Grant—
I posted on July 10th as to what I thought of the movie. I believe, aside from my comments about the last shot, that I have found some truth in the movie related to a Christian perspective on the art of storytelling.
In an earlier post, you said something about the artist’s intention, whether he/she was intending to portray the wonders of God’s creation, and that the filmmaker in Adaptation was intending to portray a deterministic, Darwinian world.
I agree. But do you really think that the artist’s intentions are an absolute measurement by which the artwork should be judged? I firmly believe that an artwork, to a certain extent, exists independently of the artist’s intentions. To say that a movie is “bad” based on what the filmmaker’s intentions were is the same as saying that “all swearing in films is bad” or “all nudity in films is bad.” Isn’t it possible that, through common grace, a filmmaker will have unwittingly allowed some truth to slip into his/her film? Instead of labeling things as “good” and “bad” we should take a more transformative role, viewing all things through the “spectacles of Scripture” and recognize the blend of truth and lies.
Andrew
Jul 22 2003
05:39 am
Grant—
I posted on July 10th as to what I thought of the movie. I believe, aside from my comments about the last shot, that I have found some truth in the movie related to a Christian perspective on the art of storytelling.
In an earlier post, you said something about the artist’s intention, whether he/she was intending to portray the wonders of God’s creation, and that the filmmaker in Adaptation was intending to portray a deterministic, Darwinian world.
I agree. But do you really think that the artist’s intentions are an absolute measurement by which the artwork should be judged? I firmly believe that an artwork, to a certain extent, exists independently of the artist’s intentions. To say that a movie is “bad” based on what the filmmaker’s intentions were is the same as saying that “all swearing in films is bad” or “all nudity in films is bad.” Isn’t it possible that, through common grace, a filmmaker will have unwittingly allowed some truth to slip into his/her film? Instead of labeling things as “good” and “bad” we should take a more transformative role, viewing all things through the “spectacles of Scripture” and recognize the blend of truth and lies.