Culture Connections
Samson and Delilah – a new strength?
Is there any hope in some communities? One of the unfortunate tasks in some modern film making seems to be taking people with you in despair, and then adding more despair until you are made to identify totally with the hopelessness that is at the centre of the director's life. Here, while there are strong and confronting scenes, there is also a theme of hope. It is not a prosperity gospel based hope which is the perhaps actually the bizarre theme in the 2009 Academy Award winner Slumdog Millionaire. No winning the big one for Samson or Delilah, their eventual escape is to a simple life, through love.
Sixty years ago Cecil B Demille released Samson and Delilah with Hedy Lamarr and Victor Mature showing a rather more traditional portrayal of strength, love, betrayal and revenge.
In 2009 Rowan McNamara is Samson, a 15 year old mainly focussed on petrol sniffing, who takes life as it comes in a marginalised and ill-supported Aboriginal community. Marissa Gibson is Delilah, a 16 year old carer for her Nana, again caught in the life she has been given, but one who glimpses the good and possible, from her Nana to the love that is in Samson wanting to break out.
There are continuing, but unanswered questions about who or what enslaves people like Samson and Delilah in the 21st century. What is the way out of a cycle of hopelessness? Samson and Delilah has garnered public and critical acclaim for director Warwick Thornton, including the best first feature film at Cannes 2009. He had previously been widely involved in cinematography, and made several short films and documentaries including Rosalie's Journey about the star of the Chauvel film Jedda. The film is well, though simply photographed, and the Australian outback and desert are lovingly portrayed, providing a striking contract to the expensive looking visual depth of the film Australia.
It is a film that uses silence and non-visual communication in many subtle ways, and the main spoken language is in Warlpiri and sub-titled in English.
There are many memorable scenes from the irony of the opening with Charley Pride's ‘Sunshiny Day' beaming forth while Samson awakes and starts his usual day with his head in a tin can, to the juxtaposition of Delilah sitting in Alice Springs offering a shy smile behind two girls wearing pristine school uniforms, with one chatting merrily on her mobile phone. She is like them, and yet so unlike them in experience. Mitjili Napanangka Gibson as Nana is a striking character, but her paintings (her own paints) play a strong role in the film, and provide a real life context and underlying connection for Delilah. There is a telling scene where Delilah sees one of her Nana's paintings in an art gallery with a $22,000 price tag.
It would appear from this film that Warwick Thornton is also considering how the contemporary Aboriginal experience cannot be understood without reference to Christianity.
The cross is a central symbol, from the simple cross in the tin shed chapel in the Aboriginal community to which Delilah takes her Nana to worship in silence, to the placing of a cross in the family home at the end of the film, where Delilah reclaims her place in her country. While no answers are given, the elements of Christian symbolism and consideration of Aboriginal art and dreaming must be related to the influential experience that Warwick Thornton had at Salvado College at the Catholic Monastery in New Norcia (in WA). His mother sent him there as a 13 year old, seemingly have him straightened out, and he learnt to appreciate the regulated and yet simple lifestyle.
There is also some ambivalence about the Christian institutions, as evidenced by the scene where Delilah goes into a modern style church and is met by the young priest. In an interview with Keith Gallasch, Warwick Thornton says of this scene in the Alice Springs church with the priest: "It was interesting, that priest. I'd written this really bad piece of dialogue, you know, "Get out, get out!" It was horrific. I'd always hated it through all the drafts." (http://www.realtimearts.net/article/issue90/9405).
By cutting the dialogue totally, the scene is left open-ended and the audience fills in the blanks, perhaps for most of us feeling the priest is left not knowing what to say to the young girl who has come in. Perhaps the priest could not give adequate answers or comfort to what he perceives was her situation?
Music references abound and these are also a key to understanding and appreciating the film. Warwick's brother plays Gonzo, an alcoholic who is one of the few people to provide some basic human friendship to the pair when they meet up with him in his zone underneath the town bridge. He leaves when he is provided a spot in a rehab centre, and goes off singing ‘Jesus gonna be here' by Tom Waits, illustrating again an ambivalence with organised religion because it is ‘the Christians' who provide this service. He will get his three meals a day, but where does this Jesus bit fit in?
And perhaps most significantly there are the hair cutting scenes which connections which most critics seem to have missed. Delilah cuts her own lovely hair after the death of her Nana, and in the Warlpiri tradition, this shows mourning and humility, a cutting of any vanity. She takes away from herself.
Samson also cuts his hair when he mourns, and progresses into an even lower ebb without any strength or conviction as his addiction takes over his being. It is when he is at his lowest that Delilah is able to help him. She is not the temptress or betrayer of the Bible, but an angel of light, radiating an image of hope and renewal, helping him out of his physical and mental state. One critic Sandra Hall (Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May) has written that Thornton "... has Delilah helping the spaced-out Samson to bathe himself - a scene filled with intimations of baptism and regeneration."
There is a welcome innocence about this love and their life that makes one consider the counter culture message of the Christian gospel. In a way, I can see that Thornton is providing perhaps an understated reflection about his own understanding of unconditional love. He does not articulate this in a way we would do in a word based sermon, but he appears to have an overriding need to show a message of unconditional love to his own community and the wider community today.
At the end Charley Pride's song - ‘All I have to offer you is me' closes out the film and captures what they have to offer to each other. They do not have wealth, success, worldly trappings, and Delilah's ‘family home' is certainly no mansion. In the end there is simply a new hope for Samson and Delilah, but we don't know where this will lead, even though the cross has been put in place.
Peter Bentley
(Samson and Delilah - rated MA, language use and adult themes)
Note: This review won the Gold Award for 'Best review of another medium' at the 2010 Australasian Religious Press Association Awards.
The review was published in the ACC Magazine: ACCatalyst - June 2009.
The judge commented: "Placing the film in both cinematic and religious context, the reviewer astutely and convincingly draws out a Christian appellation of this important Australian film - a perspective as he noted, that many mainstream reviewers neglected."
The Gruen Church?
The Gruen Church?
One of the few TV shows I ‘religiously watch' is The Gruen Transfer. Screening on ABC TV, it is a show about advertising - how it is done, how it influences us and interestingly for a medium stereotyped as devoid of values and ethics, consideration of significant moral questions. It has rated very well, averaging 1.25 million viewers a week, across all adult demographics. Produced by Zapruder's Other Films*, with Executive Producer, Andrew Denton, The Gruen Transfer is named after Victor Gruen, the guy who designed the very first shopping mall. The term describes that split second when the mall's intentionally confusing layout makes our eyes glaze and our jaws slacken... the moment when we forget what we came for and become impulse buyers." (http://www.abc.net.au/tv/gruentransfer/theshow.htm)
It is also a show that complements parts of the emergent church and could be a way of learning about the pervasive influence of the visual media culture in our society. After all, who hasn't seen an ad, or perhaps even bought advertising. Most churches advertise, whether for staff positions or programmes and events. Our church publications rely on advertising for a significant part of their overall budgets.
The panel on The Gruen Transfer is led by Wil Anderson, host and certainly quick wit, always ready to pounce on a comment and turn it to his advantage. He is joined by Todd Sampson, CEO of Leo Burnett, who provides the trendy and emergent connection, and Russel Howcroft, Chairman and Managing Director of George Patterson's Y&R, who shows the slightly older conservative connection. Together they actually demonstrate elements of what some emergent churches are like, an attempt to bridge culture, generational outlooks and moral frameworks.
What are the features that connect?
Firstly there is no communal singing - the ‘congregation' or audience is primarily that - an ‘audience'.
This is partly about being pragmatic as well as contemporary, as it enables one to avoid the whole issue of what music to use in church. In advertising you use music when appropriate, and primarily as background or entertainment, but you do not have to have one form of music for all, as it can target an audience. In ads, music can be critiqued - you can genuinely show your love or hatred and people realise this is a personal issue.
There is time for sharing by the leaders - In the ‘Ads we talked about section', popular ads are considered and people are made to feel part of the overall discussion even though they are not physically contributing. Especially significant is the ‘ad of the Week' and a more considered exposure of significant issues within advertising.
There is a practical orientation designed to illustrate and engage with people at the time - an ad just for you as you watch.
In the segment ‘The Pitch', The Gruen Transfer allows ad agencies creative freedom to take on a hard sell - something usually the opposite of what is culturally or logically accepted. There are two agencies involved, allowing a competitive approach, which is the hallmark of an ad campaign - making a pitch to a client, and these ads are usually lateral approaches. I have been fascinated by attempts to make cane toads the favourite Australian pet, or trying to get Australians to hate Don Bradman, or literally selling ice to eskimos.
In the emergent church these segments could replace the traditional word based sermon - as the group it is aiming at is more visual by experience, and by nature want to feel that the worship is designed for them on that night - no continuing rituals needed as it is one-off messages that make it special.
An issue provides the focus - emergent churches usually focus on issues. The Gruen Transfer has this tailor made as advertising has a serial issue orientation. The issues are often socially oriented, or relevant for contemporary discussion and debate, and also aid continuing discussion long past the screening. Substantial discussion has centred around cigarette advertising, Child Abuse awareness, and environmental themes. There is also an attempt to consider moral dimensions of contemporary advertising.
Many churches are still grappling with moral issues, even if some churches only publicly find morality in certain areas of the other's political world. In The Gruen Transfer on 25th March 2009 there was a helpful consideration of the now Infamous "I'm Heidi - please help me find the man in the jacket" You Tube spot, which as everyone except for those who have never watched TV, used the web, or read a newspaper or magazine, would know was simply a beat up by an ad agency for a new clothing range. This was actually a form of word of mouth advertising. Various styles are used in this way, such as the placement of cigarettes in see-through bags carried by attractive women, or hiring models to spend time in new bars. The discussion of the morality of the Heidi ad provided a vivid discussion about the nature of truth and trust. Most of the panel thought this ad was a type of blatant lie, which went too far, especially as the organisations involved even made fun of the media organisations which took up the ‘story'.
When is an advertisement not an advertisement? For people like me who are naturally distrusting, or at least aware of the concept of total depravity, I actually did not believe it for a second, but then sadly I now rarely believe the crying husband on TV asking for help to find their wife's murderer.
Word of mouth advertising is very important in churches today - in fact they were one of the earliest proponents of this, and it is one of the reasons why churches struggle today as many members find it difficult to promote their own church in a personal way. It is also clear that the trust that churches once automatically commanded has been removed from the equation, and people are more inclined to think of negative impressions when the church is raised, rather than positive community impressions.
Matt Jones, a guest panellist on 6th May 2009, provided insight into the Heidi ad. One could actually work his comments in a mini-sermon - like the Sermon on the Mount for Gen X. In his short explanation of this form of advertising and why it breached contemporary understandings of relationship, opinion and identity he reiterated the foundations for developing trust:
? Say who you are representing
? Say what you think
? Say who you really are
How do you end contemporary worship?
Lastly, when does emergent church worship end? There is often no traditional ending of a service, with a word of mission and blessing, and interestingly there is the lack of a formal end as well in The Gruen Transfer, with credits mingling with a final quirky ad before people morph to their computers for further contact. It is the web community that continues - the show is the starting point, and the web is the next logical step to keeping your audience. The web also allows you to watch the show when you want to, join in and make an ad, re-cap the main points and share material with friends. This is part of the convergence of technology today, and it is something the emergent churches have used well. When away, people can take their church with them.
There is significant debate now appearing about the emergent church, and certainly in the area of worship, there should be debate, and in the area of cultural appreciation, it is worth considering again the impact of contemporary culture on the church.
Peter Bentley
8 May 2009
* As I explained in my review of God on My Side, the Denton documentary on the 2006 Religious Broadcasters Convention (USA), this is a reference to the most famous short film of all time - the Zapruder family „home movie? of the assassination of John F Kennedy.
The Theology of John Wesley, Holy Love and the Shape of Grace
Paul Langkamp reviews Kenneth Collins new book The Theology of John Wesley, Holy Love and the Shape of Grace. Collins is a long-time professor of Wesley’s theology at Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, USA. Paul says “It’s wonderful title proclaims what it is: a scholarly work about John Wesley’s sermons and commentaries and other material that lays out the two great Christian themes weaving their way through all Christian thought.”