Recommending the Imaginative: Stan Lee

I can hear the scoff in your throats all the way across the Internet. "Are you kidding me? A comic book writer?" I understand your cynicism, but hear me out. Stan Lee has done something in the creative world that should not go unnoticed. His revolutionary work with Marvel Comics opened up not only a whole new world for comics, but for the development of super heroes in modern pop-culture.

When Lee first began work on comics the market was controlled by the idea that superheroes should be flawless and indestructible. What Stan Lee did wad to re-design the modern superhero as a flawed man struggling not only with everyday problems but also battling internally between the two worlds of superhero and alter-ego. His first character, Spiderman, is the epitome of this new design.

His comics would also include relevant social commentaries and critiques and examine a deeper, more meaningful side to the world of Comic books. These are just some of the facts that no real culturally aware person can overlook.

This may seem like an odd person to include in with the likes of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, after all not only were both amazing literary scholars and authors, but they were both Christians. What should you think of my recommending someone who is not a self-proclaimed believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? How can he help us understand creativity and the imagination better from a Christian perspective?

The fact is that God did not give culture only to Christians, nor did He give wisdom and creativity to Christians (just like He did not give the gifts of science and math and medicine to Christians alone). Certainly worship of God is the ultimate goal of the imagination and creativity and thankfulness to Him is due for it, and no creative work will ultimately be completed until such is done. But Stan Lee has offered to us not only a new form of art and a captivating method of storytelling through images and simple dialogue, but he has offered to us an imaginative re-interpretation of the superhero. In this re-interpretation we see the natural human struggle between our tendency to self-absorption and justice. We see an innovative way to express the pressure and importance of helping others. These are values, of course, which no Christian can ignore, and while we would go further than Lee, we can, nonetheless, thank him for reminding us that heroes can be relatable and "cool."

The Black Crowe: Thoughts on 3:10 to Yuma (Part 2)

If Christian Bale's character in 3:10 to Yuma marks a pointedly different type of Western Hero, then Russell Crowe adds to the revolutionary status of this film by his portrayal of the complex villain.

As the movie begins we see a very sensitive, if somewhat dastardly Ben Wade (Crowe). He desires a female companion, for more than just physical pleasure, and he appreciates good cowboys (so he lets Peter Fonda's character live in the opening scene). But it is not long before we see just how evil he is. In the mere setting of a sun Ben Wade changes from nice guy, to sadistic murderer as he stabs a sleeping man to death with nothing but a kitchen fork. He is a dangerous man!

It is this interplay between pure evil and simply sweet guy down on his luck that makes Wade so compelling, and of course Russel Crowe pulls it off with ease. The end of the movie only reinvigorates this mixture and compels us as the viewers to both like Wade and hate him at the same time.

My co-host on Christ & Pop-Culture discussed this recently in a podcast we did, and came to the conclusion that what makes Wade so interesting as a character is the that he reminds us of another deceptive villain: Satan. The Bible teaches us that Satan can clothe himself like an angel of light and he can compel the unwitting person to trust him. We know Eve, even in a perfect state, fell for his ploys. Ben Wade not only disarms men and women, but he disarms us at points. He is a truly deceptive villain. Yet there is something more to this character.

For While Wade does throughout the movie show himself to be a "devil" of a man, there is real growth, development, and change. His character goes through several major turning points in the plot and comes out on the other side quite different than anyone could expect. This is what makes Wade so compelling of a character: the sheer spectrum of change that he goes through. Now there have been plenty of movies with good character dynamism and growth, even many where villains go through these changes, but none that are so seamless, and unexpected as 3:10 to Yuma, for in the end of this film we are still left with some elements of the unexpected, and ultimately with a question: Is Ben Wade a good guy or a bad guy? Few movies have that capacity to bring a character through such change and in the end leave us where we started...a man who is either really good, or has yet once again deceived us all.

C&PC Updates

The latest podcast for Christ & Pop-Culture is available now. Our topic is again the subject of Heroes, specifically related to the film 3:10 to Yuma. We discussed previously that Christ is the model for all heroes...see how that conversation relates now to Dan Evans, the hero of this film.

Also we are having a special "you tag us we'll tag you" week. If you link to C&PC this week then we will link to you at our site. So be sure and let us know if you are promoting our show on your blog or website.

Bale Out a Dying Genre: Thoughts on 3:10 to Yuma (Part I)

The Western had its heyday, in the 1950s during the era of “The Duke” himself, John Wayne. But since those days the Western as a popular genre has faded. Every once in a while there’s a new cowboy movie made, they are frequently, however, not very good. So, for example, we all remember the waste that is City Slickers and City Slickers II, and we all remember the nonsense that is Will Smith’s Wild, Wild, West. So needless to say that when I saw that new western was going to be coming out this fall I was hesitant. After all the original 3:10 to Yuma came in the midst of the Western’s pinnacle (1957), how could this new version compete? I am happy to report that I was more than just pleasantly surprised by the 2007 remake.

3:10 to Yuma is not only one of the best Westerns I have ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot), but it may be the best movie of the year (at least to date). Christian Bale’s portrayal of the wounded soldier turned struggling farmer is outstanding, and Russell Crowe’s disturbing and emotionally complex villain is among the best villains in recent film history. Beyond the acting the plot is so well crafted and seamless that the story flows like a cool west wind on rolling countryside. Where the scenes are meant to be intense, they are, and where the dialogue is intended to convey meaningful narration or back story it does. But for me it is more than just the standard cinematic elements that make this film so worth watching.

There are hundreds of movies that are crafted well and possess good acting and storytelling. There are even hundreds of good Westerns, mostly from the old era of the mid 50s. No, it is not these elements that compelled me to see 3:10 to Yuma twice. It is the message of bravery that I finally came to love.

Originally I had a bit of difficulty bringing my own conclusions to 3:10 to Yuma, there was something to the story, particularly the end of the film, that both made me disappointed and intrigued. This fact alone is enough to hail the movie as worth seeing, for few films leave me torn on my opinion of it, and it is no small feat for a film to have a so thoroughly well crafted plot as to render me stunned. But in the end it was the message of bravery that has drawn me into the praise of the movie. Everyone knows about the “brave” action hero who saves the day, and demonstrates fearlessness in the face of insurmountable odds (i.e. John McClane, Aragorn, Jason Bourne, etc.). In 3:10 to Yuma, however, we see more clearly what bravery is. Bravery has more to do with forging ahead in the midst of fear, and even less to do with the results. While action movies repeatedly suggest this they almost always undermine it in the major and final action sequence where the hero fearlessly saves the day. But Dan Evans (Christian Bale), and Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) bring the dynamic nature of bravery to a new level in this film. This is a movie about the every day man’s bravery, something that we can all appreciate and something Christians can particularly appreciate.

God calls men to be brave regardless of the circumstances and regardless of the results. He no where guarantees victory in every day battles, just as the martyrs of the early church or the Chinese Christians suffering in prison today. But God also honors men who in the midst of fear and desperation pray for His strength and persevere to do justice, show mercy, and “save the day” (whatever that looks like in our specific contexts). 3:10 to Yuma is not a Christian film, nor was it meant to convey Christian themes (as best I can tell), but just as God uses non-Christians to teach His people Biblical truths (see the how God uses pagan nations to teach Israel in the Old Testament prophetic books), so God can use films like this one to teach the real truth about bravery. Where 3:10 to Yuma stands apart is in representing true bravery in the midst of the glorified action hero of the modern and even past cinema. The brave man is the man who doesn’t always win, isn’t always self-sufficient, and doesn’t always show fearlessness, but does the right thing anyways.

Christ & Pop-Culture Talk about Heroes

The newest edition of C&PC is up, and our subject is action heroes. What makes a good hero? And what are the problems inherent in the genre. We talk about Jason Bourne as a new kind of Action hero, and give our top five favorite action heroes. Check it out.