[Books & Culture, March-April 2004]* Selected for Best Christian Writing 2006*
Most movies wait till after they're released to stir up controversy, but Mel Gibson's “The Passion of the Christ” has been preceded by nearly a year of fisticuffs. It provided an unusually rich opportunity for people who don't know what they're talking about to do just that. I'll continue that tradition by admitting that, as I write this, I still have not seen the film. I expect it will be good movie-making, a powerful example of the artistic possibilities of film. I hope it will stir up old faith in Christians, and break forth new faith in unbelievers.
[Today's Christian, March-April 2004]
Q. Any advice on how I can encourage a young Christian woman that it is not right to share an apartment with a man, even though their relationship is non-romantic? --Name withheld
A. I notice that it happens to be the young woman you're trying to talk to about this, rather than the young man, so let me note that women are a little slower to see the problem. Young men know that sexual desire can overwhelm them unexpectedly, and that it is hard to direct or restrain. The actor Dustin Hoffman once remarked
[Our Sunday Visitor, February 22, 2004]
No, your watch isn’t slow, they really did move the Oscars up this year. Fed up with the high-pressure lobbying for votes that filled the first three months of every year, the Academy opted this time around to shorten it to two: instead of a late-March ceremony, this year’s event will be February 29. This means that the high-pressure lobbying had to be compressed into a shorter time frame, so the folks who trudge the red carpet on Sadie Hawkins’ Day may look more frazzled than usual.
[Touchstone, January 2004; a consortium discussion of the pro-life movement's “New Rhetorical Strategy”]
The “New Rhetorical Strategy” that Francis Beckwith critiques is getting up in years. My first book, “Real Choices: Listening to Women, Looking for Alternatives to Abortion” was written in 1993. The Caring Foundation's first ads appeared in the mid-nineties, as did Paul Swopes' essay in First Things describing the results of their research. David Reardon's book “Aborted Women: Silent No More,” appeared in 1987.
Beckwith might have mentioned as well Dr. Jack Willke's early-nineties project to develop a concise response to the other side's “Who decides?” rhetoric (you may have seen “Love them both” placards), and the trend of pregnancy care centers to shift focus, changing from storefronts that discourage abortion to full-fledged medical clinics or professional counseling centers.
[Our Sunday Visitor, Feb 1, 2004]
As usual, I made a big impression at the premiere of “Big Fish.” The director, Tim Burton, had been pestering me to come, and at last I agreed to pop in. What was tricky, of course, is that my husband is losing patience with the film's star, Ewan MacGregor, because he won't give up. “Give up, Ewan,” I keep telling him. “I've been married thirty years.” But still the roses arrive almost daily.
[Today's Christian, January-February, 2004]
Q. If a woman commits the sin of abortion, people say that she can be forgiven. But if the father of the child wanted that child, and had absolutely no say in the child's fate, and afterwards wanted to commit suicide, would he be forgiven? I understand that a person can be forgiven for murdering an innocent life, but can a person be forgiven for murdering his own life? --a grieving father
[Our Sunday Visitor, January 11, 2004]
P. J. Hogue’s new production of ‘Peter Pan’ has a lot more sex in it, and that’s why you should see it. Not sex, exactly, but sexuality, the first budding of a young girl’s confused romantic feelings, and how she must learn to navigate them wisely. The film itself is wise and treats the topic with appropriate delicacy. You can take even young children to this film, and all they’ll see is a beautifully produced classic of fantasy and adventure. You’ll see something more.
Peter (portrayed by Jeremy Sumpter) is not the focus of this story, but Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood).
[recorded for NPR “Morning Edition” December 2003; postponed to wait for a “news hook,” eventually lost in a system crash]When reports of human cloning first began appearing in the news, a lot of us had the initial reaction, “You're kidding, right?” They weren't kidding. This bizarre field of medical research is rarin' to go. We don't have much time to consider the question: should it?
The idea of a full-grown human clone is creepy enough, but what about cloning for medical purposes--making an embryo with a patient's cells, then killing it to use in the patient's treatment? Even here we know instinctively that something's wrong. We know it isn't right to mix up a baby in a test tube and then, when it starts growing, chop it up for medicine. It isn't right to make medicine out of people.
[Our Sunday Visitor, December 28, 2003]
What becomes a legend most’ The old answer, ‘fur,’ wouldn’t be as popular today as it was when Blackglama mink draped legendary stars like Lauren Bacall in a glamorous ad campaign. What makes something a legend, a classic, is not easy to identify, but the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy has got it, hands down. ’ The Return of the King’ is a crowning conclusion to the trilogy, and also arguably the best of the three films, though none are disappointments. That’s something that can’t be said of most movie-sequel series.
[Our Sunday Visitor, December 28, 2003]
The Last Samurai
It turns out that guys are just as sentimental as the next guy, but what they get sentimental about is killing people. Run somebody through with a lance, shoot an arrow through a heart, slice a neck with a sword—pretty soon, everybody’s hugging and blubbering.
