Contact With Mystery
On Cormac McCarthy, Flannery O’Connor, and what 'The Revenant' misses on purpose, over at Christianity Today.
I wrote this piece on Cormac McCarthy, Flannery O’Connor, and what 'The Revenant' misses on purpose over at Christianity Today.
“Iñárritu doesn’t offer a deus ex machina solution to a problem his protagonist can’t solve. Rather, the climax is a form of grace that reveals a better resolution than Hugh determined to achieve. Usually the end of a story is about a giant choice that changes everything. Hugh makes a passive choice rather than an active one.”
Taken As We Are
I wrote this reflection on rejection, resurrection, and Vincent Van Gogh for Mockingbird.
I wrote this reflection on rejection, resurrection, and Vincent Van Gogh for Mockingbird.
“As I approached the first room of the exhibit, I wondered how they could make Van Gogh more “alive” than he already is. He is perhaps the most alive of any painter I know. The Olive Trees pulse at the edges of their frame every time I see them at the MoMA, New York City. But as I watched the exhibit’s narrative unfold – an arrangement currently on tour in Warsaw – I realized that it wasn’t only the art that was resurrected there. The experience seemed to exist as a reminder that we, too, could be resurrected. As I wandered between the projected light beams and the wall, the paintings were literally placed onto me, turning myself and other unsuspecting participants into image-bearers in a vaguely biblical sense.”
Writing the Wound: Wim Wenders Narrates Grace
I wrote about Wim Wenders over at Mockingbird.
I wrote about Wim Wenders over at Mockingbird.
“The Salt of the Earth follows Brazilian photographer Sebastião Salgado’s global pursuit of compelling images and stories. His photo projects take him from the gold mines of his native country to post-genocide refugee camps in Rwanda. Although Salgado narrates most of the film, Wenders’s vision for and attraction to the content shape our reception of the story. Salgado was entranced by the sense of dislocation in the people he photographed, and Wenders in turn reveals this dislocation to the viewer. Near the beginning of the film, Salgado says that photography is “writing and rewriting the world with light and shadows.” ”
A Major Risk: What Liberal Arts Students Can Learn From Birdman
I wrote about faith and Birdman (2014) for my college newspaper, The Empire State Tribune.
I wrote about faith and Birdman (2014) for my college newspaper, The Empire State Tribune.
“Faith is the evidence of things unseen. Studying (or practicing) the humanities requires faith. It requires faith not only in your art, but faith that any art could be worth doing. When is it more than a hobby? When is it worth four years of education and hefty tuition prices? ”