The Possessed as good writing I donno about the following article -even though it makes its point effectively and is not afraid to be critical in spirit despite the nature of Evangelical audiences who often prefer stories that are predictable and almost 2 dimensional, which the author notes even though he also is an Evangelical. But please read the article first before considering this rejoinder; it would help if you knew what was being replied to. After many years I finally read Dostoevsky's The Possessed. Excellent book. At times you could say that it was "overdone," and there is too much in it that is so uniquely Russian that it can be difficult to follow the story line, but in a sense that does not matter. Dostoevsky was a superlative writer. You know it is fiction but everything is so well crafted and realistic that, well, ...you forget. There you are in mid 19th century Russia amongst characters who -mostly- come to life as you read the pages. About Dostoevsky, he almost breaks every rule of modern-day fiction writing. But his material is better for it. You just know, at no more than perhaps 50 pages into the book, that you are reading quality that has lasting value. In a way it is like reading the Bible, say, Esther -one helluva great story- or the book of Acts. Many, many things are going on and there are subplots that have value in and of themselves, but there is no real confusion. The material is good, you are spending your time wisely. With Dostoevsky you also get a heavy dose of philosophy in at least every other chapter. Nothing is action for the sake of entertainment, or only very little is any such thing. Basically all action supports ideas and ideas determine actions. The ideas have different value, by design, so the results of action may be good or bad or very bad, which is also the point: Bad ideas will ruin your life. Reading Dostoevsky also cuts against the grain of modern day values insofar as in many fields it is regarded as a virtue to always be concise. You learn, from Dostoevsky, the writer, that brevity may be a liability, that some questions require considerable soul searching and thinking through. You cannot take a short cut and expect a long-lasting and good result. My guess is that this really is an essential requisite for business as well as literature even though people in business -not all, but a significant number- regard serious reading as a burden, a waste of time, and unnecessary. But to use the Bible as an analogy again, would a 3 page version of Ezekiel be nearly as meaningful as unaltered Ezekiel? To ask the question is to answer it. No 3 page edition of Ezekiel, no matter how well organized or stylistic, can possibly substitute for the real thing. This is not to say that The Possessed is flawless. It is easy enough to find faults, like the rather surrealistic suicide in the book which is more bizarre than anything else. Then there is the running-away-from-home conclusion that ends so disastrously. The trouble with that is that it is almost perfect, almost pure inspiration, but there is just enough that is contrived, that leaks in under the door as it were, that the final chapter is more perplexing than enlightening. And in discussing the Utopian Socialists, whom he despises, why did Dostoevsky do so little serious research? He really cherry picked what he disliked about Fourier and the Utopians not realizing that many Utopians had no use for Fourier, either. Yet, as a measure of Dostoevsky's genius, he projected the story of the Fourierists into the future and, 150 years ago, created a fictional world in which actual 'Stalinists' would arise, which, obviously, would happen. Do you want to write as well as Dostoevsky ? Or even somewhat as well ? Prepare yourself for a great deal of hard work, a great deal of revising and still more revising in order to get things right, which is exceedingly difficult even though, when it all is done, it must seem inevitable, as if no other story line was even possible. It all "flows" so easily, every complexity works out so smoothly, how else could it have conceivably been said? To get to that place you really need to work hard and live thorough many mistakes in getting there. Entertainment ? Yes, Dostoevsky sought to engage readers at the level of good action-filled story telling. But, for him, action that is not rooted in the deepest imaginable meaning is worthless. And sometimes the best "action" consists of such things as an agonizing discussion of religious faith unfettered by some kind of false need to conform to a doctrinal formula, or psychological observations that define a character and take us inside his or her life. How could you put Dostoevsky on television? Does anything come close? I simply cannot think of anything even though, for sure, there have been a large number of world class American movies subsequently shown on TV. But maybe the question is unnecessary. For the best in reading, for lessons in plot development, characterization, and sheer human depth, you cannot do better. And, this said, Dostoevsky's message is indispensable to the value of the book. BR ------------------------- 1/9/14 In Stories, the Message is NOT the Thing by _Christian Post Guest Voices_ (http://blogs.christianpost.com/guest-views/author/christian-post-guest-voices/)
By Darren Wilson Throughout the history of the church, the message has been the central, defining feature of evangelism. Our services have been entirely built around this foundation—everything from announcements to worship to ministry serve as a kind of buffeter to the man (or woman) standing on a platform and telling us things that are supposedly important. While this has been quite effective for a long time, something new is being birthed in this generation—and that is the concept of media playing a central role in the spreading of the gospel message. Almost from the very beginning of cinema the story of Christ has played out on movie screens and (eventually) televisions around the world, and for the longest time the same concept as the church service has reigned supreme. The message is the thing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a terrible movie as long as the message is there. Unfortunately, this is no longer good enough. Being someone who makes movies for a living, I probably hear more than most the great lament of countless Christians in America: why are so many Christian movies so terrible? To get to the bottom of this, we must first drill down to realize what exactly they mean by “terrible.” Sometimes it is bad acting, other times bad cinematography. But more than anything, if we’re honest with ourselves, is that these movies usually lack the single most important element of all great films. They are simply not very entertaining. The problem here isn’t that the stories we are coming up with aren’t inherently entertaining. The problem, I think, stems from the very thing that Christianity and evangelism is founded on—namely, that the message is the most important thing. As much as I dread the backlash that this could bring, I have to say it. For any Christian in the entertainment industry, the message is NOT the most important thing. Without question, the most important element for all stories is that they must be, first and foremost, entertaining. If they are not entertaining, well told stories, then no one is going to stick around long enough to actually hear your message. Not too many people get up and walk out of a lame sermon, but EVERYONE turns the channel if they re bored with what they are watching. Unfortunately, though, most Christian artists have grown up with the mentality that “the message is the thing”, and this is a difficult boundary to break. So we become hamstrung into trying to make our stories fit into some unnatural box, and the story always suffers when you treat it with a heavy hand. I once heard a respected Christian filmmaker admit that for his films, he comes up with what he wants the ending to be based on what he wants his message to be, and then he creates a story designed to get to that ending. The only problem with this kind of mentality is that any story designed first and foremost to preach to people is always going to feel phony. The 21st Century audience has grown up on media and has gained a sophistication for consuming media unparalleled in history. Put it this way, my KIDS can identify cheesy dialogue when they hear it. Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the message is not important for the Christian artist. It is absolutely essential, for without any kind of message our art is ultimately stillborn—it carries no life. It’s just pretty pictures that mean nothing. What I am saying is that it cannot be the MOST important thing. If your film, for instance, has a great message but very little entertainment value then the only people who will pay attention to your film will most likely be people who already agree with your message. Those who don’t will have clicked to something else long before it ends. So you haven’t created a compelling story, you’ve simply created Christian propaganda. I have created some of the most hardcore “message” films out there with my documentaries, but my team can attest to the fact that when it comes time to put these movies together, my primary goal is to entertain you. I’m a documentary filmmaker who doesn’t really like documentaries. So I figure if I’ m going to have to make these things because God is asking me to, then it better be entertaining! I have left some of the most amazing message material on the cutting room floor because it simply didn’t serve the story or move things along. Ultimately, I think this all boils down to trust. Most Christian artists simply don’t trust themselves. They don’t trust that what they believe will come through in their story if they just let go and try to tell a rip-roaring yarn. But they forget that what they believe makes up the very essence of themselves. Therefore it will have no choice but to come out in what they create. It may be hidden, but it will be there. How does an atheist sit through a Christian documentary, and then decide they no longer want to be an atheist (as has happened many times with my films)? I think it’s because the documentary is entertaining. Now I still have a long way to go as a storyteller, and my hope is that my next film will always be more entertaining than the last. But the last thing I need to worry about is my message, because my art comes from my very soul. And my soul is found in Christ alone, so I know that if I can just create something that keeps you riveted, the message of Christ will be seeping through the screen and into your spirit. -- -- Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community <[email protected]> Google Group: http://groups.google.com/group/RadicalCentrism Radical Centrism website and blog: http://RadicalCentrism.org --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Centroids: The Center of the Radical Centrist Community" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
