W
Wesley Southern
Guest
So a while back, maybe like February 2020, this older Christian lady (who I do not get along with anymore) asked me if I would like to see a movie in theaters. I said, okay sure. It was a movie called I Still Believe which is based off the true story of a Christian music artist, Jeremy Camp. It was a tragic romance drama. Since I’m not religious, the movie was a little baffling to me.
It’s one of those sick girls who are “too good for this sinful world” movies. I was getting A Walk to Remember vibes (the book, not the movie). Based only on the script, I did not understand how Jeremy Camp married the sick girl, sticks by her to the end, gets comforted by a fan who was inspired by his music, then marries that fan and has four children with her. Did Jeremy do anything selfish throughout the movie? Of course not. Not to mention Jeremy was a college-aged male, so did I think his level of maturity was believable for his age?
(＼＼\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／me flips over a table(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻)
LIKE NO ONE IS THAT GOOD
Of course, that too-good-to-be-true story could be true. It was a good movie. Not great, because people are greedy and not nearly as selfless as the movie depicted. But it’s a movie, so I’ll suspend some of my disbelief. So I told the Christian lady it was a good movie because I thought it was, just that the real story of Jeremy Camp would have more doubting of God, though I understand they’re playing to their audience. (I don’t know one person who has unshakeable faith like that, except maybe Ice Bear). That last minute second-chance love interest got on my nerves a little. It was TOO perfect, if you know what I mean. Most of the movie, Jeremy is romancing his love interest by playing Christian music on his guitar (which she finds really attractive), then all of a sudden, he’s a widower, and the second girl Adrian says “your music helped me get through a hard time in my life” and he hugs her. Then it jump cuts to the epilogue in which Jeremy marries Adrian and they’re on a beach sending helium lanterns floating over the ocean.
Actually, what bothered me was that a week later, I asked the Christian lady if she wanted to see a Studio Ghibli movie with me. She never heard of Studio Ghibli before (which bothered me, but I was going to introduce it to her)
The movie was called Weathering with You, and it’s magical realism, and has some Shinto (Japanese animism) elements to it. The graphics and story beats were on point, and didn’t have any morally bad stuff that Christians don’t let their children watch.
And the Christian lady didn’t have anything good to say about the movie because Shinto beliefs were incorporated into the plot.
WAIT WHAT
from my point of view, she was watching the movie and trying to determine how the themes stacked up to her Christian beliefs. She couldn’t evaluate the movie objectively, or at least say the graphics were good. She went straight to the fact that it wasn’t a Christian movie, and it even promoted the supernatural elements of Shinto beliefs.
And this is my problem with people who can’t appreciate new things and say the old stuff is always better. You belong to the here and now not fifty years ago. Let’s face it, life’s much better now than it was back then.
Actually what bothers me is people only sticking to what they grew up on. If you’ve eaten meat and potatoes your whole life, and you won’t eat sushi because it’s raw fish, that just gets my goat.
Anyway, I realized the Christian lady and I weren’t even speaking the same language. I wanted to find some common ground, but being civil is about all I can manage.
It’s one of those sick girls who are “too good for this sinful world” movies. I was getting A Walk to Remember vibes (the book, not the movie). Based only on the script, I did not understand how Jeremy Camp married the sick girl, sticks by her to the end, gets comforted by a fan who was inspired by his music, then marries that fan and has four children with her. Did Jeremy do anything selfish throughout the movie? Of course not. Not to mention Jeremy was a college-aged male, so did I think his level of maturity was believable for his age?
(＼＼\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／me flips over a table(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻)
LIKE NO ONE IS THAT GOOD
Of course, that too-good-to-be-true story could be true. It was a good movie. Not great, because people are greedy and not nearly as selfless as the movie depicted. But it’s a movie, so I’ll suspend some of my disbelief. So I told the Christian lady it was a good movie because I thought it was, just that the real story of Jeremy Camp would have more doubting of God, though I understand they’re playing to their audience. (I don’t know one person who has unshakeable faith like that, except maybe Ice Bear). That last minute second-chance love interest got on my nerves a little. It was TOO perfect, if you know what I mean. Most of the movie, Jeremy is romancing his love interest by playing Christian music on his guitar (which she finds really attractive), then all of a sudden, he’s a widower, and the second girl Adrian says “your music helped me get through a hard time in my life” and he hugs her. Then it jump cuts to the epilogue in which Jeremy marries Adrian and they’re on a beach sending helium lanterns floating over the ocean.
Actually, what bothered me was that a week later, I asked the Christian lady if she wanted to see a Studio Ghibli movie with me. She never heard of Studio Ghibli before (which bothered me, but I was going to introduce it to her)
The movie was called Weathering with You, and it’s magical realism, and has some Shinto (Japanese animism) elements to it. The graphics and story beats were on point, and didn’t have any morally bad stuff that Christians don’t let their children watch.
And the Christian lady didn’t have anything good to say about the movie because Shinto beliefs were incorporated into the plot.
WAIT WHAT
from my point of view, she was watching the movie and trying to determine how the themes stacked up to her Christian beliefs. She couldn’t evaluate the movie objectively, or at least say the graphics were good. She went straight to the fact that it wasn’t a Christian movie, and it even promoted the supernatural elements of Shinto beliefs.
And this is my problem with people who can’t appreciate new things and say the old stuff is always better. You belong to the here and now not fifty years ago. Let’s face it, life’s much better now than it was back then.
Actually what bothers me is people only sticking to what they grew up on. If you’ve eaten meat and potatoes your whole life, and you won’t eat sushi because it’s raw fish, that just gets my goat.
Anyway, I realized the Christian lady and I weren’t even speaking the same language. I wanted to find some common ground, but being civil is about all I can manage.
I'd try to argue your points, but I need to go get off this device and go work out. 
