TV
Mockingbird (Conference) at the Movies: Hollywood’s Love Affair with Love
Conferences / Film / Theology / TV

Mockingbird (Conference) at the Movies: Hollywood’s Love Affair with Love

by Nick Lannon on Apr 3, 2012 • 11 Comments

C.S. Lewis described four kinds of love (based on the four Greek words): affection, friendship, romance, and charity (unconditional love). Since I’m about half as smart as him, I’ll say that, at the root, there are two kinds of love: love that requires something, and love that requires nothing. In this break-out session at the upcoming Mockingbird Conference (Friday, April 20th at 2:30pm), we’ll look at these two loves through the celluloid eyes of Hollywood.

In their effort to get us to put cash on the barrelhead at theaters across the country, the movies often tempt us with stories of love.…

Read More »

Another Week Ends: Jeremy Lin, Scientism, Cosmism, Clergy Burnout, Tearjerkers, Springsteen’s Advice, 30 Rock, and Garbage Pail Kids
Art / Books / Children / Forgiveness / Grace in Practice / Music / Religion / Sports / Technology / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Jeremy Lin, Scientism, Cosmism, Clergy Burnout, Tearjerkers, Springsteen’s Advice, 30 Rock, and Garbage Pail Kids

by David Zahl on Mar 30, 2012 • 3 Comments

1. The Linsanity continues! But this time the hubbub has to do with a powerful (and unexpected) instance of off-court forgiveness. Last week, Jeremy Lin invited the ESPN employee who was fired for writing an offensive headline about Lin to lunch. Newsday spoke with the journalist in question, Anthony Federico:

Federico apologized after he was fired, calling the headline’s play on words ["chink in the armor"] “an honest mistake.” Lin said at the time that he accepted the apology and added, “You have to learn to forgive.” Apparently, he meant it. A member of Lin’s family reached out to Federico via…

Read More »

The Modern Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes and the Limits of Rationality
Psychology / Relationships / Science / TV

The Modern Misadventures of Sherlock Holmes and the Limits of Rationality

by Todd Brewer on Mar 30, 2012 • 2 Comments

Perhaps I’ve just been ignorant of British television, but it seems that the BBC is enjoying the same golden age as so many US channels right now. Downton Abbey has already received a great deal of much-deserved praise from pretty much everyone, but I want to draw attention to BBC’s Sherlock. If you haven’t seen it, this remake of a classic character is better than any crime drama on TV today. The show takes the old Sherlock stories (“A Study in Scarlett”, for example) and updates the plot for modern times. But just like the original, the most interesting aspect…

Read More »

The Route 29 Batman: A Case of Imputed Righteousness
Comics / Film / Grace in Practice / Identity / News / TV

The Route 29 Batman: A Case of Imputed Righteousness

by Matt Schneider on Mar 29, 2012 • No Comments

Perhaps you’ve seen the recent viral images on Facebook and the like of Batman being pulled over on Route 29 in Silver Spring, Maryland for having no tags. The images made me laugh, but I didn’t think much of it until my wife sent me an article published earlier this week in The Washington Post titled, “Who is the Route 29 Batman?” Believe it or not, the curious case of Lenny B. Robinson sheds some light on the topic of imputed righteousness.

The article is worth reading in full, but the skinny is that Robinson is an independently wealthy divorced man…

Read More »

Another Week Ends: Willy Loman Preaches, Complicated Mourning, Extroversion Mandates, Celebrity Marriage Formulas, Dependency Dilemmas, Kontiki, Mad Men and Rowan Williams
America / Celebrity / Children / Church / Conferences / Death / Film / Humor / Identity / Law / Music / Relationships / Sermons / Social Science / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Willy Loman Preaches, Complicated Mourning, Extroversion Mandates, Celebrity Marriage Formulas, Dependency Dilemmas, Kontiki, Mad Men and Rowan Williams

by David Zahl on Mar 16, 2012 • No Comments

1. A little over four weeks until our Spring Conference in NYC (4/19-21), which means that on Monday night 3/19, the “Earlybird rates” will expire ($150/couple or $100/person all-inclusive). You can’t say we didn’t warn you… If you need an extra push, earlier this week the Episcopal News Service published a generous piece about Mockingbird, which describes our past conferences in flattering terms. So pre-register today! And speaking of our little organization, in the you-can’t-make-this-stuff-up department, a killer Mbird headline appeared in The NY Times recently that was just too uncanny not to share, “Nazareth Defeats Christ the King in…

Read More »

Battlestar Galactica and Children of Wrath
Bible / Death / TV

Battlestar Galactica and Children of Wrath

by R-J Heijmen on Mar 16, 2012 • No Comments

A brief illustration of Paul’s words from this Sunday’s lectionary reading –  ”All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else” (Ephesians 2.3) - from Battlestar Galactica (don’t laugh, people, it’s amazing).

From Season 2, Episode 3, a conversation between Gaius Baltar, a human scientist, and his Cylon (cyborg) lover, known only as Number Six, right after Baltar has, for the first time, killed someone:

Number Six: I’m so proud of you, Gaius.

Doctor Gaius Baltar: Why? Because I’ve taken a life?

Number…

Read More »

Batman: The Agony of Loss and the Madness of Desire, Pt 4E
Addiction / Comics / Identity / TV

Batman: The Agony of Loss and the Madness of Desire, Pt 4E

by Mockingbird on Mar 16, 2012 • 1 Comment

Ka-Pow! When we last checked in with Bats, his back was being broken by Bane (say that five times…). Now we come to the softer, but no less dangerous end of the spectrum with the fifth post in Jeremiah Lawson’s six-part Wounds of Discovery series, which explores the parables of idolatry that inform the various member’s Batman’s rogues gallery, particularly as they are depicted in the brilliant and groundbreaking Batman: The Animated Series. To begin at the beginning, go here. The very beginning, go here:

PART FOUR: THE WOUNDS OF DISCOVERY

5. Feet of Clay, Heart of Stone

Bad! Bad! says the buyer…

Read More »

Hey, Hey, It’s The Monkees (and Saint Matthew and Bob Dylan and The Holy Ghost)!
Music / Religion / TV

Hey, Hey, It’s The Monkees (and Saint Matthew and Bob Dylan and The Holy Ghost)!

by David Zahl on Mar 13, 2012 • 6 Comments

Davy Jones’ premature death last month was only the most recent (and visceral) in a long line of Monkee tragedies. Journalists have done their best to respect the late entertainer, shoring up The Monkees’ legacy by mentioning their influence on such contemporary attempts to manufacture prefab chart-toppers as American Idol and The Voice. And they’re not wrong. The Monkees do represent one of the more crass meetings of commerce and art in the TV-era. But the larger tragedy is that most people think that’s all they were.

The singles speak for themselves: “Last Train to Clarksville” “Valleri” “Listen to the Band”…

Read More »

Another Week Ends: John Carter, Obesity FAILs, Mary Karr on Suffering, Winning!, Friends with Kids, Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball and Community Returns
Addiction / Film / Grace in Practice / Humor / Interviews / Literature / Music / Religion / Social Science / Suffering / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: John Carter, Obesity FAILs, Mary Karr on Suffering, Winning!, Friends with Kids, Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball and Community Returns

by David Zahl on Mar 9, 2012 • 3 Comments

1. “I am not Jesus, but I have the same initials.” Thus sang Jarvis Cocker on the classic Pulp track “Dishes” (at bottom), and it now looks like he has a new contender to the throne, Tim Riggins himself, Mr. John Carter of Mars. That’s right: Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton’s first live-action feature is out this weekend, and the consensus thus far is that there’s no consensus. Some claim that it’s an overblown mess, others that it’s the sort of exceedingly fun pulp adventure that doesn’t get made anymore. But Stanton is a filmmaker that I trust over any…

Read More »

Capon, Silverstein and the Foolishness of the Cross
Bible / Books / Forgiveness / Grace in Practice / Literature / Psychology / Relationships / TV

Capon, Silverstein and the Foolishness of the Cross

by R-J Heijmen on Mar 8, 2012 • 4 Comments

A couple of literary meditations – one religious, one secular, both sacred – on this Sunday’s Lectionary reading, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, and the “foolishness” of the cross. First, from Robert Farrar Capon’s Kingdom, Grace, Judgment: Paradox, Outrage, and Vindication in the Parables of Jesus:

Direct, straight-line, intervening power does, of course, have many uses. With it, you can lift the spaghetti from the plate to your mouth, wipe the sauce off your slacks, carry them to the dry cleaners, and perhaps even make enough money to ransom them back. Indeed, straight-line power (“use the force you need to get the result…

Read More »

A Breakout Session About Nothing: Everything I Never Learned From Seinfeld
Conferences / Humor / TV

A Breakout Session About Nothing: Everything I Never Learned From Seinfeld

by David Zahl on Mar 7, 2012 • 2 Comments

Rochelle Rochelle. Yo Yo Ma. Vandelay Industries. Marble Rye. Del Boca Vista. Get out! The sea was angry that day. I’m a Day Person. These. Pretzels. Are. Making. Me. Thirsty. That’s right, I’m kicking off our series of preview posts for this year’s NYC Conference (4/19-21) with a quick word about the greatest sitcom of all time, Seinfeld.

W.H. Auden once wrote that “Christian comedy is based upon the belief that all men are sinners; no one, therefore, whatever his rank or talents, can claim immunity from the comic exposure,” and while the “Christian” part might be a bit of a…

Read More »

Another Week Ends: Inner Machiavellians, Lutheran Insults, Whisky Priests, Monkees, Mets, Parenthood, Veep, Viola Davis and Frankenweenie
Education / Film / Humor / Identity / Interviews / Money / Music / Psychology / Relationships / Religion / Social Science / Sports / Suffering / TV / Week In Review

Another Week Ends: Inner Machiavellians, Lutheran Insults, Whisky Priests, Monkees, Mets, Parenthood, Veep, Viola Davis and Frankenweenie

by David Zahl on Mar 2, 2012 • 2 Comments

1. I’ll admit it: I’ve been trying to lay off the David Brooks, at least in the Weekend columns. As insightful as he frequently is, there are plenty of fish in the digital sea, are there not? Well, to paraphrase a Pacino, every time I think I’m out, he pulls me back in. That is to say, giving anything top billing other than his NY Times column from yesterday, “The Machiavellian Temptation,” would be dishonest. It’s getting to the point where I suspect we’re being punked a la Candid Camera. Anyway, this time around Herr Brooks is contrasting recent breakthroughs…

Read More »

Batman: The Agony of Loss and the Madness of Desire, Pt 4D
Comics / Film / Identity / TV

Batman: The Agony of Loss and the Madness of Desire, Pt 4D

by Mockingbird on Mar 2, 2012 • 1 Comment

You may remember him from such storyarcs as Knightfall, AKA the time in the 90s when Batman had his back broken. Or perhaps you’ve seen his ominous muzzle wreaking havoc on a football field in the trailer for The Dark Knight Rises. However you’ve run across him, you know that Bane is one terrifying character. He also happens to be the villain Jeremiah Lawson puts under the microscope in this installment of his fascinating six-part series The Wounds of Discovery, which explores the psycho-spiritual foundations of Gotham City (and its illustrious super-community, particularly their animated iteration). To begin at the…

Read More »

Now You’re Special To Me: Downton Abbey and the Adoption of Daisy
Grace in Practice / Relationships / Theology / TV

Now You’re Special To Me: Downton Abbey and the Adoption of Daisy

by David Zahl on Feb 28, 2012 • 14 Comments

Many of us struggled with the recently completed second season of costumed PBS/BBC megahit Downton Abbey. And for good reason. It zigzagged relentlessly, introducing subplot after ridiculous subplot, the bandaged Canadian stranger being the lowest blow, an understandable point of no return for some. Perhaps the culprit was the editing for US audiences, who knows, certainly a slower boil in the last few episodes would have gone a long way (though I’m not sure it could have saved the arc entirely).

This is not to say the season was without merit. Julian Fellowes may have been focusing a bit more on…

Read More »

Satirical Super PACs and the Boisterous Humility of Stephen Colbert
America / Humor / News / Politics / TV

Satirical Super PACs and the Boisterous Humility of Stephen Colbert

by Ethan on Feb 23, 2012 • 1 Comment

Jonathan Swift said that, for the satirist, “Vanity is the mark of humility rather than pride.” So it goes with Colbert’s Super PAC campaign, an uncomfortably invasive political commentary under the guise of egomaniacal humor. Just look at the most recent Twitter feeds: “Just got a Super PAC-Man Machine for the Super PAC break room. Please make all future donations in quarters.” Or his own media releases: “Stephen Colbert Wins Democracy! Kingmaker Pundit Regains Super PAC, Files Financial Report, Takes Nap”. Or the slogans: “Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.” Or his treasurer’s memo adjoining his F.E.C. forms: “Stephen Colbert,…

Read More »