Memorable Slap

I would like to say that when I watch a film or short film, I look for the reason in it. The reason why it was made, and the impact it is intended to have on people. The truth is that I haven’t usually done that. I’ve only paid attention to what’s happening in front of my face, and whether or not it’s entertaining to me.

I don’t think the blame is all on me. There are so many movies these days that don’t try for a deeper meaning to change people, or they have a cliché one that doesn’t affect anybody any longer. Then there are the films that come along and slap you in the face. My first reaction would be to say, “I don’t like it” and move on. But when you watch those films for a class, you can’t really do that. You have to try to figure out what is going on.

World of Glory made me nauseous. It’s more of a punch in the gut than a slap in the face. I couldn’t tell what Roy Andersson, the film’s creator, was trying to convey. It’s terrible, the way that some Germans lived so normally during World War II, as their sons were being taken to work in factories and Jews were being gassed regularly. And then they have the nerve to seek God’s grace for themselves in the midst of it?

It’s horrible, but is that all that it is? I don’t think so. Sometimes as I look at my bed and think, this is where I sleep, or think about someone who owes me money, or think about how I like my car, I believe that I will just remember a short film that seems all too familiar. And then I’ll think of the atrocities that exist today and how I do nothing to stop them.

But what is there to do? What can we do? The modern world has us trapped in a system of living. I don't know the answer. But I'll pray that God will give me one.