Question 1 was a firecracker. Huge battles have been fought over the impact of movies – and I had been on the front lines of those wars for a while.
For two years, I spoke for, and helped lead, a national media awareness company called True Lies. Founded by Phil Chalmers, our True Lies speaking team traveled the country, encouraging teens and parents to make educated and positive life choices in spite of some of the destructive messages found in today’s popular movies, music, and video games.
I had the privilege of speaking to amazing people in churches, public schools, and conventions across America. This meant I needed to know pop culture front to back – to know what Tinseltown was aiming at the hears and minds of teens across the country.
Sadly, research and experience showed me just how much garbage out there passes for popular entertainment.
We’re drawn to the dirty pretty things of this world. We cling to them in the night and stubbornly refuse to scrape the dirt from under our fingernails when morning comes and conscience comes calling.
But as good as the dirt feels, my time in True Lies showed me that people love the feeling of clean hands and a bright future just a little bit more. Positive messages still shine through the dark clouds of sex, violence, drugs, and death. We’re drawn to their light.
Movies blaze a trail through the dark and the light. They let us look at the world around us as it was, is, and could be. Movies give us a high-definition glimpse into the best and worst parts of our culture and nature. They make us angry, sorry, guilty, sexy, happy, worthy. Yes, movies can be vile and cruel and hateful. They can inspire copycat acts of stupidity and violence, shake our faith and confound our sense of decency.
They also inspire countless acts of charity and humanity and love. Roger Ebert, the first critic to win the Pulitzer Prize, stated unequivocally that movies “make us better” (The Great Movies, 2003).
Just like trainers should.
They force us to ask “what if?” and “what happened?” and remember everything we should and shouldn’t be.
Just like trainers should.
Question 2 – “Which movie characters would be classified as a trainer?” – had one answer: none of them had ever needed PowerPoint.
(concludes tomorrow…)