Film and Media
The Boys Are Back - Film Comment
I'll be back boys.
A Review of The Boys are Back - 2009 (M)
Arnold Schwarzenegger's iconic line has been given a twist in The Boys Are Back, the new feature from Scott Hicks. Hicks is the celebrated director of Shine, which in 1996 won Geoffrey Rush an Academy Award. While many readers may not see this new film, it is worth considering for the context and issues. There are some quite realistic portrayals, and yet also amateurish, and perhaps even mediocre and unnecessary elements and scenes. It is good technical production, especially with the complementary music of the wistful Icelandic band Sigur Rós and Hal Lindes, formerly of Dire Straits.
Based on a true story ‘The Boys are Back in Town by political journalist Simon Carr, a father coming to grips with parenthood following the death of his wife, Clive Owen plays the lead Joe Warr, who in the film is an English sports writer now living in Australia, because as we find out he got too close to one of his interviewees and "got her pregnant", and then left his first wife and young son (Harry) to what he had hoped would be a long life with his new love Katy. We meet him devastated, and unprepared as he has always been on the road covering sporting events. Not only does he have a soon to be seven year old Artie, (there is a quintessential Australian boy birthday party scene), but he soon has his teenage son arrive, who has a break from his mother and new partner in England.
South Australian readers will be familiar with the areas in the Fleurieu Peninsula, and many of the locations, including the airport, Flinders Hospital (Bedford Park), and towns used include Kangarilla, Hendon, Willunga and Glenelg. Hicks lived in Adelaide from his early teenage years, and now his family now have their own Vineyard. The setting is very noticeably South Australian with Katy's family vineyard actually a real-life working vineyard (Dog Ridge) at McLaren Vale.
There are many familiar actors, with Julia Blake and Chris Haywood playing the parents of Joe's deceased wife Katy. The wife (played by Laura Fraser) re-appears throughout the film, not as a ghost, but a type of affirming conscience to let him know he is doing okay.
The film has many aspects and this is one drawback as it could be seen as partly educational drama and social commentary, and even part farce. Issues abound:
The teenage son feeling abandoned by his father but giving it a second go.
The supportive grandparents grieving for their daughter, but still with their own busy lives, unable to drop everything to care for the grandson, and yet the grandmother clearly believes she would do a better job raising Artie than Joe.
The social dating scene of single parents and the pronounced desire to know what type of relationship one has - is it child helper and cleaner for hopeless messy males?
The use of technology which allows Joe to write stories as if he was courtside at the Australian Open even though he is still at home with the boys.
The depth, of and problems created by a drinking culture in Australia.
The main area explored is that of practical parenting today. It is more unusual to have single fathers in film roles, and the idea follows the traditional one of the father coming to grips with parenting by simply fitting it into his lifestyle.
Warr has a philosophy of Just Say Yes (to your kids). This is outlined in those cute colour alphabet magnets that abound on fridges in houses with children. He finds this works, and the idea of rules, well that is all a bit loose. He advises that "... the more rules there are, the more crimes are committed."
Joe has one overall rule which is basically if he tells you something, then you have to do it. One rule he announces is ‘no swearing, but this is soon and obviously broken. The occasional coarse language and adult references are however mostly not gratuitous, as they are used to illustrate elements of Australian society. At the least, one can easily work out why a certain level of confusion could arise in this family. There are some extraordinary examples of a parent letting a child do something, including driving a car (albeit sitting on his father's lap). I will not even mention the opening sequence in case you see the film.
Overall I felt ambiguous about Joe Warr. In Australia we are supposed to love a larrikin, but there is a limit to the amount of selfishness even a larrikin can get away with, even if clearly he has a deep love for his boys. I found this film tailored for a secular, and fairly Godless country which in terms of the statistics in rural South Australia is far from the truth. Where does Joe seek comfort? Not in any form of faith, and certainly not a church. There is the help of friends and family, but they also provide complications, and often a point of rigid contrast with his freeing attitude. Joe is essentially by himself, or with a drink, or his boys, but they are too young to help a grown man accept his responsibilities. I think it would have created a more positive message if they had all gone to family counselling, and this may have also helped with all Joe and Artie's grief.
This film reminds me of the tendency in some parts of the church to consider pastoral care to be letting people get what they want and even helping them to do things which are not helpful.
Joe comes back and forth, and back again - and the boys do too. I will not say too much but I doubt if there will be surprises. This could have been a much more lyrical film, but its larrikin whimsicalness has an edge that for me provided unease.
Peter Bentley
Gethsemane - Too ugly for the Church, too pretty for the world!
How would you have reacted to these words from a professional music executive? This is how one band was characterised by someone evaluating their appeal. Gethsemane is a band that moves through different music scenes. They have appeared on many stages, from inner-city hotels to Christian music festivals, like Black Stump, and have received increasing air play time in Australia. They are now trying to approach the ‘Christian' music scene in a different way in Sydney and beyond.
Their music is a combination of rock, soul, blues and funk. Mat Beltran undertakes vocals, with Matt Bourne - guitar/vocals, Corey Sellwood - bass, and Luke Fowler on drums.
In a distinct twist to a modern band, Steve Davis is involved as a poet, and at concerts is available to deliver his own work during musical interludes.
What does it mean to be a Christian Band? Is it simply because the members are Christian? Is it because the lyrics are full of overtly Christian terminology? The Christian music scene is a varied and diverse arena and in the USA, a very large niche market with its own significant awards and recognition.
Gethsemane has spent time working through where they fit in. The secular music scene often sees them as too Christian and the Christian music scene as ‘not quite Christian enough'. A professional from the secular scene even proposed that they change their name to get more gigs. Lately they see themselves as having a definite ministry toward the Church and helping local churches connect with people it normally does not reach.
When one first hears their music it is the depth and almost piercing nature of the works that clearly resonate with their Christian connection.
Why Gethsemane? I was able to speak with the lead singer, Mat Beltran and ask him about the name and his faith.
Mat explained to me that this was the cornerstone - the "point where the hall of salvation hinged". The Gethsemane of Christ made it real for him - the humanity of Christ displayed and the enormity of His decision made Mat realise that he did not need to do anything more. The words of Christ ‘It is finished" have taken on a significant meaning for him personally.
The band members want to share their life and faith through personal songs and lyrics which they hope will connect with people who are searching, and often struggling with life, and addictions. They regularly have people come up to them at concerts, and ask them, what it is about them that is different - what are they saying with their music? Mat and sometimes other members also share their testimony and stories during their performances, especially at Christian concerts.
For Mat, his story is a simple yet deep sharing of his struggles with addiction and how God lifted him up and washed him clean. Mat is at pains to explain that there was nothing exciting about his previous life. He hopes the "horrible elements" will be an awakening to those caught up with temptation now, and also an encouragement to those who have not been down this path to keep following Jesus. It is from personal experience that Mat has found peace in the words of Jesus:
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11: 28-30 (NIV)
I put to Mat that their music could be seen as a form of pre-evangelism. It provides a connection for people. It asks people to look at what God has done in their life and raises the possibility of a new or renewed life. Their outreach has developed, with beach mission work and people are beginning to appreciate their ability to connect with younger people that the wider church has difficulty reaching.
In 2008, the band went to the USA for an initial exploration of the Christian music scene and possibilities, and there are now plans for a further tour and also different Christian ministry from 2010.
Gethsemane has four releases out: Gethsemane EP; Blood Wine and Spirit; No One; and their latest work: Get Somewhere
http://www.myspace.com/gethsemanemusic
Peter Bentley
Updated October 2009
Photo: Gethsemane performing at Newtown Mission under the Revelation Ceiling: 20 September 2008: Peter Bentley
A Reflection from the poet member - Steve Davis
Jesus, the Holy Spirit and Discipleship
Upon being baptised by John and receiving the Holy Spirit and the Father's declaration of approval, Jesus is led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he spent forty days being tempted by the Devil. After this period of testing passed, he returned to human settlement and commenced his ministry in the power of the Spirit.
It was the Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness where his faith was tested in adverse circumstances - a wilderness is not a comfortable or easy place to be and it forces you to rely on your faith and God-given capacity to survive and persevere. Jesus' understanding of who he was, what his calling was, and who the Father is, was refined by testing in the wilderness. He was left in no doubt about God, the Devil, and the need for faith and obedience in order to persevere under trial. Then he returnd to civilised society and began to live out his calling.
There should be no surprise for disciples of Jesus when they find themselves at the beginning of some work or activity in line with God's calling on their lives, and seem to wind up in some sort of interior wilderness where their reserves of faith and endurance are tested to what may seem their limits. This would appear to be an almost normal part of Christian life, as disciples seek to follow their Master. Not that it's necessarily inevitable - just very possible that some sort of testing and trial is necessary to strip away all the extras and excesses that can clutter faith and spirituality, and thereby lead us into a greater conscious dependence on our heavenly Father and a greater reliance on the biblical Jesus.
Wilderness
When circumstances lead us into the interior wilderness, life can be painful because this interior wilderness is often characterised by conflicting impulses and emotions, confusion and doubt. In some ways we join Jesus in Gethsemane where we are caught up in the conflict between our own desire to live on our own terms on the one hand, and the Father's will on the other. This can lead to confusion as we struggle to maintain clarity in our understanding of God's calling on our lives in the midst of competing sensations and emotions. In some ways we are confronted with the choice that Jesus had to make - letting go of our calling in order to live life on our own terms, or letting go of our own comfortable certainties to live on God's terms. Our natural mind and our spiritual mind speak with opposing voices and our inner eye becomes confused by the interplay of shadows and light. We can fall into doubt that paralyses our will - doubt about our calling, doubt about our capacities, and doubt about God's goodness. We are caught up in the ages-old conflict between pride and humility, selfishness and love, faith and doubt, and this can be exhausting and painful. It is then that we need to hold onto the hem of Jesus' robe and ask for healing in the midst of our confusion and doubt. Jesus knew with certainty what his calling was and it is his faith we need to end the doubt, it is his clarity we need to end the confusion, it is his strength we need to find peace in the midst of painful sensations and emotions and conflicting impulses. As we find Jesus in Gethsemane, we find peace, light and truth, and the courage to take the next step on our journey out of the wilderness through the of time of testing. We may be convicted of our weakness, but our faith in God's sovereignty and goodness may very well be strengthed as we find the angels ministering to us in the wilderness.
Balibo – An Inconvenient Truth
What is truth? Many people have asked, though perhaps Pilate can take credit for making this a popular reference. I was thinking of Jesus while viewing this film, not because of any religious references, but purely because this film touches on the nature of oral testimony, mainly eyewitness reports delivered years later, and the resultant interpretation by scholars and writers today.
There are many excellent Australian historical films grounded in real events, though containing fictional elements - Breaker Morant, The Year of Living Dangerously, and of course Gallipoli. All these shed light on the new film by Robert Connelly - Balibo, a story, thoroughly grounded in the real life events of late 1975. This period would be well-known to most Australians now, especially through the reports of the coronial inquest into the death of Brian Peters, and by intimate association, the other members of the Balibo Five. Journalists Brian Peters and Malcolm Rennie (British citizens working for Channel 9), and Greg Shackleton (Australian), Gary Cunningham (NZ), Tony Stewart (Australian) (all Channel 7), were killed as Indonesian troops invaded East Timor on October 16 1975. The film follows their story through the investigation and reporting of another journalist Roger East (played by Anthony LaPaglia) who was the last foreign journalist left in Easter Timor at the time of the full Indonesian offensive, and his death is well documented now as being on December 8, 1975, along with scores of East Timorese who were murdered at the Dili waterfront area. East's final words (at least according to the film), were " I'm Australian".
In one sense the main story is that of the journalists, and the side story is the actual country and the terrible troubles that began and continued for 25 years. The viewer gains a glimpse of the impending death toll, though this is not full known, with estimates varying between 50,000 and 200,000, with the higher numbers including people who died through disease and malnutrition. In our more contemporary memory are the events like the Santa Cruz massacre in 1991, and the 1999 UN Sponsored referendum and then Australia's involvement in the peace-keeping efforts.
There is also another level of the film operating as the context for historical reflection is shown through the operation of the Commission on Reception, Truth, Reconciliation and Reconciliation of Timor-Leste, which produced ‘The Profile of Human Rights Violations in Timor-Leste 1974-1999. One East Timorese citizen, a young girl in 1975, and now a mother brings to vivid detail the personal side for herself and her country within the context of East's death.
There is also some reference to the integral Catholic foundation of the East Timorese, through the visit to a Catholic mission school which did take place and helps to show the larrikin and carefree spirit of the journalists. Given the important place of religious faith in East Timor, I would have thought the role of the church could have been considered more, but the context here is the Australians, and unfortunately we do not learn much about their beliefs or even philosophical leanings, apart from occasional comments from Shackleton and East.
In this way, there is a similarity with the film The Killing Fields, which Connelly has highlighted as an influential film. The Killing Fields focuses on the reporting and friendship of journalist Sydney Schanberg with Dith Pran, the Kymer Rouge survivor. In Balibo, it is the relationship between Roger East and the man who was to become the leading figure in exile for east Timor José Manuel Ramos-Horta. Ramos-Horta became the first foreign minister in 2002 when the country achieved its independence, and later Prime Minister and then its second President in 2007.
The film producers have gone to length to show their historical credibility and in the opening credits the statement is made the film is a true story. This is of course true in one sense, though the more appropriate wording of this statement is actually recorded at the end, namely based on true events, which clearly allows for some events to be included which did not happen, like East visiting Balibo, and also for a best scenario based on the coronial interviews in terms of the actual murders of the Balibo five.
The nature of the film (including some aspects or aspersions I did not see in the film itself), has sparked debates in the national newspaper, including comments from former politicians of the time defending their role, foreign policy and diplomacy at the time. The producers have created an excellent film webs site and material in one section ‘Balibo in Depth' - is curated by consulting historian Dr Clinton Fernandes, Senior Lecturer, Strategic Studies, UNSW - Australian Defence Force Academy, reinforcing the overall long-term historical study of East Timor.
Balibo illustrates the nature and depth of sin, and how this explodes during the chaos of war and the institution of terror. This film is a timely and strong reminder of the inherent danger in journalism, especially investigative journalism and ‘reporting from the frontline'. The Committee to Protect Journalists compiles extensive statistics on the deaths of journalists, with 742 confirmed dead since 1992 (as at 8 July 2009), with 72 percent murdered and 18 percent combat related. Of the 742, 93 percent are males, and 88 percent were killed with complete impunity. In East Timor, soon after the pro-independence vote in 1999, two more journalists were murdered, including one Indonesian journalist who was travelling with nine Catholic religious and aid workers at the time. From the resultant examination of the bodies, it was concluded all were killed at close range.
I have no doubt that the Balibo five were murdered by Indonesian troops, rather than unfortunately caught in the crossfire as Indonesian officials had proposed. Looking at the above CPJ statistics, the likelihood of all five being accidentally killed is nil, and in 2007 the coronial inquest provided substantial backing.
Balibo is also a historical window on the nature of technology and communication. Nowadays reporters send their reports via satellite phone or laptop; here it is rudimentary, with the use of the telex, typewriters, and real film in the cameras. One can still hear the interviews of Roger East in interviews with the ABC in later 1975 (highlighted in a recent Hindsight programme. In one report he says "Well, everything's settling down here, or so it seems. I'm quite happy. I think I'm on a very peaceful island." Sobering material.
Finally, I come back to the use of history and go out on a limb, and suggest that following this film's historical methodology could encourage secular popular novelists and atheistic apologists to consider that at least the death and even the resurrection of Christ are very well historically grounded.
Peter Bentley
Balibo - rated M.
Note: Review also edited and included in ACCatalyst September 2009
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.