3 Wrongs that are a paradox and very, very difficult to reconcile

1) Telling a woman what she can and can't do with her body.

2) Teaching people that life is so cheap they can abort babies at whim for the convenience and the privilege. 

3) And a president who rages against those who have the right and the conscience to fight for the unborn. Though, he himself believes in the sanctity of life on some level.

God is not welcomed here

The Samaritan's Purse Emergency Field Hospital in Central Park

    There is a way of thought about a person who does not accept non-traditional forms of marriage. The thought goes that they are worthy of being harassed, oppressed and spat upon with every vicious expression of hate. It is permissible in social media and in the public to do this.

    You can lose complete perspective in the middle of a pandemic where hundreds of people die every day. I, for one, do not bow to intimidation. That’s exactly what it is. Justifiable harassment and condemnation. There are literally thousands of men and women who have turned to Jesus Christ having abandoned an alternative sexual lifestyle with the accompanied false belief that God gave it to them. Nobody forced them to turn to God. God changed them. They don’t want to go back. They struggle, but they are new people. They have new desires. God showed them love and they were embraced and loved by His people. What you see on TV is usually a fictionalized, dumbed down and incoherent version of the church of Christ. TV likes it like that.

    The people I care about are Christian and non-Christian. Jesus Christ gave His life for all with the intention of securing a complete and irrevocable reconciliation with God because of our sins. A person chooses if their loyalty is to God or if they will become their own god. Most people go with the latter. A person can be shown that no one enters heaven based on their own merit, and with that knowledge still choose their own eternity. They embrace deception and have a terrifying expectation waiting for them. It’s not a good deed to harass a man or a woman because they agree with God about sex and marriage. In what has become two months of a deadly pandemic in New York and the wearying effects of it, I am reminded that I am tired of the intimidation game.

The Twilight Zone: The Big, Tall Wish

Steven Perry as Henry Temple praying for his friend

The Big, Tall Wish

    The Big, Tall Wish is not often included among the usual favorite episodes that people remember from The Twilight Zone. I trumpet this one among others.

    Bolie Jackson is a prize fighter. He’s finished gathering his things for a match and he stands before the bedroom mirror; his arms slowly relax at his side as he becomes absorbed by the sight of himself. He leans in with a look on his face that implies a question. Little Henry Temple looks on. Henry is the son of the lady of the house. Bolie invites him to come see what he sees. Bolie tours the welts and blemished skin of his face, recounting how and where he got them. Henry picks up on his fatigue and confronts him full of hope. He tells Bolie that he’s going to make “the big, tall wish” for him. Henry assures him, “You’re my good and close friend.” Bolie goes out of the bedroom with his training bag, leaves the house and meets his lady waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him. After a time, Henry comes to join them. He pulls gently on Bolie’s sleeve and gazes up at him, pouring encouragement. Henry is extraordinarily perceptive and without a whiff of pretense or arrogant presumption. Henry exudes confidence in a good that is unshakably for us.

    In the locker room before the fight, Bolie catches the promoter in a lie. In a near-altercation, Bolie misses the man’s face and breaks his knuckles against the wall. Later, Bolie is knocked down in the ring and he’s being counted out. At home, Henry and his mother are watching the fight on TV. Henry presses his face against the screen, pleading for Bolie. His opponent then lay in Bolie's place. After the fight, Bolie remarks with wonder about his knuckles. His cornerman stops and is puzzled. Bolie tries to describe to him when he was knocked down, but his cornerman is only amused. Bolie won the fight.

"I'm too hurt to believe..."

    That night, Bolie comes home and finds Henry tending to his pet rabbits on the roof. He’s cheery. He confides to Henry the strange thing that happened to him. He could’ve sworn he was off his feet. Henry’s expression is grave and causes Bolie to become alight. The haze settles and it dawns on him that he and Henry are the only ones aware of what really happened. “I made the big wish, then.” Henry tells him. “It was magic, Bolie!” But Bolie simply cannot accept it. Bolie insists he won on his own merit. He will not accept the truth. Henry pleads in tears for Bolie to believe. All the disappointment in Bolie’s heart comes to bear as the two weep together, and his unbelief literally unravels what was done by the faith of the little boy. Bolie is in the ring again and on his back. The referee has just finished counting. Bolie loses the match. On his original course again, he returns home with a bandaged hand and finds Henry in bed. Henry encourages him despite his loss and Bolie leaves him to sleep.

*************************

Ivan Dixon as Bolie Jackson

Steven Perry as Travis Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun"

Claudia McNeil as Lena Younger and Sidney Poitier as
Walter Lee Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun"

    Ivan Dixon is easy-going as Bolie Jackson with a ready and somewhat bashful smile that may be a shield for how the character really feels about himself. Steven Perry is Henry Temple. In the book, The Twilight Zone Companion, a show guide for the original series, it is reported that director Ron Winston was adept at refining the interactions of Dixon and Perry in a way that would come across well. The script was sentimental in that it dealt with, “fragile, intangible emotions… notably the hope, love and faith of the little boy.” Winston engineers a clean song and shaves away what could’ve played as a gratuitous, over-emotional spectacle. And it really is like a bell. And all the more inspiring because of the harmonious interaction Dixon has with Steven Perry, who is not just a child actor with a steady understanding of his craft. He is a black, child actor in a time when that caliber of role would never be given to one. It was always in the heart and mind of original Twilight Zone creator and narrator, Rod Serling to make these kinds of strides in subject matter and in choice of actor. This was in a time when television was still young and completely uninterested in content that would enrich or even challenge its audience. Other than The Big, Tall Wish, there are at least 3 other episodes where black actors have camera time (among them is another role for Ivan Dixon). As a result, the TV series won the Unity Award for Outstanding Contributions to Better Race Relations in 1961. Steven Perry also portrayed Travis Younger in the 1961 film version of A Raisin in the Sun (Ivan Dixon is also part of the cast). A Raisin in the Sun had so much of the same compassion and yearning heart found in The Big, Tall Wish, most notably represented in Claudia McNeil who plays Lena Younger. You’ll recognize that spirit especially when Lena Younger reprimands her daughter in the final scene of the play:

“I thought I taught you something else too. I thought I taught you to love him… have you cried for that boy today? Now, I don’t mean for yourself and for the family, because we lost the money. I mean for him and what he’s gone through! And God help him. God help him, what it’s done to him! Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most? When he’s done good and made things easy for everybody? No, no… that ain’t the time at all. It’s when he’s at his lowest and he can’t believe in himself because the world’s done whipped him so. When you start measuring somebody, measure ‘em right, child. Measure ‘em, right. You make sure that you done taken into account, the hills and the valleys he’s come through to get to wherever he is.”

Lorraine Hansberry

    There is a cry for dignity in this monologue. I respectfully submit that it is a cry, but not just for black men. I know and understand that it is for all men who want to walk with dignity and strength. I relate to that. In some of my past reading about Lorraine Hansberry, I didn’t get the notion that her play is limited to the experience of a working class African American family. I believe her sight was fuller than that. I reviewed an old paper I wrote about her in college, where I rightly appropriated that “…A Raisin in the Sun is about a black family who struggle with the weighty themes of identity, moral responsibility and civil rights.” For Bolie, it was an added inability to believe. Walter Lee Younger suffered from that too and I think that’s related to identity. Henry Temple understood who he was and who he believed in. Not knowing who you are can be terribly comfortable. I hearken to the words of Langston Hughes’ poem, “Harlem” in saying that Bolie Jackson is made helpless by unbelief and watches how the dream deferred dries up in the sun. All of this can be summed up in the need for dignity and strength which translates for every sensible man who wants to walk rightly as Walter Lee Younger decided by the end of the play. This is the root of a man’s walk. It’s also the place that God wants to lovingly guard in a man’s life. If you have discernment and a keen ear, then you will find that much of Rod Serling’s work in The Twilight Zone has this underlying cry. This is the heart of A Big, Tall Wish. For the actor and director to truly understand in a humane and compassionate way is a treasure find. Listening to Claudia McNeil perform that monologue is truth that always finds itself pushing up to the surface of the noise. And it also brings to mind the precious plea of Willy Loman’s wife in Arthur Miller’s play, Death of a Salesman where she tears into her sons on behalf of her husband:

“I don’t say he’s a great man. Willy Loman never made a lot of money. His name was never in the paper. He’s not the finest character that ever lived. But he’s a human being, and a terrible thing is happening to him. So attention must be paid. He’s not to be allowed to fall into his grave like an old dog. Attention, attention must be finally paid to such a person.”

Arthur Miller

Rod Serling

    Rod Serling himself was a very successful playwright. I can’t help but note how in these 3 stories there is a rich understanding of honor and compassion-- in particular the recognition of the basic humanity of men. Instead of shooting the wounded for laughs, these works are decent enough to raise its voice for men. This is in stark contrast to television and film today, where a rancid disposition against men tends to be the preference of consumption for general audiences. An extremely feminist and liberal culture has no patience and little-to-no mercy for a human male who fails… and fails badly. But in much of the glowing artistic material of the past, there is a pure and wiser heart that circulates the blood of the drama. Bolie Jackson, Walter Lee Younger and Willy Loman are in some ways the examples of hardship that a man will contend with in his life. This should not be received as my conclusion that women have not suffered or that they have not been abused. This writer does not subscribe to these notions. This writer is fully aware that there were and still are men void of conscience. But this writer thoroughly recognizes that a self-righteous mercilessness is the order of our day, and will acknowledge what few see but won’t admit to: that we have taught our children, whether consciously or unconsciously to dishonor and hate male authority and exalt female superiority. Clearly, these plays aren’t about honoring men. But in them, men are honored. The character of Henry Temple gazes up at the father he sees in Bolie. It is a precious sight because the character is not shy about his need for someone to lead him, teach him and love him the way only a father can. He very unusually bears the weakness of Bolie and gives him what he needs. He forgives his “father.” The father role is a unique role that God created and it can’t be duplicated or reimagined. Steven Perry again portrays this endearing, silent reverence for his father to Sidney Poitier's portrayal of Walter Lee Younger in the 1961 film. They are wounded. And they are honored. They bravely hobble along and we are encouraged to come alongside them. And that’s where I’m getting at in this portion of my blog. I don’t think you can cultivate that kind of empathy in the poisoned, bitter and vanity-laden grounds of much of our theater, film and television today. It’s hard to put away what’s really underneath. Because it would be too inconvenient to sow our ground for healthier fruit.

    Listen to what Bolie says to Henry as they wrestle over what is true and what is not:

“Listen! Listen, boy, there ain’t no magic! No magic, Henry! I had that fight coming and going. I had it in my pocket. I was the number one out there and it was me who done it. Me! Bolie Jackson! Hitting and slugging and winning! Winning! Henry, I can’t believe. I’m too old. And I’m too hurt to believe… there ain’t no such thing as magic. God help us both, I wish there were.”

    I had a neighbor and long-time friend of the family once tell me that he sometimes wanted to punch me in my face. It was not something he would ordinarily say. It was during a very dark time in my life. He told me that it was because he wished he had my talent and ability and there was the implication that I was wasting it. I never forgot that. It made me ashamed because I knew what he meant. It’s one of the things that helps me to continue in my work.

    There was a man who came to Jesus Christ during his ministry on the earth. He asked Jesus to heal his son. His boy was deaf, mute and violently afflicted-- he was often thrown down by the evil spirit dominating him. When the spirit saw Jesus coming, the boy was thrown to the ground again; he rolled and foamed at the mouth. The father told Jesus that the spirit had tried to throw the boy in fire or it would try to drown him. I could feel the man’s frustration when he said to Jesus, “If you can do anything…” Jesus responds to him, “'If you can?'All things are possible to those who believe.” The man replies, “I do believe. Help my unbelief.” Jesus commands the evil spirit to leave the boy. Jesus helps the unconscious boy to his feet and gives him back to his father (Mark 9:14-29).

    When I hear Bolie Jackson assert that he won that fight and how he’s too hurt to believe, I think of that man that pleaded with Jesus. “I do believe. Help my unbelief!” I think that man probably felt so much shame. What do you do when the hope for your son’s healing is repeatedly dashed? Can you imagine the sorrow and fear he must’ve lived with? No doubt it helped his faith immensely when he saw what Jesus did. In a sense, it was a blessing that Bolie broke his knuckles before the fight. I think he might’ve even wanted to sabotage himself. But it would’ve worked out in a way that Bolie would see that there is someone greater looking out for him. God often allows things like that in peoples lives to show that all of their pride in what they do-- or what they think they can do-- can’t really succeed without faith properly placed in Him. That’s a hard thing for many to accept today because there are so many success stories. And they appear to be healthy and good and without any hitches from where we’re sitting. But God had to tell Gideon to send some of his soldiers home because then they’d take all the credit for the victory against their enemy. Recently, I watched Josh Kaufman, an author and entrepreneur, speaking in a video on how to build skill in a reasonably fast amount of time. He said that what stops people is not a lack of intellectual capacity. “It’s all emotional…” he said. Unbelief is all emotional. We are very emotional beings. Is emotion bad? No. But sometimes it can debilitate us because it’s so intoxicating. We are not a people that like to be of sober mind. The statement of “I do believe. Help my unbelief!” is a contradiction. But the bible makes it clear that we can be in that place. I think that’s merciful to know. Because it implies there’s hope. Blink and you will miss a sign that reads: “What is truth?” as Bolie walks down the street.  

    I did happen across another blog about this episode during my bit of research. Unfortunately, I’ve lost the address. I only recall that the author gave a dismissive review for The Big, Tall Wish and he surmised that the producers made a failed attempt to give us a kid friendly Twilight Zone. Now, that’s a man who is too hurt to believe.

    Here is the final narrative by Rod Serling for the episode. Which I think is so moving with the calm black-and-white backdrop and music of the episode. And it's perfectly fitting here:

“Mr. Bolie Jackson, one hundred eighty-three pounds, who left a second chance lying in a heap on a rosin-spattered canvas at St. Nick’s arena. Mr. Bolie Jackson, who shares the most common ailment of all men, the strange and perverse disinclination to believe in a miracle, the kind of miracle to come from a little boy, perhaps only to be found in the Twilight Zone.”

Knowing Your Why

Knowing your why

 
    Michael Jr. is a comedian with his own YouTube channel. Michael Jr. uses his comedy not just to give opportunities for laughs, but also for understanding. In the following video, he discusses the difference between doing something and knowing why you’re doing it.

   Now someone posted a comment on the board of the video expressing how they were still looking for how the Word of God backs up what he says. And I answered him. I'm going to post the same answer here for you.

    I think I know what he means better today. Ecclesiastes 9:10 comes to mind and Colossians 3:23 corresponds to it. 

    Lots of people don't share or give, unless there's something in it for them. If I work in a box office selling tickets, I could coast through and perform my function dryly, but adequately (the first time he sung). But when life beats you down enough, when your heart is continually broken and most importantly, if you are truly born again, you become the best box office person you can possibly be. Because now your heart is invested in the expression of where you are (the second time he sung). All that pain from wicked enemies and false friends has you letting go of those invisible fetters for approval of people. You need God every second. You honor God with your work and you bless the ticket buyers with genuine compassionate care knowing you'd want the same. WHAT you do is now enhanced by WHY you do it the way you do. Why it matters. You apply it to all you do. You accept and believe the commandment to love your neighbors as yourself. In all you do. Your heart behind it is the reason why.

What Liars Eat

   This month, I was pondering pretense on my Facebook. In particular when it comes to being a Christian. Which is not the same as being part of some "club." Or a "religion" for that matter.

   The one who is dominated by how he feels will embrace lies because they can find love and acceptance in a peer group of their choice. I’m reminded of a quote from the film, The Dark Knight in which the Joker references schemers as being, “… only as good as the world allows them to be.” Truth no longer is the motivation for people in our society. We celebrate a college degree, but we make fun of people who treat others fairly. We celebrate cursing our parents, but label ourselves good. We’ve relegated truth to whatever your truth is. And this is the adopted view of most any group whether it's the conservative Fox News crowd or the ultra-liberal community. I'm reminded of another quote from a guest speaker in church. He said, “Personality is what we want people to think we are. But character is who we are.”

   The bible says that liars love destructive tongues (Proverbs 17:4). What does that mean? It means people who love to listen to superficial, mean-spirited gossip are liars. Their very hearts are inclined to devour this conversation. They flock to this because it's who they are. If you weren’t a liar, then how could you enjoy feeding off every disparaging word, even if it is funny?

   Jesus spoke of the act of believing like eating (John 6). Isn't it true that what we believe, we consume in our hearts? And from that, don't we sort of take on the traits-- or bear the fruit-- of that belief in how we live? In Proverbs 23:1-9, the writer is warning the diner to be careful at dinner in the company of a ruler. He called what was placed before the diner, "deceptive food." Sometimes greed will make you someone you don't want to become. In relation to this, I think of Daniel and the three Hebrew teenagers. They were given special treatment with education and luxurious meals. Daniel and them decided they would subsist on greens and water. It wasn't a pride thing as the world would interpret it. They were being faithful to God. They were in relationship with God. Babylon was trying to cheapen it. Daniel and the teenagers were shown to be much healthier and stronger than the other adolescents (Daniel 1:15). Daniel wasn't the type to nod, mock and laugh at what was right so he could be down with the crew. Not anyone reading my words wants someone they love to treat their relationship lightly.

   I am not condemning what isn't deserving of it. I do believe in grace. But humility recognizes wrong and seeks to repent. Humility is cool with personal maturity. God honors humility. There are many who manipulate to get the honor they want, but it’s never from God. 

"Truth is the way things really are, not the way we think they are, or the way we would like them to be, or the way that we wish that they were. Truth, I think we might say, is reality from God's point of view."

Joyce Meyer

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4

From left to right, Chloe Bennett as Daisy Johnson/ Quake, Natalia Cordova-Buckley as Yo-Yo, Ming-Na Wen
 as Melinda May, Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, Henry Simmons as Mack, Iain De Caestecker as Leo Fitz and 
Elizabeth Henstridge as Jemma Simmons

Spoilers Ahead:

Chloe Bennett as Daisy Johnson / Quake

            In the fourth season, Coulson and his team are recovering from the aftermath of Hive. Daisy Johnson has left S.H.I.E.L.D. to begin a vigilante crusade that earns her the name, “Quake” in the newspapers. She encounters the Robbie Reyes incarnation of Ghost Rider and they are eventually captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. During all of this, there emerges a foreboding book called the Darkhold, which has an alluring and corrupting effect over those who read it. Also, there is the ill-conceived construction of a female Life Model Decoy called "A.I.D.A." by Holden Radcliffe. The first half of the season is dedicated to the Darkhold and how it relates to the deaths of several researchers of the book, including the incarcerated uncle of Reyes. But the second half of the season finds most of the team placed in an “alternate reality” by Aida, who has become deranged by her exposure to the Darkhold and is now determined to upgrade herself so she can feel emotions. A simulation program called, “The Framework” is employed by Aida to place the consciousness of each member of S.H.I.E.L.D. in a reality where Hydra has conquered the world. They are either assimilated as agents of Hydra, cooperating civilians or resistance. It’s the latter portion of the season that I enjoyed the most here.

            I decided to see the final episode again. There is a profoundly beautiful scene in it where Mack is confronted by Yo-Yo, an Inhuman played by Natalia Cordova-Buckley. In the Framework, Mack is very emotionally involved with his daughter, Hope. So much so, that he is either in denial about the fact that she died or he really can’t remember. Aida begins to see her plans fail, so in vengeance she begins deleting the Framework. Mack will not abandon his daughter despite the pleas of his escaping colleagues. He witnesses the vanishing of objects and people around him, but in growing terror he clutches his daughter lovingly to his chest, both of them in tears on the couch. Yo-Yo slowly seats herself on the small table beside them, having done all she knows how to do for Mack. She's resigned to die because of her love for him. And then suddenly, Mack realizes that his daughter is no longer in his arms. Yo-Yo takes his hand slowly and they weep together. There is an inner hush here. I was surprised to find myself weeping so openly at this viewing. I thought about the temporal nature of our world… and the desire to protect children. I thought about how loss can feel very much like the end of the world. Someone leaves us. We lose a dream or career. Someone we love dies. There is a child-like helplessness in the cry of a man and it underlines how needful and precious we all really are. I suspect that it broke Mack when he lost his daughter the first time. That’s Mack’s end-of-the-world loss. When he confronts Yo-Yo about the things she’s saying, he says, “Daisy said that Hope wasn’t alive in the other world. Well, I’m not living in a world without her.” Yeah. We all need hope to live in this world. 

             

Mack in the Framework

            I was so engaged by the mystery of this new world and how the characters were changed by it. It reminded me of the mirror universe episode from the original Star Trek series. One of the biggest draws was watching how difficult it was for this version of Grant Ward (Brett Dalton reprises the role), now bearing redemptive qualities, to interact with Daisy. He’s a good guy and I pondered how it was so, and what it meant about the real Grant Ward who was dead. Jeffrey Mace/ The Patriot also gets a redemption here of sorts by becoming a worthy Captain America-like figure for the resistance after coming to a less than dignified place in their real world. And what a pleasure to see Antoine Triplet return. I wonder if Aida’s manipulation of the Darkhold combined with the technology of the Framework somehow created a living parallel reality. It’s a very interesting mystery. I was hoping to catch a reference to the whereabouts of the Avengers. 

Mallory Jansen as Aida/ Madame Hydra

Gabriel Luna as Robbie Reyes

Promotional poster for
Season 4

Coulson in the Framework

            In the after-credits scene, Coulson rises from a thin cot jutting out of a wall and opens up a very large window. We see what appears to be space and asteroids. I can only hope that this may lead to a fifth season cross-over with Avengers: Infinity War. It would be a robbery for the show to pretend Thanos never arrives. But it may more likely be the lead to a potential meeting with Black Bolt and the royal family of Inhumans.

            A small aside about Ghost Rider. I love seeing talented Latino actors take on cool roles that aren't negative stereotypes. Gabriel Luna is great! It was cool to see a Johnny Blaze cameo. I know it's fiction, but it’s a conundrum for me too. It’s just… in the really real world, there is nothing inherently self-sacrificing, heroic or friendly about a real demon.

Natalia Cordova-Buckley as
Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez 

            And all of this does not even come close to what I find most extraordinary. In fact, what I find to be most extraordinary really has nothing to do with Season 4. I don’t remember exactly when, but I stumbled upon a trailer that showed Brett Dalton starring in a Christian film. It’s called, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone. I haven’t seen it yet. But if you recall in my last blog post about AoS, I underlined some comments made by Dalton in an interview he gave where he made dismissive references to believers in Christ. Clearly, I have no animosity to the man. I think he’s a talent. His character is officially a Marvel supervillain. I have no idea why he did the film, but it happens to be a wonderful bit of revelation for me. I read one good and one-not-too-good review about it. I’m a bit apprehensive, but I hope it’s an all-around good film.

John Hannah as Holden Radcliffe
Henry Simmons as Agent Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie
Jason O'Mara as Jeffrey Mace/ The Patriot
B.J. Britt returns as Agent Antoine Triplet 

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. will begin Season 5 on December 1^st, 2017

An examination for the poignant in Logan

Hugh Jackman as Logan

Some Major Spoilers Ahead

    This is especially for the men...

    A few weeks ago, I had a friendly disagreement with someone on Facebook about how good Logan is. He was clearly a Wolverine fan and he said the movie takes itself too seriously as another story rehash of “omg Logan isn’t healing.” I admit I’m not a fan of the source material the way he is. I didn’t really like the last two solo movies and I expected this one to fail. But I’m really excited about this one.

   In Logan, the challenges are grounded in a way that puts the character under a strain we’ve never seen before (at least onscreen). Logan appears on the scene with a grown out beard. He’s taken a job now as a chauffeur in Texas. The facial hair is a way to avoid being recognized. It becomes mourning. An unexplained horror took place years before with the X-Men in Westchester and now his goal is to quietly save enough money to retire out at sea. Part of his daily routine is to visit a contact at the hospital that does him a favor by giving him medication. He comes home to a downed, hollowed out water tank where he keeps Professor Charles Xavier as comfortable and as hidden as possible-- now a fallen, sometime profanity-spewing shell-of-a-man to heartbreaking effect. Logan has to give him shots daily. If he doesn’t, Charles can have a bad seizure and inadvertently send out telepathic blasts that paralyze- and potentially kill- anyone within the surrounding area. Logan copes now with a failing healing factor that has caused him to age naturally. Somehow, the adamantium that coats his bones is poisoning him. One of his claws does not extract evenly. He soothes himself with alcohol and the small security of an adamantium bullet he keeps in his pocket.

   And then… his cover is blown when news reports come in of several mutilated thugs discovered on the road the night before. Some bad men tried to jack his car and wouldn’t listen when he tried to talk them down. He is then sought out by a woman linked to a secret government operation for the breeding and experimentation of new mutants. He tries hard to discourage her away. Adding to his irritation, he is located by Donald Pierce who is after the woman. And then a mysterious little mutant girl named Laura who shares attributes with Logan is introduced to him by Charles.

Patrick Stewart (in wheelchair) as Charles Xavier

   The carnage in the movie is plentiful. But that’s not what makes the movie exhilarating for me. I’ve never been too impressed with Wolverine in the comic book because he's really this mean-spirited thug. The positive for this is that it’s always been a great dynamic when you put him in the company of other Marvel characters. But in my opinion, Hugh Jackman has made him more accessible. I recall a scene in a comic book where Captain America and Wolverine were in a private chat on a plane. Cap was putting Logan in check. Wolverine lunged at Cap enraged. I mean, he was going to kill Cap. Cap gets the upper hand in the fight and knocks Logan out of the plane. The sight of Wolverine landing on his back in the arctic was one to gladden the heart! However Logan actually makes him a more interesting character. The R-rated violence and language for the movie only aligns in harmony with the story. No small feat. I was initially disappointed to hear Charles cursing, but I settled into the understanding that this was part of his decline and not something to glory in. It’s safe to say that being in isolation with Logan would rub off in that way.

"It's not a choo-choo..." - Logan to Charles

   Charles Xavier is reeling from having his vision seemingly crushed. He set out to help young mutants find safe shelter, and he provided a sense of family and education. He taught them to love by using their powers to protect people that hated them. He opposed his old friend but never gave up hope in appealing to his conscience (I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to Magneto). Now, this massive failure should build a very strong case to discredit him in front of the whole world. Isn’t that in large part why Logan fled to the Southwest and hid Charles? But we see a spark of life in Charles when he comes in contact with Laura. He sobers up. He’s excited at being a mentor again. He offers her cornflakes because there’re no cookies. His heart is aflutter. The purpose of his life was always to nurture young mutants. Charles Xavier remains the greatest of all characters in Marvel's mutant mythology because his purpose was to love and even after falling into a kind of ruin, he doesn‘t lose that. And Logan is like a good son who sacrifices what he wants to care for his “incapacitated father“. Of course, expert film-making makes that easy to sit through. We don’t see the worst interactions between scenes. But talk to anyone who looks after their ailing, bedridden loved one. Or rather, volunteer to help. Or watch for a couple of days as they clean up fecal matter. There’s zero glamour in it. It is taxing. But there lay a great nobility in it that finds a weight in heaven that no man can measure.  

   Speaking of R-rated movies. This isn’t Deadpool. One of the points made by the fan I disagreed with was that Deadpool was superior to Logan. I beg to differ. Deadpool is an irreverent and gross assassin. A colorful character, sure and that’s okay in the world of fiction. But the maturity of Logan elevates it. I’ve highlighted the suffering of these characters in part to show how it translates into an intimacy that is found in the family unit-- the troubles between people you are knit to who can draw out the worst. There’s nothing gratuitous about this film. It’s a moving and outstanding piece of story-telling that raises superhero fare the same way The Dark Knight or …Winter Soldier succeeds in doing.

The Munson House

   The choice to use the song “Hurt” by Johnny Cash in the first trailer makes it a classic among trailers. From the opening rift, the western is set before me. There’s a down-to-earth... a weathered sturdiness that is evocative in this song. When he sings, “I hurt myself today… to see if I still feel,” it perfectly senses the weariness. It’s commonplace for trailers to give you the plot and how the actors affect it. But Logan stays confident by staying vague. As a result, I think I felt a greater impact of fear and revulsion when X-24 appears and the ensuing abrupt finality of the Munson family. There is the striking image of X-24 scowling at Logan as he comes down the Munson house steps. He was genuinely

Screenshot of Jackman as the X-24 clone

frightening. If you want to see exquisite brutality on Jackman’s face, then pay close attention to the scene when Rictor is lifting the truck over X-24 to drop it on him. Jackman looks almost unrecognizable in a brief shot of him gazing up at the truck. We see it again when he mercilessly slashes Logan before being shot by Laura. For years, Jackman has expressed his ambition in bringing the most authentic performance of Wolverine to the screen. If anyone still doesn’t believe he did it, then I submit that he certainly overshot that goal by playing X-24.

 

Front cover of Old Man Logan

   This film is loosely based on the graphic novel, Old Man Logan. I read it years earlier and I loved it. I hope a proper sequel will be produced. In this alternate reality, all super villains have united in a concerted effort to overcome the heroes by sheer numbers. They mount a clever assault on Wolverine at the mansion and deceive him into killing all of the X-Men. He is numb with horror and staggers out and away into the woods to kill himself. When he fails to do even that, he goes into exile vowing to never pop his claws again. Having removed a genuine threat to their plan, the super villains defeat the majority of the heroes and take over the country. The ones who are not dead go into hiding. Several years later, Logan is living a quiet life with his wife and children. He is soon hassled and threatened for rent money by his landlord (a corrupt and deranged Hulk). Logan hooks up with a now blind Hawkeye for a job to deliver a package back in New York. The revelations and the territories seen are part of a gripping story, so well done. Logan takes the mood, the shame, the urgency and the catastrophic encounters from the graphic novel and still succeeds without the presence of Spider-Man, Hulk or any of the current MCU characters. That is a triumph in itself! Just like in the book, Wolverine is the most human in this film. It makes him more than just berserker rages.

Hawkeye poking fun at Logan in a scene from Old Man Logan

   During the end credits, the producers included another Johnny Cash song in keeping with the tone of the trailer. “The Man Comes Around” is a beautiful send-off for the character. But much more noteworthy is who Johnny Cash is actually singing about in that song.  I’m of the mind that the decision by the producers was not wholly of their own making. There're simply too many biblical references to the second coming of Christ in secular media everywhere and that simply can't be plain coincidence. In the deep consciousness of people throughout the world, God is making it very clear that the promise is going to be fulfilled. Looking at a select choice of verses from the song:

“And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying,

‘Come and see,’ and I saw, and behold a white horse.”

Dafne Keen as Laura

“The hairs on your arm will stand up.
At the terror in each sip and each sup.
Will you partake in that last offered cup?

Or disappear into the potter’s ground?”

“Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing…”

Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce

“It’s Alpha and Omega’s kingdom come…”

“The virgins are all trimming their wicks…”

“It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks…”

“The wise men will bow down before the throne

And at his feet they’ll cast their golden crowns…”

   I’ll begin to close with this. If we take away the metal claws and healing factor, there’s the familiar trudge of a man surviving. He's beyond tired and beat-up. He's broken-hearted. Whenever a man loses something that gives him power, he has to come face-to-face with himself in plain. If the man is wise then he’ll recognize the health in letting humility finish its work. It’s a very grievous process. I would know. In “The Man Comes Around” Cash sings, “It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks…“ It’s a Greek proverb. It’s a reference to resisting discipline. When Saul of Tarsus was going around dragging Christians out of their homes, beating and throwing them in prison, Jesus met him on the road to Damascus. A great light knocked him off his horse. Saul heard a voice: “Why do you persecute Me? It’s hard for you to kick against the pricks (Acts 26:14, depending on the translation).” In the Hebrew agriculture of that time, an ox goad was used to steer oxen when they were plowing. If the animal went a different way and the farmer stuck the iron tip in its flesh, sometimes the animal would kick back in rebellion. I know, it’s awful. I love animals. But if we could be honest, we’re all pricked by some awful thing that causes us to change our mind about a particular path. God does cause the sun to shine on the just and the unjust. But God disciplines those whom He loves as sons and daughters and if someone is without discipline then that person is an illegitimate child (Hebrews 12:7-8). Saul of Tarsus repented and was saved by faith in Christ. He became Paul the Apostle and wrote more than half of the New Testament.

"It makes him more than just berserker rages."

    Most of the time, I think, suffering is a way for God to get a man’s attention. Instead of humbling down, a man may decide to get worse. I knew a guy years ago-- a younger guy I used to work with who told me in a resolute way that he would rather be a bully than be bullied. At least he was upfront about it. There’s a multitude of men and women like that. They rely on their own strength, their peoples and their credentials and they keep the blinders down. God is clearly trying to make contact with people to introduce them to something better-- on this earth and the next. The awful things that happen to us-- sometimes they happen because we choose to ignore the guard rails that God lovingly set in place to keep us from unnecessary harm. Like a good father who makes sure that his little ones don't play on the stairs. Having success doesn't produce dignity. It's often the reverse. Just watch Wolf of Wall Street. God brings dignity from humility. Humility handles success with grace. In this case, a fictional mutant superhero dies with his daughter at his side in dignity. I think that’s why we cried. A man lives and dies well in the dignity of living sacrificially. But for what? Let me remind the die-hard fans who may be reading that in the really, real world physical and emotional abuse very rarely finds you dignified… or in good mental health for that matter. This difference does make Wolverine a very unique and interesting character. It should also point in some way to something greater than even this.

Logan is directed by James Mangold

Screenplay by Scott Frank, James Mangold and Michael Green

Old Man Logan’s storyline is written by Mark Millar