Category Archives: The Arts

Jan 14 2011

Announcing Movieology

I’m working with Stewart Adams at American Vision to release this ongoing web video show in early February. This video just explains what Movieology is all about and that it is coming soon. I’d like to know what you think!

For more of an explanation of our/my worldview mindset, I’m a Christian and study science, religion, and philosophy continuously. One great way Christians often overlook to study such things is in watching movies. I rarely watch movies passively; I always want to learn something about the real world if there is something to be had about the real world by considering the worldviews in fiction. Often, fiction can explain truths better than day to day life. Non-fiction can lack the human element that fiction can provide to improve understanding of reality.

While I am a worldview enthusiast, I don’t just appreciate the Christian worldview. I study other worldviews and why they believe what they believe. I want to help others see that Christianity makes sense of the real world, whereas other worldviews do not with an objective evaluation of reality.

So, if you oppose my view, that’s all right—I’m not trying to “convert” you. So feel free to let the open discussions begin (while using movies to start the topical worldview discussions).

Mar 12 2010

Objectifying Morality in Fiction Pt 2

With the Bible as our guide to good storytelling, and just what is and isn’t permissible morality in stories, let’s take another look at how to interpret morality issues we face in fiction.

Some well-meaning conservative people wish that fiction would lack immorality—well, immorality that they don’t have a tolerance for. As I pointed out in the first part, the Bible has lots of immorality that no good Christian should take a liking to. Yet, the Bible depicts many graphic details of sin and immorality of all kinds that we should be on guard for. As we think about the meaning underlying fiction we either get on television, the theatre, internet (web shows), or novels, we should discern what the moral compass is of the fiction; whether the author/filmmaker is consistent with his own morality. If he wants to objectify women in an evolutionary way (do whatever you want with your body—who cares?) but doesn’t want to take a consistent view of evolutionary thinking as it relates to politics (Indiana Jones is opposed to Nazism just because ‘it ain’t right’) then he’s picking and choosing his morality out of thin air. There isn’t a basis for it except personal opinion, and that is not concrete or authoritative. Continue reading →

Mar 6 2010

Interpretation Continued: Objectifying Morality in Fiction

Building on a proper understanding of the genres of fiction, and a thorough appreciation for the whole of stories and there individual scenes, let us look now at the culmination of morality in fictional works to interpret the intent — message/meaning, if you will — of a story.

Morality is one of the stickiest issues for religious people to cypher whether a story is a good one to read or watch. We get lost in the minutiae wondering about the suitable age range for audiences; whether the story is “Christian” enough; whether the villain’s worldview overwhelms that of the hero’s; we total up the number of expletives in the first act; we count the number of square inches on our TVs that are covered in a splash of blood in a bit of violence…. Continue reading →

Feb 25 2010

Interpreting Whole and Individual Scenes in Context

In a family flick, there might be a scene where the six-year-old daughter complains to her daddy that she doesn’t wanna go to a birthday party. First, she wines about it, but quickly this turns into tears and chewing the tips of her fingers; while her Dad struggles to pay attention to something else—like his smartphone telling him that his boss wants his head on a chopping block. Continue reading →

Feb 24 2010

Knowing Your Genres (for Interpretation)

Genres are slices of a whole life view. Life can be romantic, hilarious or haunting at times, but individual lives are not all these things at once. To make it easy for storytellers to communicate with their audiences, storytellers tell you stories using a small selection of human emotions, conditions, and details that reflect qualities we see when we’re feeling especially romantic, humored, frightened, etc. Continue reading →

Feb 21 2010

Where Do The Culinary Arts Fit In?

Is good food an art? Of course! It’s also a product of culture. Every nation gives their food their own flare. Dining is just as much a social event as nourishment, and has been one of the oldest cultural arts in history.

What’s fascinating about food is that we never grow tired of good food. We always want something tasty, and if we have any sense, we want the tasty to also be healthy. People are getting more health conscious, and with that attention to health, we start sweating the small stuff about our food. For instance, one of the most popular dishes around the world is the ever incredible omelet. It can be prepared in so many ways with so many good ingredients stuffed into a couple folded eggs. As long as you like regular eggs, you are practically without excuse to liking omelets. Continue reading →

Feb 20 2010

More Adobe Photoshop for 20 Years Celebratory Stuff

[Update Feb. 23, 2010:
For more in-depth coverage of the 20th anniversary and interesting information on Adobe, check out:

http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/

This guy's site is one I frequent and rich with content.]

I mentioned in an earlier post that this is the twentieth birthday of Photoshop; the application by Adobe. Well, Adobe recognizes this momentous occasion as well, and they have made a website to honor the humble little history of development for their world-changing piece of software. You can visit the celebratory site here »

Feb 19 2010

If You Say So, Is It So?

Of course not! But many people would like you to think so. In fact, there is only one person in human history who could make something so just because He said so, and I don’t think any mortal man has that supernatural gift.

But we hear lies all the time, and we give them weight when we’re suckered into believing them. Worldviews are full of fallacies. Reason is not a natural human quality. Logic is something we have to exercise—sort of like an exercise routine for physical fitness. Your body isn’t going to exercise itself; you have to make it lift weights, do pushups, run a mile (jogging is wimpy), etc. Continue reading →