We went to see Lars and the Real Girl on Friday night. This is one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.
The premise of the movie: a lonely small town 27 year old man, named Lars, orders a sex doll from a website he got from a "friend" of his at work. I couldn't tell what kind of work he did, but some sort of office work in a small town in Wisconsin. The German Lutheran roots were throughout the movie. Lars, like I said, is very lonely. He lives in the garage outide the house he is half owner of, with his brother. His brother, Gus, lives in the house with his pregnant wife, and constantly seeks out a relationship with Lars who lives and acts like a hermit. As the movie progresses, we learn that he has been burned by his father, who must have acted in the same way after Lars' mother died giving birth to Lars. His older brother, who is quite a bit older, left home and left Lars during some tough times in his life. So, now we find Lars living in this small town all alone, even though is surrounded by everyone.
Lars is also very religious. He attends church every Sunday at the local Lutheran church, which comes off in a very good light.
But back to the sex doll he orders. He orders this sex doll that arrives at his home in a crate one day. He got a call from his sister-in-law that a delivery had arrived, and he then rushed home taking some time off work to come find his "delivery."
The next scene opens with him approaching the kitchen door of his brothers house asking if his friend could come to diner and then stay inside because she is quite religious. Gus and his wife are then introduced to Bianca, the sex doll, aka his girlfriend.
After seeking help from the local doctor and psychologist, the family is told to allow the delusion to continue because you could not convince Lars that she is not a real person. Here is where the movie gets really good. The brother and his wife are forced with the question of how to do this without the town mocking Lars, and subsequently his brother Gus. But after soul-searching and a few attempts to dissuade Lars they finally resign to treat Bianca like a real girl.
Since, Lars is a part of the local Lutheran church, they call the pastor and some church leaders to come and help. They eventually come to a decision that Bianca is welcome to come to church with Lars and the will accept her as one of her own.
Bianca becomes a hit as this small community rallies around her. She becomes a volunteer at the hospital, she is elected to the school board, and helps many of the ladies at the beauty salon. Lars at first is overjoyed by this outpouring of love towards Bianca but then he becomes jealous because he now has no time to spend with her. Lars, the quiet sweet small town boy, then turns angry and has a fight with Bianca, but all you hear is the one sided dialogue.
"Why do I have to check my calendar to schedule a time with my girlfriend?"
What do you mean I'm being selfish?
I know you're helping a lot of people, but I would like to see you too!
That's unfair!
Why are you treating me like this?
What, you don't talk like this to anyone else!
As Lars is still struggling with his fight with his girlfriend he gets into a fight with his sister-in-law. In this fight he is venting at how everyone is spending time with Bianca and how he has no time for her. He blames his sister-in-law for this as well. She responds in a moving speech telling him that the reason the town, and herself, has responding so great to Bianca is because the town loves Lars, and is showing Lars their love for him.
What an example of community! Of Christian community. The community knows that Lars has some serious issues, but still rallies around him. No one treats him poorly, even though you expect several times. The church, hid co-workers, his family all will do no matter what it takes to make Lars feel loved, even as Lars tries again and again to pull away.
"Love never fails."- St. Paul
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
God Bless America
"God bless America," the leader proudly said in the microphone.
I looked at my wife. "Did I just hear 'God bless America?"
She looked back confused, "I think so."
The confusion wasn't a lack of patriotism or of shock, but rather a recognition of that nationalistic spirit rearing its head again. That wouldn't be so bad in some contexts: fourth of July fireworks at the lake and a twelve pack, a baseball game in the seventh inning stretch that has become common after 9/11, or even some civic event honoring members of the local VFW. This one was a little confusing because of the time and place.
Tulsa has recently been hit by an ice storm, let me rephrase. Tulsa has recently been crippled by an ice storm. 250,000 homes were without electricity in a city with a population of 1,000,000. Figuring an average of two people in a home, which I think is conservative, would mean half of Tulsa residents were without electricity. And it was for days. We were out for 8 days. But we are also in our mid twenties and healthy without children. For those with young children, the sick, or the elderly this power outage means serious danger.
Our church, Asbury, has been acting as a Red Cross shelter for the past four days. We have been averaging about 500 people in the building at night. This particular Thursday, we were preparing for our normal worship service on Thursday night, but our schedule was all off because of the storm and those who were seeking shelter int the church. To provide a little much needed entertainment was the Tulsa Praise Band, yes I know an altogether creative name. The Tulsa Praise Band was a pseudo-big band that was set to play Christmas music, and apparently patriotic music. I should have expected that considering the context of Tulsa, Oklahoma the true center of the Bible belt.
I had moved to Tulsa initially because of college, Oral Roberts University. ORU was the backbone at one time of the building of South Tulsa, now South Tulsa could survive on its own it still owed much to ORU. Tulsa is one of the only places where you could walk into an Applebee's or Chile's and see a televangelist on the restraunt tv. My alma matter is also the school that has recently made headlines because the then president, Richard Roberts, was accused, but not yet proven, to have coerced students and faculty into supporting Republican candidates in local and state elections. This is the backbone of South Tulsa, and yet I was surprised when I heard God Bless America start playing!
I guess it wasn't too bad to hear that song playing. I am just a little uncomfortable with Christians identifying themselves according to two kingdoms: Christ and America. But after all this is Tulsa.
I am also a little uncomfortable when I see the woman in the back of the room stand up and cover her heart with her left hand and raise her right hand high in the air. Besides the obvious worshipesque pose already assumed by this woman I then also saw her close her eyes and mouth some unheard words which made her look more and more like she was worshiping. But just who was she worshiping?
I guess I shouldn't too surprised though, this is South Tulsa.
I looked at my wife. "Did I just hear 'God bless America?"
She looked back confused, "I think so."
The confusion wasn't a lack of patriotism or of shock, but rather a recognition of that nationalistic spirit rearing its head again. That wouldn't be so bad in some contexts: fourth of July fireworks at the lake and a twelve pack, a baseball game in the seventh inning stretch that has become common after 9/11, or even some civic event honoring members of the local VFW. This one was a little confusing because of the time and place.
Tulsa has recently been hit by an ice storm, let me rephrase. Tulsa has recently been crippled by an ice storm. 250,000 homes were without electricity in a city with a population of 1,000,000. Figuring an average of two people in a home, which I think is conservative, would mean half of Tulsa residents were without electricity. And it was for days. We were out for 8 days. But we are also in our mid twenties and healthy without children. For those with young children, the sick, or the elderly this power outage means serious danger.
Our church, Asbury, has been acting as a Red Cross shelter for the past four days. We have been averaging about 500 people in the building at night. This particular Thursday, we were preparing for our normal worship service on Thursday night, but our schedule was all off because of the storm and those who were seeking shelter int the church. To provide a little much needed entertainment was the Tulsa Praise Band, yes I know an altogether creative name. The Tulsa Praise Band was a pseudo-big band that was set to play Christmas music, and apparently patriotic music. I should have expected that considering the context of Tulsa, Oklahoma the true center of the Bible belt.
I had moved to Tulsa initially because of college, Oral Roberts University. ORU was the backbone at one time of the building of South Tulsa, now South Tulsa could survive on its own it still owed much to ORU. Tulsa is one of the only places where you could walk into an Applebee's or Chile's and see a televangelist on the restraunt tv. My alma matter is also the school that has recently made headlines because the then president, Richard Roberts, was accused, but not yet proven, to have coerced students and faculty into supporting Republican candidates in local and state elections. This is the backbone of South Tulsa, and yet I was surprised when I heard God Bless America start playing!
I guess it wasn't too bad to hear that song playing. I am just a little uncomfortable with Christians identifying themselves according to two kingdoms: Christ and America. But after all this is Tulsa.
I am also a little uncomfortable when I see the woman in the back of the room stand up and cover her heart with her left hand and raise her right hand high in the air. Besides the obvious worshipesque pose already assumed by this woman I then also saw her close her eyes and mouth some unheard words which made her look more and more like she was worshiping. But just who was she worshiping?
I guess I shouldn't too surprised though, this is South Tulsa.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Cross Country Skier
The garage door opened that Sunday morning to reveal a trace of ice laying on the frozen ground. The cold air required a little longer for our car to get warmed up, but soon we were pulling out of our driveway to head to church. The church was several miles away and would take us at least twenty minutes in this weather. Tulsa had seen a storm come through town that would later that night cripple the city. Because of the ice bringing tree limbs down all over town, almost every home in the million person city would be without power.
But now we were off to church and driving down Riverside Drive looking for the interstate. I noticed a few brave souls exercising on the river trail that ran for miles along the Arkansas River. All of these runners wore long tights, long sleeve shirts, gloves, and hats. Their breath could clearly be seen in the crisp mid-morning air as they slowly worked their way down the trail.
As I approached the interstate, the trail took a sharp turn to come much closer to the street. As the curve of the trail almost met the road, I looked ahead to the few people exercising to see a man in the grass. The man was methodically using what appeared to be two hiking poles to make his way down Riverside. I have seen these kind of poles used before while hiking in British Columbia, and of course skiing in Colorado. The poles are obviously related to ski poles. They just give the hiker a better sense of balance and endurance. However, I have never seen anyone with two poles in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to this being Tulsa, this is the part of town that is obviously formed out of the flood plane of the Arkanasas, which at one point was a mighty river. Now, due to urban development, The Arkansas is little more that a vast valley of sand dunes and a few trickles of water. After a heavy rain, the Arkansas again reclaims her former glory and water fills the vast expanse of the river bottom. But never have I seen or even though that someone might need hiking poles in this part of Tulsa.
As I looked closer I thought I saw his legs not moving up and down as a walker would do, but instead more in a fluid motion of front to back with a slight up and down. I saw that his heel would raise slightly and then rest again while his body followed on that fluid plane. As my car came speeding by I finally saw what had eluded me- cross country skis!
This man had seen a small amount of ice fall and thought it was good cross country weather, and now he was trekking along in the tall grass working out his cross country skis. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Only two things would make someone think that a trace amount of ice would lend itself to cross country skiing. Either this man was from up north like Minnesota's and desperately missed the cold weather and the snow, so he decided it was time to climb up into the attic to drag out the old skis. Or this man was from Texas and had never experienced cold weather and somehow thought this was cross country weather. Since I have never lived in Minnesota to witness their reaction to weather, I will have to side with the Texas theory. I have lived in North Texas and have personally seen five million people stay home at the treat of wintry weather.
But now we were off to church and driving down Riverside Drive looking for the interstate. I noticed a few brave souls exercising on the river trail that ran for miles along the Arkansas River. All of these runners wore long tights, long sleeve shirts, gloves, and hats. Their breath could clearly be seen in the crisp mid-morning air as they slowly worked their way down the trail.
As I approached the interstate, the trail took a sharp turn to come much closer to the street. As the curve of the trail almost met the road, I looked ahead to the few people exercising to see a man in the grass. The man was methodically using what appeared to be two hiking poles to make his way down Riverside. I have seen these kind of poles used before while hiking in British Columbia, and of course skiing in Colorado. The poles are obviously related to ski poles. They just give the hiker a better sense of balance and endurance. However, I have never seen anyone with two poles in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to this being Tulsa, this is the part of town that is obviously formed out of the flood plane of the Arkanasas, which at one point was a mighty river. Now, due to urban development, The Arkansas is little more that a vast valley of sand dunes and a few trickles of water. After a heavy rain, the Arkansas again reclaims her former glory and water fills the vast expanse of the river bottom. But never have I seen or even though that someone might need hiking poles in this part of Tulsa.
As I looked closer I thought I saw his legs not moving up and down as a walker would do, but instead more in a fluid motion of front to back with a slight up and down. I saw that his heel would raise slightly and then rest again while his body followed on that fluid plane. As my car came speeding by I finally saw what had eluded me- cross country skis!
This man had seen a small amount of ice fall and thought it was good cross country weather, and now he was trekking along in the tall grass working out his cross country skis. I couldn't believe my eyes.
Only two things would make someone think that a trace amount of ice would lend itself to cross country skiing. Either this man was from up north like Minnesota's and desperately missed the cold weather and the snow, so he decided it was time to climb up into the attic to drag out the old skis. Or this man was from Texas and had never experienced cold weather and somehow thought this was cross country weather. Since I have never lived in Minnesota to witness their reaction to weather, I will have to side with the Texas theory. I have lived in North Texas and have personally seen five million people stay home at the treat of wintry weather.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Long Powerless Night
My friends were over for dinner the night the storm hit. We were sitting around the computer while my wife was showing some recent work she had done for a magazine at the church. While everyone looked at her work on the screen, the lights blinked once and the monitor appeared to loose power. We looked around at each other and then darkness. We were in the back of the house away from the windows looking at each other in the complete darkness.
"what happened?" I asked. I had no idea how we lost power.
"the ice is too heavy for the lines. I bet some limbs knocked the lines out," my friend Todd told me.
I had grown up in an area of the country that often freezes and gets a couple of good snow storms a year, and yet I could never remember power going out because of ice. Tornadoes are a somewhat regular problem in the spring months, and power often goes out because of lightening and wind. But ice?
Our friends stayed for another hour or so and we talked by firelight and candlelight the rest of the night.
After they left and we went to bed in our cold house with quilts and blankets piled high on us. All night long as we lay in bed we heard crashes as ice and tree limbs hit against the house and the deck.
Our night followed the following pattern: out in the cold darkness, the ice would shutter and fall. The dog would wake up violently and bark. My wife would put her body as close she could to mine. We would fall back asleep.
"what happened?" I asked. I had no idea how we lost power.
"the ice is too heavy for the lines. I bet some limbs knocked the lines out," my friend Todd told me.
I had grown up in an area of the country that often freezes and gets a couple of good snow storms a year, and yet I could never remember power going out because of ice. Tornadoes are a somewhat regular problem in the spring months, and power often goes out because of lightening and wind. But ice?
Our friends stayed for another hour or so and we talked by firelight and candlelight the rest of the night.
After they left and we went to bed in our cold house with quilts and blankets piled high on us. All night long as we lay in bed we heard crashes as ice and tree limbs hit against the house and the deck.
Our night followed the following pattern: out in the cold darkness, the ice would shutter and fall. The dog would wake up violently and bark. My wife would put her body as close she could to mine. We would fall back asleep.
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