Constantine - A Secular Look at the Spiritual Realm

Well, I figure it’s been a while since my last post… I prob’ly ought to post something else, huh? But then I tried to decide what to post on… shopping for jeans is too annoying… my continuing efforts to finish the campaign in “Age of Mythology” are interesting to none but myself… my mom just finished Goblet of Fire, I think, but we’ve already discussed Harry Potter… so it occurred to me to discuss an interesting movie that I finally got around to seeing the other day: Constantine.

First off, Constantine requires a certain… “mental state” to appreciate. Jonathan, I think you’d find it interesting. Carolyn, I highly suggest that you do not watch it; if Signs was difficult, you wouldn’t like this in the least. People who are very strong Calvinists *ahemAshlea* probably wouldn’t like it for different reasons :). The rest of you fall somewhere in between – hopefully, a brief review will let you see where.

Do be forewarned. Some serious issues of the movie include: abundant scary images, visits to hell by living characters, use of occult symbols, and, on the technical side, a ludicrous and difficult to follow plot.

That warning out of the way… The movie is, basically, a secular look at the spiritual realm. It is an attempt by people who have never directly had much or any experience with things spiritual to write a story based on them. Obviously, they get a lot wrong. Amazingly, however, they do get a few things right, and it’s looking for these little nuggets in the midst of the dross that makes the movie interesting to watch.

The overall feel of the movie is, oddly enough, physical. (Course, what kind of action movie would it be if you couldn’t have scary looking demons?) The end result, though, is that you have physical demons attacking and being attacked in physical ways, with the actual spiritual realm existing only on the sidelines as something mysterious in which man does not participate. This, of course, gives the movie a very “material” and secular feel. Yet this exaltation of the material also gives the movie a sort of medieval feel. Physical things (i.e. holy water and light) and symbols (i.e. crosses and occult symbols) are important – they are more than just their material selves. They have a power within them that makes them effective. Then, of course, the medieval feel is helped along by the fact that all prayers are in Latin. (The recurring prayer, interestingly, was “Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis… in nomine Patri et Fillii et Spiritu Sanctu.”)

The main character, Constantine (Keanu Reeves), is possibly the most interesting item. He is no saint, literally. He just happens to have a “curse” that allows him to do what he does (see and fight demons) and he is bitter toward God for it. In fact, he’s bitter toward God for a great many things, many of which (as is mentioned at one point) are his own fault. But one man’s “curse” can be God’s gift, if only he could see it that way. This idea is explored from the beginning of the movie to its end and the problem of evil is touched directly at a couple points. Another of Constantine’s issues is that he has committed a mortal sin in the past and, though he is bitter toward God, he’d really rather not end up in hell. So, he decides to use his gift/curse to buy his way into heaven – at which attempt other characters constantly scoff. The conclusion of the movie is that “whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

God is never seen (which is just as well), but His presence is felt. Neither Gabriel (who is played by a woman… go figure) nor Constantine’s assistant get away with trying to act on their own, outside God’s power. The movie does walk a fine line near dualism, since its chief protagonist is never seen and the baddies are the main focus. It also holds that God and Satan have made some sort of “deal” whereby they can only influence and not force human decisions for good or ill. Though all this is highly suspect, it’s my opinion that, in the very end, it winds up on the right side.

So, if you have some extra time and the warning up top didn’t deter you, I would suggest watching it sometime. Just make sure you’re in an intellectually curious state of mind :).

R&R

*contented sigh* This is the life… I have been enjoying my back-at-home-ness to the full.

Monday was spent trying to recover from jet lag. I had figured that on Sunday I was up for 25 hours on five hours of sleep – though I had gotten up at 0400 and got in bed at 2100. Don’t you just love traveling west :)? So, needless to say, on Monday I stayed in my pajamas all day simply because I could and relaxed, played on my computer, and recounted stories of my travels.

On Tuesday, Mom, Dad, Indy (our dog), and I went to some friends’ house and picked blueberries. These folks have been blessed with a whole hedge worth of blueberry bushes, so they invite other people to come out and enjoy the overflow. We spent about two hours in the “cool” (82 F), sticky Alabama morning, chatting with each other and various members of our host family. The end result was quite a bit of fun and about six gallons of blueberries. We made some blueberry waffles when we got home to enjoy the fruits of our labor. After breakfast, Mom and I settled in to wash the rest and go through them to toss out unripe ones and make sure none of them still had stems. It was quite an undertaking, but now we have an abundant supply of blueberries in the freezer. In the evening, Daniel got home from work and he, Mom, and I watched quite a few episodes of Lost, only to realize that we didn’t have the season finale.

By yesterday morning, we had obtained the finale and decided to watch it before the D left for work in the afternoon. We also had managed to get Dad hooked on it, and, since he has this week off, he has been making up for “lost” time (yes, that shameless pun was intended). I think he’s up to episode 13 now. So, we all discussed the merits of the show… somewhere along the way, the guys disappeared, and Mom and I were left, ready to go shopping but in the midst of a philosophical discussion. The discussion finally ended at debating how “blatant” a story’s Christian message should be, bringing to bear Narnia, Lost (in a hypothetical sense), Signs, and Les Mis. Somehow me encouraging her to read Harry Potter fit in there as well. We did finally end the conversation to get dressed and out the door for our shopping trip… which was rather tiring, but successful in the end. At my urging, we made the ground beef that had been appropriated for dinner into topping for nachos and had a very relaxed meal.

Today has no particular plans except to take it easy and, perhaps, finally unpack one of my bags. Maybe I will take the dog for a walk or some such…

The Return of the Gabi

“I’ve been away, but I must say,
That home looks good to me.”

So ends the story of Captain Kitty, a favorite book of mine as a child. In the story, Captain Kitty gathers up a couple friends and sails to the South Seas, looking for adventure and all things exotic. They dine on strange food, meet friendly natives, and watch pearl divers… and then they return home. After countless readings in my early years, the last lines have become something of a family saying.

I now find myself, as many times in the past, in the place of my dear Captain Kitty. I have been far away, off on an adventure, experiencing the new and the strange… It was fun. I’ll miss walking down cobbled streets, through parks, and past the Russian Orthodox cathedral and the flower market. I’ll miss deciphering a strange language and seeing new sights and tasting new foods. I’ll even miss the acrid city smell.

But home does look good to me. There is something eminently right about it. It is somehow more real, making the previous weeks look like a hazy dream. The sound of the air conditioner running, the feel of the oriental rug, the old clock still ticking away on the wall, the dog sleeping at my feet… and, of course, all of my family here in the same place. Somehow this just seems the way things ought to be. Riga was an aberration. A fun aberration, but one nonetheless.