Today I watched something that gave me chills. But once I let that subside, and my brain engaged, I became cynical about it.
Daniel Day Lewis is about to win another Oscar when his next Spielberg-directed movie Lincoln releases. This is a great movie with a trailer that, if you already know the history (like this History buff), lets you know that they may have gotten this version of Honest Abe right. I have not seen the Vampire Slayer version, but I have to admit that it is creative because they exploited the hole in Lincoln’s known history. But when you have Spielberg and D. Lewis attached to a project, your expectations go through the roof. And when the first released pic looks like this:
Expectations become space-bound!
As a history major, once upon a time, my favorite era is WWII. Before that, my favorite figure is Abraham Lincoln.
Why this movie, and why now?
After my chills from this trailer of a movie I will watch in theaters and buy on BD/DVD, I had a thought, “why would Hollywood make this movie? What parallels could be drawn from a movie about second-class citizens being deemed less-than human on religious grounds?” It’s not like its an election year, and Hollywood would want to draw similarities between our Civil War and the Abolition of Slavery to Gay Marriage. ”Congress must never declare equal those whom GOD created unequal!” Surely this is not a movie that has a hidden message! Surely…
My Own Views
You don’t get to have my own views… not politically anyway. I am a Christian, but that means I am one who loves people… all people. I love them so much, that I will not list off the categories and groupings that our culture likes to box people groups into. I will say that I love people. The issue of Gay marriage strikes close to home for me in several ways. Aside from friends and family who are looked down upon for their lifestyle, I am a Black man married to a White woman, and we have little Mixed children. The family I have created and am building was not possible 100 years ago. Not only would our marriage be referred to as inter-species, but our children would not be accepted by the White or Black communities for being either tainted, or not enough of one or the other. What will be possible 100 years from now?
I enjoy the entertainment value of movies, but also think that you need to allow things into your mind with your brain engaged. When you watch movies, especially historical movies like this one, understand that there is a conscious decision to convey a message from the information available; What is the message we are supposed to get from Spielberg and Lincoln?
