Worldviews, Film Analysis

and the Gospel: Finding points of contact/tension

Margunn Serigstad Dahle, Tony Watkinsand Lars Dahle

The way to deal with the challenge of the media is to be better at understanding it than anyone else, and to be able to relate it God’s word.

If we can develop our capacity for double listening, we will avoid the opposite pitfalls of unfaithfulness and irrelevance, and be able to speak God’s Word to God’s world with effectiveness today.

John Stott

global village(Marshall McLuhan)

The pervasive influence of entertainment media

The moving picture has become a preacher, and its sermons are most effective because they are addressed to the eye rather than to the ear.

K.S. Hover, 1911

cinema

Film is the most significant and powerful of today’s media.

David Thompson

The moving images stirs our emotions rather than engaging our minds.

Ingmar Bergman

More is said than what is spoken.David Porter

All stories teach, whether the storyteller intends them to or not. They teach the world we create. They teach the morality we live by. They teach it much more effectively than moral precepts and instructions.

Philip Pullman

Film is a global factor in shaping young people’s perspectives

Traditionally, most philosophical investigation took place in the universities, and most spiritual reflection took place in the churches.

However, in recent years that seems to have changed. Now, arguably, most philosophical investigation and spiritual reflection takes place in the cinema.

Nick Pollard

Surface

Middle

Deep

see it as entertainment

realise that there is a message

realise traces of worldviews

critical analysis is crucial

Our double identity: disciples and witnesses

John 17

Worldviews

[Everyone] has a worldview. Whenever any of us thinks about anything – from a casual thought (Where did I leave my watch?) to a profound question (Who am I?) – we are operating within such a framework. In fact, it is only the assumption of a worldview – however basic or simple- that allows us to think at all.

James Sire

A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.

James Sire, Naming the Elephant, p. 122

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A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being.

James Sire, Naming the Elephant, p. 122

‘. . . that can be expressed as a story . . .’

finding traces of the worldview-story behind or within the fictional story

finding point of contact/tension

?What do we mean by ‘points of contact’ and ‘points of tension’ when comparing a movie with the biblical worldview? What examples can you think of?

?What do we mean by ‘points of contact’ and ‘points of tension’ when comparing a movie with the biblical worldview? What examples can you think of?

How do we respond?

5 dimensions to think about

Aesthetics

Emotions

27

morality

beliefs

spirituality

Worldviews like maps

30

Worldviews like maps

30

31

31

salvation

Questions to ask when watching

a movie

How did the film make you feel?

What causes the major turning points in the film? Why does it

end in this way?

What do the main characters want? What stands in their way?

Why do the characters make particular choices?

Whose point of view do we see?

What do the film-makers want us to take away from this film?

What is the underlying theme of the film?

What impact will it have on viewers?

WORLDVIEWS 41

reality

42

What does this film suggest about the nature of reality?

humanity

44

What does it suggest about the nature of human beings?

How is the image of God seen? How is human rebellion

expressed?

knowledge47

What does it say about truth, knowledge and wisdom?

morality

49

What does it say about morality and ethics?

What’s the solution to our most basic need?

51

What does it suggest that human beings need above all?

points of contact

points of tension

celebrate / challenge

challenges . . .

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind . . .

Romans 12:2a

. . . as disciples of Christ

Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

Colossians 4:5

. . . as witnesses for Christ

?How do we understand the major worldview challenges in influential recent movies as represented in our own cultural contexts?

?How do we understand the major worldview challenges in influential recent movies as represented in our own cultural contexts?

What kind of educational material (on film analysis) do we need to develop in our cultural contexts?

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www.engagingmedia.info

www.culturewatch.org

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