You’ll always remember this as the day …

[Disclaimer: here be spoilers]

Chases; escapes [murder by pirates] … true love … no not the Princess Bride, but the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. There is a lot of the Princess Bride about this film; it’s a fairly simple story, told vividly, with ‘characters’. You’ve got Jack Sparrow [wait: sorry Captain Jack Sparrow]. His mannerisms, his accent and his lines stay with you long after you finish watching the film. Ms Swann; Will Turner; and the Commodore (that has to be the worst pirate I have ever seen), and the sailors on the Black Pearl, and the crew Sparrow finds. Even as I write this review little bits of dialogue and sequences of action float through my head. That is to me the mark of a good film, a good film is memorable … the characters, the dialogue, stay in your mind.

The plot in brief: the film begins with a dream sequence, Ms Swann, dreams of how she came to be in possession of the medallion she is wearing. [on a voyage across the ocean, they rescue a boy after the Pearl had attacked his ship]. Fast forward back to the present, and Capt. Sparrow enters, tries to steal, sorry commandeer, a ship, to pillage and plunder on the high seas…We then are introduced to Will [as a grown man – a blacksmith by trade, so he can run through any pirates who cross his path], the Sailors of the Black Pearl [attracted by the medallion] …

Capt Sparrow and Will Turner unite to chase after Ms Swann, who offers herself that the pirates would leave.

The curse; was on the gold (of which the medallion is but one piece), and it means that the pirates will not die

But the greed of Cortez was insatiable. So the heathen gods placed upon the gold a terrible curse. Any mortal that removes but a piece from that stone chest shall be punished for eternity.

For too long I've been parched of thirst and unable to quench it. Too long I've been starving to death and haven't died. I feel nothing. Not the wind on my face nor the spray of the sea. Nor the warmth of a woman's flesh.

Geoffrey Rush is brilliant as Barbossa; and Johnny Depp was likewise excellent as Jack Sparrow...

Though it is not designed as a morality play or tale; [Perhaps that’s a trait I have, no longer reading words; but seeking to read meaning]; I kind of read it as a post-modern play, in that action is seen in the light of motivation, and therefore any action can be right. Piracy, may at times, be the right course of action.

There was also a novel twist in that though Will was in competition with the Commodore for Elizabeth; the commodore says... [In reference to the blade Will had made] – I’d expect the man who made it to be devoted in the other areas of his life too; which was a beaut ending. Even a happily ever after ending: Jack gets his ship; Will gets the girl; and the Commodore gets a Pirate to chase … well I suppose Captain Barbossa would be disinclined to acquiesce to my comment …

And remember if you should be so lucky to meet a pirate – the rules… are more like guidelines anyway … and also, another one of my morality quips; not all treasure is silver and gold. There is a thought here … what's our treasure ...

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UPDATE: On Gerrold’s blog there are now three pieces dealing with the nature of Evil - very interesting reading.

Phone-booth...

Isn't it funny - you hear a phone ringing and it could be anybody? But a ringing phone has to be answered, doesn't it? Phone Booth
Spoilers, and bad language below

Think about it, it is a simple premise; there is a man in a phone booth – if he leaves he dies. His lies catch up with him. [Interesting and understandable the film’s release was delayed due to the Washington Sniper last year]

I saw the preview for this film and was hooked. I watched it over the last weekend. It’s a pretty psychological film. Designed that you identify with Stu himself. That is, what's your "sin". The Guardian review made a beaut observation that the Phone booth became a confessional and potentially a coffin. The tension is kept up with the involvement of hookers who are trying to use the phone, and the cops who come after the hookers pimp is killed by the sniper [or as all others believe, Stu himself].

Stu Shepard, a publicist, goes to a phone booth to make a call. He makes the same call each day, he calls a budding actress to, and is trying to entice her into an affair. The Phone rings … he answers it ...

The caller is a self appointed judge, or moral avenger, killing a photographer who did not admit that he was a paedophile, a stockbroker, who took all of his money out just before the a crash. Stu’s crime is his lies; well no perhaps its more than that, his crime is that he is married, and committing adultery – ‘perfect violation’, adultery in his mind. A flaw of the film here is in comparison to the other executions Stu is relatively minor. And his confession [with vivid, real emotion] –

I have never done anything for anybody who couldn't do something for me. I string along an eager kid with promises I'll pay him money. I only keep him around because he looks up to me. Adam, if you're watching, don't be a publicist. You're too good for it. I lie in person and on the phone. I lie to my friends. I lie to newspapers and magazines who, who sell my lies to more and more people. I am just a part of a big cycle of lies, I should be fuckin' president. I wear all this Italian shit because underneath I still feel like the Bronx. I think I need these clothes and this watch. My Two thousand dollar watch is a fake and so am I. I've neglected the things I should have valued most. I valued this shit. I take off my wedding ring to call Pam. Kelly, that's Pam. Don't blame her. I never told her I was married. And if I did she, she would have told me to go home. Kelly, looking at you now, I'm ashamed of myself. Allright? I mean, work so hard on this image, on Stu Shepherd, the asshole who refers to himself in the third person that I only proved I should be alone. I have just been dressing up as something I'm not for so long, I'm so afraid no one will like what's underneath. But here I am, just flesh and blood and weakness, and uh and I love you so fucking much. And, um, I take off this ring because it only reminds me of how I've failed you, and I don't, don't want to give you up. I want to make things better, but it may not be my choice anymore. You deserve better.

As you can see, his crimes are not simply the affair, but his selfishness; the sort that is endemic in our society. And the confession is not for the caller; but for himself; letting his wife know of his crimes, and at the end his wife gives him the out; “we’ll only talk about what you want to”.

It’s a challenging film; saddening in the sense that it takes circumstances such as that for us to look at our actions. It was a good film; the language is quite intense at times, reflecting the situation, but was still hard for me. I also thought another strength of the film was its ending.. (but you'll have to watch it for that ...)

The Art of Communication...

My brother pointed me to this site... very insightful.. Well worth a visit and read. The series of entries are are entitled "Sleeping with Pigs IV - VI " [Great comments about reviews, reviewing, David Gerrold's writing and communication].

I was challenged by a large portion of what he said - seeing communication as not simply the transferring of information, but the sharing of experience in relationship; seeing acknowledging the message communicated, not as agreement, or committment to action, but simply - 'I heard what you said'. And I could go on..

Pay his site a visit. :)

Retrieval Ethics

My flatmate is doing a Christian Ethic course, and last night we talked a little about retrieval ethics: for example, given that we agree that divorce is wrong, a man who has divorced his wife, and remarried (either as a Christian, or non-Christian), but has in God's mercy been drawn back into relationship with God, how now do we relate?, How do we view the 'second marriage'? What role can they have in the church? Could He now be ordained? What about the teenage couple who give birth to a child? A teenager who has an abortion?

How do we pastor them now? To me its a case of loving the person, acknowledging perhaps that they each and every day live with the consequences of their sin. God shows mercy, we should do the same, gently restoring them with love; encouraging them to grow in Godliness, each and every day.. All the while acknowledge there but for the grace of God, go I.

Would you ordained them as ministers? It depends on the individual, from 1 Timothy, and Titus, we read that elders to a degree are to be blameless. But at the same time, leadership is also about responding to failures, being able to acknowledge your errors, and moving on, about growing not reaching, about progression not perfection.

Hmm, anyone else have thoughts here...

Article for the weekend...

Read an article today that covers a lot of material that I’ve been thinking about; and writing about for some time.The article to which I refer is James Murray’s Judas in the Making (The Australian May 8) James Murray begins by talking about the childhood of Hitler; Benito Mussolini and Rudolf Hess.

He moves on to discuss the children involved in fighting throughout the world; children who have not had the experience of childhood. My heart grieves as I think about the children who are taught to hate, before they learn to walk. As Murray puts it the education in hatred that so many children have experienced defines their future attitudes so disastrously.

Then Murray mentions the children in detention centres in Australia:

we play Judas to our own idea of fairness and go in for a sort of casuistry to defend the policy. The sad thing is that our politicians do not lack compassion but seem fearful of revealing it. Certainly some on the Coalition side personally deplore the detention of children behind razor wire, but party solidarity inhibits them. How do we quiet their consciences? And what burning fires of resentment may we be fuelling in the process?

As we look at the children of our world; the children we have locked up; we are caused to wonder; what sort of adults are we creating. As Murray concludes:

Give me a child until he is seven, and I will show you the man. But what sort of man?

UPDATE: The final report of Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission examining the policy of placing children in detention was tabled in parliament this week. The government's response was sadly predictable. Read the report for yourself here