I would like to consider myself a movie buff. I only occasionally go to the movies and I do so to admire the acting, cinematography, music, and plots of highly recommended new releases. I recently attempted to supplement my elite movie-watching skills with a viewing of Christopher Nolan's latest mind-bending epic, Interstellar.
I am a firm believer in allowing art to impact and I aim to be somehow different after consuming. That difference can come through experiencing yet another form of beauty, or through witnessing the challenge of an idea or thought pattern, whether it belongs to me or the world at large.
After leaving the cinema that night, I can honestly say that I left a different man. My goals were to:
- To try and learn a little of the wonder of the universe as displayed in black holes, time dilations, and gravity; and
To write an article about a huge idea I saw all through the movie.
I regret to inform my readers that progress on my first goal is stalled due to lack of brain power and time (perhaps if I camped out near a black hole for a while I would have the time to sort it all out...). As you read, you are taking part in the completion of my second goal so I am not completely useless.
My grand, unoriginal idea
Have you ever noticed how the movies we love and cherish have a hero? A central character who, often at great cost to himself, saves the day? We find ourselves rooting for these characters without having any personal connection to them whatsoever. We cheer for them and their cause, but rarely ever ask ourselves why this is so.
Interstellar is a movie unlike any other in the way it attempts to deal with complex scientific theories on the big screen (and achieves relative success). However, one striking feature it shares with other movies is a central crisis relevant to the majority of the viewers. And this crisis needs a hero.
The earth is dying and Earth's smartest remaining minds task themselves with saving it. They realise that our blue planet does not contain the answer, but distant worlds just might. By sending a team of scientists through a wormhole near Saturn, they hope to scout a new home for humans. The weight of mankind's fate is placed in the capable hands of a small few, and we love them for it. The end of the world will not be the end of us.
My grand, unoriginal idea is this – the hero narrative is ingrained into our deepest hopes and desires. We admire the heroes and heroines in movies because we find ourselves in equally precarious situations. The Ebola virus, financial collapses, and caliphate beheadings would make a box-office hit but unfortunately for us they are very real and terrifying.
We seek for someone to follow; someone to enter the darkness of the great unknown and lead us into the light.. We yearn for that person to crash into our world and save us from all the pain and suffering that threatens to consume us. We are all holding out for a hero (a la Bonnie Tyler). The only question is – who will step up? Who will save us from this world of death?
The glorious, original Hero
In our favour, we understand that if someone is to save us, they need to be like us (human). So we stick our own hands up. How is that going for us? All the efforts to "make the world a better place" definitely don't seem to be working. If anything, things are getting worse. Has it ever crossed anyone's mind that mankind aren't the solution?
Fortunately for you and me, the answer is not what Interstellar proposes. The answer to all of the world's ills and ailments is not you or me. Despite all of our hubris and attempts to solve this world's plethora of problems, we just can't. We only make things worse. The only thing that you and I contribute to the dire situation we find ourselves in is the pain and sin that needs to be dealt with.
The solution to this problem is not found in G20 summits, better money management, or laser-guided bombs, but rather in 33 years of ancient Palestine history. The man, Jesus Christ taught of God's coming kingdom – a reign with no death, worry or pain – and promised that for all those who would give up on their own efforts to save the world and themselves, they would be welcomed into this New World as sons and daughters. Jesus' flawless life, death, and resurrection provide his people with righteousness, forgiveness, and hope in a world teeming with counterfeits.
We are all holding out for our hero. Instead of looking inward or outward to your fickle fellow man, look to Jesus. He victoriously died and rose in the past, to secure your future.
Cody Knox lives in Wellington, New Zealand. He works in ICT for the New Zealand government and in his free time he loves to read, write, and run.
Cody Knox's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/cody-knox.html