Movies That Have Helped Me Heal

We love good movies because they are driven by good storytelling. We identify with them. We identify with the characters' humanity and dilemmas. I've compiled a list of movies and documentaries that have played an important role in recovery from my package of unfortunate life events.

I'm listing potential triggers in my synopses, but if you have PTSD I encourage you to check out the content advisory on IMDB before watching a movie. Those advisories tend to be pretty thorough. (For those of you who don't know much about PTSD, some people are triggered by certain scenes in books or movies, and the advanced warning beforehand can be very helpful.)

Movies:

1.) Hope Floats (1998) starring Sandra Bullock, Harry Connick Jr, and Gena Rowlands

Do yourself a favor and actually watch it before you write it off as an overrated chick flick! It happens to be amazing. Birdie (Bullock) goes through a journey of self-discovery after her husband has an affair and files for divorce.

2.) 28 Days (2000) starring Sandra Bullock, Dominic West, Ashley Johnson

Alcoholic Gwen (Bullock) is charged with a DWI and spends 28 days in court-ordered rehab. She meets a handfull of interesting characters and learns that she has the power to make positive decisions about her life. The scene where she is stuck wearing the “confront me if I don't ask for help” sign made me laugh hysterically because I know there are times when my loved ones wish they could make me wear a sign like that, haha!

Trigger warning: Heavy drinking in a few scenes, as well as a couple scenes in which characters are found dead after suicide and alcohol overdose.

3.) No Reservations (2007) starring Cathrine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin

Kate (Zeta-Jones) uses her job as a gourmet chef to escape from her background of neglect and broken relationships. Her budding friendship with a new co-worker (Eckhart) and becoming the legal guardian of her niece (Breslin) force her to make peace with her past and herself.

Documentaries:

1.) Depression: Out of the Shadows (2008), produced by PBS

Depression is a very misunderstood condition. If you live with clinical depression or are close to someone who does, you need to see this one.

Trigger warning: The scenes in which people describe their experiences with severe depression might be a bit upsetting for those who have struggled with it or are currently struggling with it. The documentary also talks about ECT, better known as shock therapy.

2.) Forgiving Dr. Mengele (2006) starring Eva Mozes Kor

Eva Mozes Kor and her twin sister were survivors of Mengele's experiments during the Holocaust. On the outside, Kor got her life in order after she was liberated. She emigrated to Israel and then the US, got married, had kids, got a job, and lived a “normal” life. On the inside, unforgiveness turned her into a very sad, angry person. She didn't embrace the power of forgiveness until she was older, but when she did, it changed her life. Unlike many faith-based books on forgiveness, this documentary actually gives a straightforward definition of what forgiveness means.

Trigger warning: Contains footage of Auschwitz and Mengele's lab during the war. Eva has a flashback during an eye exam.

That's my list of movies that have helped me heal. I'm going to work on a list of books and hopefully post it sometime in the next week or so. If that doesn't end up happening, it's not that I don't like you all. I'm dealing with a lot of life events right now and I just need more hours in the day!

Christians and Movie Choices: My Two Cents

Christians tend to lump movies, books, and music into the category of “media choices” and use the same barometer for all of them: If it's produced by a Christian company, it's okay. If it's produced by a secular company, it's not. This is absolute bunk, to put it mildly. It's not that simple, as much as we might want it to be.

With movies, I am more interested in WHY a particular movie contains violence, profanity, etc, than whether or not it contains those things. In general, I am not opposed to movies that dipict violence in order to make a point, such as “Hotel Rwanda,” “Mississippi Burning,” or “The Devil's Arithmatic.” I firmly believe that older children and teenagers should watch such movies when their parents decide they're old enough. In showing them these movies, we are not glorifying violence. We are showing them what can happen when humans inflict it on each other.

I do have a problem with violence just for the sake of violence. I got to a point where I felt like CSI falls too close to this end of the spectrum to continue watching it. With a lot of the action/adventure movies out there, it's kind of a tossup where they fall on the spectrum. I take it on a case-by-case basis.

Other than the examples I just gave, I don't feel the need to get into more specific details about what movies and shows I've chosen to watch or not watch, because that's exactly my point. I'm not you. I don't know for sure what's okay for you and what you need to avoid. We need to own our own choices, and that may mean that two sincere Christians come to two different conclusions in a given situation.

This Article Made Me Hit The Roof

A friend of mine recently posted an article about actress Julie Harris’ death.  Read it here.  I got REALLY angry after I read this.

Most of you are probably wondering what is so offensive about this article.  What’s offensive is that Ms. Harris did a phenomenal job as Betsie Ten Boom in “The Hiding Place”, and People magazine made no mention of it because it was about Christians and produced by a Christian film company.  What’s offensive is that they would have mentioned it if it had been produced by a secular film company.  “The Hiding Place” is, hands down, one of the best films I’ve ever seen, Christian or secular.  It’s an extremely positive depiction of Christian faith in action.  I find it extremely offensive that a journalist would avoid giving Ms. Harris due credit for this role for fear of offending any non-Christians who might read it.