Thursday, March 13, 2008
Why “Experts” Never Agree with Normal People - Calling my Friend Brandon Fibbs a Film Snob
I have a friend who used to live in Colorado Springs, moved to New York for film school and now is living in D.C. Brandon is a very smart fellow, and a great movie reviewer (hint: visit his website, http://www.brandonfibbs.com/).
However, I offended Brandon with my response to his Top 10 Films of 2007. To put if frankly, I had not seen any of the films on his list and gave him my top ten. Well, Brandon called me on it and said, “Well duh, if you have not seen them, how do you know they are not better than what you saw?” (paraphrase, Brandon is far kinder than that).
However, there was a deeper issue at work than film taste. In essence, I had marked Brandon out as an elitist. And, lets be honest, on films he is (I say that with generosity and love). [It should be noted that I have also teased Brandon because it is clear that he and his wife are yet childless, because, as the father of three kids 6 and under, I don’t get to see many films and those I do, usually are animated.]
So why do we see films? And is there a right and wrong way to evaluate them? Or anything for that matter. One of my friends in the theology business made a point to me. When your favourite Christian book you are reading has un-translated German, Latin, or Greek – you are now officially an academic. Its true. Look at my bedside reading list and it is filled with stuff that would make most Christians either fall asleep or, if told these are the books they should be reading, make them consider converting to another religion.
Now in my defense, these are deep, well written, and meaningful books. I do believe that, for the most part, every Christian, heck every human being, would benefit in their hearts, their souls, and of course their minds by reading these books instead of Max Lucado, Bill Hybels, or Rick Warren. But here is the thing – those writers all touch people in different ways than do Karl Barth, Stan Grenz, Miroslav Volf or Thomas Aquinas. Does that make my books better or worse than those of my friends I run into every Sunday in our pew at 1st Presbyterian Church of Colorado Springs.
Hmm, I am not sure of the answer to that question. Some years ago I went through some of the art museums of London, Oxford and Manchester, UK with a real art historian. It was very cool. He pointed out his favourite pieces. I told him mine. And as you might guess, the nose wrinkled periodically. Actually, both of our noses did. As an expert in art, the periods, the styles, the techniques, he could appreciate things about the paintings that I was just not able to grasp. But, I liked what I liked. I liked the stuff that his me emotionally or conveyed scenes that are powerful to my eyes (greatest painting ever – William Holman Hunt’s The Hireling Shepherd - http://www.abcgallery.com/H/huntwh/huntwh10.html)
And therein lies the real difficulty for my art historian friend, Brandon and myself. We can see things that others do not (and for you in your areas of expertise and passion). Moreover, we evaluate using criteria that others either do not care about or are unaware. And yes, that makes us theology snobs, film snobs (which to be fair, was Brandon’s old website), or football snobs or whatever snobs.
When I go to a movie I am looking to either laugh (2007 funniest film, Hot Fuzz though the language in true English fashion is horrible), or to be elevated as a human being (2007 best elevation film, Amazing Grace), or to enjoy a good clean adventure with my family (2007 best adventure family film, Ratatouille). I do not go see films for their artistic beauty, though a film that is well filmed, well done and has beautiful visuals and score will impact me deeply (one of my all time favourites is Last of the Mohicans, which is a visually stunning film). And I will see films that are full of violence and disturbing images if they challenge me as a human being (the two most noteworthy are Shindler’s List and Hotel Rwanda). And of course, there are some films that defy any category and thus almost compel you to see them and be stunned by the story, the ideas, and the filming (2007’s best in this category, 300, with the all-time winner being The Matrix).
Because I am not looking for artistic elements, I automatically miss out on large numbers of films. But I am also not interested in films that are either overly violent or too deeply doused with nihilism. Folks, the people I minister to and the worlds I interact in every day take me into the heart of violence and nihilism all the time. Movies are a form of escape. I do not need to sit through two hours of No Country for Old Men or There Will Be Blood to experience what I experience every day – that humanity is fallen, that we are prone to use the “meaningless of our existence” as justification for creating a world where we rule, make up the rules, and thus chose our own ways of dealing with the our passions. Sorry, because of this I didn’t see any of the five Oscar nominated films (yes, I even skipped Juno because I already have enough people in my life with teenage daughters who are pregnant and keeping the baby).
Here is the thing. Think about the films that I enjoy and think about the films that film critics enjoy (sorry Brandon). The films you and I and the average film watcher enjoy are the ones that make millions and are popular. Does this make them “better films” than the ones on Brandon’s Top Ten list? Probably not. But for us they are movies. For Brandon they are art. Look at the books (okay, it’s the web, but imagine) on my current reading shelf. Who do you think sells more books – Max Lucado or Miroslav Volf? Bill Hybels or Wolfhart Pannenberg? Does that make my books better books? No, but for me they are deeper and touch the way I and those who study what I study understand and love God. Or think about great art and, eck, Thomas Kinkade (http://www.thomaskinkade.com/magi/servlet/com.asucon.ebiz.home.web.tk.HomeServlet). At some level William Holman Hunt is light years a better artist than Kinkade, but outside of my home, I have never seen a Hireling Shepherd print hanging. But Kinkade’s dot the American landscape.
In the end I do not see this as a bad thing. I am a theology elitist, but I am glad when I see people reading a Max Lucado book because the are reading, they are engaging in a book that is likely to encourage their faith, and because people reading his books are generally better people for having done so. And yes, every now and again, people come up to me and say, “I have read this book by Lucado, and it makes me interested in a real theology book on this or that topic” and then I get to direct them to one of my favourite tomes.
The key is not being insulted when people ask me why I am not reading what they are reading, or seeing what they are seeing, or hanging up in my house what they are. I am a finite creature – we were made that way – which means I am never going to be a film expert, an art expert, a soccer or football expert, or an expert on a number of things that, were I infinite, I might enjoy being able to understand at a deeper level. It means that what is on my top ten list is not going to be on Brandon’s, and that is okay. What it does mean is that the experts in any given field are usually unable to interact with every day people in their chosen area. And that does seem very sad. How does one stop viewing the world with additional knowledge? This is where I think those of us (and this is really all of us), need to always have two top 10 lists in our head for things. One is our snob’s list, and the other is the top 10 list of things we would have enjoyed before we took the plunge and became, here is that word again, snobs (umm, I mean experts).
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