‘Distilled Spirits’: The untold story of how Alcoholics Anonymous became an all-American spiritual movement

April 7, 2013 by

Don Lattin is one of America’s most important chroniclers of untold stories that are shaping our religious culture. A veteran journalist based in San Francisco, his previous books have thrown open windows into one mysterious spiritual movement after another. Earlier, we highly recommended his book, The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America. That book told the strange story of how four of the most important spiritual voices of the late 20th century passed through a powerful and painful convergence at Harvard.

Don steps back a couple of decades in his new book: Distilled Spirits. In today’s wide-ranging interview with ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm, Don talks about how this new book finally reveals the connections between three major figures: Bill Wilson, Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard. The result of their creative collision, among other things, shaped one of the most important grassroots spiritual movements in American history: Alcoholics Anonymous.

THE DON LATTIN INTERVIEW:
ON ‘DISTILLED SPIRITS,’
BILL WILSON, ALDOUS HUXLEY and GERALD HEARD

DAVID: Let’s begin by explaining why your book is a “must read.” When I first saw your new book, I wondered: Why would general readers want to learn about these three fairly obscure guys? Now, having thoroughly enjoyed your book, the answer is obvious to me: You’re telling an untold story about Alcoholics Anonymous and the subsequent host of 12-step groups that touch millions of men and women every day. From its founding in the 1930s, AA really represents a huge change in American religious life, right?

DON: It’s one of the most important spiritual movements of the 20th century and I’m not alone in that assessment. Aldous Huxley called Alcoholics Anonymous founder Bill Wilson the greatest social architect of the 20th century. That’s high praise, indeed, coming from someone like Huxley! Wilson is important not just because he founded AA and helped millions of people that way. His work also is important because his ideas inspired what sociologists of religion call the small-group movement.

DAVID: A huge number of our ReadTheSpirit readers are involved in small groups. From 12-step groups to Sunday school circles to library book clubs, from men’s breakfasts to women’s groups there are millions of these circles.

DON: That’s right and scholars who study these movements tell us that what came out of the 1930s shaped today’s widespread interest in small groups—some of which meet in people’s homes, some of which meet in churches or synagogues, meditation groups, some affiliated with religion and some not. After all of the research for this new book, I have to agree: Bill Wilson was a genius.

DAVID: There is a long-running debate about whether AA and 12-step programs are “religious” or “spiritual” or “secular.” Your book is fascinating because you look at the interconnections between a huge host of people in the first third of the 20th century. We encounter World War I, Charlie Chaplin, Virginia Woolf, the strange histories of a number of famous drugs, Hindu immigrants and the Vedanta Society. This true story is one strange ride. I’ve been writing in this field for decades—and I discovered lots of things in this book that I never knew! For example, I’ve written about Bill Wilson over the years, but I never new that he read William James. In other words, he was studying one of the founding figures in trying to understand spiritual movements.

DON: Bill Wilson wasn’t just reading William James. He was reading William James the day after he had an important revelation at an asylum for alcoholics in New York. That’s where he had these visions and formative ideas about starting Alcoholics Anonymous. So, Bill Wilson was reading William James, we know, at the exact moment when he was more open to new ideas that at any other time in his life. A friend had given him a copy of James’s The Varieties of Religious Experience and Bill Wilson read it cover to cover. James is a very important influence on the development of Alcoholics Anonymous.

DAVID: The famous phrase—“Higher Power,” the god of your own understanding—is popularized through AA. It sounds so simple, yet it was a revolutionary idea. For two millennia, Christians liked to beat themselves bloody over fine distinctions about the nature of God. Here was permission to envision your own version of God.

DON: Yes, that’s one reason Wilson and Huxley and Heard are so important. They influenced each other and laid the foundation for this revolutionary idea of what today people like to describe as the spiritual-but-not-religious movement. Today in AA, the Higher Power is defined in many, many different ways. There are even people who take a secular view of this. GOD could be defined as Group Of Drunks, the community itself. But these early thinkers who influenced each other—Huxley, Heard and Wilson—they definitely had a serious interest in studying the mystical and divine.

ALDOUS HUXLEY: THE VAST SCOPE
OF HIS REAL ‘BRAVE NEW WORLD’

DAVID: So let’s turn to Huxley for a moment. If our readers know anything about him, they probably recall the guy who wrote Brave New World, which they were forced to read in high school. But Huxley was so much more! He came from a very famous family. He was a journalist, a poet, a screenwriter, a broadcaster. He was a pacifist and an early proponent of using drugs to alter consciousness. He was British but also lived in the U.S. and helped to bring Asian religious traditions, specifically Hinduism, to America.

So, my question to you is: What conclusion did you reach after all your research into Huxley’s life? Was he a serious scholar—or a restless amateur? Did he know what he was talking about?

DON: Really, we should think of Huxley as one of the last great polymaths. This was a long line of brilliant thinkers who were interested in everything. They studied science. They studied religion. They studied other disciplines. In the modern age of increasing specialization, it’s hard to appreciate that they were interested in studying everything. They were finding connections between different disciplines that, today, people aren’t as well equipped to find.

Huxley was part of the Lost Generation that was so deeply influenced by World War I. In Huxley’s early writings as a young novelist, he focused on satire and had no interest in religion or spirituality or philosophy. It really wasn’t until Huxley met Gerald Heard in 1929 that he developed this interest in religion and spiritual disciplines that would consume him later in life. One reason that Heard is so important to this story is that he got Huxley interested in these realms. In 1945, Huxley published The Perennial Philosophy, a book that was so important in helping people to look for common spiritual truths. In my book about Huston Smith and the Harvard connections—we see that it was Heard’s influence on Huxley that led to Huxley’s strong influence on Smith and later generations.

DAVID: That influence continues to this day. We recently featured a new interview with the very popular Catholic author Richard Rohr, whose writings reach back to The Perennial Philosophy.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS AND HIGHER POWER:
‘THESE PEOPLE ARE DESPERATE TO SAVE THEIR LIVES’

DAVID: Some religious people scoff at the idea of “spiritual but not religious”—and the notion that we can feel free to describe our own version of God, our own Higher Power. Yet, this idea is very serious stuff for millions of men and women, right?

DON: People who come into Alcoholics Anonymous don’t have a lot of time to worry about the fine points of theology. They don’t want doctrinal distinctions. These people are desperate to save their lives. They need something that works—and they need it now. Wilson called it “a faith that works.”

I called this book Distilled Spirits for a number of reasons—one is a reference to a letter from Carl Jung to Bill Wilson in which Jung pointed out that the Latin word for alcohol is spiritus. Jung wrote: “You use the same word for the highest religious experience as for the most depraving poison.”

DAVID: In your book, you call spirits “double-edged swords.”

DON: What’s so interesting to me is that a lot of people who hit bottom with addiction or alcoholism realize that this really is a spiritual thirst in their lives—trying to fill up an emptiness in themselves. Some people call it a “God-sized hole in the heart.” The spiritual aspect of this is very, very important, but you’re right—it’s not about doctrine or dogma. It’s really about your own powerful, personal spiritual experiences. And it doesn’t matter if you’re Christian or Jewish or Buddhist or part of no religious belief system at all.

HOLLYWOOD AS MELTING POT:
NO COINCIDENCE THAT FAITH & FILM OFTEN OVERLAP

DAVID: At ReadTheSpirit, these days, we regularly review important television debuts—and we’re now the publishing house of faith-and-film writer Edward McNulty. Your book makes it clear that Hollywood has been a spiritual melting pot since its origins. Your book includes brief appearances by Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo and others. Heard and Huxley were part of that melting pot, right?

DON: Yes. And, actually, I’ve thought of doing a book called Holy Hollywood about the whole history of spirituality in Hollywood. Lawrence Wright’s new book is called Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. He has a chapter in his book about this general theme of religious movements in the movie industry.

The main thing to realize is: These connections go back a very long way. From its earliest history, Hollywood attracted a lot of creative people with lots of money—people who were famous for challenging the prevailing notions of their day. A major Vedanta center was set up in Hollywood in the 1920s. We might think of this as a missionary movement within Hinduism and of course Huxley and Heard were very interested in exploring Vedanta. A lot of the spirituality we think of as “Sixties Spirituality” really dates back to the 1920s. Another way to say it is: The 1920s were a lot like the 1960s in many was.

DAVID: You’re mentioning the Asian connections that certainly were a big part of the inquiries Huxley and Heard were undertaking in California. But this movement also connects with America’s distinctive positive-thinking and self-help movements as well, right?

DON: Yes, there are a lot of similarities and cross overs. One place these lines all connect is William James. In a way, all of these movements we’re talking about are very American approaches to religion—very utilitarian. Give me a religion that works. That’s what I want as an American. Today, many people say: I want personal growth from my spirituality. It’s a very consumerist mentality and it connects with all the ways people market spirituality in America. In my earlier book, Following Our Bliss, I give a lot of examples of the ways that ‘60s notions of therapeutic, utilitarian and consumerist spirituality have come to define a lot of religion today. You see this influence in lots of churches today.

DON LATTIN: ‘DISTILLED SPIRITS’ AS A PERSONAL JOURNEY

DAVID: Finally, we should explain to readers of this interview that Distilled Spirits also is a personal story. Perhaps readers may have sensed, already, from the tone of your comments that you understand all of this from a first-hand perspective. Woven into the fascinating historical stories you give us here, you reveal that you were addicted to drugs and alcohol for many years. This book also is about your own journey into 12-step culture.

So, let me ask: I’ve known you as a colleague in journalism for many years. How did you come to this difficult decision of including yourself in the book? Traditional journalism avoids the word: “I.”

DON: This book actually didn’t start with me in the pages. The idea was really to write a prequel to The Harvard Psychedelic Club. These three guys who readers will meet in the pages of Distilled Spirits are the ones who created a situation that allowed Huston Smith, Timothy Leary, Ram Das and Andrew Weil, much later, to collide in the way they did at Harvard.

Because this new book is published by the University of California Press, there were early readers who provided their reactions. One of the scholars who read my proposal said: “This is interesting but why is Don Lattin interested in these particular people? Why do they matter to this day?”

Well, the answer is: I understand their importance because I’m one of the people helped by what they started so long ago. Of course, I do make it clear to readers: I didn’t know these three guys: Huxley, Heard and Wilson. I didn’t meet these guys. They were really my grandfather’s generation.

But the decision to weave my story into the book really allows readers to see clearly why their lives and ideas are still so important today. Many people’s lives depend on what they started.

ENJOY MORE OF DON LATTIN …

ReadTheSpirit recommends all of Don’s earlier books, which are both compelling to read—and reveal surprising corners of America’s spiritual heritage.

SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE MILLENNIUM: Don and co-author Richard Cimino look at emerging trends—from “mix-and-match” forms of religion to the rise of women’s voices in leadership in Shopping for Faith: American Religion in the New Millennium

THE DARK SIDE: American religious history is full of tragedies, as well as triumphs. Don tells the story of a tragic offshoot from mainline religion in Jesus Freaks: A True Story of Murder and Madness on the Evangelical Edge

PRODUCTIVE COLLISION OF FOUR LIVES: In today’s interview, above, we already have recommended The Harvard Psychedelic Club: How Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, Huston Smith, and Andrew Weil Killed the Fifties and Ushered in a New Age for America

THE POWER OF THAT ‘SIXTIES’ VIBE: From Esalen through New Age to Dharma Kids, Don traces the ties that still bind us in the quest we like to call Following Our Bliss: How the Spiritual Ideals of the Sixties Shape Our Lives Today

DON LATTIN ONLINE …

Don’s Internet hub is his professional website: http://www.DonLattin.com But, you’ll mainly want to seek out his newest online project—a blog for Spirituality & Health that he simply calls Spiritual Search.

(This interview originally was published at https://readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion, values and cross-cultural diversity.)

PBS Independent Lens shows us ‘The House I Live In,’ an indictment of America’s ‘war on drugs’

April 4, 2013 by

REVIEW By ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm

How to tune in “The House I Live In”: The national debut of this new documentary by Eugene Jarecki (who earlier gave us the provocative Why We Fight) is Monday April 8, 2013. Dates and times vary on PBS stations. PBS’s Independent Lens website provides film clips and links to search for TV listings in your area.)

Our review …

PBS brings us an eye-popping look at our nation’s disastrous War on Drugs in a nearly two-hour documentary called, The House I Live In. You may ask: Given that drug crimes are everywhere we look in movies and TV series, these days, why watch even more television about the problem? The answer: Because a growing number of religious leaders and human rights activists are questioning the U.S. policy on throwing huge numbers of people into prison for nonviolent drug offenses—especially when a disproportionate number of those people are African-American.

The House I Live In is a superb choice for discussion groups and for anyone concerned about these issues. The documentary is packed with interviews at all levels of American law enforcement: We meet convicted felons; we meet cops and judges who lock them away; we meet officials in Washington D.C; we meet parents and children affected by this system.

Together, these stories underline the startling facts that filmmaker Eugene Jarecki wants to hammer home. We know that these are his core messages because he occasionally pauses the movie to print these findings on the screen, including:

  • Since 1971, the War on Drugs has cost over $1 trillion and resulted in more than 45 million arrests. During that time, illegal drug use has remained unchanged.
  • With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the United States holds 25 percent of its prisoners. Over 500,000 are incarcerated for nonviolent drug crimes.
  • Today, 2.7 million children in America have a parent behind bars. These children are more likely to be incarcerated during their lifetime than other children.

At several points in the documentary, we hear from David Simon, the journalist who now is famous for writing the award-winning TV series about the war on drugs, The Wire. He tells viewers, in part: We are the jailing-est country on the planet! Beyond Saudi Arabia, China and Russia! Nobody jails their population at the rate that we do—and yet drugs are purer than every before, they are more available, there are younger and younger kids who are willing to sell them. It would be one thing if it were draconian and it worked; but it’s draconian and it doesn’t work.

So, contact friends, invite your small group, or simply view this film to open your own thinking on these issues!

Originally posted at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Bestiare: Spiritual meditation in a gaze between species

March 12, 2013 by

CLICK THE COVER to visit the DVD’s Amazon page.WATCHING ANIMALS
WATCHING US
WATCHING ANIMALS.

That six-word sentence captures Bestiaire, this unique wordless documentary by Canadian filmmaker Denis Côté that has garnered rave reviews from critics. The Hollywood Reporter calls this film “compelling contemplation of the subjective gaze, applied to both humans and animals.”

The New York Times has recommended the film more than once. The Times’ Dennis Lim described the movie this way: “Named for the medieval bestiary, an illustrated compendium of animal fables, it is itself a kind of picture book come to life, not to mention a work of unexpected poetry and philosophical richness.”

The Times’ Manohla Dargis strongly recommended the film, which she described as: “Beautifully shot in digital, with steady framing and long shots that never overstay their welcome, it instead offers up image after image of animals—animals eating, grazing, walking, standing, staring and, at times, panicking.” She concluded that this film is “essential viewing.”

No, don’t worry. This is not a shocking animal-rights propaganda piece in which we confront shocking images before it’s finished. And, no, this was not photographed in a multi-million-dollar exploration of the entie planet—the stuff of those eye-popping high-definition nature documentaries from the BBC and other networks. Denis Côté shot some of his material in an art class as people sketched animals. He shot a bit of taxidermy. Mostly, he shot footage in a wildlife park—a small zoo—in Canada.

Now, if that description makes you suddenly turn away from this, dismissing it as an arty documentary made on the cheap … well, you haven’t quietly watched the 72 minutes of Bestiare.

As we view, we are watching animals watching us watching animals. That’s the spiritual treasure of this film—yes, spiritual treasure. Watch it with a group of friends, then sit back for a moment in silence before you talk about it. You’ve never watched anything quite like this.

Nor have these animals watched—you.

This film recently was released by the KimStim Collection of Zeitgeist films on DVD.

MOVIE REVIEW BY ReadTheSpirit EDITOR DAVID CRUMM

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Everybody’s buzzing ’bout The Bible (As Seen on TV)

March 1, 2013 by

THE BIBLE—As Seen on TV. Those six words capture what faith-and-film writer Edward McNulty describes as a “spectacular new series”—great for individual viewing and small-group discussion—if we watch with a bit of skepticism.

UPDATE FOR MONDAY APRIL 1, 2013: Don’t miss McNulty’s fourth column on The Bible series—just in time to catch the fourth part of the series on the Lifetime network tonight. Today, McNulty writes: “I can say that this series has really hit its stride.”

The Final Week: The New Testament portions are “far superior” to earlier episodes.

For Week 4: Highlights of the TV epic now focusing on the life of Jesus.
For Week 3: Here is McNulty’s analysis of Week 3 in the History Channel epic.
For Week 2: Here is McNulty’s analysis of Week 2 in the series.
For Part 1: Continue reading—this article (below) is McNulty’s series overview and look at Part 1.

McNulty and ReadTheSpirit are not alone in reporting on this phenomenon. The Bible is truly—”show biz.” Executive Producer Mark Burnett is the man behind Survivor, The Voice and Celebrity Apprentice. Best-selling pastor Rick Warren is publicly promoting the series. The New York Times’ Neil Genzlinger, like McNulty, gives the series a mixed review. More important than Genzlinger’s text was the buzz behind it: The Times splashed full-color coverage across the front page of its Arts section.

Here is Edward McNulty’s original overview and invitation to our readers …

‘The Bible’ As Seen on TV:
Spectacle, Skepticism and
A Great Opportunity for Congregations

By Edward McNulty

PHOTOS FROM ‘THE BIBLE’: Top shows Jesus walking on water from an unusual perspective. Here is Moses during the Exodus period of the story. Below is Samson and his mother. Photos by Joe Alblas, released for public use with the series.AN AMBITIOUS and spectacular new series, The Bible, begins on the History Channel this Sunday, March 3. The 10-hour series covers highlights of the Old and New Testaments, beginning with stories from Genesis (Abraham is prominent here), the saga of King David, the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the beginning of the work of the apostle Paul’s ministry.

My review today is based on seeing portions, but not all, of the series. My advice to viewers is this: There is much to admire—but you will want to take some parts of this drama with a grain of salt.

Today, I invite you to bookmark this article and come back periodically to add your comments. I’d like to know what you think and I’m sure many other readers will welcome your thoughts. I will update my own thoughts and questions as we go through the series. This is a great time to invite friends to view with you.

WHERE AND WHEN TO SEE THE BIBLE:
SUNDAYS on HISTORY: Each episode debuts in prime time on Sunday nights, but “History” repeats itself, so this series is easy to watch or record.
MONDAYS on LIFETIME: Both the History Channel and Lifetime are owned by A&E Networks—so each episode also will air Monday nights in prime time on Lifetime.
DVD SET: The Bible series has not yet been released on DVD, but is available for pre-order.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BIBLE SERIES TO WATCH FOR:

SACRIFICE OF ABRAHAM: This sequence is very well done and brings out the drama of the father’s agony over carrying out what he perceives to be the will of God—as well as the boy’s puzzlement and fear over what his father is doing. Added to this is the cutaway to mother Sarah, becoming aware of her husband’s intention and rushing frantically up the mountain to stop the terrible proceedings. Viewers are likely to gain a deeper appreciation of the humanity of the biblical characters.

This portion of the series is a great discussion-starter with friends: What do you think about this epic story that is a sacred junction point in Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions? What does your particular tradition say about Abraham? (Versions of this story can be quite different, even within a single faith.) Today, tell us what you think in a comment, below.

THE SAGA OF MOSES: The other major story in the first week’s two-hour presentation is that of Moses. I appreciate the special effects in this sequence, although some viewers may wonder why the voice from the bush doesn’t tell Moses to take off his shoes. That’s what I mean about skepticism. This is a made-for-TV version of the Bible, not the Bible itself. I also like the flashback sequences we see from Egypt, where the young Moses kills a man.

Like Abraham, Moses is a patriarch spanning all three Abrahamic faiths. If you have a chance to discuss this series with a diverse circle of friends, Moses is another good choice for starting the conversation. You may be surprised by the perspectives you will hear on this figure you thought you knew so well.

WEEK 2—SAMSON and DAVID & GOLIATH: Adventure lovers will appreciate the stories of Samson and David and Goliath. Especially intriguing is the choice of black actors in portraying Sampson and his mother. Once again, remember my advice: Enjoy the series but take some details with a grain of salt. For example, on his way to meet the huge Philistine champion, David recites Psalm 23. Not historically accurate—but certainly a nice dramatic touch.

WEEKS 3, 4 and 5—LIFE OF JESUS: This History Channel series lines up nicely with the current Western and the later Eastern Lenten seasons this year. The stories of Jesus coincide with the conclusion of Western Lent. Eastern Christians will have just started their Great Lent. So, from East to West, this series becomes a welcome opportunity for congregations.

While some characters, such as Samson, are cast in innovative ways for this production—the actor playing Jesus is the usual Euro-American actor. Obviously, Jesus was Jewish and of Middle Eastern descent. The actor playing Jesus this time is Diogo Morgado, born in Portugal and currently a very popular TV star across Spain, Portugal and Brazil. Nevertheless, Morgado gives us a dramatically satisfying portrayal of a strong leader. One interesting touch in the Jesus episodes is the inclusion of Mary Magdalene with Jesus’s followers in the boat during the walking-on-water scene. That is historically justifiable, since women were a close part of Jesus’s inner circle, and it may please many TV viewers to see her in such a prominent role.

WANT MORE STUDY AND DISCUSSION RESOURCES?

The series website is packed with helpful features. Look for the Questions to Reflect Upon and other materials. Clearly, producers Mark Burnett and his wife Roma Downey are hoping millions of us will discuss these stories. It is good to see the History Channel getting back to its original purpose—the entertaining presentation of history.

Where to find more from Edward McNulty …

Raising spiritual questions in Oscar Best Picture nominees

February 21, 2013 by

By EDWARD MCNULTY

For years, the Rev. Edward McNulty has been creating study guides to popular movies. Congregations nationwide use his faith-and-film materials. Learn more about Ed’s work at the end of this column. Here’s Ed …

EARLIER, I posted my own list of the 10 Best Spiritual Movies from 2012. Of course, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences reaches far beyond spiritual themes—but this year, the Academy did a pretty good job of nominating very thoughtful films. That gives us, as people of faith, great opportunities to delve into these films for lively small-group discussion. The following items are not complete study guides, but I am sharing some quick tips here, including a suggested biblical passage—and a few questions to get your discussion started. 

AMOUR

Ecclesiastes 11:8; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, this film starts where most love stories end—the lovers have grown old together. They are in their mid-eighties and then one suffers a stroke that turns the other into caregiver.
QUESTIONS: How many films can you think of that deal with old people in love? Some films to compare: The Last Station; Iris; Away From Her; On Golden Pond. What do these films get right about these issues? In Amour, what significance do you see in the pigeon scenes? In the long sequence of the six paintings? What do you think of the ending? Is this evidence of love? Do you see any sign of hope in the film?

ARGO

Psalm 7:1-5.
This delightful escape yarn in which Hollywood helps the State Department and the CIA rescue six hostages from Iran during the 1979 seizure of the American Embassy in Iran would seem too far fetched if it were not based on history. The film celebrates courage, first that of CIA agent Tony Mendez and Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor, and then that of the doubtful and fearful hostages.
QUESTIONS: Compare this real-life story to fairy-tale thrillers such as the Bourne or Mission Impossible movies. What’s missing in Argo? What new insights do we get? Discuss the international issues involved. How has history colored our conflict with Iran to this day?

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD

Psalm 69:1-2
I included this film set in a remote Louisiana bayou in my list of Best Spiritual Films. First-time director Benh Zeitlin created the remarkable pint-sized heroine known as Hushpuppy. Drawing on the genre of magical realism, Hushpuppy confronts everything from a major hurricane to the release of mythic beasts through global warming.
QUESTIONS: Compare this film with other films that spin stories of magical realism, such as Moonrise Kingdom or Pan’s Labyrinth. Those films also focus on young main characters. How does Zeitlin’s Hushpuppy take this genre in a new direction? Also, talk about the culture clash between the community in this bayou and government officials who interact with them.  What do you think of the symbolism of the giant beasts in this story?

DJANGO UNCHAINED

Psalm 10:7
Director Quentin Tarantino’s over-the-top story is full of his usual blood and gore, but also leaves viewers thinking about the greater violence that was slavery. Many viewers clearly enjoy the movie; many others want nothing to do with the film.
QUESTIONS: Which bothered you more: the blood and gore or the use of the N-word? Do you accept the myth of redemptive violence or reject it? Do you see other global myths reflected in this film? Is this a valuable commentary on the institution of slavery and racial injustice—or are those important issues lost in the Tarantino’s style of movie making?

LES MISERABLES

Genesis 33:9-10; 1 John 2:7-10.
This classic tale of two ways of living—by strict law or by love and grace—focuses on ex-convict Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert. The songs open up feelings of the characters better than the straight dramatic versions, helping us experience their inner turmoil.
QUESTIONS: See my full study guide to this film.

LIFE OF PI

Acts 27:27-37
I also featured this film in my Best Spiritual Films list. One of the most explicitly religious films in this list, The Life of Pi also is a tale of survival at sea. Director Ang Lee deserves praise for his memorable adaptation of what to some seemed to be an unfilmable novel.
QUESTIONS: Discuss the references to dangers at sea that run through the Bible, including this famous story in Acts 27. Why does the sea evoke such deep spiritual reflection? What do you think of Pi’s approach to religious traditions? What do you make of the strange episode on the island? Fans of the story have come up with lots of interpretations of that island.

LINCOLN 

Romans 8:28.
Steven Spielberg again delves into American history, this time two decades after the incidents he chronicled in Amistad, his film about Africans who stage an uprising on a slave ship. The sheer artistry of Daniel Day-Lewis’s and Sally Field’s performances as the anguished Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln make this a must-see movie. The storyline could serve as a midrash on Jesus’s admonition that his disciples be “as harmless as doves and wise as serpents.”
QUESTIONS: Read my entire review of Lincoln. And, you will also enjoy my story about the religious life of our 16th President.

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK

Philippians 2:3-4.
This tale of a half-crazy family, and of two damaged souls in particular, is funny and poignant. Pat Solatano, just released from a mental institution, and the disturbed Tiffany each seek help from the other, eventually discovering that they have enough in common to overcome their initial hostility.
QUESTIONS: What do you think of the way that bipolar disorder is dealt with in the story? Do you know someone like these characters? What do you think about the father—could he stand some therapy too? Discuss the scene in which Tiffany says, “I opened up to you, and you judged me.”

ZERO DARK THIRTY

Isaiah 59:14, Luke 17:2-5.
Kathryn Bigelow’s film raises hotly debated questions about torture & its effectiveness during the CIA’s decade-long search for Osama bin Laden. From a very different perspective, the film succeeds well as a feminist tale of a strong woman making her way in a culture of male domination.
QUESTIONS: Many Americans already are debating the morality of steps taken in the pursuit of Osama bin Laden. Also, what do you think of the masculine culture at the CIA and the way that Maya responds to it? There is a lot for church groups to discuss in this controversial story.

Where to find more from Edward McNulty …

‘China Heavyweight’ shows us rural lives driven by hope

February 9, 2013 by

‘CHINA HEAVYWEIGHT’ Qi Moxiang trains in Huili County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. Photo by Sun Shaoguang, courtesy of Zeitgeist Films.THE WEALTH GAP is emerging as one of the biggest political, cultural and moral issues of our era. Not only is America’s wealth gap widening until upward mobility seems impossible for millions of poor Americans—but the global wealth gap threatens to keep world peace a distant hope. That’s the larger drama that keeps us watching China Heavyweight, the latest feature-length documentary from director Yung Chang and Zeitgeist films.

CLICK THE DVD COVER to visit the film’s Amazon page.Dirt-poor, rural Chinese kids are given opportunities at middle-school age to take a shot at wealth and success by competing in boxing camps. In 1959, Mao Tse Tung banned Western boxing for many years—as “too American and too violent,” as we learn in the opening minutes of this new documentary. But boxing is back now in the new China! As you watch this film, you will spot dozens of American icons from framed photos of Muhammad Ali to the Nike Swoosh surrounding these communities. That rising public interest in China frees educators, trainers and sports promoters to lure children toward the growing sport.

That description may make this movie sound like a simple tale of Good vs. Evil, of Western temptation threatening the health and wellbeing of China’s next generation. But filmmaker Yung Chang is a far better documentarian than that. Think of Hoop Dreams, the 1994 American documentary about poor, urban kids trying to make it in professional basketball. That documentary was showered with awards and has been listed, now, in the prestigious National Film Registry as an important depiction of American life.

Think of China Heavyweight as a kind of Asian Ring Dreams—as we watch stoic-looking young people pull on padded sparring helmets and thick gloves to train for their longshot of an Olympic berth. If you dislike sports films and perhaps hate boxing films, you should know that there is, indeed, some real boxing shown on screen. But much of this feature film takes us to the home communities and informal circles of friends and family that surround these boxers.

We are not alone in highly recommending this film for anyone interested in understanding global culture today. Variety magazine calls the movie “an intimate and affecting account of two aspiring boxers from the sticks training under the same hard-working coach. As he did in his Three Gorges Dam documentary Up the Yangtze, Chang examines how a particular strain of Western culture promises opportunity and prosperity for Chinese youth, even as it remains a continual source of intergenerational tension.”

In Film Comment magazine, Meredith Slifkin writes: “China Heavyweight isn’t just a story about boxing or about three individuals and their personal relationships to the sport. It’s about the significance of a traditionally Western sport’s emergence in a changing Eastern culture, the philosophy of chasing a dream—and the way that the trajectory of this trio comes to represent the cultural shifts of a disappearing rural China.”

If you like this film, you will also want to know about a related documentary about the huge annual migration across China for the New Year’s holidays, called Last Train Home, which also shows us the tensions in China between life in the nation’s industrial centers and fragile survival in rural homes.

REVIEW BY READTHESPIRIT EDITOR DAVID CRUMM

Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Beyond Oscars: Top 10 Best Spiritual Movies of 2012

February 9, 2013 by

FILM FANS in 100 nations will tune in The 2013 Oscars on February 24. Movies are a global language that speaks to the head, the heart—and the spirit. TODAY, faith-and-film author Edward McNulty shares his own list of Best Pictures—focusing on films with spiritual themes. The official Oscar competition has only 9 Best Picture nominees from 2012: Armour, Argo, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Misérables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty. McNulty picks only 5 of those for his list—then, he adds 5 more films for his Top 10 Best Spiritual Movies of 2012. You’ll enjoy the list—and these films also can spark spirited discussion in your small group.

And, “Best Spiritual Picture” goes to …
Top 10 Must-See 2012 Movies

By EDWARD McNULTY

As a columnist on faith and film, I reviewed more than 120 films in preparing this list of Best Spiritual Movies. By describing these 10 as “spiritual,” I don’t mean that they are “religious”—although several of them feature characters who believe in God and regularly worship. I mean “spiritual” in a broader sense—affirming that life is more than what we can see with our eyes, that life is often difficult and dark, but that it is possible to find the resources to overcome that darkness. Think about the Gospel song in the 2006 film The Pursuit of Happyness sung by the choir at Glide Memorial Church where a homeless father (played by Will Smith) and his son find food, shelter and spiritual strength.
Lord don’t move the mountain,
But give me strength to climb it!

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Les Misérables

DIRECTOR: Tom Hooper. RATING: PG-13.
Of the six versions of Victor Hugo’s masterpiece that I have seen, Tom Hooper’s film is now my favorite. I was disappointed that his film cut short the pivotal sequence in which the Bishop redeems the soul of the newly released convict Jean Valjean. But, overall, I was very impressed! What appeals most to me in this version is the way the music moves from the kind of auxiliary role that we expect from the soundtrack in typical dramas—to become a central vehicle for revealing the inner thoughts and feelings of the characters. This is the film counterpart to the interior monologue that novelists use so effectively, but that is difficult to transfer to the big screen. Now, in song, we can hear the turmoil in Jean Valjean’s mind and heart as he ponders the incredible grace bestowed upon him by the kindly Bishop. And in Javert we see the foundation of his whole life crumbling as he puzzles over Valjean’s very un-criminal act in sparing his life at the barricades. Finally, I love the inclusion of the novelist’s line at the end that gets to the heart of the Gospel: “To love another person is to see the face of God.” (Read my entire review of Les Misérables, which includes a free study guide for your small group.)

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Lincoln

DIRECTOR: Steven Spielberg. RATING: PG-13.
Steven Spielberg again delves into American history, this time two decades after the incidents he chronicled in Amistad, his film based on the trial of Africans who stage an uprising on a slave ship. The sheer artistry of Daniel Day-Lewis’s and Sally Field’s performances as the anguished Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln are enough to place this film high on my list. The film could serve as a midrash on Jesus’s admonition that his disciples be “as harmless as doves and wise as serpents.” In this film, Lincoln is taken down from his high pedestal and is immersed in the political muck of arm-twisting and deal-making required to get Congress to pass a bill as controversial as the amendment to free slaves. The film honestly shows us how Lincoln shared the prejudices of his era in spite of personally hating slavery. We see how he develops along a courageous moral pathway until he becomes committed to leaving a legacy of everlasting freedom for those in bondage. (Read my entire review of Lincoln. And, you will also enjoy my story about the religious life of our 16th President.)

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Life of Pi

DIRECTOR: Ang Lee. RATING: PG.
A spiritual odyssey as well as a tale of survival at sea, The Life of Pi is one of the most religious films on this list. In fact, Jan Martel’s original best-selling novel has been a favorite selection of discussion groups—including religious discussion groups—since it first was published in 2001. President Obama made headlines in 2010 by sending a letter to Martel, praising his novel as: “an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling.” Ang Lee’s film is a triumph, considering that most fans of the novel declared that it never could be put on the big screen. At first, the story seems so simple. I still remember Walt Kelly’s famous statement by Pogo, “When you starve with a tiger, the tiger starves last.” In this case, the teen-ager Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel tries to stay afloat and alive with a large Bengal tiger sharing his lifeboat. Pi is a devotee of three faiths—Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam—and he will need to draw on all of them to keep body and soul together during the 227 days afloat in the ocean. The spectacular beauty of the sea and sky make this a joy to watch, and the spiritual themes of God and hope make this a “must” for this list.

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Now available on DVD and Blu-ray. Click the cover to visit the film’s Amazon page.DIRECTOR: Stephen Chbosky. RATING: PG.
“The outsider” is a theme in many of the films on this list—a despised ex-convict in Les Misérables; a castaway trying to straddle three faiths in Life of Pi; a young boy and girl who “don’t fit” with peers in Moonrise Kingdom; a little girl and her dying father in Beasts of the Southern Wild; a boy unwanted by his own father in Kid With a Bike; and a college student alienated from his church and his father in Blue Like Jazz. Even Abraham Lincoln was an outsider. And so in Stephen Chbosky’s delightful film we meet Charlie, Patrick, and Sam, three young outsiders bonding and surviving—no, triumphing over the difficulties of their teen years. Unfortunately it was shut out of this year’s Academy Award nominations. I loved the film for its Zorba the Greek-like moments. In one scene, a character stands up in the bed of a pick-up truck and raises arms out as if flying because of the joy of the moment. The three friends are speeding through a tunnel at the end of which the skyline of Pittsburgh is revealed. The film shows in numerous scenes what the church, when it lives up to its calling, means by a life of grace.

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Moonrise Kingdom

Available in DVD and Blu-ray. Click the cover to visit the film’s Amazon page.DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson. RATING: PG-13.
Director Wes Anderson and co-writer Roman Coppola’s venture into magic realism is a delightful take on the outsider genre. This time, the outsiders are a quirky boy and girl, both bright and talented—and both awkwardly at odds with their peers. This story of their first love transpires on an island where young Sam is dumped into a scouting program and is smitten when he spots Suzy in a local church play. Without spoiling the film’s plot twists, it is safe to say: Suzy agrees to run away with Sam toward an Eden-like area of the island. Suspense builds as a hurricane looms and the young people wind up in the high tower of a church. But grace (or God) intervenes, and in the traditional comedic sense “all’s well that ends well.” We might see the writing team rise to the platform at the Oscars, since they were nominated in the Best Original Screenplay category. Anderson was nominated for two earlier Oscars, but has not won to date. As usual, Anderson has attracted a wonderful cast, including Bill Murray, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Francis McDormand and Tilda Swinton.

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Beasts of the Southern Wild

Now available in DVD and Blu-ray. Click the cover to visit the film’s Amazon page.DIRECTOR: Harold “Benh” Zeitlin. RATING: PG-13.
I was at times puzzled by what was going on in this first-time director’s film—but I never once glanced at my watch. Another film in the magic realism genre, this combines concern for the environment with a study of folk in the bottom strata of society, a group of adults who live in a bayou they call “The Bathtub,” cut off from the rest of the world by a levee. The story is told by 6-year-old Hushpuppy and involves both the reality of a hurricane and the onslaught of mythical creatures called Aurochs, set free from their frozen bondage in the Arctic by the melting polar icecap. Her dying father Wink is trying to prepare her for his coming demise when she will be left a total orphan. The film celebrates the proud spirit of these two and their rag-tag neighbors, as well as the real love of the father for his daughter. The surrealistic ending when Hushpuppy confronts the stampeding beasts and shares a last supper with her father stirs something deep and primal within the viewer. Perhaps most fascinating about this production is young Benh Zeitlin’s background. This was his first feature film; he is the son of the co-founders of New York’s famous City Lore, a center devoted to documenting and preserving urban folk culture. The son has traveled far afield for this film, but his storytelling ability is remarkable.

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Kid with a Bike

Now available on DVD and Blu-ray. Click the cover to visit the Amazon page.DIRECTORS: Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne. RATING: PG-13.
I’ll admit that I am reaching a bit to include Kid with a Bike, which was released in 2011. Unfortunately, this gem was virtually unknown in this country until the prestigious Criterion Collection decided to prepare one of its definitive DVD/Blu-ray sets. The Criterion version will be released this week. So, I’m splitting the 2012-2013 difference and declaring this an honoree in my list for 2012! (Click the cover, at right, for more from Amazon.) Seldom has a film dealt so well with a child determinedly striving for acceptance while feeling abandoned—and, as a result, rebelling against the people trying to help him. Little wonder that it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes in 2011. As I watch this Belgian-French film, I envision it as a midrash on Jesus’s parable about the persistent woman who kept searching for her lost coin. Eleven year-old Cyril is dumped into a children’s home by his widower father, then he is invited into the home of Samantha. But, this angry boy is convinced that authorities are keeping him from his father, so he tests Samantha’s love and patience almost to the breaking point. The bicycle in the title becomes symbolic of the boy’s tenacious grasp on the illusion about his father. Told in minimalist style, the film depends upon its wonderful cast to open our hearts to their predicament with none of the sentimental props so common in Hollywood movies.

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Blue Like Jazz

Available now in DVD and Blu-ray. Click the cover to visit the Amazon page.DIRECTOR: Steve Taylor. RATING: PG-13.
This tale of the spiritual journey of a Southern Baptist student from Fundamentalism through agnosticism to an open-minded faith seems so far over the top at times that it would be unbelievable—were it not for the fact that it is based on Don Miller’s memoir of the same title. The book, published in 2003, was on the New York Times list of best sellers for 40 weeks! To this day, it is a popular choice for young adults and is promoted through the “emergent church” movement, sometimes compared to works by Anne Lamott. The director/script writers concentrate on the period when student Don Miller, disillusioned by his youth pastor, leaves Texas to enroll in his unbelieving father’s alma mater, the ultra-liberal Reed College in Portland Oregon. The ups and downs of his spiritual journey are told with a great deal of humor. Eventually, the influence of believers who are genuine in their obedience to a God of love and social involvement revives and transforms his faith. This is the only film on this list that is described as a “Christian movie” by the film’s fans, including many of the 60-plus reviewers on the movie’s Amazon page. Overall, that genre doesn’t measure up for a “best of the year” list like this, but—as one Amazon reviewer puts it—“This is not like typical Christian movies.” I agree.

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: The Lorax

Available in DVD and Blu-ray. Click the cover to visit the Amazon page.DIRECTORS: Chris Renaud & Kyle Balda. RATING: PG.
Since it was published 40 years ago, millions of parents and children have read Dr. Seuss’s cautionary fable about the environment. Like most Seuss books, the story proved to be as popular with adults as with kids. And that’s the best thing I can say about this animated feature film: Adults will enjoy the film as much as little ones. Danny DeVito voices the moustached Lorax, the Yoda-like creature who announces that he has come to speak on behalf of the trees that are vanishing in pursuit of corporate greed. The film becomes a call to act when the Lorax says to the little boy Ted: “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better—it’s not.” Some critics did not like this film version of the book, partly I suspect because so many of us love the original Lorax story and have strong ideas about how it should be retold. But, I find the movie delightful and a great opportunity to talk further with children about the environment from a faith perspective. For example, parents might want to share the Genesis creation story with their children after watching the movie. Remind them of the passages in Genesis that require us to “be responsible for” and not to “dominate” the planet. Eugene Peterson’s Message translation of these passages is a great choice for reading aloud.

BEST SPIRITUAL MOVIES: Zero Dark Thirty

DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow. RATING: R.
There has been—and rightly so—much controversy over director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal’s film chronicling the ten-year manhunt and the killing of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. There is no debating that the film is well made, with Jessica Chastain excellent as CIA agent Maya who will not give up the search despite the doubts of her colleagues and several setbacks that would have stopped a less determined agent. The current controversy focuses on the film’s depiction of torture, practiced by Americans and supposedly producing key information in the quest to find bin Laden. A long list of top journalists and also U.S. Senators opposed to the use of torture, including Senator John McCain, have accused Bigelow’s film of unfairly serving to justify the use of torture. On my first viewing of the film, I was among those questioning the film’s basic morality. Then, I read perceptive comments by filmmaker Michael Moore, who says he questioned people who watched the movie—and learned that their sympathies in every case were with the Muslim prisoner, not with his brutal American interrogator. Moore also argues that the film clearly shows President Obama’s election, his ban on such torture—and a turn in the investigation toward real detective work. I find the character of Maya quite compelling and positive as a tough woman refusing to be cowed by bigotted male co-workers. Maya persists and without further torture manages to track down bin Laden despite her critics. With this analysis in mind, I went back and saw the movie a second time. Now, I agree that the film has positive moral messages and deserves to close out my 2012 list of Best Spiritual Movies.

FILMS THAT JUST MISSED THE CUT IN MY LIST …

Here are the other worthy films considered for this list. Each one offers plenty of food for thought and discussion. I also was impressed in 2012 with The Avengers; Argo; The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel; Boy; Brave; Cloud Atlas; Django Unchained; Flight; The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; Hope Springs; Hyde Park on the Hudson; Intouchables; The Master; The Odd Life of Timothy Green; Paranorman; Promised Land; Seeking a Friend for the End of the World; Salmon Fishing in the Yeman; Silver Lining Playbook.

Where to find more from Edward McNulty …