Sexy Men…

I’m not sure what it is that makes us as a culture want to pick the Sexiest Man/Woman every year, but this year in particular, I’m not complaining. It’s been a good week for my Top 5. First, Hugh Jackman was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive (finally!) and today, Salon announced Robert Downey Jr. as their sexy man of the year. George Clooney, of course, has received his fair share of sexy-related accolades. Now if we can just get Jason Statham and Michael Weatherly some recognition, I’d be a happy girl!

Peace. Out.

Satire

I’m working on getting publicity and building buzz for JESUS PEOPLE in both the mainstream and Christian press. I’m starting to wonder if people (particularly Christians in this case) really understand the use of satire. I feel like I keep having to explain it to people: “We’re not making fun of Christians. We’re portraying extreme versions of them (or sometimes not so extreme versions if we’re honest) in order to address some of the issues and perceptions of the Christian subculture.”

Is it that they can’t look at their own subculture objectively to see the problems (or the humor)? Is it that they’re overly conservative about making jokes or seeming to make jokes at the expense of the Bride of Christ? If it’s the latter, I’m definitely not knocking that. I myself walk a pretty tight line as far as making fun of Christians or speaking too strongly against them or their practices. After all, I believe that a person’s relationship and experience with God, while part of a larger Story, is unique. I’m not really one to jump in and say someone else’s choices within that relationship are wrong.

However, if it’s the former – if Christians really do have a hard time looking at their own subculture objectively – I do take issue with that. Though we serve a perfect God, we are not perfect. I think it can only help our mission to spread the Gospel if we look at how we are perceived as a group. If there are things that are hindering that process of forming relationships with people, then those need to be addressed. And I think satire is a good way to point out the things that are just over-the-top.

Our pitch for the film is “It’s like SPINAL TAP set in the world of Christian pop music.” The makers of SPINAL TAP did not hate rock stars. And the rock music industry did not get all hot-and-bothered about the details of the movie. They could recognize those things as true (at least a little bit) and say, “Yeah, you know what, we are kind of like that sometimes and it is completely ridiculous…and FUNNY.”

I obviously have a lot of personal ties to this particular film (JESUS PEOPLE not SPINAL TAP), but even when I didn’t, I was really excited about the project. I hope people will eventually see it (no matter what their religious affiliation) and be open to starting up discussions about some of the portrayals and topics the film addresses.

Peace. Out.