Religion and Film 2021

 This past Sunday, I was given a great piece of advice. During our senior send-offs in my fraternity, all seniors have ~1 hour to give whatever advice they feel like giving to the chapter, in front of us. One-by-one, they went down the line, giving advice & telling stories for the undergrads. One of the seniors gave hands down, one of the best speeches & at the end, ripped up his CNU service distinction leader certificate & tossed it into the fire. For the last eight semesters, he served as a Bonner Scholar, providing over 400 hours of community service throughout his time. One of his points through his speech was that we should serve the lord for entry into heaven and that we should serve him not for recognition or awards. He said that throughout his time, he served for the lord & not receive an award. As a result, he tore up his prestigious certificate and tossed it into the fire. It was extremely inspiring & a great reminder of why we should volunteer & s...

 One of the most challenging parts throughout the last few years is finding faith & trust during challenging times. While in my previous post I stated that I am a firm believer in things happening for a reason, I find discomfort in trying to justify that tragedies were meant to happen. Why did God have a pandemic, systemic racism & discrimination, mass shootings & terrorism all affect us? When I was being confirmed in the Episcopal church several years ago, I expressed these concerns to my pastor during my exit interview. He stressed that these tragedies have always happened in some form or fashion and to have faith. Even though these are unprecedented and terrible times, I always try and find the positives in the negative and that we were meant to encounter the battles we do.

 I always catch myself saying the phrase “everything happens for a reason” often. Whether its when a decision happens to work itself out, the right person walks in or out of my life, or I have an epiphany or realization, I find that whatever life throws at me or decision I make is meant to happen. About a year and a half ago, I got dinner with one of my friends who is extremely pious & religiously devout. This is when I began my journey of reestablishing my relationship with God and faith. Over the next two hours, we talked about everything relating to believing in a higher power and placing our trust and faith in something bigger than ourselves. That’s when I connected the mentality of things happen for a reason to God; I have to trust that He will make the right decision. I am a huge fan of self-reflection & through reflecting on past lessons and experiences have changed me for the better and the future. I truly believe that I am meant to encounter the people I do.

 "They say death is hardest on the living. It’s tough to actually say goodbye. Sometimes it’s impossible. You never really stop feeling the loss. It’s what makes things so bittersweet. We leave little bits of ourselves behind, little reminders. A lifetime of memories, photos, trinkets. Things to remember us by even when we're gone." –Meredith Grey, "Going, Going, Gone" (Season 9, episode 1)  I’ve been watching a lot of Grey’s Anatomy this year. Each semester, I always pick a TV series to binge watch & get way too invested in. After having this in my Netflix que for a long time, I decided to take the plunge into the tumultuous journey that is Grey’s Anatomy. Just like any medical drama, death & loss are apparent and apart of the story arch. Through this show, and the quote above, I have begun adopting a realist perspective on death and loss. Death happens and sucks. Grieving the loss is even tougher. At 21 years old, I am lucky that I have not experienced...

 The other day, I was procrastinating writing a final paper for my Religion & the Arts class and I was browsing movie trailers on YouTube. Eventually, I stumbled on the trailer for the 2014 film Heaven is For Real. The film, it depicts how a child experienced life in heaven during emergency surgery for his ruptured appendix. Throughout the film, the boy’s father, a pastor, tells his son’s experience in heaven throughout his sermons. While visiting, the pastor’s son met his daughter, who was miscarried years ago & his father. The trailer piqued my interest, & I spent the next several minutes looking at clips of the film. After watching an emotional storyline, it reminded me of how short life can be. While I personally haven’t experienced a near-death experience, I believe that it can be possible. I believe in the afterlife and that I hope my actions on earth will lead me to experience heaven.

  War movies throughout film history have been one of the most popular subjects to depict on screen. In most films, they glorify war, and don’t show the true realities of the horrors that happen. Thin Red Line does not glorify war, but rather brutally shows the realities of WWII. The most prominent thing I will remember about the film was how loud it was, and how horrific the imagery on screen was as well. I believe this was done in a way to show that war is not what you see in most movies where empires fall and heroes are made. Additionally, a significant motif is life and death in the movie. Each soldier has a unique perspective on the fragility of life and death. Private Witt does not want to die. He has seen that his mother found no peace while she was dying, so his expectations of death are tied to her. However, through the film, he is surrounded by death and sees how his fellow soldier have an indifference and more serene death. This leads Witt to make the ultimate sacrifice ...

  The New World is a film about the settlement of Jamestown, the encounter with the Powhattan Indians, and the love story between Pocahontas and English settlers John Smith and John Rolfe.     The most profound motif I found in this film is the transformation that takes place both physically and emotionally in the film. When Pocahontas saves John Smith from being killed by her father Chief Powhattan, I believe that it was due to curiosity of the new English settlers, rather than due to love between the two that has been depicted in the Disney Pocahontas film. The princess’s curiosity for English culture forced her to become an outcast to her tribe and her homeland. When John Rolfe met her, she fell in love and became his husband. The shift of the Powhattan princess from being immersed in Native culture to English is also seen in the land. Jamestown marked the first permanent English colony in the New World. The Native Americans helped the English survive in this new and s...