REVIEW: Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing

My sister and I have started watching the films on the AFI's top 100 movies of all time (the 1997 version). We started with #99: Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing".

The films on the list are often chosen because of their cultural impact to society at the time. I can see how Spike Lee's film broke into the Hollywood stratosphere with it's presentation of cultural and racial tensions presented in a way that it hasn't been presented before. I was not even born when the film came out so I can't begin to pretend that I would know what racial tensions existed in society at the time, but watching episodes of the Donahue talk show recently has helped me to gauge the mindset.

From what I understand, civil rights had only occurred only 10-15 years before and society decided that racial equality issue was finally resolved. However, the film illustrates racial strains still existed between races in New York.

For now, I'm going to pretend that you've already seen the film.

My sister and I agree that Spike Lee's films are sometimes confusing but he does establish his own identity as a director, evident in his color schemes, subliminal messaging, dialogue choice, camera panning, etc. The character he plays, Mookie, is not something new. Some could argue that he was a typical lazy young Black male, but that would oversimplify his character. Despite the fact that he lived a simple life, no real high aims, his character was still rich and had depth and complexities, as a human being should! In more recent films, it seems Black men are too restricted into bland, shallow individuals which is not true. So, I love the fact that Spike Lee still gives Black men a voice, a face, and complexities.

I like the way the film developed so quickly. It's hard to believe all of the events occurred in a period of 24 hours! Spike Lee took a lot of situations from the films from events occurring in the media: the slaying of Michael Jerome Stewart, the rape of Tawana Brawley, the Howard Beach incident, on and on. Names that would soon be forgotten with the next generation but forever immortalized in this film.

All in all, I see the cultural impact of the film at the time, but it would be less impactful if it came out today. I liked it, but I favor Jungle Fever before this film.

Ravi Zacharias' Book Club

Okay, so Ravi Zacharias does not actually have a book club, but he should! I was learning in my media class that Oprah has helped to shape book sales and popularity because any book selected in her list automatically becomes a bestseller. Her list was great and even helped me to discover a Haitian author, Edwidge Danticat, who's books have helped to mould my identity as a Haitian-American during my high school years.

I've listened to many of Ravi Zacharias' lectures for a little over three years and he is different than most Christian apologists in that he has an astute knowledge of literature that has helped him to be more open-minded in his discussions. Below are the beginnings of a list that he has mentioned that I have selected to be a part of his fictitious book club:

The Portrait of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Are Woman Human?, Dorothy Sayers
Letters to Malcolm, C.S. Lewis

I can write reviews on each as soon as I get the opportunity. I'll include good sayings and quips that I have highlighted in each novel. The stories are often rich in dialogue and character development and they never disappoint!

The Video Vixen

When I was a little girl, my main role models were the women in my family and the women in music videos. They always had the fly clothes, long hair and all the attention from the guys. A part of me said, "I want to be just like that!" But even as a little girl, I had my concerns with the video vixen: she never spoke. And any noise she did utter was either a moan or a groan. She was not human to me. She had been reduced to a dumb animal and I said not me. I want to be able to say something.

The journey from then to now has been to discover what beauty is and measure myself to it. Everyone has their own definition of beauty. I had a guy tell me in high school that if I wore my skirts a little shorter, lost my glasses and made my hair skinny straight and flowy like the white girls, I would be beautiful. Other guys told me if I put out, I would be beautiful. If I talked less, dumbed myself down, and all that, I would be more beautiful.

None of these are really it.

How does the Word define beauty? You have Proverbs 31: "Charm is decietful, beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised." And true beauty throughout the entire Bible is defined as this: holiness. Consider this, our Christ came on this Earth and had nothing that would make anyone take a double look. He resembled average Joe (Isaiah 53:2). Yet, he drew crowds and all marveled at Him.

I remember hearing so much stories about Mother Theresa and how awesome she was and all she did. I recall my first time seeing an image of her and I said, "wow". She had nothing in her appearance that would make the world say, "look at her beauty!". But she had devoted her life for the cause of suffering and for this she was commended.

True beauty is holiness. It always has been.

Count the cost

Luke 14:28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?"

In any endeavor, whether it be career-related or simply following Christ, count the cost. It sounds simple but seriously. For example, when I decided to study electrical engineering, I never would've imagined what it would've cost me, the repercussions that come with it. I never would've imagined that I would have to make decisions between studying and attending a social event or party at someone's place, and by choosing the former, being called an overachiever. I never thought that the more I would succeed, the more different I would become from those around me.

Even in following Christ, I never would've imagined that I would grow distant from those I considered close. That I'd be boxed in to a super-religious, mystical image that doesn't really identify who I really am. That conversations would be curbed when I enter the room. The assumption that I haven't seen the recent R-rated film because it doesn't seem like my style. The assumption that I don't listen to music! That I don't party because I went all-Christian. (In actuality, I couldn't never stand the smoke and darkness.) That the people I would gossip to would gossip about me.

If you told me all of this, everything I would've lost, I would've called you crazy and say "No way! That will never happen to me". Count the cost of everything you may lose (and you may just lose everything) and see if it is worth it to you.

Of everything I have lost, relationships, time, the old me, what I have gained in return has been more sincere and valuable than anything I ever possessed before. My relationships after following Christ has been more meaningful and authentic, the opportunities more rich. I lost time but gained patience and an inner awareness of mortality, how precious time is and where it should be spent. It has been worth it but oh-so-painful shedding the old life.

Image credit: http://www.friendship-quotes.info/motivational-quotes/its-going-to-be-worth-it/

Six signs of a fallen society

     "Sir Arnold Toynbee, in his famed analysis of the rise and fall of world civilizations, A Study of History, outlines six unmistakable evidences for the disintegration and collapse of a world civilization:

	Civilizations committing a "cultural suicide" and self-destructing;
	Escape from reality and retreat into thrill seeking;
	Have a sense of helplessness and powerlessness;
	Feel self-loathing and guilt;
	A prevalent sense of promiscuity;
	Disregard for morality and a pervasiveness of lawlessness

Psychic twins

These psychic twins remind me of the girl in Acts 16.

^"16As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation." ¹⁸And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour."

I actually didn't really fully believe in the story in Acts because I had never seen psychics who made multiple accurate predictions until I watched these ladies on a Tyra episode and was surprised on how they were making accurate predictions and saying hidden things about members of the audience (like the one thing towards the end about the girl smoking). Even Tyra was  surprised. (They predicted on National Radio that 9/11 would occur two years before it happened.)

These ladies have said that they have these spirits that tell them the future, which they channel them through thoughts. Based on biblical text, I don't deny this. The slave girl in the scripture could tell the future but this was because of a demonic spirit. When Paul cast this spirit out, she could no longer tell the future. Now, do the people of God have this gift? Maybe not in the same way. But everything that Satan provides, the Father provides and it's usually more authentic. We have the Word and in the word are prophecies.

*  Spirit to be poured out on all flesh (Joel 2:28)
*  Universal apostasy (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4)
*  The watering down of the gospel, teaching the doctrines of man rather than those of God.  Even priests will be led astray.  (2 Tim 3:5, Matt 15:9)
*  False prophets and false Christs (Matthew 24:24)
*  Good will be called evil and evil good. (Isaiah 5:20)
*  Restoration of all things (Acts 3:19-21)
*  Gospel to be preached to all the world (Matthew 24:14, Revelation 14:6-7)
*  Worldly knowledge to increase (Daniel 12:4)
*  Israel to be restored as a political state (Deuteronomy 28:64, 30:3 Jeremiah 29:14, 30:3 Isaiah 43:5-6, Ezekiel 36:24, Amos 9:14-15
*  Earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues and diseases such as the world has never seen.
   (Matthew 24 and Luke 21)
*  Peace taken from the earth.  Wars increase throughout the earth until war is on every land (Matthew 24 and Luke 21)
*  Increase in the wickedness, murder and crime among men.  Increase in belief in the occult. (Matthew 24, Luke 21, 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 4:3-4)
*  People will not believe the signs (2 Peter 3:3-4, Matthew 16:1-4)
*  Increase in persecution of the Christians (Matthew 24:9, Mark 13:9) 
*  Christ will come suddenly to His temple. (Malachi 3:1)
*  Signs and Wonders in heaven (Mark 13:25)
*  Mountains made low, valleys made high (Isaiah 40, Ezekiel 38)
*  Christ to receive his dominion from the Ancient of Days (Daniel 7:9-14)
*  Two prophets preach in Jerusalem for 1260 days. They have the power to bring famines and plagues.  They are killed and lie dead in the streets for three and a half days while the wicked of the earth rejoice in the streets and exchange gifts in celebration of their deaths.  On the third day they arise striking fear in the hearts of the wicked. (Revelation 11)
*  Armageddon.  The nations of the earth gather to fight Israel at Jerusalem,  at Armageddon in the valley of Jehoshaphat. (Revelation 16:16) 
*  Sun darkened, moon becomes as blood (Joel 2:31, Acts 2:20, Revelation 6:12)
*  Jerusalem is taken captive, the houses riled, the women ravished. (Zechariah 14:2) 
*  The Lord appears at Mount Olivet leading his people to victory (Ezekiel 38, 39, Daniel 11, 12, Joel 2,3)
*  Christ appears to all the earth. Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. (Phillipians 2:11)
*  The righteous caught up to Christ, the wicked burned as stubble.   (Malachi chapters 3-4)
*  The judgment and first resurrection (Matthew 25:31-46, Revelation 20:5-6)
*  The thousand years of peace ushered in, Christ to reign personally on the earth (Revelation chapters 20-21)

 All in all, these psychic twins are one of the many ways that I see God through the evidence of the existence of a spiritual world. We already know the full picture of the future, and it's free! (in the Word). What will we do about it? 

Where beauty comes from

1 Peter 3:3-4

New International Version (NIV)

³ Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. ⁴ Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.

Bible Promises

"Having therefore these Promises, dearly beloved,
let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God"
(2 Corinthians 7:1).





"No promise is of private interpretation: it belongs not to one saint but to all believers. If, my brother, thou canst in faith lie down upon a promise and take thy rest thereon, it is thine... Come, weary one, use thy LORD's words as thy pillows. Lie down in peace. Dream only of Him."



"The promises were made to be used--they were made to be used by God's children, by all who will believe them and appropriate them. They were not made to lay concealed in a gilt-edged Bible, but to be read, understood, and used. The fact is, the Bible is like a book of checks put into the hands of the needy, and we are to use them when we want anything: thus God has given promises to every class and description of persons; and these promises were given not to be hoarded up, but to be used--we are to draw liberally and freely upon the divine bounty for all the blessings that we need... If Christians will but understand and get the impression deeply imbedded in their own minds, that these promises are regarded by God as their inheritance, given them to be used by them under all the circumstances in which they find themselves placed, they would often much better understand the meaning of the apostle, when he says, 'whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.'"

-from "The Promises of God" ---New Window by Charles G. Finney. A "PENNY PULPIT" sermon.---New Window



Care of Our Feet
"He will keep the feet of His saints"
(1 Samuel 2:9).

"The way is slippery and our feet are feeble, but the LORD will keep our feet. If we give ourselves up by obedient faith to be His holy ones, He will Himself be our guardian. Not only will He charge His angels to keep us, but He Himself will preserve our goings.

1. He will keep our feet from falling so that we do not defile our garments, wound our souls, and cause the enemy to blaspheme.
   
   
2. He will keep our feet from wandering so that we do not go into paths of error, or ways of folly, or courses of the world's custom.
   
   
3. He will keep our feet from swelling through weariness, or blistering because of the roughness and length of the way.
   
   
4. He will keep our feet from wounding: our shoes shall be iron and brass so that even though we tread on the edge of the sword, or on deadly serpents, we shall not bleed or be poisoned.
   
   
5. He will also pluck our feet out of the net. We shall not be entangled by the deceit of our malicious and crafty foes.

With such a promise as this, let us run without weariness and walk without fear. He who keeps our feet will do it effectually."

- excerpts from "Faith's Checkbook" ---New Window SEE TODAY'S ENTRY ---New Window by C. H. Spurgeon


"Fluctuations in income and apparent prosperity
did not take George Mueller by surprise.
He expected them, for
if there were no crises and critical emergencies
how could there be critical deliverances?
His trust was in God,
not in donors or human friends or worldly circumstances:
and because he trusted in the Living God who says of Himself,
'I am the Lord, I change not.'"
--from George Mueller of Bristol , chapter 18: "Faith and Patience in Serving"


According to your faith, be it unto you!




There would be times where my father would promise me something (a day at Disneyland, candy, some clothes) and I would have to remind him of his promise and hold him to it. Now, did my father ever forget his promise? I highly doubt it. I think it was a matter of testing whether or not I had remembered. Likewise, our Father in heaven never forgets his promises. How could He? But He will be more than willing to fulfill them if we would boldly go into His presence and say "Your word is sure and you said...." Like my father, He would just smile and deliver whatever he promised me.



 

Praise & Worship

John 4:23 ESV 

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

Psalm 100:2 ESV

Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!