Persepolis

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So most of the movies I see in the theater are at the theater less than a mile from my house It's one of those $3 theaters with a few screens, pizza, and beer. After being a total Bear Tooth junkie for a couple years, I've had a hard time shelling out $10+ for a movie I can see for a third the price if I'm just patient. Plus, this theater will occasionally show art-house movies, foreign films, and classic films. I all truth, Portland has no shortage of cheap or off the beaten path theaters, and if I wanted to see a different off-brand movie every night, I probably could. But this theater is just down the street, takes about 4 minutes to ride my bike there, and I like that. (And any place around here that feels familiar is a good place for me. It's still not really home here...)

So I saw Persepolis last weekend. Persepolis is a French film which tackled the animation of a series of graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi, an Iranian woman currently living in Paris. Marjane Satrapi's graphic novel duo, Persepolis, and Persepolis 2, are autobiographical in nature, covering her childhood amidst revolution, time at school in Austria, and growth into womanhood. It is a story about idealism, disillusionment, and realism, a common life-story told through extreme circumstances.

Before you read on, just know that I do recommend seeing this film. It was a fresh perspective on life, filled with animated realism. However, if you do not wish to have your perceptions changed before you get a chance to see it for yourself, do not read on.

SPOILERS ALERT!

The more I think about the film, the more I like it, but my initial reaction to the film was mixed. First of all, and strictly on the surface, I don't really care for the illustration/animation style. There is somewhat of an elegant simplicity to the un-textured characters among simple backgrounds, but the drawings themselves weren't exactly the kind of drawings I would seek out. There were several sections where the main character goes through energetic, somewhat rebellious periods, in which the animation changed to exaggerate that energy. These energetic sections were my favorite parts, the animation taking on a fluidity and character that seemed fresh in the context of the entire film. But overall the style itself was not the kind of animation I seek out.

This film was originally voiced in French, and in the version I saw, it had been re-dubbed in English. Generally re-dubbing is easier to get away with in animation as the mouths of characters aren't ever 100% accurate anyway. However, I think I would have rather seen the film in the original French with English subs. I feel like a couple of the character's English voices were poorly chosen, particularly that of Sean Penn, the voice of the main character's father. I suppose it would have taken away from the visuals of the film to have to read subtitles, but I really think I would have preferred it.

One interesting perspective I enjoyed was with regard to the political themes and ideals which are a huge part of the film. The main family are communist, which creates a problem when the Taliban government is put in place. I feel like I've been conditioned so much to think that democracy is the end all political system, that America, shining example of healthy government that it is, is the end all of political systems. So to see a family whose passion and obsession is communist just seems so backwards, and yet there must be validity there. Not that I think Communism is my preferred form of government, but our consumeristic "democracy" seems a far cry from healthy and a far cry from Biblically sound leadership. Persepolis affords at least a tiny glimpse at the other side of the coin.

I also had a mixed reaction to the start of the film because for the first half-hour or more the film feels like a history lesson on Tehran and Iranian culture. While I found that interesting, I was really hoping for something more. I always feel like animation has such huge potential to bring us to amazing places, and a history lesson almost seemed below its capabilities. However, it was pretty cool to hear about real life in Tehran amidst the potentially positive political revolution, but which turned sour once the Taliban was fully in power.

Personally, I like a movie that doesn't always give you a tidy formulaic ending, if only because that's how life is. But at the same time, movies can be great because they don't have to reflect real life. They can go anywhere and do anything, and be idealistic if they want to be. Persepolis isn't idealistic. At all. The story ends, and while the main character has changed and grown as a person, it was hard to tell if her life's path had taken her forward or merely further off to the side without much forward movement, like swimming against a current. So I don't really know if I liked the ending, but I'm not sure I disliked it either. And maybe that was the kind of reaction the film was trying to get.

So all in all, Persepolis is certainly worth seeing, a portrait of humanity amidst the rubble of a broken nation, though perhaps it's not as incredible as many critics would have you believe. But then again, I'm acting as a critic of sorts for the moment, so take this all with a grain of salt.

It's coming...

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So I guess I'm doomed to approach things creatively... and I mean that in whichever way saves me the most face and keeps me from seeming like a pompous jerk-wad. So maybe in a retractive way. We'll see.

So at my final showing of Bible Camp I made an announcement that I was pursuing a position with Pioneers, and that I was hoping to approach at least part of the support-raising in my own way (as suggested by Mr. Mike Sheldon.) In mid-July we will begin recording my first album, having stolen a creative structure from my last nine years floating through life. All the proceeds from the album will go toward my support in Pioneers. It'll end up being about half music I've already written/recorded and sent out to many of y'all over the years, and half music I've yet to write. It's very exciting, and daunting, but I'm excited for a different kind of creative challenge. So in mid-October look for the album only for sale online, places like iTunes and Amazon MP3 (little plug, I love Amazon MP3. Cheaper than iTunes, great selection, etc...) So there it is. Tell your neighbors, tell your mailman. It's coming.

It's finally here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Well, finally the news everyone has been waiting for. I am now officially an appointee with Pioneers. So now I get to start figuring out all the details of raising support, what my position will look like, and everything else. I'm planning on joining a team called ComNet whose objective is to tell stories in the field using media such as video, photography, writing, graphic design, and anything else that might help communicate real life stories. For me, this is an incredibly exciting time, as I finally begin to learn what God has had in the works for me over the last decade or so. I have purpose and direction, and it couldn't be sweeter. Oh, and a huge plug for Pioneers, if you're looking for a mission organization that can use your specific talents and giftings, Pioneers is the place. If you're looking for a rigidly structured, hierarchical organization that will TELL you where you will be used, Pioneers is probably NOT the place for you. This week in Orlando getting to know the staff, and vice versa, has been invaluable. What an amazing colleciton of really neat people! (For more info, go to www.pioneers.org or contact me.) So in the next day or so I will have my Pioneers account number, and if any of you would be interested in more than prayer support, any sort of donation can be taken, once I provide a couple more details.

So it looks like I'll be stationed in Turkey or Thailand, and from there will be sent on assignments to areas within that larger region. So Turkey would provide access to Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Thailand would provide access to most of Asia. From what I've heard, there will be no shortage of interest in media as a communicator, and I will be busy all the time, which sounds good to me. As for when I could leave, it's hard to say without having raised support and finished some of the other requirements of my appointment. But the start is nearer now than it's ever felt before, and I couldn't be more thrilled about it. Most of you can expect that I'll be getting in contact with you all in a less impersonal way than a blog... like a mass email or some sort of elaborate set up of lanterns and morse code, only communicated at dusk from the bow of a ship anchored offshore in a North by Northwesterly direction... Ta for now.

And then it was done

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So first of all, thank you to the handful of people who have been uncontrollably supportive of my film endeavor. It's been a rapidly slow-moving journey, full of unexpected turns of events, frustrations, and victories, an age of personal growth. A sort of microcosm of the real world, the great moments being tempered by frustrations and difficulties. And now it's over. At least that's what I'm saying right now. Definitive statements have a way of biting me in the backside.

So I came back to AK to show "Bible Camp" in Anchorage again, the idea being that I heard from quite a few people who had been disappointed about missing the other showing, and wanted to make it available again. So I rented the Abbott Loop auditorium again, this time three months in advance, got a completely new poster/postcard/trailer idea (courtesy of Greger Wright and Jessica Clark), created a new trailer, updated the old ones, had posters/cards printed, and put together promotional packages for churches in the Anchorage area. The packages even has a DVD with the trailers, further information, and a clip from the film. It was another huge time investment, but well worth it since it would allow a broader audience to hear about it and come and support the film and ministry. Everything was looking much better this time around than the last, especially the timing, not at holiday time, not in conjunction with any major Anchorage events, and also during my spring break. The stars had aligned, and all was perfectly in line for beating my previous showing's meager 35+ audience.



Twenty-five people showed up.



I was pretty excited about the day, so at the time I was totally cool. People were generous with their giving, and I got more very positive responses from the attendees. I even pretty much broke even, so ultimately things went fairly well even from a financial standpoint. I knew, however, that for the next few days I would have a hard time thinking of anything but how disappointed I had been in the turnout. Was all the work worth it? I spent hours upon hours redesigning, calling pastors, burning DVDs, calling pastors again, scheduling, praying about it all, and 25 people showed up. That's what I knew I'd be expecting in the coming days. But it never really came to that.

I don't know where this sort of optimistic outlook on life has come from, but I honestly didn't perseverate on the downers of the small group I hosted at Abbott Loop. Sure there was a little disappointment that certain people didn't come, that there was far less support than I was expecting, but overall the exact right people showed up. Not only my fan-club of a group of friends, but some real key people in Alaska ministry, and some truly generous people whose giving was far more than I could have expected. Jack and Mary Lou Bacher later sent me a check which covers my Pioneers orientation fees, which is an astonishing blessing, certainly a miracle I didn't expect. The outpouring of love I received from the people there was incredible, and I consider it a privilege to have experienced joy from disappointment. I have more to say, but it'll have to wait for another blog. My further comments are of a less optimistic nature, a bit of chastising, so I'll save it for another time. But yeah, I guess I'm continuing to grow up despite my best efforts to stunt my own growth. Something like spiritual puberty, maybe. Oh man, there are so many mostly-inappropriate jokes I'm thinking about now. Uh, okay, so maybe not spiritual puberty... Uh, *voice crack*... [awkward pause] see you later.