The movie 21 is about Ben Campbell, an MIT student who is in need of a lot of money for medical school. One of Ben's professors at MIT, Mikey Rosa, trains his best and brainy-est students to count cards in the game Blackjack and then they head to Las Vegas on weekends to win big money. Rosa recruits Ben for his team and Ben, who is in need of $300,000 for tuition and is also really into one of the girls on the team, agrees.
21 is a great example of how the Empire is always telling us that we need more and more-what we have isn’t ever enough. Ben was drawn in by all the money he would get, the freedom he would have, the excitement of the city, and the fact that it was a chance to get away from reality. The Empire was deceptive and allowed Ben’s imagination to go where it wanted. Ben had said toward the beginning that he would just participate up until he got his $300,000 and then he would be done, but gluttony got in the way and he kept going for more and more. Pretty soon, he really wasn’t even the same person. He was neglecting his friends back home, he lied to his mom, he wouldn’t listen to his teammates, and he turned into kind of a jerk. As a result of his greediness, he ended up losing everything- all the money he won, his friends, teammates, and his pride. But like Jesus redeemed us, Ben’s friends redeemed him and helped him out even though he did not deserve it. We are often like Ben in the Empire. We get excited about all the things that the Empire offers us and then we bite off more than we can chew and we get carried away, but through the Kingdom of God we find can find redemption.
Discussion Questions:
1)Is there really anything wrong with Ben’s initial joining of the team? They weren’t really doing anything illegal…
2)What is it about the Empire that’s so attractive to us?
This movie was a really "smart" movie, haha. First of all, I think there was something wrong with Ben joining the team, because even though they weren't technically doing anything illegal it still wasn't right. If it was something that was right then they shouldn't be afraid of getting caught. However, typical thinking within the empire makes personal interests above all, so his motive of wanting to join the team wasn't "wrong" really, just selfish. Secondly, The empire is attractive because that's what the empire does: it advertises. The empire is the wide and easy road, while the Kingdom is the narrow path.
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ReplyDeleteYou mention that they "weren't really doing anything illegal;" perhaps a better approach might ask if they were doing anything worthwhile. What was their gambling contributing to? For whose benefit were they gambling? It seems like these might be interesting questions to ask.
ReplyDeleteThe empire wants us to focus only on our own happiness so we won't notice how our lives are affecting others. In so doing, we begin to think that "it's my money and I can do what I want with it." But a kingdom vision would recognize that we are merely stewards of God's resources--including money. How might this change our approach to the topic of gambling?
And again, as I've been writing for a lot of posts about television and film, why do you think the writer and director chose to make this film? What might they be trying to say by telling this story?