GroshLink

At their best, movies not only offer glimpses of fantastic imaginary worlds, but also inklings of what is, for children, the most intriguing and enigmatic world of all: the world of adulthood. Yes, but overall, I found And You'll Be a Moviegoer, My Son a disappointing testimonial of teaching one's children 1. appreciation of the varieties of the incomparably rich art form of film, which means learning to endure and even enjoy being occasionally bored, confused or scared. 2. developing a taste for the act of moviegoing.

I was hoping for the NY Times critic to 1. offer a lens for understanding film, besides advocating its rich diversity, and 2. to critique our culture's obsession w/film, advocating other helpful cultural forms for our children.

Over the past several days, our family re-watched The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. While Hayley ran around the room engaged in battle, Ellen bridged the Aslan character to Jesus and raised questions such as, Why do people think that they can kill God? How can God die? Both pointed out scenes which differed from the book and yelled at Peter to bring his viser down as he charged into battle (nothing like the need to see an actor's face). Later we had conversations regarding the Person of God, the relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (also connected to Sufyan Stevens' The Transfiguration), and the concept of the dying/rising god. Let's appreciate the role of film in raising questions and providing opportunities for conversation. Let's go further in and farther up beyond the hip movies of our day and the classic ones of the past into a daily conversation and life lived out in the messiness of the real world navigated by the Word, prayer, the People of God (past and present with all they've left behind and are offering at this time).