The Gospel According to Tarantino Revisited


Abstract:
Great article at The Ooze on Tarantino and religion.

Body:
I did a Bible study on Tarantino movies last year. Even though we only had 5 people or so, it went pretty well. We used the last sketch in Four Rooms (on greed), the last scene in Pulp Fiction (on miracles), the "why we can't get even" scene from Kill Bill (on revenge), and one other that I can't for the life of me remember. I think it may have been Jackie Brown.

I got into a friendly argument with a preacher-friend a few weeks ago on the difference between vulgarity and obscenity, and the distinction between endorsing a set of cultural markers (which he reads as foul language, violence, graphic sex - sin, in other words), and using available resources as a missionary in our culture. I think if you don't speak Tarantino, you will have a hard time reaching some people. For folks like me, who think there are wonderful Biblical truths in Fight Club, or Harry Potter, or any of a host of other movies that many church people would classify as "unChristian" or even "anti-Christian," it's pretty easy to draw a pretty wide circle. But sometimes I do wonder if, living in the creative tension between Christ and culture, I don't err too often on the culture side.

Posted: Mon - October 17, 2005 at 09:13 PM           |

©