The Matrix

The movie “The Matrix,” released in 1999, was written and directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. The movie’s title refers to the computer-generated world that all of humanity believes is reality. Neo, or Thomas Anderson has been searching for the truth of the Matrix and in the end, he is determined to rescue the world from that trap.  The movie’s plot shows that human purpose has been reduced to being a battery source for the machines that humans themselves created.  The main evil in the world – the matrix, the machines, the agents – came about from humanity itself.  Humans were the ones who brought this kind of evil, and it seems like only one human can rescue all of mankind from the slavery that it has been pulled into.  Despite the darkness and hopelessness that fills most of the movie, I think it does in one sense long for the coming of the kingdom.  It calls for truth to be revealed and people to believe enough in themselves to show that truth to everyone else. 

Real Steel

For my first cultural artifact, I chose a movie called the “Real Steel.” Directed by Shawn Levy, “Real Steel” is about robot boxing in the near future. The film involves action, drama, and science-fiction factors to portray a transformation of a formal, immature boxing champion to grown champion of the robot boxing with his trash-like robot and 11 years old son. As the story develops with the main character, Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman), discovering back the glittering moments by winning the robot boxing, the director emphasizes the importance of one’s gift and happiness as the crucial factors of human purpose. The portrayal of the ancient boxing robot from the trash becoming the champion of the competition signifies one’s creation and talent in fulfilling his/her purpose of life. Evil, therefore, originates from anything that hinders people from realizing their vocation in lives. Consumerism is one of the main interrupter as appeared with bankruptcy and destruction in Kenton’s personal life. Many owners of the boxing robots are obsessed with consuming better fighting robots. The main villain named Tak Mashido invests a lot of finance into Zeus robot to win the robot boxing competitions. However, Zeus is defeated by the trash robot and Kenton, who fought with their true purposes in lives. Redemption is found in the relationship between Charlie Kenton and his son Max Kenton. Not only Charlie had left Max with his mother, but also Charlie has sold his custody to Max for money. In the final scene, Max forgives and contributes Charlie to start a new life by encouraging him on his vocation. The artifact unnecessarily mentions of the Kingdom of God, but it certainly supports cultural empire to respect old creation and development. The trash robot succeeding to be the champion of the robot boxing competition clearly conveys potential of once thrown away stuff.

Real Steel was a “feel good” movie with dramas, action, and dynamic moments. The movie, however, fails to convey profound meanings. Would this kind of movie be able to impact on the viewers or make the audience ignorant of the worldly concerns?

The movie is set on the environment where technology has developed to include robots in sports. The film, however, does not focus its light to the potential detrimental effects of such development in humanity. How would the director’s single-sided worldviews and perceptions impact our thoughts? How should we discern on such kind of unclear existence of worldviews?

Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl:

        Lars is the younger brother of the story who has a mental illness caused by events and experiences in his childhood. When he is older, he buys a life-size doll that he thinks is his girlfriend to help him with his loneliness. He names her Bianca and talks to her as a normal person. Everyone in the town is weird-ed out at first, but in order to help Lars, they treat her as a normal person, and slowly she begins to grow on them all. As he becomes less lonely and more comfortable with regular people, he slowly finds ways to get rid of the doll, ending with her death.
         This movie shows us that people are created as social beings and long for companionship. People aren't very good at being alone and in solitude. I think it also shows us that the world was created as a good thing, but has fallen. Everyone wants to create something good in the world, just like Lars created Bianca, but as time goes on, the good eventually goes away and something else can take its place. We can see this when Lars creates a "death" for Bianca so he can be with the girl from his work.
        I think this movie is crying out for the kingdom. It shows us that people are created for companionship, not only with people but with God himself. We can't replace God with other people, things, or emotions. Human beings are created for this purpose.
       This movie causes us to desire a true relationship with God and others. We aren't meant to be left alone, so we should work on all of our relationships.
       The origin of sin in this movie begins when the brother left his dad and Lars alone. He abandoned them when Lars needed him the most, but didn't realize it until later in the movie. The sister-in-law brought out the loneliness and caused Lars to realize just how alone he was in the world.
       Redemption in this movie comes from all the people in the movie, but mainly the doctor and the girl from work. As the movie went on, Lars realized that all the people in the movie cared about him, so they worked to include Bianca as well. The doctor helped him to cope with all of his past experiences and work through them, and the girl from work helped him get over his fear of being with people.

Lars and the Real Girl

Lars and the Real Girl is a story about a man is so lonely that he buys an anatomically-correct doll that he can call his girlfriend. The doll's name is Bianca. At first everyone in Lars' community is really weirded out by the idea of him having a fake girlfriend, but soon came to accept that Lars was lonely and needed to overcome his issues from his parents' death in his own way. The community began to incorporate Bianca in activities such as "modeling" and "teaching".  As Lars' loneliness subsides he declares that Bianca is sick and so she eventually dies.

This movie shows us that humans are created as social beings. No matter how hard someone tries to be alone, they always long for companionship; even the loneliest people talk to themselves as some form of interaction. This movie shows us that we live in a fallen world, but that God's kingdom will fulfill our longings. When Lars first orders Bianca he is looking for companionship, much like humans who try to fill their lives with things. After awhile Lars discovers that there is no substitute for an actual, interactive relationship after he begins to notice a girl from his workplace. This can be compared to God's interactions with us and how we only feel fulfilled through an interactive, two way, relationship with Christ.

I believe this artifact is crying out for the kingdom because it promotes the idea of having an actual relationship with God instead of trying to fill the "God-void" with material things. Just as Lars wasn't fulfilled by his relationship with Bianca, we cannot feel whole when trying to focus our lives around other things besides a living God. Lars and the Real Girl encouraged me to hope and desire a better relationship with God. I could accomplish this goal by searching for God in my life instead of waiting for moments when I feel like He's reaching out to me. No relationship can be successful or grow when it's one-sided.

The origin of sin in this movie is Lars' loneliness. Loneliness itself is not a sin, but is a product of a sinful world. Lars feels he is not worthy of love because he "killed" his mother during childbirth. Redemption in this Lars and the Real Girl is found when the community gathers around Lars to make Bianca feel welcome, which in turn makes Lars feel welcome and safe within the community. When Lars realizes the love around him he no longer needs Bianca and finds love in a real girl.

1. What is good about community based on this film synopsis and discussion?
2. Can something be presented as a sin even if it is not an "Actual" sin?

artifact1: Lana Del Rey

The first time I heard of Lana Del Rey was around June 2011 with her single debut "Video Games". Since then Lana's music and physical appearance has been captivating and interesting to the human eye. Through her single debut, Lana came out with a heart-breaking, morbid, wild yet carpe diem theme album called "Born To Die". Throughout her album Lana also talks about the ups and downs of love and the consequences that come along with it; like not being able to see her hubby on the 'other side'. She also sings about her love for living on the 'wild side' by expressing her love for drugs, vanity, and her version of the American Dream.

The stories that this album tells about human purpose, according to Lana Del Rey, is that life is a way to express one's love for another or something through action. In "Dark Paradise" Lana talks about her love for her lover in a morbid way, however throughout the lyrics Lana talks about her (human) purpose as non-existing anymore because her lover is gone. She therefore goes on to sing more about through her album hence the title of her first track on the album and the album itself.

Throughout Born To Die, Lana Del Rey reveals that life in the empire and/or Kingdom of God is dead. Even though Lana mentions God in a few of her songs, they are technically positive. In her song "Gods and Monsters", Lana goes on to say that her 'perfect heaven' is a heaven in where innocence is lost, wants to get f**ed hard, shooting up, basically doing whatever she pleases or as she sings "doing anything that I needed".

Do you consider Lana Del Rey's lyrics a form of art?

After reading this post, would you still consider listening to Lana Del Rey's music now having a somewhat understanding of what her lyrics are saying?

Assuming that everybody in class is a believer, could you think of anybody else that has similar lyrics and/or 'beliefs' similar to those of Lana Del Rey?

culturalartifact1: The Bachelor

The Bachelor is an American reality television series in which an "eligible" bachelor attempts to find his true love from a pool of 25 romantic interests. These 25 women vie for the attention of the bachelor via group dates, two-on-one dates, as well as the classic one-one-one dates. Every week there is a Rose Ceremony where the Bachelor presents roses to the women he still believes he could have a future with and sends the rest packing for home with broken hearts. The show captures both the dramatic external conflicts that arise as all of the women contestants live under one roof as well as the internal conflicts within the bachelor himself and each of the female contestants.

On Monday night, I joined millions of my fellow Americans in watching the 17th season opener of ABC's, The Bachelor. I'm sure I'm not the only one who, at least at first, found this concept of elimination-style love hunting extremely shallow and well, boring. However, I found myself feeling both fascinated and appalled as I watched 26 (an apparently earth-shattering twist to the normative 25) beautiful women battle for the attention of, however cute he may be, a total stranger. I was surprised at how many indications I found in regards to the Kingdom and the Empire. For example, God's gift of sexuality and his gift of humans being attracted to other humans are made blatantly obvious on this show. Other evidences of the Kingdom are viewed when Sean Lowe, this season's Bachelor, makes it clear to both the women and the audience that he is a very family-oriented guy and is an active member of the Fellow of Christian Athletes organization. In addition, the wonderful diversity that humans were created with was put on full display during each woman's awkward/creative/obnoxious first self-introduction to Sean.

However, the Empire's attempts to twist the Kingdom are overwhelmingly apparent in this show. During this episode, the women were forced to contend for private time with Sean as a kind of 26-on-1 date night. Women quickly became very envious of one another and even catty at the suggestion that they might leave the show on the very first night. A couple of women were not sober during the entire event, and one woman (who was rather feisty even before becoming intoxicated) proudly exclaimed to America, "I totally hope Sean rips my clothes off and spanks me." Frankly, I think evidence of the Kingdom's existence glowed gloriously in the fact that this particular woman did not receive a rose. Anyway, it is of my observation that the lust that inhabits the Empire is what keeps this show on the air. Lustful desires of the contestants keep them in constant, distrustful combat, and all of this high-scale drama is much to the appeal of the mostly female audience- most of which are probably guilty of possessing even slightly lustful thoughts towards the attractive protagonist of the show. I mean, if the audience didn't like him at all, why would they be watching?

I will reluctantly admit that I found myself very entertained as I egotistically judged each female contestant who volunteered a potential 9 weeks of her life for a chance at "true love". I was constantly forced to remind myself that while the saneness of people who find it rational for a man to date over 20 women at once is questionable at best, the people I should be actively critical towards are those behind the scenes. It is always a possibility that the producers of this show genuinely believe that Sean and one of the individuals will find genuine love and fight to keep themselves from being ripped apart. It is possible, I suppose, that the producers are simply showing the world what happened on the set and nothing more. Do I believe in that possibility? Absolutely not. The producers must have so so so much footage of every woman, but they arrange only certain clips (probably not even chronologically) to carefully manipulate which women the audience views as "nice" and/or "good" and which girls are viewed as, well, witchy (for lack of a better word). Cheering and jeering teams form, and as an audience member, I am tempted to believe that I know every detail of what is going on in the lives of contestants when in fact, I probably know almost nothing of the actual situation. I don't know what happens when the cameras aren't rolling, and I certainly don't know the content of the footage not aired. I think that the opinions formed about the women contending on The Bachelor is propaganda at its finest.

In addition, The Bachelor also encourages me to believe that "love" is simply a passionate emotion that once lit, will remain aflame forever. I am discouraged from thinking about when the bachelor and the lady he chooses return to the real world. I am being tempted to believe that solid, worthwhile relationships are "just meant to be" and do not require hard work. The producers conveniently fail to make clear that the vast majority of Bachelor couples break up soon after returning to the real world: a place where they inevitably face speculation, tabloid gossip, and the reality of having to literally relive their rocky history and watch the show week by week.



How is the way that The Bachelor presents love different than the way the Bible teaches about love?

How do you think the flawless appearances of the contestants contribute to what the show suggests about relationships?

Some of the women seemed more focused on receiving a rose than actually getting to know Sean. How does this situation parallel your relationship with God? What are the "roses" in your life?

The Matrix

The movie "The Matrix" is a 1999 movie telling the story a rebel group fighting against intelligent machines that were created in the 21st century that have since taken control of the Earth from humans. Humans are enslaved by the very technology they have created and are locked up in a virtual reality where their dreams become true in their minds. Morpheus accepts his destiny to find the one who will save humanity and finds Neo. Neo when given the choice to learn the truth or remain in his dreams, Neo chooses the truth. This movie shows a whole lot about human nature. For example Cypher shows how we cling on to earthly matters. Cypher believes that ignorance is bliss and kills several people to try to achieve it.
Morpheus and the rebels desire for the kingdom or reality. They want to free those trapped in the Matrix or the Empire and want to give them a life of freedom, the kingdom. In this movie the origin of sin and evil is acceptance. Acceptance that everything they see is real. When Neo begins questioning this and begins searching for something more than what is just out there, redemption begins for him. His desire for the truth begins the redemption for humanity.

Is is better to live a life of ignorance but be happy or is is better to know the truth but suffer from it?

During breakfast, Mouse says: “How did the machines know what Tasty Wheat tasted like? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tasty Wheat tasted like actually tasted like oatmeal or tuna fish.” Is there something in the human brain that would limit the kinds of tastes that we could experience?

The Matrix was created by machines that in turn were created by humans. This then means that the Matrix was created by humans. Then does this mean that the dream world of the Matrix was modeled from reality?   

Bones: The Blackout in the Blizzard

Bones is a television show that portrays a peculiar group of scientists, led by Dr. Temperance Brennan, who team up with FBI Agent Seeley Booth to solve murders in the Washington D.C. area. This episode puts a slight twist on the show’s premise, as the lab has lost power and the two integral characters and investigators are trapped in a stalled elevator. Their predicament leads to some illuminating conversation and ingenuity while investigating.

One of the aspects of Bones that I find particularly interesting and relevant is the value the show places on human life and the extreme significance of discovering the truth. Both Booth and Brennan agree that humans are inherently beautiful and have value, although how they come to that conclusion is quite different. Brennan is an atheist; she denies any idea that postulates the existence of any god. Booth was raised Catholic, who believes in God and that He endowed humans with value. In their world of investigating crime, a world where the stain of sin is easily seen, the heinousness of murder is juxtaposed with what should’ve been. No image-bearer (although not referred to as image-bearers on the show) deserves to have their life taken from them. Because of the importance of life, finding out the truth of the matter is also integral to the show. Truth is the good, the beauty, the glimpse of shalom in the midst of a fallen, broken, dirty world. Like everything in our world, this bit of culture contains both good and bad. But, if you look for it, Bones encourages the viewer to desire good. As an audience, we want the “bad guys” to be punished and the “good guys” to triumph. We hope for the truth to be brought into light and for the suffering to cease.

But I am left wondering:

Would a crime drama such as Bones be accepted if it was more realistic in the sense that the “bad guy” was not caught? Not all real life crimes are solved, but is the success of a TV show dependent on the resolution of this tension?

In television, can we make the distinction between “good guys” and “bad guys”? Can we also separate the “good guys” from the “bad guys” in real life?

Matrix Control

The Matrix is a film from 1999 directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. The film features Keanu Reeves who is formally known as Thomas Anderson, but more commonly called Neo. Neo has been searching for Morpheus and when he finds him, Neo choses to question his world and see a system that has controlled and taken advantage of him.
    Once removed from the system called the Matrix, it is explained to Neo that his view of reality has been created to hold his mind as prisoner and turn his body into a battery for machines with artificial intelligence that have taken control of the world.  The Matrix represents the evil of a system that controls the mind because the subjects do not usually question its control just as people today do not typically question the way of life into which they are born. However, there is a redeeming factor seen in the longing of characters who wish to look at the boundaries of the system. Those, like Neo who chose the “red pill” and challenge what is presented to them as truth are in the processes of redeeming themselves because they are attempting to change the system. This is not to say that redemption is entirely individual because just as the crew of the “Nebuchadnezzar” brings people out of the Matrix, so are we tasked to encourage others to test their way of life.
    The Matrix shows that the search for redemption, the search for truth, both for yourself as well as for the encouragement of others, is the purpose of humanity. Neo was not taken out of the Matrix and held prisoner in the new reality, but was prepared to re-enter and spread the knowledge he had received. The deception of the Matrix and the truth of the real world can be associated with the nature of the empire and the kingdom of God. Where the deception of the Matrix and the empire is meant to enslave, the truth of the kingdom is meant to make people free.

What are some examples of systems that control us?

How can we challenge these systems?

January Series | Jenny Yang

Because I am a graphic designer for Calvin and helped coordinate the artwork of the January Series, I’ve been attending the lectures daily. One speaker that really stuck out to me was Jenny Yang, the co-author of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate. Yang asserted the imperativeness of refugee and immigration rights of both legal and illegal citizens becoming the new civil rights movement, encompassing immigration as a biblical, church, and missional issue that most white American Christians are torn with showing consideration to aliens who are breaking the law.

The social artifact of her message involving immigration oppression stressed that the human purpose is to move, travel, and immigrate, because that is how God spreads his love, message and determination. Spite is prevalent inside the people that show domination over immigrants; they judge because they may not know English, or whether or not they pay their taxes (which they do, and there would be no Social Security if they did not pay their IRS dues). Because it is a growing but hushed issue within the church (only 10% of churches have evaluated this concern), it makes me hope for more churches to bring along the message that the artifact reveals about life in the Kingdom: immigrants are God’s treasured, cherished people who he yearns for just as much as he does for us. Yang specified Zechariah 7:9-10, saying, “Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’” 
Yang introduced concrete ways of improvising homeland security, like making it easier for immigrants to get through the security and immigration process, meanwhile running more safekeeping to our borders.

1. Would it be un-Christian to eject illegal immigrants who have fostered their lives in the United States?
2. Why do you think Christians are so separated on the illegal immigration dispute?

Cultural Artifact #1-"The Matrix"

            The movie “Matrix” was released back in 1999 telling the story of a rebel group’s fight against an artificial intelligence(AI) that took control over the human population. Humans are plugged into a system that turns a dream into real life inside their minds. Morpheus, the leader of the rebels, makes it his destiny to find the “one” who would bring humans back into the light of the real world.

            Matrix is the system used by the AI to blind the humans to the systemic growing of humans as an energy source powering the AI. Morpheus successfully finds Neo(the “one”) who is prophesized to save the human race from the matrix. Neo goes through a process of figuring out what he believes is real and what the real truth is.

Morpheus uses training to shift Neo’s eyes towards the frame that had been constructing his reality. Once Neo discovers the painful truth of his past, he starts constructing the path of his fate. Circumstances are put in Neo’s way to develop his fate.  The oracle is used to test what Neo chooses to believe. Neo discovers he is the “one” when he saves Morpheus from the agents. Breaking the Oracle’s prediction taught him to believe. By believing he created his fate that would eventually fulfill the prophecy. Neo becomes the redemption meanwhile evil is represented as the artificial intelligence in the movie.

The ending of Matrix is a happy one, yet it makes me wonder what’s next in the series? Neo ends with a promising dialogue for the future. Neo is a great example of redemption against a reality pulled over societies eyes. What other symbolism(possibly biblical) might be present throughout the tales of the Matrix?