It’s been a while since I’ve actually seen a movie. The last movie I saw was the remake of Annie, and the last movie I watched at the cinema was Guardians of the Galaxy. Since starting working full-time, I haven’t really been doing much of anything outside of work, as well as maintaining this site. Not that that is a bad thing, I really enjoy my work, yet it is on some of these days on the weekends when I become sentimental, and remember life as it once was. Rewind to ten years ago and I and my family were heavily invested in movies- often we’d travel to our local cinema a few times a year. While watching a movie as a family consisted more of watching and less of conversing and actually interacting, our times together watching a movie we all enjoyed is something that I cannot take for granted, especially now since movie-going is more of a luxury than ever.
It is when we look upon the past-times we share as a family with fondness that we can appreciate the moments we are in now, whether they are good or bad. The state of being sentimental about our past isn’t a bad thing, but rather, it helps us be reminded of the memories that shape us and the impact movies, or in a better term, the media in general, have on society and how they behave, think, act and relate towards ourselves and people around us.
Movies, film, TV shows, and even music can ignite within us things that sometimes our parents or even ourselves cannot. Such is the power of the media, having the ability to tap into our thoughts and feelings, to press on issues relating to ourselves and people we care about. And sometimes all it takes is a song, or a sermon from a pastor, or a line or quote from our favourite movie, and what occurs next is us thinking about the future, the past, about God, our relationships, and everything else in between. With such power that the media has, herein lies the point- that Christ can speak to us through whatever medium He wants- even through the media, and the films we watch, the TV shows we devote our time to, and the songs we hear on the radio. It is in these moments of awakening that we can appreciate the ways Christ talks to us, even if it is unconventional.
Even if I haven’t seen a movie since last year, that doesn’t mean that my life has changed dramatically. Do I wish I could watch more movies if given the chance? Yes. Has God spoken through movies to me in the past? Quite possibly. Are there movies that I want to watch in the near future? Most definitely…Ant Man, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Terminator Genysis… you get the picture. Yet as of right now movies may not be on my radar. Or in the near future. And that’s ok. At least I’m trying to believe that it is ok. But that doesn’t mean that Christ can’t speak through other mediums if He wanted to. Like TV shows for example. Recently our family have been watching the new British show Humans– in it the main characters are humanly conscious androids. Now I know that right now they aren’t possible, but maybe in 50, 100 years? What then if there are human conscious androids with the ability to feel, think or even have the ability to choose to believe in God? Things to think about. I know it’s heavy for a Sentimental Saturdays/Message Mondays post, but sometimes we do need to discuss these issues, even if it is for a while before we return to the mundaneness and routine of the week.
The message is this- that whatever we watch, whatever we listen to, the songs we immerse ourselves in and the entertainment we surround ourselves with have so much power over us, much more than we realise. A song can be just as powerful, even more so, than maybe the encouraging words spoken over you by your parents, or a movie can evoke feelings within us more so than news from the media. Whatever your preferred form of entertainment, just know that it is influencing us much more than we can fathom or even realise. And know that in the midst of all of that, God is speaking to us, and all we need to do is tune our eyes and ears to see what He has to say. Who knows, maybe the next encouraging word to us from God will be through our favourite character in our favourite TV show.
Til next time.