This is one of the best action movies of the year, by far. It deserves the box office success it is having. It’s fun, exciting, and entertaining. It’s also pretty clean (although not perfect) and family friendly.

And there are some great lines. Captain America has some of the best.

Although not all the values expressed by some of the heroes are the best (Notably, the Iron Man character, as in the earlier Iron Man movies, is admittedly narcissistic and loose in his morality at times), still, the interplay of the different characters adds real humor to the movie. It also allows them to come up with solutions to a terrible problem.

How this band of super-heroes, with their defects and strengths, work together to save the world from an evil invasion allows us to reflect a bit on ourselves.

Our own character limitations can be pretty funny at times. And we can even use our limitations to our advantage, if we work with others who have traits that complement our own (I think that’s called teamwork…).

Have fun watching this movie! I sure did!

DISCUSSION ZONE:

1. Who was your favorite character? Why?

2. Do you think there is anything believable about the movie? Are there any everyday problems that it deals with?

3. What was your favorite scene in the movie? (Mine involves a conversation between Iron Man and the Hulk…)

4. The superheroes use their power for good, but there are others who use it for bad. What makes the difference for these people?

The story is good, and, even though Zac Efron does a great job playing a young war veteran who is trying to find the person who saved his life, his baby face just doesn’t seem to fit with the character of an ex-marine. It does work for the shots of him trying to wrestle with his inner turmoil, though. And the story is powerful enough in itself to save the day.

DISCUSSION ZONE:

Do you think that someone who has seen his or her friends killed in action is capable of recovering his joy and love for life? Does healing like what is portrayed in the movie really happen in real life?

Do you think it is OK that the young man and the girl sleep together once they fall in love? Is it OK if you are in love?

In a world where war and pain are so prevalent, what things in everyday life can help us believe in love? Is it easy?

Very funny movie, although loaded with lots of bad innuendos, and questionable morality. Not recommendable for young teens. Still, the basic message is probably more positive than negative: if you really love a girl, don’t just leave her hanging. Grow up, and marry her. And if you are a girl, don’t let the guy just lead you along as a “friend with benefits”. Challenge him to “step up to the plate”. It’s all done in a hilarious way, but at least the basic message is positive.

DISCUSSION ZONE

What’s the funniest line in this movie? There are lots of them, but what’s your favorite?

Do you think guys are happier just living with a girl or getting married? Why do guys avoid marriage?

What makes the guys in this movie decide to “take the leap”? Do you think each has good reasons?

If so many marriages fail, is it better to live together first, in order to get to know each other better? Is there any fallacy in this thinking?

A thoughtful movie about the perils of political correctness. Deals with some disturbing issues (suicide, murder) in a sensitive way, but some teens may find the themes difficult.   (Caution: spoiler alert) A fifth grade teacher in Montreal, Quebec (Canada) commits suicide, and the children are trying to make sense of what happened. A man (Monsieur Lazhar) is hired to take the teacher’s place.

Monsieur Lazhar is a good man, but the students find his teaching methods a bit old-fashioned. Little by little he wins the respect and trust of the students and tries to help them deal with the sadness and confusion they feel about their teacher’s suicide.

But his efforts are deemed politically incorrect, and he has to walk a tight-rope between his compassion for his students and keeping his job.

It turns out that he is also dealing with tragedy himself. His wife and two daughters were brutally killed in Algeria, where he lived before coming to Canada, and he is seeking political asylum.

He actually has no formal training as a teacher (In Algeria he was a restaurant owner, and his wife was a teacher), but relies on his own classical education and his knowledge of people to teach the students.

Eventually some over-zealous parents object to his efforts to help the children and discover he does not have the correct academic credentials.

A thoughtful movie about tragedy and trying to do the right thing. Raises some very good questions about our overload of rules and political correctness.

Nice try, but not successful. This is a conversion story about a rapper who is almost killed in a robbery gone wrong. The movie is too sugar-coated and moralistic for my tastes, but at least it is an attempt to deal with the rap culture in a Christian way. Better luck next time.

A cartoon movie about selfishness and second chances. A boy discovers a lost world outside his ultra-hygienic town. The lost world is a waste-land, but it was once beautiful. He meets the person who cut down all the trees and destroyed the beauty that was once there. Even though all seems lost, there might still be a chance to restore this world. Great movie about being sensitive to nature, but also a good movie about the wider issue of doing the right thing, not just the thing that makes us famous or rich.

This documentary addresses a huge issue in many young peoples’ lives. It is not a fun movie to watch, but it is worth seeing. The movie starts out showing the case of a young man who took his life because of bullying, and then follows several other young people who are suffering from bullying. In all the cases presented it is clear that teachers and administration are very ineffective at recognizing the seriousness of the bullying that the students are suffering. They sometimes almost blame the kids who are being bullied rather than taking strong and decisive measures to protect them.

As a person who has directed schools and also worked as chaplain in many schools, I know this is a huge problem. It destroys the lives of many young people who for one reason or another do not fit in or are just victims of other kids’ meanness. In many cases it is very hard for teachers and administrators to know what is going on, and harder still to fix the problem.

But being able to discover bullying and take it very seriously is the first step. The movie correctly advocates for a much greater vigilance in this area. Don’t just blow it off. Try to find out what is happening. Don’t just give up.

In some of the cases featured in “Bully” the worst bullying happens on the school bus or at recess. A simple solution for the bus problems is simply having an extra adult on the bus, even though this would be an added cost. Given the tendency of young people to bully, it is necessary that schools dedicate personnel to be with the students at times they are freely interacting (school bus, breaks between classes, lunch, etc.) . But it takes real talent on the part of an educator to figure out what is really going on. It takes great dedication and talent to be trusted enough by the students as someone who can intervene effectively. Most kids who are bullied give up on adults. The adults only make their problems worse because they are not around when the bullying really happens. The adults call the bullies in and question them, but are not there when the bullies get revenge. The bullies get back at their victims quickly once the adults are gone.

I have heard of some schools that have a zero tolerance policy for bullying. They have a required meeting with parents and inform them that if any of their sons or daughters is caught bullying he or she will be expelled. One strike and the young person is out. They also state that they will consider any comment such as “gay” or ” fag” as sexual harassment and that the student would be immediately expelled. In the case I studied, the school implemented this policy. It worked. The bullying stopped completely. Overnight. And definitively.

Maybe not all schools can implement this policy, but it does give pause to think. Parents and students need to know that this is totally unacceptable, and that the consequences will be extremely serious.

Of course, as Christians we wish that we could all learn to live charity, rather than be pressured into acting correctly. But there is something to be said about implementing very strong policies in this area. It does have an educational value.

St. John Bosco was priest from Italy who dedicated his life to youth during the time of the industrial revolution, when society was going through rapid changes and young people were sometimes falling into serious problems. He gave a bit of advise to the adults who helped him work with young people. His advice was, “Treat them (young people) like angels, but watch over them like devils.”

Each child has tremendous potential, but it takes real dedication to help all of them.

Each of us is given an inherent  dignity by God. But it is also true that we are affected by original sin. Original sin, manifested in selfishness and cruelty affects all of us. So, we all must try to do our best to help others who are victimized.

It takes real courage to stand up for someone who is being bullied, but often just one person can make all the difference in the world. Let’s all try to do whatever we can to stop bullying wherever we see it.  This movie is a step in the right direction.

Bible Blurbs

Then the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your brother?” He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” Then the Lord answered, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the soil!” (Genesis 4:9-10)

As you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me.” (Mt 25: 40)

Catechism Clips

1931  Respect for the human person proceeds by way of respect for the principle that “everyone should look upon his neighbor (without any exception) as ‘another self’…

1889  Charity is the greatest social commandment. It respects others and their rights. It requires the practice of justice, and it alone makes us capable of it.

1931  No legislation could by itself do away with the fears, prejudices, and attitude of pride and selfishness which obstruct the establishment of truly fraternal societies. Such behavior will cease only through the charity that finds in every man a “neighbor”, a brother.

1932  The duty of making oneself a neighbor to others and actively serving them becomes even more urgent when it involves th disadvantaged, in whatever area this may be. “As you did it to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me.” (Mt 25: 40)

1932 This same duty extends to those who think or act differently from us.

1935  Every form of social or cultural discrimination in fundamental personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God’s design.

I’ve enjoyed practically all the movies that were based on novels by Nicholas Sparks, but I didn’t know until yesterday that he is Catholic and that his faith is very important to him. I guess that explains in part why he is so fascinated by human love. Love is what makes the world go round. And Christ shows us by his life  that God is love. That includes love for other people.

Here’s the article I found yesterday on Catholic News Service:

Author Sparks puts Catholic values into practice both on, off the page

April 9, 2012

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Nicholas Sparks, the popular Catholic romance novelist, puts his faith into practice in several different ways. One way is through philanthropy. Sparks has not only volunteered as a track coach for New Bern High School near his home on the North Carolina coast -- as a college freshman he was part of the University of Notre Dame’s 800-meter relay team that set a school record -- but he also paid for a new track at the high school, and provided for tutoring for disadvantaged students. Sparks and his wife, Catherine, also co-founded a “multidenominational” Christian school in New Bern called the Epiphany School. Nicholas Sparks is chairman of the board of trustees for the school, which educates students from fifth through 12th grades. Sparks spoke in an April 4 telephone interview with Catholic News Service to promote “The Lucky One,” a new movie based on one of his novels that opens April 20. The story tells of a Marine veteran who sets out to find a woman pictured in a photograph he found in the rubble while serving in Iraq, believing her image and her “Keep safe” message on the back side of the photo helped him cheat death several times. “Our passion lies in two areas,” Sparks said of himself and his wife, both of whom grew up as children in military families. “One is education and one is veterans. There are so many wonderful programs for veterans, but where we want to make a difference is with prosthetic limbs. The Veterans Administration will provide them, but sometimes they don’t work, they’re not exact, they can’t go over a certain cost. … I don’t know, it just bothers me to think they’re wearing something that doesn’t work as well as it could.”

The movie version of the Hunger Games is about to hit the theaters. It will be a huge event. Let’s take a moment to look at this story and see if we can draw any lessons from it for our own lives.

Scary World

Katniss Everdeen lives in a very cruel world. She and her family live in abject poverty, as do all the people of her district and in most of the other 12 districts. In Katniss’ world, the post-apocalyptic world that is presented in the Hunger Games, only those who live in The Capitol have a care-free life. The Capitol mercilessly oppresses the rest of the country.

Part of this cruelty is the tradition of the Hunger Games. They are a punishment for a rebellion against the Capitol that happened years ago. In punishment for the uprising, each year two teenagers are chosen from each of the 12 districts to fight to the death. The games are broadcast on TV and everyone must watch.

Mind Games

Suzanne Collins, the author of the Hunger Games, said that her book was a result of her trying to wrestle with the reality of war and oppression in the world.

Part of the genesis for the book happened as she was flipping though channels on TV. She saw news broadcasts of war, and then she saw quick flashes of reality shows.

Another part of origins of the her book came from her memories of her father. Suzanne’s father fought in Vietnam, and his descriptions of that experience still haunt Suzanne.

How horrible it would be if there was a world where reality shows glorified the cruel deaths that happen in war? How could someone survive that?

Suzanne admits that this is not totally fiction. The gladiator games in ancient Rome were exactly this.

She also recognizes that part of her inspiration came from the Greek myths of Theseus and the Minotaur. Theseus is a hero who has to fight many enemies to the death in order to arrive at his destination of Athens. Then he has to save his people of Athens from a cruel Minotaur who kills seven chosen young people every seven years.

Love and sacrifice

Katniss is not chosen for the Hunger Games. She volunteers. She does it to save her younger sister, Prim, who is chosen. Katniss volunteers to go in her place. She cannot bear the thought of her younger sister dying so cruelly.

Katniss’ decision to take her sister’s place happens in a split second, and yet she doesn’t ever change her mind after that. Her love for her sister is stronger than her own fear of death.

Strength in the midst of cruelty

We all deeply admire Katniss’ love for her sister. There is something very deep in all of us that wants to protect those we love from terrible horrors. We naturally root for Katniss to survive, as she promises her sister.

Yet, Katniss has to wrestle with the fact that in order to survive she will have to kill other innocent people. She tries very hard not to focus on that fact. She does not want to kill anyone. She just wants to survive.

And survive she does, but not without going through many terrible experiences and constant danger. What helps her to survive?

Part of it is the resourcefulness and inner strength she has already built up by difficult circumstances she has already faced.

Katniss’s dad died when she was 11 and her mom became dysfunctional at his death. In order to save herself and her family Katniss would sneak outside the fences of her district and hunt for food for her family. The skills she learned in this process serve her well in the Hunger Games.

And her ability to find a solution when it seems there is none also helps her during the cruel games.

Another thing that helps Katniss is a person. A boy from her district, Peeta, is chosen with her. Peeta has a secret crush on Katniss, something that Katniss is not aware of until later in the process, and something that she does not truly believe. But as the Games progress Peeta constantly does all he can to help Katniss survive.

A small girl named Rue also befriends Katniss, and helps her in a key moment.

Love is paid with love

And Katniss tries to return the kindness of these people. She tries hard to save Rue, but does not arrive on time when Rue is attacked. She is heartbroken.

At the end of the Games Katniss manages to save Peeta, taking a risk that is likely to kill both of them.  At that moment she seems to forget her promise to her sister Prim. She feels that Peeta deserves to survive as much as she does. Her split-second risk for Peeta is just as impulsive as her decision to substitute for her sister Prim, but it is also based on love. Not a romantic love for Peeta (yet…) but a thankfulness for all the suffering he has endured for her sake.

Her risk pays off, and both Katniss and Peeta survive the Games: the first time that the Games have two winners, not just one.

Love and freedom

The Hunger Games are an epic story. A story of love. A story of danger. A story of a heroine who did not want to be a heroine, who just wants to live in peace with her family.

What virtues do we admire in Katniss? Well certainly love is the big one. She loves her sister deeply. She is also willing to risk her life to save others.

As well, we admire her strength. Not physical strength, but inner strength. She manages to find the small solutions along the way that build up to the big goal: survival.

Yet, Katniss does not just survive. She and Peeta also accomplish something, almost without meaning to. They show that even in the midst of cruelty and manipulation they are free. They choose to do good when they are forced to do evil.

Obviously, killing others in order to survive is not a good thing, but Katniss and Peeta draw no satisfaction from what they are forced to do. They only do it in self-defense or defense of someone else.

No one would want to be put in their situation, but you end up admiring the goodness that both of them exhibit throughout the ordeal.

The Hunger Games is a reminder of the inner freedom that each of us possess, even the midst of the most terrible circumstances. We can still choose to do our best, to defend others, to not let cruelty invade our hearts.

Christian spin

Our Christian  faith is a reminder of our inner freedom. We follow a God, Jesus Christ, who does not simply allow evil to happen. He chooses to suffer its consequences. Even though Jesus has to respect our freedom and allow us to make bad choices (sin, evil), our God, as Christians, is a God who gets involved in our world, the world of cruelty and injustice, in order to save us.

Jesus comes to world not to kill all the bad people, the oppressors, but to let himself be killed by us. He lets evil hurt him as much as it hurts us.

Jesus’ triumph, his resurrection, does not happen only because he is God. It also happens because he is love. Love that is tough enough to suffer evil and cruelty, and yet return love instead.

Many times we feel that we do not have that kind of strength. Many times we feel that evil is stronger than we are. Yet we believe in Jesus. We know that his triumph over evil is the beginning of our triumph as well. When we look at his love on the cross and when we look Jesus risen from the dead we have more strength to be heroic ourselves.

Katnis and Christ?

So is Katniss a Christ figure?

In a way, she is. So is Peeta.

But the story is cool in itself. So, let’s enjoy the movie. And maybe we can try to use this experience to strengthen our resolve to be persons of love, even when it seems hopeless.

Because love is stronger than death. (See: Song of Songs 8, 6)

Bible Blurbs

No  has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15: 13)

Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be as shrewd as serpents and as simple as doves. (Matthew 10: 16)

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me. (Psalm 138: 6-8)

So Pilate said to Jesus, ‘Do you not speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it had not been given to you from above. For this reason the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.’ (John 19: 10-11)

“The way we came to know love was that he laid down his life for us; so we ought to lay down our life for our brothers.” (1John 3: 16)

Catechism Clips

This dramatic situation of “the whole world which is in the power of the evil one” (John 5:19, 1 Peter 5:8) makes man’s life a battle… (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 409)

Finding himself in the midst of the battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 409)

Sins give rise to social situations and institutions that are contrary to the divine goodness. “Structures of sin” are the expression and effect of personal sins. They lead their victims to do evil in their turn. In an analogous sense, they constitute a “social sin.”  (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1869)

Without the help of grace, men would not know how “to discern the often narrow path between the cowardice which gives in to evil, and the violence which under the illusion of fighting evil only makes it worse.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1889)

Charity is the greatest social commandment. … Charity inspires a life of self-giving: “Whoever seeks to gain his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will preserve it.” (Luke 17:33) (Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1889)

Pope Quotes

“During the Nazi dictatorship and the war, we were, so to speak, “hemmed in” by the dominant power structure. So we wanted to break out into the open, to experience the whole range of human possibilities. I think that, to some extent, this urge to break out of the ordinary is present in every generation.” (Pope Benedict XVI, August 6, 2010)

“To suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly loves — these are fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself” (Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical on Christian Hope, no. 39)

“… because the Son of God wanted freely to embrace suffering and death, we are also capable of seeing God’s image in the face of those who suffer. This preferential love of the Lord for the suffering helps us to see others more clearly and to give them, above and beyond their material demands, the look of love which they need.” (Pope Benedict XVI, August 20, 2011)