| Compiled by Leo Partible
(Week of February 9, 2005)
Reel Faith in Pop Culture is newsletter from FilmPR.com that compiles headlines and resources to inform the Christian
community of the growing impact of Christians in pop culture. To get the full story click on the link.
For questions or comments about this bi-weekly newsletter please contact Leo Partible at leo@filmpr.com
Also visit his website at www.dpgvisions.com
CONTENTS
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
*Gavin Rossdale talks about Gwen Stefani's devoutly Catholic mom
HEADLINES:
*With America at war, Hollywood follows
*Gasps as Hillary woos the anti-abortion vote
*A new breed of rock star -- quietly Christian
*Hip-Hop Mogul Russell Simmons praises Republican Governor
* Buffy creator Joss Whedon rumored to do Shadowmancer
*Steve Harvey on faith in Hollywood - 'Christ is pretty big! You dig?
* White Stripes frontman Jack White once considered the priesthood
*Green Evangelicals -- Christian Right Turns, Sometimes Warily, to Environmentalism
* The Passion Recut Coming to Theaters
*Cal Thomas on 'Shedding light in dark places'
*O.C. co-executive producer Allan Heinberg also writes for Marvel's Young Avenger s;
A Jewish kid who loves Christian Music
*From Father to Son -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Sex
*Kanye West May Get Grammy for 'Jesus'
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
*THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNICATOR: SEVEN PRINCIPLES JESUS LIVED TO IMPACT, CONNECT AND LEAD by Erik Lokkesmoe and Jedd Medefind
*WHO NEEDS A SUPERHERO? by H. Michael Brewer (with a Forward by Leo Partible)
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
Bono muses about the Left and Right:
"The Left mocks the Right. The Right knows it's right. Two ugly traits. How far should we go to try to understand each others point of view? Maybe the distance grace covered on the cross is a clue."
Gavin Rossdale talks about Gwen Stefani's devoutly Catholic mom:
"She (Gwen Stefani) was happy I got the ( Constantine ) job. She was just really happy for me, I think it is the mother-in-law that
I am most worried about. She is a very good Catholic. I need to prepare her. I am mainly concerned about some of Gabrielle's language in context with my mother-in-law. She doesn't like the cuss words and having the angel Gabriel using the kind of venacular--I might just cough at that point. I have been working on a very hearty cough."
RECOMMENDED BOOKS:
THE REVOLUTIONARY COMMUNICATOR: SEVEN PRINCIPLES JESUS LIVED TO IMPACT, CONNECT AND LEAD by Erik Lokkesmoe and Jedd Medefind (Relevant Books)
The Revolutionary Communicator explores the revolutionary power and impact of Jesus' approach to communication, presenting seven communication truths that remain relevant 2,000 years later. In a media-dominated era, all readers--from parents to
pastors to politicians--are invited on a journey to rediscover the passageways to influence, impact and relate, and to learn how to integrate seven communication truths in their relationships and professions.
Author Dwight Bain comments, "Today I had a chance to do a radio interview Erik Lokkesmoe and Judd Medefind, authors of
'The Revolutionary Communicator' on WTLN in Orlando, FL. They outlined the 7 key principles to achieve a dramatic level of commection in communication, both at work and in personal relationships. While they were talking about how to get better results in daily communications, I noticed that my co-host and I were both busy writing down their insights as fast as they shared them. Their principles were effective and easy to put into use immedietely to get better results in your day to day interactions with
others. This book quickly gets in your face about taking personal responsibility to make positive changes, and it will likely
step on your toes in places, but it's worth checking out if you want to learn to connect to others with boldness and strength."
Order from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com
WHO NEEDS A SUPERHERO? by H. Michael Brewer (with a Forward by Leo Partible) (Baker Books)
Christian audiences need a resource that will help them understand the Biblical themes presented in the comic book inspired films and television shows such as The Incredibles , The Matrix , Spider-Man , The X-Men , Smallville , Buffy The Slayer , Blade, The Hulk , Daredevil , Unbreakable , Hellboy , The Punisher , The Road to Perdition , Ghost World , From Hell , American Splendor , and the upcoming Elektra , Batman Begins , The Fantastic Four , Star Wars Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith , and the new Superman film.
Order from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com
HEADLINES:
With America at war, Hollywood follows:
In a reflection of America's conflict in Iraq, a proliferation of TV and film projects is focusing on the U.S. military, the war or both. Big-screen ventures in the works range from dramas ( No True Glory: The Battle for Fallujah ,set to star Harrison Ford; and Jarhead , about the Gulf War and starring Jamie Foxx and Jake Gyllenhaal, opening Nov. 11) to comedies ( The Tiger and the Snow , starring Roberto Benigni) and documentaries ( Gunner Palace , opening March 4)...Not since World War II has Hollywood so embraced an ongoing conflict. It took years for pop culture to tackle the Korean and Vietnam wars, and it took time before the country was ready to be entertained by those politically charged conflicts.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20050208/1a_cover08.art.htm
Gasps as Hillary woos the anti-abortion vote:
Senator Hillary Clinton, seen by many Democrats as their best bet to recapture the White House in 2008, has made an extraordinary appeal for support from Right-wing religious groups. The wife of the former president Bill Clinton said she sought common ground on abortion and described herself as a "praying person". Her words represented an attempt to repackage her image for American conservatives, many of whom despise what they see as her radical feminist views. During a speech on Monday night to mark the anniversary of Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalised abortion, Mrs Clinton drew gasps from an audience of hundreds of pro-abortion activists.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/01/26/whill26.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/01/26/ixworld.html
A new breed of rock star -- quietly Christian:
In the US, rock artists including Alice Cooper, who is a born-again Christian, and members of Creed and POD, are more willing
to speak up, and sing, about God. According to Mr. Cole, the Christian music scene has traditionally been hampered by the fact that mainstream radio will not play their songs, and shops will not stock their records, unlike in America, where Wal-mart is happy to sell Christian rock alongside more secular music. He is confident the scene will finally become mainstream with the
emergence of music downloads and the internet as a form of distribution. In the UK, young Christians are buying polyphonic ringtones of their favourite Christian artists as religious rock takes up modern technology. Through the web, he believes,
Christian artists can reach new audiences without the aid of mainstream labels that discourage their stars from talking about religion.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,1401227,00.html
Hip-Hop Mogul Russell Simmons praises Republican Governor:
Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons yesterday said Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is winning over black voters with urban initiatives, especially criminal-justice reforms, and raising the Republican Party's profile among blacks nationwide. "He raised
the whole party up," Mr. Simmons told The Washington Times. "He makes every Republican open for discussion" among black voters. Mr. Simmons, the man behind the Def Jam Recordings music label and the platinum-plated careers of acts like the
Beastie Boys, LL Cool J and Run-DMC, often has used his rap empire to advance liberal political activism. But the rap impresario applauded Mr. Ehrlich, a Republican, for reforming drug laws to steer nonviolent offenders into treatment instead of prison, and also for supporting Maryland's historic black universities.
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20050201-122040-8896r.htm
Buffy creator Joss Whedon rumored to do Shadowmancer :
Sunndale fave Joss Whedon is Fortitude and Universal's first choice to pen the film script for Graham Taylor's first book, "Shadowmancer", according to whitebytoday . Taylor sold the movie rights to the book last year, for about $3 million. Filming is likely to take place next year, with much of it on the coast between Scarborough and Whitby.
http://www.moviehole.net/news/4954.html
Steve Harvey on faith in Hollywood - 'Christ is pretty big! You dig?:
Stylish and hilarious, (Steve) Harvey is a radio talk show host, movie actor, as well as long-time host of "It's Showtime at the Apollo." Additionally, he will soon be spearheading a new line of suits, shirts, ties, hats, and shoes called "The Steve Harvey Collection" sold in fine men's clothing stores. After the press screening for Racing Stripes , he sat down with Thunderstruck and other faith-based media to talk about Hollywood, The Passion of the Christ, and his faith. "I've always had God as a part of my life. It's important out here, too, because it gives you a base, you dig? Out here, it's like Sodom and Gomorrah," he said. "This is Sin City. And if you don't have a spiritual base, you'll get caught up in it. It's inevitable."
http://www.thunderstruck.org/steveharvey.htm
h6White Stripes frontman Jack White once considered the priesthood:
Jack White of the White Stripes nearly traded his signature red-and-white outfits for a priest's robe and collar. As a young teen,
the 29-year-old rocker was nearly on the road to divinity school when an amplifier changed his mind. "I'd got accepted to the seminary in Wisconsin and I was going to become a priest, but at the last second I thought, 'I'll just go to public school,' " White said in an interview on the CBS news program "60 Minutes Wednesday." "I had just gotten a new amplifier in my bedroom and I didn't think I was allowed to take it with me."
http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/02/09/showbuzz/index.html
Green Evangelicals -- Christian Right Turns, Sometimes Warily, to Environmentalism:
Thanks to the Rev. Leroy Hedman, the parishioners at Georgetown Gospel Chapel take their baptismal waters cold. The
preacher has unplugged the electricity-guzzling heater in the immersion baptism tank behind his pulpit. He has also installed energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs throughout the church and has placed water barrels beneath its gutter pipes -- using runoff to irrigate the congregation's all-organic gardens. Such "creation care" should be at the heart of evangelical life, Hedman says, along with condemning abortion, protecting family and loving Jesus. He uses the term "creation care" because, he says, it does not annoy conservative Christians for whom the word "environmentalism" connotes liberals, secularists and Democrats.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1491-2005Feb5.html?sub=AR
The Passion Recut Coming to Theaters
Mel Gibson has made a new cut of The Passion of The Christ , trimming five to six minutes of violent scenes, reports Variety .
The new version, The Passion Recut, will go out on 500-750 screens by Newmarket Films beginning March 11. The new cut will be unrated, adds the trade. Gibson showed a preliminary version of this version to the ratings board. When it became clear he would still receive an R rating, which his original film bore, Gibson decided that would defeat his purpose.
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=8311
Cal Thomas on 'Shedding light in dark places':
Most people who accept the label "conservative Christian," or its synonyms, spend too much time throwing stones at the cultural citadels and too little acquiring and developing the skills and knowledge to allow them to compete in the ideological and cultural arena.
It has not always been so. Historically, Christians dominated the professions, not solely by force of law, but by the power of their ideas and example. William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" became a classic legal work, though most modern law schools rarely study it. Christian writers once occupied much of literature. Recall some of the names: John Milton, George Herbert, Flannery O'Connor, John Donne, G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Dorothy Sayers and T.S. Eliot.
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/cols/thomas020805.asp
O.C. co-executive producer Allan Heinberg also writes for Marvel's Young Avenger s; A Jewish kid who loves Christian
Music (InfuzeMag - registration required ).
So unguarded had a profound affect on me. In addition to introducing me to Amy Grant, I discovered Wayne Kirkpatrick, Michael W. Smith, Gary Chapman, Chris Eaton, and Dan Huff - all of whose records I subsequently sought out and loved. In fact, pretty soon, I stopped differentiating between Christian and secular music altogether. It was just great music: great writing, great performances, and great record.
http://www.infuzemag.com/interviews/archives/2005/02/allan_heinberg.html
From Father to Son -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Sex:
In 1941, Tolkien wrote a masterful letter to his son Michael, dealing with marriage and the realities of human sexuality.
The letter reflects Tolkien's Christian worldview and his deep love for his sons, and at the same time, also acknowledges the powerful dangers inherent in unbridled sexuality. "This is a fallen world," Tolkien chided. "The dislocation of sex-instinct is one of the chief symptoms of the Fall. The world has been 'going to the bad' all down the ages. The various social forms shift, and each new mode has its special dangers: but the 'hard spirit of concupiscence' has walked down every street, and sat leering in every house, since Adam fell."
http://www.christianpost.com/article/editorial/281/8|13|25/from.father.to.son--jrr.tolkien.on.sex/1.htm
Kanye West May Get Grammy for 'Jesus':
Producer-turned-rapper Kanye West ( search ) heads into Sunday night's Grammy Awards ( search ) ceremony with a leading 10 nominations -- and his inspirational mega-hit "Jesus Walks" ( search ) stands to win two awards, song of the year and best rap song. Naysayers told West a song about "hustlas, killas, murderas, drug dealas, even the strippas" and Jesus didn't have a prayer... That said, Christianity has been creeping up on American pop culture in recent years. In 2002, Christian rock bands like Creed and POD blew up the charts and converted mainstream fans. Mel Gibson's 2004 movie "The Passion of the Christ" was the third-biggest film of '04.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147048,00.html
|
