The Unexamined Importance and Influence of History

Michael Crichton on the unexamined importance and influence of history:

We are all ruled by the past, although no one understands it.  No one recognizes the power of past. But if you think about it, the past has always been more important than the present. The present is like a coral island that sticks above the water, but is built upon millions of dead corals under the surface, that no one sees.

In the same way, our everyday world is built upon millions and millions of events and decisions that occurred in the past...

A teenager has breakfast, then goes the store to buy the latest CD of a new band.  The kid thinks he lives in a modern moment. But who has defined what a “band” is? Who defined a “store”. Who defined a “teenager”? Or “breakfast” To say nothing of all the rest, the kid’s entire social setting: family, school, clothing, transportation and government.

None of this has been decided in the present. Most of it was decided hundreds of years ago. Five hundred years, a thousand years. This kid is sitting atop a mountain that is the past.  And he never notices it.

He is ruled by what he never sees, never thinks about, doesn’t know. It is a form of coercion that is accepted without question.  This same kid is skeptical of other forms of control: parental restrictions, commercial messages, government laws. But the invisible rule of the past, which decides nearly everything in his life, goes unquestioned. 

-From Crichton's Timeline  

The Anthropology of the Dark Knight Trilogy

The shepherds interposing themselves between the wolves and the sheep.

G. K. Chesterton said that every great story has a beauty, a dragon which threatens the beauty, and a knight who protects the beauty and slays the dragon. The Dark Knight Trilogy consistently follows the same pattern: there is the City of Gotham, the villains who seek to destroy Gotham, and the heroes who protect Gotham by standing between her and the villains. The Christian story – the greatest story ever told – would put it this way: there are the sheep, the wolves who seek to devour the sheep, and shepherds who tend the sheep and strike the wolves. Great dramas compress time on a stage or in a film so we experience the lifetime consequences of characters' vices and virtues in a single sitting. The best dramas sharpen our intellects to perceive the moral landscape of reality while training our emotions to act virtuously in similar life predicaments. While drama prepares us for life, it is also true that persistent misconceptions in life can dull our perception of drama. A person who misidentifies the characters in a good play may be missing the significance of those parallel characters in the real drama of our common spiritual life.    

This seems sadly the case among some popular Catholic and Protestant commentators in their analysis of the Dark Knight Trilogy. Fr. Robert Barron (of Catholicism fame) likened Batman and the villains as “two sides of the same coin.” In his review of The Dark Knight Rises, Steven Greydanus of the National Catholic Register faulted the film for not having ordinary citizens protest “the oppressors” of Gotham. Greydanus asks: “Are ordinary Gothamites capable of heroism? Or are uniformed heroes (bearing bat symbols or police shields) with weapons on their belts our only hope?” Christian film critic Jeffrey Overstreet lamented the fact that the city can only be saved by “men with good hearts and big guns,” while theologian Jeff Keuss declared: “The world still thinks Judas was right.”

Their analysis is shaped by an anemic worldview in which wolves are not really wolves and the shepherd's staff is used for peaceful walking, rather than protecting. Their peculiar re-writing of Judas's character as a violent, nationalist Zealot is a child of modernist pacifism, not Biblical Christianity. The Judas of scripture was a money-hungry liar who is best represented by the corrupt police of Gotham, not the shepherds who cast him out. In response to this confusion we must be very clear: wolves exist; shepherds are not wolves; sheep are not shepherds; and wolves are not treated with non-violent compassion. Before the demon (Heath Ledger's satanic Joker) possessing Gotham's soul can be exorcized, before the men of Gotham can take back their streets, the corrupted police brotherhood must be reformed. Indeed, Batman should not be condemned for following the model set by Jesus, who taught his shepherds that Judas must be sent out before the unifying priestly prayer is said. The teaching of Christ is not socio-political, but anthropological: the bride of Christ can only be safeguarded by a masculine body in which her shepherds have expelled Judas from their communion.

The Dark Knight Trilogy follows a similar anthropology: Bruce Wayne becomes Batman in order to reform a corrupted police force and purify them of Judas’ presence (Batman Begins). In doing so, Batman learns that he must exorcize the demon in possession of Gotham’s soul – the film here perfectly depicts how demons scream most wildly in their last moments of possession (The Dark Knight). With Judas cast out and the demonic exorcized, Bruce Wayne can only find peace by teaching the shepherds how to fight “as one man” and establishing a safe place where young boys can grow into future shepherds (The Dark Knight Rises). Taken as a whole, The Dark Knight Trilogy is a depiction of Christopher Nolan’s robust anthropology of masculine protective duty. For Nolan, Batman, and Christ, a culture of life cannot exist without first establishing a culture of masculine protection.

The Dark Knight Rises is very clear about where the wolves originate: hell. Their attack comes not through Gotham’s front door but from below. We also learn that there are some forces which ordinary men cannot hope to defeat without the help of “superior air support” from above. Thus The Dark Knight Rises teaches us that the proper response to a direct assault by the powers of hell is not to form a protest movement urging power to the people. Salvation is to align ourselves under uniformed clerics and St. Michael the Archangel – that other winged crusader – to cast Satan and his demons back into the pit from which they came. This is the lesson which the overconfident and disordered shepherds of Gotham, though free of Judas, must learn. In the end, they will not be able to overcome the demonic without entering into the pit of death with their winged crusader and be raised up by him for battle. Israelite males were incorporated into the nation by shedding their blood eight days after birth. Eight years following Batman’s exorcism of the demonic, the male protectors of Gotham enter into a civic covenant through the communal shedding of their blood. Just as Israelite soldiers were expected to abstain from the marital bed the night before battle, the city's protectors must leave the tranquility of domestic life to enter the fight in the streets of Gotham.   

Next Sunday at Mass, let us give thanks to God for the uniformed men who lead us in that sacrifice; and at the prayer for our civic leaders, let us give thanks for those other uniformed men who protect the city and nation.

Red Tails

It's been nearly a decade since Mel Gibson's We Were Soldiers - which means it's been nearly a decade since a good war movie has hit the screens. But while we're waiting for Mel's next epic, a movie chronicling a pious Jewish man and his sons' war of independence from Hellenizing Greeks, Lucasfilm of Star Wars fame is bringing us an inspiring new film that looks to stand side-by-side with Glory.

The movie is called Red Tails.

Set during the Second World War, Red Tails tells the story of the Tuskeegee Airman, an all-black fighter wing which has been sent in to defend American bombers over the skies of Europe. While Red Tails is a story of men fighting for their nation, it is also an icon of masculine protective groups. For these pilots, victory is not tallied by the number downed enemy fighters but rather by the number of protected bombers and allied airmen.

Red Tails hits theaters on January 20th, but in the meantime you can watch a preview here:

Review: Fr. Barron’s Catholicism (Episode One)

As promised by the trailer (which I included in an earlier post), the show delivers breathtaking imagery from around the Catholic world while offering some down-to-earth language along with an overly-intellectual approach to Catholicism. As was suspected, there are plenty of times when one can feel free to hit the mute button and simply be amazed at the visuals alone. Some examples of this include seeing Fr. Baron praying in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the end sequence involving the election of Pope Benedict XVI.

If Catholicism suffers from anything, it is not so much from bad theology as from the fear of offending anyone. This is bad philosophy. We see this within the first two minutes of the first episode when the title appears: Amazed and Afraid: Jesus Both God and Human. Here we see the traditional description “God and Man” is changed to “God and Human” in order to reflect our politically correct, gender-neutral culture. Anything which may not sit well is skirted around. If, for example, society gets offended by the all-male priesthood, then Catholicism will just pass it by and move on to another more acceptable topic instead of addressing it head-on. Along these lines, the twelve Apostles are no longer described as twelve men but rather as twelve people.

With the exception of the Pope, the role of the Apostles – and thus their successors, the bishops – is also downplayed. Fr. Barron tells us that the very first mission of the Christ was to gather the twelve tribes of Israel. But he describes this gathering solely as Jesus’ policy to associate with sinners. Jesus is thus the model of tolerance and acceptance. No mention is given of the twelve Apostles, the image par excellence of the gathering of the twelve tribes of Israel. Also suspiciously absent is the Devil. When Christ comes as a warrior, Fr. Barron tells us it is to fight against human selfishness, hatred, and violence. Whatever happened to the promise of Genesis 3:15? Wasn’t the serpent’s head to be crushed?

As of episode one, Catholicism may leave some people – especially our grandparents – scratching their heads over some missing elements of the Catholic faith left out or strangely described by the very intellectual Fr. Barron. The episode does, however, deliver very sound Christology while presenting the viewer with a challenge: to accept Christ or not. The visuals are the strongest element to the show. In the end, the sacramental nature of the faith means some things just cannot be hidden or confused. Sometimes beauty makes truth more accessible than the most erudite theologian.

The Eagle

The Eagle tells the story of Marcus Flavius Aquila, a Roman army officer haunted by his father's catastrophic failure as a general in pagan Britain. Years before the young Aquila arrival as an aspiring commander of an outpost in the Roman-controlled southern Britain, his father led a doomed 9th Legion north into Scotland and was never heard from again. Young Aquila arrives in Britain hoping to regain his family's lost honor.

Secretly Aquila fears his father was a coward, fleeing from battle - and more importantly, his men - in his last moments.

Aquila soon finds himself on a quest in search of the 9th Legion's lost eagle standard. The standard is a symbol of Rome itself, bringing civilization with it wherever her armies march. For Aquila, it also becomes a symbol of his family's lost honor. But in addition to the Eagle, Aquila hopes to find out the truth about his father's bravery - cowardice.

As Christians we must recall our own story, for we are the descendants of a father chosen by God to be sent for battle against the Evil One, but who failed through an act of cowardice in battle. The Garden was indeed the beachhead for the invasion of Adam and his sons, reclaiming the world from dominion of Satan. Like Marcus Flavius Aquila, we should also be haunted by our father Adam. And that alone is reason enough for all men to look to Christ, the new Adam, and enter into his masculine body, the Church. In him man can return to battle and complete the original mission: to be fruitful and to take back dominion of this world from Satan.

Check Out Person of Interest

Mel Gibson is not the only person from the Passion of the Christ to be making a come back these days. This past Thursday Jim Caviezel - the actor who played Jesus in the movie - hit CBS in a new drama Person of Interest.

The show is well worth checking out.

Caviezel plays an ex-CIA agent named Reese, who was recruited by a wealthy businessman to fight violent crime in New York. Given a name and social security number from a secret government surveillance program, Reese doesn’t know if the person of interest is the victim or the perpetrator. With plenty of twists and turns, Person of Interest will keep you guessing, entertained, and pleasantly surprised.

Unlike most crime shows with “dark” good guys, Jim Caviezel’s Reese offers us a very haunted but upright and just man who will not hesitate to use physical violence to fight evil, protect others, and even evangelize the bad guys.

“I went around the world looking for bad guys,” Reese says, “but there were plenty of you right here all along.”


Be sure to check out Person of Interest this weekend while the first episode is available to watch at the CBS website.

Mel Gibson is Back

Love him or hate him, Mel Gibson is back and the news today is that he is moving forward with writer Joe Eszterhas to make a movie out of I and II Maccabees.

You can read the official story here.

In case you are unaware, these two books are not found in the Protestant canon of Scripture but they are the central texts from which the celebration of Hanukkah is derived. More specifically, I and II Maccabees tells the story of a devout Jewish father and his five sons leading a revolt against the Greeks in Israel. Their goal: drive out the pagans, retake Jerusalem, and rededicate the Temple to the one, true God.

Now say what you want about Mel's personal life, but hearing an epic story of a father and his obedient sons in combat against evil is exactly what we need right now.

Thank you Mel.

Catholicism on PBS?

While the Catholic Thing calls Fr. Robert Baron's new documentary, Catholicism, "a feast for eye and ear and soul," the video above is most moving when the Chicago priest stops talking and allows the images and music to tell us the real story of Catholicism. With that small caveat, feel free to watch the above extended trailer for the series. Catholics today need to see that the Apostolic mission to "go and make disciples of all nations" is being fulfilled. While it's not perfect, Catholicism may just be the best recent religious documentary to hit the airwaves in an increasingly anti-Catholic culture - and it may truly be the best if we casually hit the mute button and merely see Catholicism lived out across time and space.

Watch for Catholicism to hit PBS this fall.

Captain America: Hollywood's Unavoidable Patriotism

Is it possible for Hollywood to produce a patriotic movie? In the case of the new Captain America: The First Avenger, yes – but that doesn’t mean Hollywood didn’t do its best to avoid leaving moviegoers with an urge to raise the flag and salute. Not only was Captain America’s title shortened to The First Avenger in Russia, Ukraine, and South Korea, but its director and title-role actor both openly proclaimed Captain America to be anything but patriotic. Nevertheless the American male persona ordered by honor, duty, and patriotic love of country shines through. One critic gives noted how the movie includes themes such as: “self-sacrifice, selflessness, fidelity, manhood, bravery, and nobility.”

This doesn’t mean that movie gets it right on all counts. Captain America could have used a little more back story to show why he was so motivated by his patriotism. There is also a love interest who seems to be as much an out of place heroine as she is a 1940s-era dame in a red dress. In any case, Captain America plays a Christic character, motivated by a willingness to die for others while they, one by one, begin to have faith in him and his selfless courage. The movie hits a high note when Captain America confronts the villain who attempts to convince Captain America to join him as he seeks to conquer the world. “I have seen the future,” the villain declares, “there are no flags.” Captain America boldly proclaims: “Not in my future.” With these words, Captain America becomes the male image of the American protector of nations.

Not bad Hollywood.

Another critic drew on this sense of protection and connected it to the role of the United States in the world, and the natural sense of patriotism which it inspires:

Cap may not run around waving an American flag, but there’s no escaping the red, white and blue of his shield, a symbol crucial to Cap’s very identity, and essentially his sole weapon apart from his fists. Every time he uses that shield to ward off bullets or flame, every time he slams or slices an enemy with it, it’s an unmistakable reminder that he’s wielding American power in the service of Good against Evil.

Captain America might have its share of flaws, but it’s one summer movie worth checking out.

Freedom, Duty, and Fight Club

In the last five hundred years man traded living in a world with few political freedoms but much meaning for a world with many political freedoms but little meaning. For a lot of men, growing up in suburbia, going to college, getting a job, and getting married becomes unbearable when emptied of meaning and purpose. Such was the case with the men of Fight Club.

Sadly there are those who reject meaning in the name of freedom. Why? Because if life has meaning, if the world has order and purpose, and you have a role to play, then you have a duty imposed on you which limits your freedom. Furthermore, if a man is under God, under law, and under a mission, he cannot be what Nietzsche calls the overman, the man who kills God to become a god.

Freedom from meaning was not a freedom our Founding Fathers fought for – indeed that kind of freedom would never have brought the men of the nation together to win our independence. Freedom and purpose can be attained through faithful, filial fraternity as men. If we are not men under God, if we are merely a group of, as they say in Fight Club, “30 year old boys,” then we, our nation, and our families, are in a world of trouble.

As Tyler Durden said:

My dad never went to college, so it was real important that I go. So I graduate, I call him up long distance, I say "Dad, now what?" He says, "Get a job." Now I'm 25, make my yearly call again. I say Dad, "Now what?" He says, "I don't know, get married." We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.

Words of Wisdom

Sometimes the wisest words are spoken by fictional characters. In the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf offers the following words of wisdom to the civic and military leaders confronting the evil in their days.

"...it is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succor of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

Confronting evil is a chief duty of man. We cannot run away from evil, nor ought we to recklessly engage in battles from which little would be gained. Courage, as Aristotle said, is the mean between the two. The original duty of Adam was to "till and to keep" the Garden. Adam failed, but now that we have been reborn as the sons of God in the one Son, we must do our protective duty and leave for our sons "clean earth to till."

We must also not fall prey to what Nietzsche called the will to power, the desire to control our surroundings in order to prevent future evils. Machiavelli forwarded a similar principle when he taught that one should work to minimize fortune or chance while maximizing power or control over fortune. Francis Bacon furthered this philosophy when he saw his new scientific method as the tool through which nature could be conquered and controlled for the sake of power through technology. In our modern technological age, we must be conscious of our duty as men while remembering the gates to Eden are now blocked by the seraphim.

If we attempt to create a technological pseudo-Eden, a godless paradise on Earth, then we have succumbed to the Ring of Power which Gandalf, and the men of the Fellowship, worked so hard to destroy.