suddenly, the beast inside man's sinful heart caught hunger, until baited with constant exposure it craved more and more fulfillment of its bestial needs. As a virus becomes immune to bacteria with constant usage, viewers took one to many views, leading to producers to invent more and more shocking scenes to receive the reaction they needed.
Yet somewhere in between this slowly evolving landscape of new radical films and the modern age of media, something even more tragic has happened. In C.S. Lewis's classic tale "Prince Caspian", a certain character named Trumpkin replies to the attack of a former talking bear by stating that if you treat a man like an animal long enough, that's what he will turn into. These words have invaded our world as well. For I would like to present the theory that modern man has turned itself into an animal. They have fed their carnal and bestial nature in film by indulging in base emotion where love turns to lust, justice to vengeance, and intelligence to oaths. In order to fill this nature somewhere a moral light within their mind had to be extinguished and with it, I would state, fled the beauty of the art. For when talented writers have to resort to stupid animal-like antic and brutish portrayals of love and affection to communicate what used to be called a story, something has gone very wrong indeed.
Art is beauty inspired by God's fingerprint on humanity, and when we sacrifice that beauty to satisfy the beast within us, when we render impotent the power of that art to convey a deeper meaning, when we trivialize the power of film to influence our culture and lives, we feed the monster that becomes savagery, and endanger the civility we have come to consider the American way, or what was once the American ideal.
Psalms 101:3 (NIV) "I will not look with approval on anything that is vile."
Rachel, this blog reads like a creative nonfiction piece. It explores connections between creavitiy and culture that cause us contemporaries to consider what we are doing to ourselves and reminds us of our creative calling. You should consider submitting this piece to a literary journal.
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