I look forward to the War of the Worlds, due out imminently. We did a film night with Pathfinders this week, inviting the 12 year olds to bring along a DVD and introduce a favourite scene. I must admit I quickly CGI-ed out, but it was interesting talking briefly about Joseph in Genesis 37, and how he was used by God despite his arrogance and bad attitude (and also the rest of the dysfunctional family were saved), whereas in the movies XXX escapes on a motorbike from the drug lords by using his skill at extreme sports etc etc.
But I also have a love-hate relationship with Sci-Fi. Personally most of it passes me by, but some of it is fascinating because of what, I think, it reveals about our fears.
Some of my favourite films are those unsophisticated films of the 50s and 60s. The Day the Earth stood still, for example, and that one about the Chinese drilling a tunnel under the Pacific to allow the Red Army to attack the USA, even films like the Rod Taylor The Time Machine show a lot about the fear of nuclear attack and Communist aggression. Fair enough, that's the time they lived in.
Then more recently we have seen Star Wars and The Matrix. In this genre a small group are privilege to special skills (Jedi knights and those who have been released from the matrix and live in Zion). I think this equates to a spiritual yearning, the ability to move beyond the physical and rational constraints so clearly shown in films like Bladerunner and Alien.
So I look forward to the War of the Worlds. I know that the Tom Cruise character won't get killed, he doesn't do dying, but I will be fascinated to see who the aliens are and how they depict our current fears and neuroses.
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