The Rob Bell Interview: Sorting fact from fiction in the debut of ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About God’

March 24, 2013 by

ON THE DAY ‘TIME’ magazine named Rob Bell one of the 100 most influential people in the world—ranking him with Warren Buffett, President Obama and Duchess Kate Middleton—a big red target splashed across his forehead.

Journalists swarmed, rolling out the C-word (controversial). “Christian” writers had a field day, incensed that he was the only Protestant on the list (New York Catholic Cardinal Timothy Dolan also made the 100). However, the acid that furious “Christian” commentators tried to throw in Rob’s face never came within 100 miles of his new home. And, here is the first fact today: Rob does, indeed, turn the other cheek. He doesn’t even glance at online commentaries about him.

ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm has interviewed Rob many times—dating back to Rob’s first releases in the mega-popular Nooma movie series. Upon the release of Rob’s new book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, Rob sat down for a lengthy telephone interview sorting fact from fiction.

INTERVIEW WITH ROB BELL

DAVID: People call you lots of things these days! I’m sure you’ve heard names used by fans and foes. Tell us how you describe yourself. A writer? An activist? A preacher? What?

ROB: I will always be writing. I finished this new book and there are three or four other books already in the works. Then, I do a lot of pastoring—specifically with friends and with people I have come to know who are in tight spots and need someone to talk with about things they can’t discuss with other people. So, I am a pastor in that way to a lot of people.

DAVID: OK, when you say pastor, are you on staff at a church now?

ROB: No. I do slip into a few places to hear good preaching. I don’t pastor a church—but we do have an extraordinary circle of friends who live in this area and we do have unique and special gatherings, sometimes over a meal.

DAVID: Let me push you further on this point, because it’s one of the most confusing questions for many journalists—and your critics have a field day with it. Let me cite probably the most prominent critic: the noted historian of American religion Martin Marty. I’ve known Marty professionally for many years and I know that he bats out his columns almost as stream of consciousness. In December, Marty fired off an infamous column, slamming you for going off on your own.

Here are Marty’s final lines, warning you about straying too far from the institutional church: “The inherited forms, though in need of revision, in any case often speak with an authenticity that demands some patience, while the quickly formulated and celebrity-endorsed versions may go as they came. One hopes Rob Bell sticks with some promising inventions long enough for him and us to see that while ‘Love wins’—‘new’ is less likely to.”

ROB: First, I don’t know Martin Marty. I haven’t read him. I’ve never met him. And, I doubt that he knows much about me. We each have our path and our calling. I certainly try to keep wise people around me—and to walk with them through what we’re sensing and feeling as we make decisions. Every day, I do my best to give my best to the world. So, for Martin Marty to make some random judgments about me and send them out into the world in a column like that—well, the main thing I need to explain is: It’s 100 percent irrelevant to me.

DAVID: I’ve known you and your family for years, Rob, and I know that’s not a pose. It’s a fact: You read widely in books by scholars and literary lights of your choosing—but you don’t read 99 percent of the stuff written about you online. Still, let me press you on this because what Marty is asking is a legitimate question. Are you a pastor? For a lot of Americans, a “pastor” looks like a man or woman heading a church.

ROB: OK, you are raising a great point. But why not ask that question of Billy Graham? We think of him as a pastor, don’t we?

DAVID: Sure, that’s a good model to raise. Plus, in his heyday Billy Graham, like you, was a very popular moviemaker. Now, people think of Graham as a friend to presidents and an evangelist in huge arenas. But, in his prime, Graham used every form of media available to him—including making lots of movies. I know, from past interviews, that you aren’t claiming to be the next Billy Graham, though. So, again, the question: Give us a title for your work now?

ROB: I’m a pastor. I describe myself as a pastor who makes things—whether it’s creating experiences or books or new things that will be available to people in the future. I’m a pastor and I create things and I will keep creating new things: the next thing and the next thing after that. If I am able to complete some of the things I’m working on now, these will be beautiful things that will help people.

I have learned the hard way that I simply cannot pay attention to people like Martin Marty writing some random column about me without knowing anything about my work or me. I can say this: I don’t know him; he doesn’t know me. I’m just a pastor who goes about my work creating things to help people.

ROB BELL FACT or FICTION:
KICKED OUT OF MARS HILL FOR DENYING HELL?

DAVID: This line of questioning is relevant to your new book, What We Talk About When We Talk About God, because the central message of the book is: “We’re in the midst of a massive rethink, a movement is gaining momentum, a moment in history is in the making: there is a growing sense among a growing number of people that when it comes to God, we’re at the end of one era and the start of another, an entire mode of understanding and talking about God dying as something new is being birthed.”

Sorting fact from fiction in the popular conception of your work—that’s really a part of what this new book is all about. Shedding the old, confusing, unhelpful myths. This new book isn’t autobiographical about your journey to the West Coast, but it certainly is about how confusing the old language is in describing your new work.

This leads me to ask about the troubling legacy of that big New Yorker magazine profile by Kalefa Sanneh. If readers look for the profile online, they won’t find it—it’s only available to New Yorker subscribers—but the summary the New Yorker has posted says: “Bell’s life can look like a cautionary tale: his desire to question the doctrine of Hell led to his departure from the church he built.”

Fact or fiction?

ROB: First, I want to say that Kalefa is an amazing writer and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I got to spend with him. I’m a fan of his work. I think he wrote a great piece. But, there was a misquote of Kristen that caused distress.

DAVID: Right. And this actually took a lot of us who’ve known your work for years by surprise. Frankly, I would have guessed you’d have touched off the biggest firestorm by becoming inclusive of gay Christians, but the biggest controversy actually erupted over a different issue. It was touched off by a claim you made in your 2012 book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived. You dared to write that non-Christians won’t burn in the fires of Hell. A lot of things hit all at once: TIME magazine appeared in April 2012 with the 100 list, seeming to snub all other Protestant leaders; Love Wins debuted a couple of months later. Your critics were out for blood.

You already had planned to move West. Then, in November, the New Yorker profile appeared with the quote that you say Kalefa presented in the wrong way to readers. In that quote, your wife Kristen said that after Love Wins debuted: “There was a cost. And part of the cost was, we couldn’t keep doing what we were doing at Mars Hill.” I’ve researched the flow of news stories after that and this got boiled down to: Rob Bell was kicked out of Mars Hill for denying Hell. That version now shows up a lot of places online. Martin Marty furthered that myth in his December column.

ROB: If people think that I had to leave Mars Hill because of the response to Love Wins—that is just categorically not true. I left Mars Hill because of a sense of calling to come to California to work on these new projects here.

In fact, Mars Hill could not have been more supportive! Mars Hill was amazing! They had multiple book-launch parties for that book. They were incredible. I assume that there were some people at Mars Hill who weren’t happy about that book, but there were always people leaving and coming—that’s what Mars Hill always has been. People come and people go. It’s that kind of ministry.

DAVID: Well, I checked further and I think the best evidence is that Mars Hill still credits as the “Founding Pastor and Pastor Emeritus.” They’re still proud of you. So, the story of you being forced out—which is the way the story is told in a lot of places online—is fiction.

ROB: Mars Hill was great. Mars Hill’s leadership was great. They couldn’t have been better. Why did I move to California? Because I had a chance to produce a new kind of television show that still is progressing along fabulously.

ROB BELL: WAS HIS TV SHOW CANCELLED?

DAVID: Some online stories correctly explain your TV productions—and some have mixed up the details. It’s easy to get this incorrect version: Rob Bell moved to Hollywood to produce a TV show that flopped. So, let’s sort it out for readers?

ROB: I have been involved in two television projects. The first one is still progressing, as I said. But, since I was coming out here to work with Carlton Cuse from the TV series LOST on one production—we also produced scripts for a series based on a novel that I wrote but never published. The novel and the TV series have the title Stronger. It would be a dramatic series about a main character named Tom Stronger with some spiritual themes in it—but we wrote it as a regular TV series with plots and actors and so on. The ABC network bought it, like they buy all sorts of things, and we did some work on it last year—then it was not green lighted to air as a network pilot. Like all sorts of TV projects out here, it’s floating along over there on hold.

But I didn’t move to California to write and produce Stronger. I moved out here to work with Carlton on a different TV show—one we’re still working on.

DAVID: Lots of writers have tried to describe this main TV project as a kind of TV talk show about religion, spirituality and values. From what you’ve told me, I’m envisioning a next-generation Bill Moyers—like the landmark series he did with Joseph Campbell or that superb series Bill did on Genesis.

ROB: Well, I do see this project as winding up something like Bill Moyers. But, if we succeed, it will be a new kind of TV: Think of it as Bill Moyers meets Ellen meets Colbert meets a TED conference meets an AA meeting. Throw all those into a blender and push the button! (laughs) You’ve got to admit: That would be new—right?

DAVID: Yes. If you can pull it off.

ROB: That’s the point. It’s hard work. It would be a real game changer. That was worth the chance we took in moving to California. Think about this: In our culture right now, when people gather for Thanksgiving dinner two topics will get everybody talking: politics and religion. But, on television right now, you can only find one of those topics discussed all the time—politics. Religion is different. Sure, there’s a lot of religion on television, but there is virtually no intelligent discussion of religion on the major networks. Carlton and I still are working on that idea. That’s the idea—the real vision—that led me from Mars Hill to California.

We need television that explores questions about what really motivates people in our world today: Why do we get out of bed every day? What gives us hope? What motivates us? Where do we find our hopes? These are religious and spiritual questions. This is well worth the move West.

ROB BELL: HOW SHOULD WE TALK ABOUT GOD?

DAVID: OK, now we’ve come full circle and it’s clear where your new book falls in the overall arc of your work. Those questions you just listed? Those are the questions that, as a journalist covering religion, I’ve always told readers are the really essential spiritual questions of our era. You can debate the fine points of theology all you want, but what truly matters? You just listed the questions.

ROB: When I think of people reading this kind of book—or looking for the kind of television I’m trying to produce—I see a huge variety of faces. So many snapshots flash through my brain of people I’ve met everywhere I’ve traveled. What they understand—and what we too easily can forget in churches—is that people are interested in spirituality and religion because they already have sensed the sacred around them. They feel something when a child is born, or they hear an amazing piece of music, or they volunteer to help others and experience a common source of love and community. They experience these things, then they go seeking more of it—and they may walk in the door of a church—but in too many cases, they don’t find what they already know is the sacred part of life within the church. So, they walk back out the door.

DAVID: I know from many years of religion reporting that rabbis often make this point. I’ve talked with a number of Jewish leaders about prayer and personal signs that God is with us—and they will talk about feeling God. Often, they will list the same kinds of examples you’ve just listed. Evangelical preachers tend to give the impression that God is much more tangible in a “close personal relationship.” Your book actually begins with Jacob thousands of years ago in the Bible waking up in the wilderness and reporting: “Surely God was in this place, and I—I wasn’t aware of it.”

ROB: That’s why I don’t start this new book with dogma and doctrine. I start with the experiences of real people. I’ve learned a lot from Richard Rohr. The great power I find in his writing is that he often puts into words things that I’ve already experienced but haven’t been able to describe. In this new book, like Rohr, I start with experiences. Have you ever had this feeling? This new book really is about the fragility of the human experience. We are soul and bone. We are capable of greatness and we have the capacity to be prophetic. We may have experiences in life that open our hearts as wide as the ocean. But—we also have the capacity to be very small, petty and negative.

DAVID: In a way, you’re trying to restart people’s hearts in this new book. You’re trying to expand our religious imagination. That’s why the whole first section of your book is about the head-scratching, eye-popping, gee-whiz wonders that science is revealing about God’s creation, the universe. Here’s a passage: “It’s all—let’s use a very specific word here—miraculous. You, me, love, quarks, sex, chocolate, the speed of light—it’s all miraculous, and it always has been. When people argue for the existence of a supernatural God who is somewhere else and reaches in on occasion to do a miracle or two, they’re skipping over the very world that surrounds us and courses through our veins and lights up the sky right here, right now. We live in a very, very weird universe.”

One could describe this book as: A Psalmist meets Douglas Adams.

ROB: I’m trying to alert people to the full range of human experiences in which we find God. We find God in the full spectrum of human emotion from joy to tragedy from triumph to heartache. God is found in all of this. As a pastor, I’ve found that many people have been taught to believe that God is only in good things. Then, this leaves people with lots of questions when bad things happen. But across the fullness of Jewish and Christian traditions, we learn that God is in both the valleys and the mountaintops. For a lot of folks, organized religion becomes this system that provides a weekly God hit. Like my friend Peter Rollins, I believe that God is much bigger than the weekly God hit most churches give people.

ROB BELL: ARE YOU A CHRISTIAN?

DAVID: We just featured an interview with Peter Rollins. And I know that he describes himself as a Christian, but not like a lot of other people use the word “Christian.” So, let me ask that question of you. It’s obvious in reading your new book that you write as a Christian, but some of your evangelical foes want to question this point. Are you a Christian?

ROB: Yes. As a Christian I am part of an ancient tradition that overflows with wisdom and insight about what it means to be human—and to experience, to know and to live with God and each other. I’m trying to introduce people to this tradition because it’s beautiful and it brings all sorts of life to people who really need it. I’ve always believed that what I am doing is helping people today to tap into this ancient tradition.

DAVID: A lot of your critics get hung up on points that you’re now taking in stride in your writing and other forms of teaching. Your foes don’t like it that you welcome gay Christians. Popular culture seems to be swinging your way this year. I’ve lost track of how many executives in top American companies and how many Republicans have now gone on record as supporting civil rights for gay Americans. But your critics seem to be stuck on other points as well. We should point out that this new book is fully supportive of women’s leadership in the church, right?

ROB: The world is better when people are treated equally. A lot of women remain in religious traditions that won’t free them to serve in leadership. I say: We are standing in their way and we shouldn’t be. Women can lead us. They have led us. This has always been obvious to me. In the book, I tell the story of a woman with two master’s degrees who is sitting in her church when she hears the preacher tell the congregation that God doesn’t want women in leadership. Think about that! And it happens all the time. It’s so obvious to me that women should equally share in leadership.

DAVID: Same question on religion and science. You write that the two should go together hand in hand on our spiritual journey. A lot of your critics are still hung up on thinking that it’s got to be: Science vs. Religion.

ROB: Science can give us back our sense of wonder and awe. It was Annie Dillard who told us that a cathedral and a physics lab are both places where we hear God saying: Hello! When I hear scientists talk about their research today, I can’t help but feel awe. If we are people of faith who really believe in God as Creator, then this world ought to be a primary place of wonder.

DAVID: Well, last question: I didn’t forget your initial comment about other books in the works. Can you give us a preview?

ROB: My wife and I are writing a book about marriage and that’s been an incredible experience. I will say this: She has lots of wisdom! We’re both thrilled with the content we’re putting together for that book. So, you will see a book from us on marriage.

And, as you just pointed out, I’m fascinated with science and physical space. I’ve read a lot about architecture and the ways physical space affects our spirits. This is a discipline that’s been undervalued for far too long in the West. I want to help people keep finding new ways that our world can be a more life-giving place.

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 …

Newspapers dying? A portrait in journalistic courage

January 3, 2013 by

CLICK THE MOVIE POSTER to visit the PBS POV webpage for Reportero. The PBS site provides access to TV listings in your region, information about online viewing—and other ideas for discussing the film.NEWSPAPERS & MAGAZINES are dropping like flies. After 90 years, 2013 dawns without Newsweek in American mailboxes. So, it’s timely for the PBS POV documentary series to remind us of the courageous role of journalism. Reportero debuts on the national network Monday, January 7, 2012. (Click the poster at right to learn about other viewing options from PBS.)

Even though most Americans will have to view the film with subtitles, Reportero is a must-see story of courageous journalists risking their lives to report on crime and corruption around Tijuana, Mexico.

The story spans the U.S. border, since founders of the Zeta news-magazine wisely based a portion of their publishing operation north of the U.S.-Mexico border. Zeta is hardly a household name across the U.S., but among journalists—and especially among journalists aware of chronic corruption involving drug cartels in northern Mexico—Zeta is a living legend. And that word “living” means that Zeta continues to publish. Here is the newspaper’s website. (Note: You may initially see an advertisement before Zeta appears; and the publication is in Spanish).

The documentary film Reportero tells the story of the newspaper’s defiant debut—when it was more of a sassy scandal sheet aimed at deep-seeded corruption in Tinjuana than a traditional newspaper. The most famous voice of Zeta in the early days was a no-holds-barred columnist who called himself Felix the Cat. In 1988, Hector “Felix the Cat” Miranda was murdered by two henchmen of one particular businessman he had targeted in his column.

It took courage to keep the newspaper going—and the violence wasn’t over. But Zeta plunged ahead with its mission to print “the truth” and investigate crime and corruption. We see Zeta reporters, now, investigating poverty and other urgent issues in Mexico. We see the presses still rolling. We see that Zeta covers a wide range of stories—although crime is usually the front-page focus. The film makes the point that journalism—good journalism—still matters.

Review by ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm.

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

The 5 Best Christmas Movies (and all the rest)

December 9, 2012 by

A CHRISTMAS CAROL, co-starring Edward Woodward as the Ghost of Christmas Present and George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge. Broadcast in 1984 and now available in DVD and Blu-ray.Truth about Christmas Movies:

100s of DVDs, but only 5 tales

By ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm

Love Christmas movies? My wife Amy and I are such fans that we have a lifelong mission to watch every Christmas movie. We’ve also vowed to watch made-for-TV Christmas movies and notable Christmas “specials.” True fans of Christmas video, for example, share our hope that someday George Lucas will unlock the vaults and rebroadcast the rarely seen Star Wars Holiday Special. Similarly, we’re hoping the Muppets will release the equally rare John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together.

BUT, THIS YEAR, WE HAVE A CHRISTMAS MOVIE CHALLENGE FOR YOU: At our house, we started in the late 1970s watching home-movie versions of holiday films on VHS tapes. After 35 years of home viewing—now mostly on DVD and occasionally on Blu-ray—we have come to this conclusion:
There really are only 5 movie plots among the 100s of Christmas films.
The challenge to you? Let me explain this theory, then please email us at [email protected] (or leave a Comment below) and tell us what you think. Add to our listings, suggest a movie we may have overlooked—and feel free to disagree! (Psst! This also is a great discussion-starter for a holiday-season gathering of friends. I’ve tried this myself—and the discussion gets quite … Spirited!)

THE FIRST ‘MODERN’ CHRISTMAS TALE: CHRISTMAS CAROL

Click the cover to visit its Amazon page.The very first Christmas story is found in the Gospels—as little Linus pointed out in the 1965 debut of A Charlie Brown Christmas on CBS (now on ABC). But the first modern Christmas tale that echoed through Hollywood is Charles Dickens’ 1843 A Christmas Carol. Since the first documented silent-film version in 1901, more than 50 movies have retold Dickens’ tale. Think that’s a lot? The number of remakes doubles if we add all the slight adaptations, such as the new Hallmark version: It’s Christmas, Carol, co-starring Carrie Fisher as a Marley-like ghost with a few magical powers that even Dickens couldn’t imagine.

Then, the list of remakes expands even further if we add in all of the free adaptations of the Christmas Carol theme. Here’s what we mean …

THE BASIC TALE OF A CHRISTMAS CAROL: There is hope at Christmas even for at-risk adults whose anger or selfishness has isolated them from the wonderful, compassionate life surrounding them. In a Christmas Carol remake, this hope miraculously appears through ghosts or angels or other magical beings. (Author Benjamin Pratt has written a new take on Christmas Carol for the 2012 holidays.)

THE MOVIE FAMILY TREE: The biggest branch from the trunk of the Christmas Carol family tree came in 1946 with the release of Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in It’s a Wonderful Life. The movie was based on a short story by historian Philip Van Doren Stern, who was steeped in 19th-century literature and told friends that his idea for a new twist came to him in a dream. Simply connect the dots and you can see that Dickens’ ghosts eventually become a single angel helping Jimmy Stewart to glimpse his past, present and future. Just like Dickens’ version, Wonderful Life focuses on the plight of Bedford Falls’ poorest residents.

Another branch sprouted in The Bishop’s Wife in 1947—remade most recently with a black cast in the 1996 production, The Preacher’s Wife. In these versions of the tale, an angel plays an even bigger role in the drama with Cary Grant starring in 1947 and Denzel Washington appearing in 1996. Like the original, it’s a tale of a heavenly messenger at the holiday to remind an angry-selfish man of life’s larger possibilities. Once again, the story focuses on the plight of poor neighborhoods.

Where is the story branching now? Oddly enough, newer Christmas Carol remakes seem to be losing the Dickensian concern for the poor. The dramatic tension in the 2000 remake The Family Man, starring Nicholas Cage and Tea Leoni (with Don Cheadle as the angel), is between a life of fabulous wealth (pre-angel) and living happily on a middle-class budget (post-angel). No one worries about the poor. The same is true in the more recent Hallmark remake. Carrie Fisher comes back as a ghost simply to make her former business thrive again and the up-scale employees even more successful. The poor? They’re nowhere to be seen.

OK, you get the idea. Here are the other 4 archtypical Christmas movies …

SECOND TALE: Santa Is Real

Click the cover to visit Amazon.THE MOVIE FAMILY TREE: Santa movies date back more than 100 years, debuting in the silent era. But the nostalgic yearning to restore a lost faith in Santa dates to the post-World War II era and the unforgettable performance of Edmund Gwenn as Santa in the 1947 Miracle on 34th Street (not to mention the precocious acting of little Natalie Wood). The movie has been remade a number of times (and the 1994 Dylan McDermott version of 34th Street is pretty entertaining). The Scrooges among us may argue that there is more than nostalgia at work in “Santa is real” movies—considering that the love of Santa is closely entwined with the need for Christmas shopping. Tune in network TV this month and you’ll see a clip from the original 34th Street in a Hollywood-themed advertisement for Macy’s.

Where is the story branching now? Big revivals of the “Santa is real” theme include the runaway 1985 bestseller, The Polar Express, a gorgeous children’s book that became a 2004 movie. After all, this yearning for the jolly red gift bringer is a potent tale! Tim Allen turned out an instant Christmas classic in 1994 with The Santa Clause, followed by two sequels. For younger children, the “Santa is real” story now has morphed into a very popular branch of movies about dogs and the holidays. Not only is Santa real—but Christmas-loving dogs can talk and bring even more holiday gifts!

THIRD TALE: Home for Christmas

Click the cover to visit Amazon.THE MOVIE FAMILY TREE: Dramatic stories of making it home for Christmas stretch all the way back to the American pioneer era. Laura Ingalls Wilder tells one such tale of a life-and-death sleigh ride that managed to get her home for the holidays as a young adult. But the boom in such movies came with the vast displacement of World War II—coupled with Hollywood’s full-tilt support of the war effort. Today, few of us can sit through the nearly three hours of the Oscar-nominated Since You Went Away from 1944, co-starring a teen-aged Shirley Temple. Today, it’s rarely seen—but, if you are steely enough for that mid-WWII melodrama, you’re in for the mother lode of “home for Christmas” movies!

The enduring milestone in “home for Christmas” movies came a decade after WWII in 1954’s White Christmas. irving Berlin batted out the title song at a sunny, southern California hotel in 1940, not expecting the tune to become a hit. Then, by 1942, with American service personnel scattered around the world, the song’s haunting plea swept around the planet. It was chosen to close out the black-and-white musical Holiday Inn. The scenes of European battlefields and WWII veterans didn’t arrive until the 1954 Tecnicolor extravaganza, named for the song.

Where is the story branching now? For a while, “home for Christmas” was one of the most popular Christmas stories in Hollywood. In 1963, The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, was the pilot that kicked off The Waltons TV series. But, today? Although widely available on DVD, The Waltons series seems a bit too sweet. Director John Huges began playing with this tale, looking for a way to freshen it, switching the holiday to Thanksgiving in the 1987 Planes, Trains and Automobiles—still a favorite of Steve Martin and John Candy fans. Then, in 1990, Hughes finally struck gold by flipping the tale inside out in Home Alone. This time, it wasn’t one individual trying to reach home—the entire family would struggle to return home. Americans just can’t get enough of that version! Last month, ABC debuted: Home Alone 5.

FOURTH TALE: Misfits become a family.

Click on the cover to visit its Amazon page.THE MOVIE FAMILY TREE: This Christmas movie plot also sprouted from the huge global mix of cultures in World War II—and Montgomery Ward’s creation in 1939 of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Suddenly, Americans were thinking about how “misfits” could peacefully mingle—and even dare to become a loving family. The children’s book was a big hit for Montgomery Ward, but it didn’t fully connect with the culture until after WWII. Gene Autry took America by storm with his famous version of the Rudolph song in the final days of 1949. Rudolph became a made-for-TV classic thanks to Burl Ives, Rankin-Bass and General Electric in 1964. Sure, Rudolph is popular partly because of great music and animation. But—there is something far deeper in this story’s appeal.

Everywhere Americans turned there were misfits—even within their own families. Soon there were a host of “misfits become a family” Christmas remakes. At our house, we never tire of watching Bob Hope in the 1951 Lemon Drop Kid, based on a story by Damon Runyon and proving that even crooks can form a loveable clan at Christmas. Of course, Hope played that movie version for laughs. Decades later, Ed Asner and Maureen Stapleton ushered in a long list of Kleenex-required dramas about “misfits becoming a family” with their 1977 ABC debut of The Gathering. Asner still is well worth watching, although The Gathering is a bit dated with its heated argument over the Vietnam War. Among our favorite “misfits” remakes is the 1995 Home for the Holidays with Holly Hunter, Robert Downey Jr., Dylan McDermott and the twist of focusing the story on Thanksgiving.

The key distinction between “misfits become a family” movies and “home for Christmas”—in classical terms—is the difference between the Illiad and the Odyssey. The Illiad is the tale of the Trojan War and how conflicting friends and families battle through their differences. The Odyssey is about a hero’s journey to his beloved home. Odysseus does have to clean house before the saga ends—but there is no question of his longing for home. Unlike “misfits” movies, “home” movies are about that deep yearning and the heroic journey to reach the home fires once again.

Where is the story branching now? By 2012, “misfits” are freshly scrambled—and lovingly united—in new Hollywood releases for every holiday season. There are even “misfits” movies for New Year’s Eve, Valentine’s Day—with more holiday remakes in the pipeline. If you discuss this story with your small group, challenge them to think about movies that cross over between these categories. “Home for Christmas” is a well that seems to be running dry. So, cross-over movies try to blend that story with “misfits.” Ask your friends to talk about the 2004 Christmas with the Kranks, in which a sudden “home for Christmas” announcement prompts a whole neighborhood of “misfits” to form a loving family. Or, ask about 2008’s Four Christmases, in which Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon have to visit four homes—chock full of misfits. Ask your small group: Which is more important these days? Finding home. Or, uniting misfits.

FIFTH TALE: Christ Is Real

Click the cover to visit its Amazon page.THE MOVIE FAMILY TREE: The first Christ-in-Christmas movies date back to the late 1800s, when short silent reels featured robed actors marching through Nativity scenes set against cheap theatrical backdrops. One early silent film even showed Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt past a painted wooden pyramid and sphinx that looked like they might fall over on the cast.

The “Christ is real” storyline was so common through most of the 20th century that it was unremarkable. NBC and Hallmark Cards simply assumed all TV viewers would accept the Gospel story when they commissioned Gian Carlo Menotti’s 1951 Amahl and the Night Visitors as the first Hallmark Hall of Fame production. Linus was free to proclaim the Gospel in A Charlie Brown Christmas a decade later. Johnny Cash welcomed Billy Graham onto his Christmas specials to tell the story of Jesus. Perry Como, a singer who was notable for his deep Christian faith, was winning praise for Christmas specials well into the 1980s.

Where is the story branching now? In recent decades, the “Christ is real” theme has faded at Hollywood studios. The biggest pointedly Christian production at Christmas came in 2006 with The Nativity Story, which Pope Benedict XVI agreed to personally promote via a world premiere at the Vatican. Unfortunately, the production all but tanked. It finally earned a profit, but drew lukewarm-to-thumbs-down reviews. Even though 9 out of 10 Americans tell Gallup that they plan to celebrate Christmas in 2012—and 6 in 10 say they plan to go to Christmas services—this final branch of the Christmas movie tree seems to be withering.

So, What Do You Think?

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By ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm and …
Originally published at readthespirit.com, an online magazine covering religion and cultural diversity.

Hallmark brings us Thanksgiving, Christmas every day

November 15, 2012 by

Some of our readers can’t get enough of celebrating holiday cheer, but some of our readers … Well, if you’re already shuddering at the waves of sentimental holiday tales sweeping through our culture—then this story isn’t for you. NO, we’re not implying you’re an Ebenezer Scrooge. Millions of Americans follow other faiths. Perhaps Diwali is your holiday season. If this story isn’t your cup of egg nog, then enjoy the thousands of other stories at ReadTheSpirit.

But for the millions of us who enjoy the guilty pleasures of sentimental, romantic and dramatic holiday tales—then you definitely should check out the Hallmark Channel and the Hallmark Movie Channel each week through the end of the year. As Editor of ReadTheSpirit, each November and December, I help readers discover the best in holiday gems. After Thanksgiving, for example, we will publish our annual holiday gift guide of great books to select for friends and loved ones.

This week, I’ve logged hours previewing Hallmark films debuting this month and in December. One nice feature of the two Hallmark channels: If you miss a particular movie debut, simply scroll forward in your TV schedule and you will find your favorite film rolling around again—and again. Here is the Hallmark Channel home page where you can check out all of that channel’s listings. And, here is the Hallmark Movie Channel home page, which has different offerings.

CARRIE FISHER DOES DICKENS:
‘IT’S CHRISTMAS, CAROL’ AIRS IN NOVEMBER & DECEMBER

Many of us have a soft spot for any media project involving Carrie Fisher, given her iconic roles in the Star Wars saga and—to be honest—sympathy over her relatively hard life. Beyond her shining moments in Star Wars and in personal relationships with Dan Akroyd and Paul Simon, Fisher also openly talks about her long periods of addiction and her struggles with bipolar disorder. Despite it all, Debbie Reynolds’ daughter is a survivor and it’s great to see her show up in Hallmark’s It’s Christmas, Carol—a Charles Dickens remake—as one of the well-meaning ghosts.

Of course, none of these made-for-TV movies have the heft of a Steven Spielberg production (we also recommend his new Lincoln)—but that’s hardly the point! These are fun tales to watch after a busy day, either on you own or with a loved one sharing the couch with you. A lot of the charm flows from nostalgia and the good humor of seeing actors and actresses we know and love playing other parts for a couple of hours. In addition to Carrie Fisher, fans of Carson Kressley (in the photo above and well-known most recently as an occasional guest on Dancing with the Stars) shows up costarring in this ensemble. You may even be a fan of Emmanuelle Vaugier (of CSI:New York a few years ago and Two and a Half Men more recently); in this case, she’s the Scrooge character.

WILLIAM SHATNER DOES DICKENS, TOO: ‘A CAROL CHRISTMAS’

As you are scanning through the Hallmark Channel schedule, don’t mix up your Dickens remakes! Over the next coupld of weeks, Hallmark also is showing the 2003 made-for-TV movie A Carol Christmas. In that production, Tori Spelling plays the Scrooge. Here’s the gem: William Shatner, who many of us miss after Boston Legal ended its quirky run on network TV, co-stars in a dual role. He is Spelling’s colleague in “real life,” and he shows up as the Ghost of Christmas Present, as well. If you’re watching—or recording for later viewing—mark both Dickens remakes to enjoy.

A THANKSGIVING GEM COMING SOON:
HALLMARK’S ‘LOVE AT THE THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE’

If you’re a big TV fan, you will recognize Autumn Reeser from several series: She’s in the new apocalyptic thriller, The Last Resort; and she has appeared in Entourage, No Ordinary Family and the new Hawaii Five-O. If you’re not familiar with her work from those series, think of a brunette Reese Witherspoon. She co-stars with Italian-Canadian actor Antonio Cupo. Early in the romantic comedy, a young woman who nearly swoons over the handsome Cupo describes him as “George Clooney.” And, had George Clooney and Reese Witherspoon co-starred in Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade, we can only imagine the greater depth they would bring to this production. But, again, that’s not really the point! You’ll enjoy Reeser and Cupo scurrying around real-life Chicago, supposedly working on producing a holiday parade—but actually working on producing a romance. Come on, it’s all fun holiday viewing!

Review by ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm

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

PBS visits Park Avenue for story of rich vs. poor

November 8, 2012 by

Regular readers of ReadTheSpirit know this story alreaday. As reported in an October OurValues column by University of Michigan sociologist Dr. Wayne Baker: “The gap between rich and poor is now at its widest ever. From 1997 to 2007, income grew by 275% for the top 1 percent of households.”

Dr. Baker cited an unimpeachable source for that statement—a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. On Monday, November 12, the PBS Independent Lens series debuts Park Avenue: Money, Power & the American Dream, by Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney. (Here is the PBS Independent Lens website, where you can check local listings and learn more about alternate viewing options.)

PARK AVENUE DOCUMENTARY: WHO IS ALEX GIBNEY?

Gibney’s most striking religious connection is this: He is the stepson of the late Rev. William Sloan Coffin, who defined the role of the crusading liberal preacher in the 1960s and 1970s from his pulpit at New York’s Riverside Church. Coffin fought in the heart of the civil rights and anti-war movements.

Gibney is a layman, but no less of a prophet. He preaches through his documentaries and, now, is an award-winning filmmaker whose body of work makes him a voice well worth hearing. His 2005 documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room got rave reviews from top movie critics and also scored an Oscar nomination as Best Documentary, although it lost the statuette to March of the Penguins. Two years later, his Taxi to the Dark Side won the Oscar for Best Documentary by telling the chilling story of an Afghan taxi driver who was ensnarled in American detention and was beaten to death by American soldiers.

PARK AVENUE DOCUMENTARY: WHERE IT TAKES US

The stretch of Park Avenue near Central Park is New York’s richest neighborhood—and 740 Park Avenue is the home address of some of the world’s super rich, including one of the Koch brothers who just poured startling sums of money into Republican causes.

Here is a bit of the opening narration in the documentary, which sketches the storyline for this hour of national reporting on America’s ever-widening gap in income: “This street is about a lot more than money. It’s about political power. The rich here haven’t just used their money to buy fancy cars, private jets and mansions. They’ve also used it to rig the game in their favor. Over the last 30 years they have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity from a system that they increasingly control.

“But if you head north about 10 minutes, this Park Avenue comes to an end at the Harlem River. On the other side of the river, there is another Park Avenue. This is the South Bronx, home to America’s poorest congressional district. There are 700,000 people in this district. Almost 40 percent of them live in poverty, making less than $40 a day. From here, the last 30 years have looked very different than the view from Manhattan’s Park Avenue.”

If those lines have stirred your conscience—then make a point of tuning in or finding an alternate viewing option for this thought-provoking film. If those lines make you yawn, because you understand this crisis already or because you doubt that it’s really a crisis, then this probably is not your best viewing choice.

The documentary does, indeed, show us some fascinating details about 740 Park Avenue, its luxurious apartments and the ultra wealthy tenants who call this building home. But, beyond that, most of Gibney’s film is a crash course in understanding the historic income gap. While Gibney clearly blames the very Republican power brokers who just laid down vast sums in Election 2012—he also targets some prominent democrats, including Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York. It’s no accident that Schumer is called the Wall Street Senator.

This is a terrific choice, post election, to discuss in your small group in coming weeks. Invite members of your discussion group to view the film and you’ll have no shortage of spirited conversation.

Review by ReadTheSpirit Editor David Crumm

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

Review: Free Men, a Holocaust story you’ve never seen

October 5, 2012 by

CLLICK THE COVER TO VISIT THE FILM’S AMAZON PAGE.Review:
Free Men

By ReadTheSpirit Editor
David Crumm

As a journalist covering religion and diversity, I’ve reported for many years on the rise of Holocaust awareness in popular media. The event that set off this wave was the debut of the 1978 TV melodrama The Holocaust with Meryl Streep. The subsequent explosion of public interest in capturing Holocaust memories on video eventually was championed by Steven Spielberg. Now there are more hours of Holocaust video, counting Spielberg’s vast library of Shoah Foundation videos, than a single person could watch in a lifetime.

WHY ANOTHER HOLOCAUST VIDEO?

At ReadTheSpirit, we’re always looking for that exceptional, unusual Holocaust resource that you’d likely miss without our help. We’re looking for accuracy. We’re looking for top-quality production. And we’re looking for compelling films and books that will hold an audience. All of those things are true of Ismael Ferroukhi’s gripping drama, Free Men, now available on DVD from Amazon thanks to the folks at Film Movement.

MUSLIMS HELPING JEWS IN THE HOLOCAUST???

Since the release of Free Men last year, the film’s storyline has been controversial. For the most part, Muslim and Arab leaders across Africa and the Middle East during World War II were not helpful to Jews trying to avoid the Holocaust. Visit Yad Vashem in Israel and this point is driven home in the historical galleries about the Shoah. However, there were indeed some notable cases of Muslims risking their lives to save Jews—and one of the most poignant stories happened in the heart of Paris at the historic central mosque involving a world-class musician, Salim Halali.

Salim Halali, a one-man beacon of diversity

FROM THE MOVIE, FREE MEN: The film’s fictional main character, at left, talks with the singer Salim Halali to warn him about a new Nazi crackdown.If you’ve never heard of Salim Halali, you’re certainly not alone! Try to find him on Wikipedia or in any standard Holocaust history book and you’ll come away scratching your head. I know, because I tried after watching this impressive drama—and was on the verge of concluding that Halali was some kind of fictional figure. Then, I found quite a number of French-language websites and magazines that have profiled the famous musician. After using Google-Translate on these compiled clippings and comparing the facts—this true story emerges:

In 1920, Salim Halali was born into a Jewish family, originally from Souk Ahras, Algeria. In the 1930s, he was working mainly in France as a successful Arabic-language flamenco singer in Parisian nightclubs. He also toured Europe and North Africa, until the German occupation. As a Jew, he was at risk in Nazi sweeps of Paris, but the rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, Si Kaddour Ben Ghabrit, decided to save his life. The rector managed the mosque, but he also was a musician and scholar and loved Halali’s genre of Arab-Andalusian music. Under the rector’s direction, Halali was given forged papers and protected through an elaborate charade that included the creation of a headstone etched with the name of his father that was placed in the Muslim cemetery in Paris.

CLICK THE CD COVER TO VISIT ITS AMAZON PAGE.After the war, Halali founded the Oriental Folies Ismailia, a club that was the toast of Paris in the late 1940s. Later, he moved to Morocco and opened a club in Casablanca that drew rich and famous guests in the 1950s. Halali toured the world performing his distinctive genre for his fans. He retired in the 1990s and died in 2005.

Both the Halali character in the movie and the rector of the mosque look remarkably like the original historical figures. Vintage photos on some French-language websites confirm the visual accuracy of both men. What’s more? As it turns out—you still can order a CD collection of Halali’s melodies via Amazon and, among the offerings, I recommend the collection called: Jewish-Arab Song Treasures.

Verdict on accuracy in Free Men

First and foremost, the basic story about Halali, the rector of the Paris mosque and the elaborate deception is accurate. Beyond that, the film’s handsome young hero, shown on the cover of the DVD, is a fictional composite of Muslims who must have interacted with Halali and the rector during the Nazi crackdowns in Paris. That’s how filmmaker Ismael Ferroukhi describes the creation of his fictional “main character” and it makes sense—this is a suspenseful drama and this young French “everyman” can connect the dots between historical events. In addition, the filmmakers say that they have historical documentation about two little Jewish girls who the Muslim characters also try to save. Overall? This movie is far closer to the accurate history than a lot of movies supposedly “based on a true story,” these days. This verdict matches the conclusions of a lengthy story analyzing the movie in the Jewish Daily Forward by Benjamin Ivry.

Care to read more about this true story? It’s a chapter in the book Interfaith Heroes 2, which is available to read online.

Support culturally diverse cinema!

In the cut-throat competition to provide home access to feature films, major media companies are slashing their way to the cheapest forms of distribution. This also means that countless films with valuable stories are being lost to American viewers. Fewer and fewer feature-length DVDs are being released and sold, especially foreign-language films. We want to encourage distributors like Film Movement to keep doing what they do so well. Earlier this year, we recommended the superb Film Movement feature, Foreign Letters, about an Israeli girl and her Asian friend. You also may want to learn about Film Movement’s monthly DVD series for home viewing. Or, if you are a librarian or are interested in a group showing of Film Movement movies in your part of the country, click here to learn about Film Movements various options for “Non-theatrical Screenings.”

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