"Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!"
(Admiral Farragut, as quoted by Stop Five Records)

I was thinking the other day (ok, why do most of my posts start this way -- "I was thinking" -- as if I could write anything and not have thought...geesh) about the sort of movies, music, books that I like and it occurred to me that the ones that mean the most to me are the ones that show people as very ... how do I say this ... screwed up. A friend on the Relevant message boards asked me why I liked Punch Drunk Love, and it reminded me of that. The most meaningful stories, to me, are the ones with very unsmooth/uncool/problematic/flawed people. Just a few (recent) examples: Garden State, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Royal Tenenbaums (actually, anything Wes Anderson), 21 Grams, Mystic River, Magnolia, yadda yadda yadda. You get the idea.

And it isn't just in movies (though I seem to spend all my time talking about them). It's music too. There is just something I appreciate about vulnerability in other people -- like it gives me a reason to be vulnerable myself. Personally, I think it's one of the biggest problems with so-called "Christian music" -- a lack of being able to relate to the human condition. I don't want to fall into the trap of over-generalizing, but what seems more common than not is this inability by some Christians to show weakness, to step out and risk offending (which is a whole other topic in itself) and talk about their human struggle. It's as if we've decided that human problems aren't as significant as 'spiritual problems' (is there really even a difference?). Why is it such a scary thought to talk about doubt, about making mistakes, about anger and hate, about our inability to love people, about the dangers of wealth, about a landfill of other issues? And even when some artists dare to go there, it's with a sense of reserve, with only one foot in the water. "Yes I've struggled with doubt. But God healed me of that. Amen. Now on to a happier subject: tithing!"

When I was younger, I think I preferred stories about people/characters who were strong, who had it all together, who could do amazing things and come away from it unscathed (ie. most action movies). Now it's different. I don't relate to strong, untouchable characters -- because I've never been strong or untouchable. Show me a guy who has issues, who struggles, who has to fight not only some external problem but an internal one as well, and that's a guy I'll be able to relate to.

Ah yes. Another day, another rant. My sincerest apologies.