This week I’m working on …

Movies 1 Minute

smillionaire

… a column just in time for the Academy Awards. I’m playing with the idea of fate, particularly as that notion is portrayed in two of the leading Best Picture contenders: Slumdog Millionaire and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Both are modern fables, both deal with Big Topics, including fate or destiny. There’s the interesting contrast, too, that comes from one being set in 20th century Western culture and the other in early 21st century Indian (Eastern) culture. Religion isn’t explicit, but it’s there in the cultural backgrounds, especially with SM. (What my friend Terry Mattingly calls a religion “ghost” in what seems to be a nonreligious story.)

Any thoughts?

Published by sjdahlman

Here's the rundown: father (two grown daughters), journalist (specialties and interests: religion, creative nonfiction), college professor who teaches journalism and other media courses (Milligan College, Tenn.), runner, hiker, frustrated soccer player, and chief steward for two cats.

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One thought on “This week I’m working on …”

  1. At first I think it strange that “Big Topics” continually find their way into the stories we tell in a post-modern, post-Truth Western culture. Yet, take major Blockbusters like The Matrix, Star Wars, and most recently, The Dark Knight. Such “Big Topics” strongly shadow these films and many more.

    To what are we responding by telling these stories, if stories are devices we use to relate ourselves with our world and one another?

    I’m interested to see where you take the issue. By the way, I’m thrilled that you started this site. I enjoy interacting with your column each week! Peace of Christ to you and your family.

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