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Inglorious Basterds
A strange thing happened to me in the theater last night once the trailers were finished and the feature film, Inglorious Basterds, began. I felt a wave of love wash over me. I felt connected to everyone in the theater as though I knew and loved and was loved by everyone there. Like Christmas morning, opening the stockings with the family. It was intense. I felt like grinning from ear to ear. I had no idea where this came from or what it was for. It seemed simultaneously odd and the most normal thing in the world to feel. Why don’t we always feel this way toward each other, toward other human beings, simply because we are fellow beings, fellow human beings?
Then the movie kicked in. An opening scene of incredible cruelty, one human being hunting down other humans beings because they are Jewish. Then the gathering together of the Inglorious Basterds, a group of Jewish American soldiers sent behind enemy lines in WWII to brutally kill Nazi soldiers in order to put the fear of the Allied armies into the German ranks. Flat out revenge–a powerful human response to evil. We laughed at revenge and rejoiced in it’s purity. We cheered the avengers.
Love. Hate. Evil. Good. Human beings.
What is God speaking through this film?
Tags: bradd pitt, God, hate, Inglorious Basterds, love, movie, quentin tarantino, revenge
August 24th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
That’s interesting. I had the same or very similar experience watching the film. I missed the trailers and ads, but as soon as I was in the theater I was inexplicably happy and couldn’t help smiling and was quite pleased to be there with everyone. However, I thought maybe I should not be so happy because this is a Quentin Tarantino movie and God would not want me to watch this movie. But then again maybe, this is exactly the sort of movie, or story telling, that God appreciates. Not that I have any idea really, but I have a few thoughts.
what does God appreciate in this film? I’m not qualified to answer this, but I’ll give it a go. The honesty. It’s refreshingly and brutally honest and doesn’t moralize characters’ actions. Tarantino has a talent for getting at the heart of what is motivating the characters in a short amount of time. Tarantino also expertly makes fun of any ego inflating. The artifacts of all ego promotion are well timed and well placed in the film. And while many characters are motivated by revenge, which is very human, the true villains are revealed as those who side with whomever is in a position of power at the time. Also, the characters generally take an active role rather than a passive role. And I’m sure there is more to say, it’s too complex to cover everything here but those are a few of my thoughts.
August 25th, 2009 at 4:54 am
Why did you go to see such a crappy movie in the first place?
August 25th, 2009 at 9:23 am
hmm. compassion, justice and furious grace.
August 25th, 2009 at 10:06 am
According to Christian Movie reviews: http://www.movieguide.org/box-office/4/9951/inglourious-basterds
This movie while rated heavy in language and violence while it is not considered a “family-friendly” movie it did get pretty good reviews. I personally have not seen the movie nor really have the desire to see it, however, I guess you can see God even in a violent movie–sometimes seeing things of such evil can help us appreciate how wonderful God really is.
August 25th, 2009 at 10:15 am
“A strange thing happened to me …I felt a wave of love wash over me. I felt connected to everyone…as though I knew and loved and was loved by everyone there. … I felt like grinning from ear to ear. I had no idea where this came from or what it was for. It seemed simultaneously odd and the most normal thing in the world to feel.”
That happened to me once.
The one and only time I did Psychedelic MUSHROOMS.
BD
No Joke. I can even tell you where I was…
August 25th, 2009 at 11:46 am
Bob.
Did you see the movie?
I have been thinking about it, but I am not sure I want to be exposed to the violence, but that’s a personal choice. I did see Kill Bill and liked it.
August 25th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Another thought….
This feeling of love towards other humans has been something I have felt just a tinge of in the last few months. Not to the extent that I smile, but just enough I notice and have an appreciation for other’s uniquenesses and feel less of the annoyance I sometimes get when others get in my way.
I also notice it tends to happen more often towards women I find attractive, so it may well be more related to my single status than any God given love….
How can I have this smidgen of what I hope is God’s love purified and increased? It sure would make it a lot less difficult to do the Jesus thing and love others as myself.
August 25th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I know the feeling … perhaps the touch of God, to remind us of something better and brighter … just how good and right it feels to love -be connected … yet in a Tarantino film, we see the world for what it is, and how it mostly operates, including us, the church, too. But in remembering the love, we might be a tad bit more restrained in our knee-jerk responses and a little more cautious in our vengeful inclinations.
August 26th, 2009 at 12:00 am
BD, you sound like the folks who accused the disciples of being drunk on pentecost.:)
August 26th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Joao,
No, I have not seen the movie. The last movie I saw in a theater was The Passion of the Christ, on the day it premiered. I got a free ticket from a Baptist church, and the entire theater was filled with Baptists and their guests. I got to sit in the last row, dead center, exactly where I prefered to sit for such a loud, violent, and abusive film. So I’m not necessarily against loudness, violence, or abuse in a film, per se!
Ken, I still would like to know, why did you go to see such a crappy movie in the first place?
August 26th, 2009 at 8:04 am
Come, Holy Spirit. Enter us and inhabit us always. Take up dominion over us and shelter us from ourselves. Create new lives for us that are everlasting. Open this moment in us that is eternity itself. And by your holy presence, restore us gently to one another and to God.
August 30th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
Saw it today. Brilliant acting, phenomenal characters, interesting exploration of revenge. Definitely forcing me to ponder my own appetite for revenge.
Bob O I’m not sure what you’re getting at. Crappy because its Tarantino? Crappy because its not about Jesus? Crappy because you want to wag your moral finger in Ken’s face? Clearly your not a movie critic. Where’s this criticism aimed?
September 4th, 2009 at 12:54 am
‘BD, you sound like the folks who accused the disciples of being drunk on pentecost.:)’
Let’s see now… So, in this metaphor,
Viewing a Quentin Tarantino film =
The Holy Spirit coming down from heaven, empowering believers with dreams, visions, signs & wonders, and ultimately leading to about three thousand people being saved that day.
Got it.
God Bless The Ann Arbor Vineyard…
BD
September 6th, 2009 at 3:43 pm
BD…maybe you should read your own posts. If you did, you would have seen that my response was to your comparison of Ken’s experience of love towards the people in the theater to your feelings when you intoxicated yourself with mushrooms.
Therefore;
BD’s accusation/mockery of Ken’s experience of love towards perfect strangers as a result of drug intoxication =
Bystanders in Israel’s accusation/mockery of the disciples’ experience of The Holy Spirit coming down from heaven, empowering believers with dreams, visions, signs & wonders, and ultimately leading to about three thousand people being saved that day, as drunkenness.
God bless BD…I can always count on you for a loving, genuine analysis.
Joao