Tuesday, January 02, 2007

the most unbelievable news


Quotation from an interview about the new Rambo film "I can only imagine Rambo sneaking into Burma to free Christian missionaries who are being held by militants. And as the invincible one-man army looks into the eyes of the ordinary folks from Oklahoma and South Carolina who are risking their lives for the Gospel, he is swept up by their commitment. Oh, wait. I'm. Not. Kidding."

Stallone says: "It rekindles something in him. He doesn't believe at first, he's seen too much. He's bitter. But when he meets these people and looks into their eyes, he's swept up in it, and literally he's just taken on this journey," Stallone said. "He's a Christian warrior! Can you believe it?"

unfortunately i can. perhaps never has so much artistic talent been put at the service of the myth of redemptive violence.

6 comments:

Suzanna said...

I saw 'Rocky Balboa' last night.
Stallone is displaying his ideal. 'Rocky'-a character who has a beast inside he must deal with through beating the s**t out of another fighter, though benign in every other way, unable to control his future. He is loveable in all the tradional ways. We all end up feeling a little sorry for him and let him have one more heroic moment.
Stallone may have some talent, but whatever he's doing, he's only exploring the cowboy mentality that sells tickets to a lot of frustrated conservatives.
It's the Movies! for crying out loud (like Duck Soup and Bob Hope was Movies) and not many take Stallone seriously. Nor should they.

gareth higgins said...

thanks for this suzanna - i'm looking forward to seeing the new rocky film when it is released here in a couple of weeks - i'm actually writing something at the moment about how the story of the character parallels stallone's career - from independent no-hoper to consumerist idol and back to a man of dignity (i hope)

Pete Brierley said...

Hey mate. No I don't believe it. Although I have always wondered something else about stallone... what's wrong with his mouth?
You going to Si's in Feb?

Pete

Anonymous said...

"the myth of redemptive violence" - I hadn't heard of this before - I've posted a link on my blog to here, and am investigating this concept - another eye opens.

O said...

I teach a film class at Jim Elliot Christian School in Highlands Ranch, co. I have used your book in my class before, especially the myth of redemptive violence. Great stuff. Wanted to give you some encouragement.
Kyle Ohnstad
redemptioenmembrana.blogspot.com

Society's Elite said...

i can just imagine the "marketing" that will happen for this film... pastors including it in their preaching... posters of rambo in churches... the cynical side of me keeps saying he's jumping on the "faith themed" bandwagon... and it feels quite nauseating... then again, i could be talking out of my ass... ;)

now i wonder how long it'll be before we see a born-again john mcclane from die hard... ha!