Blockbuster Season

            I love summer. Not because school’s out, not because it’s vacation time, not for all the great outdoor activities the family can do together, but because it’s blockbuster season! Summer is the time of big epic films that just have to be seen on big screens. By now I’ve seen X-Men 3 and I’m stoked about Superman Returns, and Pirates of the Carribean 2. I know, I know. Some of you are thinking, “The summer should be spent outdoors, doing physical recreation, going on vacations, sending the kids to church camps.” Others are thinking about the importance of reading to children, exercising their imaginations actively. And still others are saying, “What about spending time serving others instead of serving ourselves?”

            All valid points; however, that we need physical recreation doesn’t change the fact that we are a movie-going culture and will be seeing movies this summer anyway. And yes, it’s true that reading is fundamental, but imaginations can actively participate in “reading” movies as well. And though God calls us to serve and probably none of us do as much as we should, God also tells us to play (see Ecclesiastes 9:7-9). Furthermore, blockbusters are great opportunities for cultural connections, outings with friends, and family experiences.

Story as Participation

            I can see any movies on DVD I want to, so going to the movies needs to be more than just seeing a film. It should be about the entire experience. The model for active participation in movie going comes, believe it or not, from the Bible. Parents and educators today complain about movies and television for fostering passive imaginations, couch potato mentalities. Jewish worship understood the importance of actively participating in the story of Hebrew history from the beginning. In the Feast of Booths the people of God would spend a week in tents to remind themselves of their forefathers’ wanderings in the wilderness (Leviticus 23:40-43). Passover was even more elaborate: to re-enact the right of Passover, the Jews would dress for travel, stand to eat as if ready to depart, paint lambs blood on their door posts (as their forefathers did on the night God “passed over” their first born, taking the first born of Egypt), and eat bitter herbs to remember bitter life in Egypt (see Exodus 12:3-11). Jewish worship was the dramatic acting out of stories. The same is true in Christianity: In Baptism we re-enact the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ; and in Communion we re-enact the Last supper.

            I think this idea should not only apply to our worship but to our play. “But isn’t watching movies a passive activity?” It doesn’t have to be.

Participating in Movies

            Movies are neither religion nor worship and never should be. But they are stories which we can participate in and learn from. Try this for a family outing:

• Decide as a family what movie to go see and check it out together ahead of time through online reviews, advertising, and “making of documentaries” (usually released on TV the week before as “sneak peaks”).
• Have the kids save up some of their own money for snacks at this special movie event.
• Plan a whole day of fun around the movie.
• Go to a matinee to save on ticket prices, and go early so you can pick the best seats for you and yours, and check out the “coming soon” posters.
• Don’t go to the cheap theater for a summer blockbuster (unless you have eight kids). Instead, find your favorite Stadium Seat Theater with the high back chairs and latest sound technology—even if you have to drive a bit to get there. Or even go all out to see the movie on IMAX.
• Buy the popcorn and drinks! You’re there for the movie experience. What’s a movie without popcorn and a coke? You can work on dietary self-control on the movies you watch at home.
• Watch the movie all the way to the end, even through the credits. There are often surprises to be had, and the kids may ask, “What’s a gaffer?” giving you a teaching opportunity: a chance to find out about the movie making process together on-line when you get home.
• After the movie, walk down to the other end of the mall to Chik Filet or across the street to Chili’s for dinner. Spend your dinner time talking about the movie. Retell “favorite parts” and laugh at the jokes again. Spend time trying to critique the film: what was it message and how well was it made? And the big question: where was God’s truth to be found in this movie?
• On the way home, think about any “video bytes” from the movie that you can share with the preacher or youth minister which might make good lesson illustrations, and survey the family on whether you should recommend the movie to anyone, and to whom.
• Finally, sometime during the day or evening, be sure to thank God for a great day of play, sharing, and learning.

            This, of course, is just one option. There’s taking the youth group to the see the movie, having a “night out” with the “guys” or the “girls,” a special day with one of your children, dinner and a movie with the couple next door to break the ice and start some relationship building.

            I love summer blockbuster season! So much can be done with it for active play and learning. Take advantage of it as a blessing from God.