The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 24, 1979, Page Page 10, Image 10
Reliaiot
By Lehman Stiles
Entortalnment Editor (
Two recent occurrances in the 4
entertainment world have brought i
up an old but always interesting i
^ quesuon. une is hod uyian s blow
Train Coming; the other is Monty
Python's Life of Brian.
I have not seen Life of Brian, but
I have heard Slow Train Coming
many, many times. It is the year's
best album. I am tempted to call it
rv..l- l i
uyian s uesi.
Regardless, I think we can look 1
at hnth mnvip nnd nlhnm a.c 1
manifestations of religion in en- 1
tertainment. And of course, the 1
first thing we have to do is clarify 1
our terms.
It has been said that Christianity 1
would be a very fine thing were it '
not for religion, so perhaps that is a *
bad term. "Religion" suggests i
liturgy, big churches, collection 1
plates. As a rule, it is generally 1
accepted that this sort of religion is
lacking. What Dylan's album <
speaks to is nothing short of bom- <
again Christianity. J
And when you think about it, 1
even this term tells something. it is 1
redundant: Christianity implies i
rebirth. But in the past, this aspect
of Christianity has been down- <
played. Now that it is important, 1
we need the redundancy to <
distinguish "plain" Christianity 1
from that Southern-Baptist, <
Jimmy-Carter faith that inspires J
Mow 1 rain Loming.
Russe
MONDAY, SEPT. 24: In Anatole B
Litvak's Sorry, Wrong Number z;
(U.S., 1948) Barbara Stanwyck H
plays a bedridden woman who n
accidentally overhears a murder h
pioi on me leiepnone. ane manes a
more calls and finds out that her a
husband (Burt* Lancaster) is v
behind the plot and she is to be the c
victim. The terror mounts as she 9
tries to find someone who will help
her. Ann Richards, Wendell Corey, c
Ed Begley, Leif Erickson and tl
William Conrad round out the cast.
89minutes. 7 and 9:30p.m. Free.
I fl
TUESDAY, SEPT. 25: Ingmar
Bergman's The Magician
(Sweden, 1958) is another shocker,
but with its frequent comic relief it
is also one of Bergman's funnic st
films. Max von Sydow is a
traveling magician and hypnotist
who arrives in Stockholm to find a
houseful of skeptics who want him
arrested. He rises from the "dead"
to scare the cynical doctor half out
of his mind. The cast is full of
lcguidia uuiu DCi^uidii d uuici
films, and the performances are a
joy. 101 minutes. 7 and 9:30 p.m.
Free.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26: The
Cinematic Arts Committee's fall
Classic Film Series opens with
... 1 I1
I; Monday Ni;
I 1 Man!
I Serve? with italiar
i and ent
The most common statement
>verheard about Dylan's album is
'I like it except for that religion
stuff." Unfortunately, this is
usually indicative of some
prejudice against religion, because
the faith that Dvlan sines about is
touched in entirely different
terms. Turing off Dylan because
tie sings about Christ would be as
irrational as when our parents
turned him off for his ideas in
"Blowin' in the Wind."
Other artists have switched from
secular to religious emphasis in
music, most notably B. J. Thomas.
QUI A IlUIIlcfo tl USSUVCI 1CU1UVCU
iim from the commercial field;
Dylan's is not likely to do that. This
tells something about the nature of
their purposes.
Thomas wanted to escape from
[hp nntiirp nf pommprpinl
music, so he only records for a
strictly Christian label and
audience. Dylan sees his conversion
as a natural extension of
tlis previous work.
That is the remarkable thing
about Slow Train Coming: Dylan is
no nrthtaniiclif inrliffnont a c airor
EIO A I5IIVVVUOIJ IIIVU^IIUIIV MO V f VI }
as tenderly loving as ever. His
love-imagery is sensual and
powerful; his flaming, angry
rhetoric is at times frightening.
What Dylan had been doing all
along was a religion of sorts; a
faith in things unseen. Slow Train
Coming seems not so much a
wholesale conversion to standard
Christianity as Dylan's adaptation
jf Christianity to his own views,
rhe resulting vision, fired by
ill House F
ringing Up Baby (U.S., 1938), a
any comedy directed by Howard
[awks. Cary Grant is a mildlannered
paleontologist who finds
is life suddenly turned upside
own by dizzy Katherine Hepburn
nd hpr n#?t lpnrvnrH Pnnlinp Kapl
/rites: "This is Hepburn's best
omedy." 100 minutes. 2:30, 7 and
:30p.m. Admission: 75cents.
The Classic Film Series will
ontinue on Wednesdays
hroughout the semester.
SUNDAY, SEPT. 30: The Secret
I ATLANTIC I
101 Acts of Love ?
iHe and She I
ATLANTIC II
Sexual Witchcraft I
Lady Delila I
I M V
api i C5 ?
talian m
!> Harden St. 799-7754 iA
in Five Points
ght Special
cotti
i salad, wine and
ertainmt
; Bs BifiS!
ftefJ
sj^ i"^
1'S
Dylan in Columbia
unquenchable faith and warmi
with a simple, stunning beauty,
undeniable.
These are troubled times, ma<
more so by the fact that we doi
know what the source of tl
trouble is. The sense
helplessness we. feel as we s<
things falling apart around us
overwhelming. Dylan has mere
taken on the only vision th
provides comfort without a
vocating becoming a herm
which is what Dylan wj
dangerously close to becoming.
With Christianity, Dylan ci
lash out at injustice and oppressii
without becoming suicidal
depressed because he knows th
they will always exist. He can 1
cpncusl anH Invinff withnnf hw*it
afraid that he will descend in
that chilling hedonism th;
characterizes this discoed-oi
decade.
Slow Train Coming makes fail
real. We hear it in Dylan's voic
=ilms
Agent (England, 1936) is one i
Alfred Hitchcock's more ei
tertaining early thrillers, fill*
with familiar faces and stranf
happenings. The hero this time
an astonishingly young Jot
Gielgud, who is up against Germ;
spies and a Mexican assassi
played by Peter Lorre. The ca
aiso includes Madeleine Carro
Robert Yoimg and Lilli Palme
The film climaxes with a terrif
train wreck. 83 minutes. 7 and 9::
p.m. Free.
|j===
Detera
J?: Ho
i * r
ent: do th(
| We feel it in his words. It is not just
I another phenomenon of tne "entertainment
world." It is the sort of
thing that kindles revolutions.
So without question, religion is
justified on Slow Train Coming.
But in Monty Python's Life of
Brian, religion is the butt of a joke.
After everything I've said so far,
how can this be justified?
IL.ir c. ur jommy 10 OMVUV UI inn
of Nazareth, who is born in the
stable down the street from Christ
and spends his life trying to convince
people that he is not a
messiah. He is finally crucified.
cwl I Hn trnmi; a littta ahnut thp film
is and have seen a clip or two, and I
find nothing highly blasphemous
de about it. The film would be
l't blasphemous if it denied the
fie possibility of Christ's life; it
of doesn't seem to do that. It merely
ee makes fun of the events, much as
is Monty Python and the Holy Grail
ly makes fun of the Arthurian legend
at without denying its possibility.
d- Satire is almost always taken
it,
EIS
? Left Hand 7
an ^ Ft
iy
a* But now we piay in tournaments e
^ And slug it out with ACC teams, tc
*8 And give the student body many tl
*? O thanks be unto thee, great coacl
at For now we can whup up on many
Chorus: We truly love you, Team
E'n though you make the Southeri
th You win your games, and that is v
e- At this fair school, where losing is
(Macguire Enters)
Macguire: Alas, good Team, I be;
The ACC will never more allow
Football players dumb enough foi
So we must drop out of this confer
Team: O pooh, what luck! Just wl
n" But tell us, coach, why do they sci
** You get this fine arena built, then
5e Our Team into a winner national,
is And now they mess us up with this
m Macguire: Yea, verily, did I not k
In That all the state supports me in i
n? I'd think that they were going for
st But, since only blackguard zeds s
To wrest from me the power of fa
f 1 know that I am safe in Carolina,
*c (The Tragedy of Macguire Part 1
30
nine Youi
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by H you aw Ude
pdiliu, people, a
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and ko expedience
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Becky Fiim&H ai
ey mix?
badly by some people. They see it
as some sort of threat to them,
when in fact it is usually just an
attempt to be funny, complete with
admitted exaggerations and
twictina nf fnrts Snmp would Sflv
that the life of Christ, the central
fact of history for the Christian, is
too important to be made fun of.
But, as G. K. Chesterson said, "It
is the test of a good religion
whether you can joke about it."
r rora wnai we vc acta, icu^iuu,
or whatever you may call it, has a
confusing but definite place in
entertainment. Once entertainment
becomes in any sense
religious, though, it is not so much
entertainment as some sort of
statement. The fact that the public
-" nfnfAmanfo / DWIMM
is uujriug uirac smivciikiiio |umuh
is raking in huge weekly grosses,
and Dylan's album is number
three this week) shows how
unavoidable, after all, the whole
question of religion is, whether you
are an athiest or the staunchest
Baptist. It is all a matter of belief.
vmpsge 9
ach year,
o,
tirills.
i Macguire,
teams!
from Northern climes
n boys look bad,
ery rare
the rule.
ir unpleasant news.
rus,
ence fair!
hen we re getting good!
rew us so?
turn
s low trick!
;now for sure
ny quest, -a w
my throat,
hould try
ir Hoop,
I to be played next week)
Debate!
Fottmiw Am.
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