LeadershipConneXtions

Movies I Will Be Watching in the Days Ahead

Here are some movies I'll be watching or reWatching in the near future.

Babette's Feast.  Probably an obscure film for most of you. I have been wanting to watch this for years. It is a story of outrageous grace told through a parable/fable of an extravagant feast prepared for overly pious people who are afraid of pleasure and joy.

Crash.  This is a dark film that explores and explodes the boundaries of human connectedness. I have only seen this once, but a reWatch is long overdue. 

Finding Forrester.  This is one of my favorite movies on leadership and mentoring. Sean Connery is magnificent as a curmudgeonly but yet profoundly wise mentor.  Teachers - watch this one.

And speaking of teaching... I am going back to the vaults to watch two more movies about the vocation of teaching.

Lean on Me  and  Stand and Deliver.  Both movies came out in the later 1980's. Both are about teachers and principles who have to work in rough environments.

The Last King of Scotland.  I have not yet seen this one. The story of Idi Amin, a brutal leader with an ugly legacy.

Wit. Starring the inimitable Emma Thompson as a professor of English and a specialist in John Donne poetry!!!  She is not a good person. She is diagnosed with a devastating illness and must go through horribly painful treatments.  Another obscure film, but one that I have seen referred to over and over. I'll let you know.

And finally.  

No Country for Old Men.  I read the book a few months ago. I have borrowed the movie from my friend and colleague Rob Tucker... and haven't yet watched it.  (Sorry Rob...). I am a little reluctant because it is a disturbing film... but I'm taking the plunge... this week.

And now -- perhaps the most important question:  What are you going to be watching this summer?

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Some Recently reWatched Movies

Here are some movies that I have recently reWatched along with a few comments about some core themes in these movies.

Simon Birch.  This is a B movie that asks the questions of human worth and purpose through the diminutive Simon Birch who wonders why he is on earth. 

The Matrix Trilogy.  I watched this entire trilogy on a long airplane flight back from Africa. One right after the other.  There are so many themes in this trilogy. The first movie was the best and the 2nd and 3rd didn't quite match up to the lead movie. What is reality? How do I know what is real? Is there redemption and at what cost?

Shawshank Redemption.  This is one of my all-time favorites, it makes it into my top FIVE movies. Issues of friendship, community, leadership, stewardship, beauty, injustice, suffering, redemption that finally comes at the end of a long waiting - this movie has it all. 

Chariots of Fire.  Another old movie... and probably a worn out one for my audiences. But like a good book I can reread, I can rewatch this movie. It actually depicts at least four worldviews. Three of the worldviews are portrayed by the three main runners. Eric Liddell runs for the glory of God, Harold Abrams runs for his own glory, and Lord Andrew Lindsey runs for fun.  The fourth mindset is that of Eric's sister Jennie, whose Christianity is more on the legalistic side.   

The Devil Wears Prada.  A great movie on darkside leadership using the high fashion industry as the venue. Meryl Streep plays a manipulating power-broker.  Will Anne Hathaway's character be corrupted by Meryl Streep or not?

Schindler's List.  There are many good Holocaust movies that have been made. This one is still my favorite. Good and evil, our responsibility for one another, heroic love in the face of great danger. Am I my brother's keeper gets a profound answer. This one is now even more powerful because I visited Auschwitz with my friend Brian Newman years ago and I have heard how the threads of the Holocaust are woven through his own story. 

Lord of the Rings.  Yes, you had to expect this movie trilogy. I've read the trilogy at least twenty times and I've watched it (completely) at least five times.  EVERY theme there is is contained in this trilogy. I joke with friends that for every sermon I ever preach, I can find an illustration of the sermon topic somewhere in Tolkien's masterpiece and Jackson's celluloid version.

The Mission.  Another old movie that used to be in my top FIVE, but now is in my top TEN. I know of few movies that look at the issue of redemption, as well as peace and violence, as does this movie. Plus it is about the Jesuits and their missionary work in Latin America. The ending is so depressing . . . but it is depressing because it is a real depiction of injustice and suffering that is not satisfied in this world.

Okay, these are a few that I have reWatched in recent times (except for the Mission).

If you haven't seen any of these -- they are worth watching.

Tomorrow I'll tell you a few movies I have been collecting to either watch for the first time or reWatch this summer.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Movies, Worldview and the Christian Movie-Goer

Some of the most important and certainly most influential theological work is being done by the writers, directors and producers in the movie industry. These are the premier story tellers of our day and their stories are full of worldview themes.  

When I talk about worldview, I am talking about the fundamental questions that have to do with life.

• What is the nature of reality?
  
• How did life turn out the way it is?
  
• Is this the way life is meant to be, or is something wrong, is something missing?
  
• What is the purpose of life (and my life)?
  
• What is the good life?
  
• What does it mean to be a good person?
  
• How do I become a good person?
  
• How do I know my answers are reasonable (and true)?

These themes are woven into almost every movie. And in the doing of that, the movie makers are delving into the realm of theology, for theology addresses all of those worldview questions and seeks to find meaningful answers.

The movie makers have a huge advantage going for them. They explore these themes in the context of a story. They develop the themes in the lives of the characters who are dealing with the themes. As we enter into the drama unfolding before us, we realize that it is telling our story also.

So I watch movies... lots of movies, although this year has been so busy my movie watching has really diminished. Since I have a lot of time off this summer, I am trying to catch up.

I watch movies that I think give wrong answers to these worldview questions. For there are many answers to these profound questions. 

I watch movies that give mixed answers to these questions... or partial answers to these questions.

I watch movies that I think get it very right at places.

I watch movies that explore the reality of a fallen world, human evil, brokenness and sin... sometimes in graphic ways.  Some of the movies I watch glorify depravity.... while others deplore it.

I watch movies that are on a quest for redemption. Some of them never find it... others discover a hint of the possibility, and still others deeply embrace it.

And there are some movies I watch that are just for entertainment.

There is probably one question I am asked by Christians about movies and that has to do with the sexuality of movies, the sex scenes and the nudity. "Why," the question goes, "would you watch a movie that has this stuff in it?"  (Note:  Rarely does someone ask me the same question about violence!)

First, I don't like the sexuality or nudity and in most cases I fast forward through it. (By the way, most movies I do not see on the big screen, I wait until they are out on DVD).  There is certainly a degree of gratuitous sex in movies. (It is there not because it contributes to the story, but because it titillates the audience.  R-rated comedies have a lot of this and that, by the way, is one of the genres of movies I watch the least.)

Next, I simply say avoid what makes you stumble. If watching a particular movie is not good for you, then don't watch it. It is that simple. Give the freedom to others to make the same assessment for their journey.   

Finally, this is the issue of "in the world and not of the world." The challenge of following Christ today is that we live in a world whose normal standards are now far removed from biblical standards of holiness, and probably this is more pronounced in the arena of sex than anywhere else. One response is to simply withdraw and separate and avoid contamination. Another response is to engage for the purpose of understanding, dialogue and ultimately transformation.  I prefer the second response.

Tomorrow I'll mention a number of movies I have referred to recently in a variety of avenues and give you a few of my thoughts about them.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Our Deepest Fears

Have you seen the movie, Akeelah and the Bee? I need to make a confession. I really resisted seeing this movie when it was released. I had already made up my mind that it was aimed at children and probably a bit hokey.

But there we were, Becky and I, watching the DVD. And you know what? It was really good. Yes the acting was a bit weak. Yes the plot was a bit predictable. But the themes were powerful. It is a story of a mentoring relationship. It is the story of a girl who has an unreachable dream. it is the story of a mentor who has lost his way. It is a story of a mentor finding his way once again when he helps a girl reach for her dream.

One of the most powerful scenes in the movie is when Akeelah sees a framed quotation handing on the wall of her mentor's study. The words are those of Nelson Mandela. Here they are:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.

We ask ourselves: "Who am I to be so beautiful, talented, gorgeous, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

That is not just in some of us, it is in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people the permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fears, our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela, 1997

I said it in a recent Sunday morning message. There is original greatness within us. May you be liberated from your fears and through Christ be a source of light, love, hope and joy to everyone you meet today.

Brian Rice

Leadership ConneXtions International

Amazingly Graceful Servant Leadership

I am currently reading the Amazing Grace biography of Wilberforce by Eric Metaxas. It is quite good. I held off reading it for some time since I had read several other biographies on Wilberforce in past years.

But I liked the movie so much that I decided to read Metaxas' book, and it is very good.

When I was in South Africa a few weeks ago, this movie/book played into our time together in a special way. We had spent all of Thursday morning looking at a "biblical theology of leadership" in the framework of Creation - Fall - Redemption - Consumation. We spent time looking at power and authority, their corruption and their reclamation through Christ. We spent time looking at the counter-cultural, no-so-with-you approach to leadership of Jesus. We considered images and metaphors of servant leadership.

It was a very moving time for the group and I really appreciated how this multi-cultural, post-apartheid group of leaders wrestled with these ideas. Then, in the evening, the group watched the movie - Amazing Grace. And it hit me again . . .

Wilberforce was one of God's counter-cultural, servant leaders who led as a servant, shepherd, steward and sufferer. He walked in the way of Christ and he imitated Christ much as Paul did. The words that Paul said in Colossians 1:24-25, about himself, were also true of Wilberforce.

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant . . .

It was a powerful evening, as we watched a movie about a Christian politician, whose vocation was the elimination of slavery and the reformation of manners/morality in England. It was a God-moment as this movie showed the life work (and suffering) of a choice servant of God.

I felt privileged to be in the midst of this group as we were motivated by a historic mentor - William Wilberforce.

I'd also like to recommend that you either watch or revisit Amistad, which is one of the most powerful movies of leadership and passion and justice that I have ever seen. It is the story about the slaveship  Amistad and the slave uprising and the legal battle for their lives. Anthony Hopkins plays President John Adams, now retired, who is enlisted to argue the case before the Supreme Court. Even though the ten minute scene near the end of the movie, is not fully historically accurate, it is VERY POWERFUL and well worth watching.

There are great performances by all the actors and Cinque, the African leader, is extraordinary in the leadership role he portrays. Plus, there is one of the most powerful examples of the power of the biblical story to impact people!!!

Brian Rice

Videos Worth Watching on South Africa

My friend Pat Gerstmyer gave me three videos on South Africa to watch. Each one was very good and moving.

If you want to watch some powerful videos that describe South Africa, I'd recommend any of them. Be ready for scenes of terrible evil and violence but also scenes of redemption and hope.

They are Tsotsi, a best foreign language film of 2005, about life in the townships.

Red Dust which is about the Truth and Justice

The Wooden Camera, also an award winning movie.

Brian Rice

Amazing Grace and Passionate Leadership

I have a confession to make.

I did not see Amazing Grace when it was out in the theaters! I wanted to, but time just didn't work out. So, even though I have seen clips from it, I finally watched the entire movie! While I am pretty acquainted with the life and ministry of Wilberforce, the movie hit me in new ways.

Click here to go to a YouTube Trailer for the movie.

I watched the movie with an eye for leadership insights into this amazing individual. Here are four main themes I came away with:

ONE: Unrelenting passion for a just cause (there are few motivational energies as powerful for this that leaders can tap into.  What is your unrelenting passion for which just or great cause?

TWO: Willingness to endure great hardship, opposition, insult, abuse and more. Authentic leadership for great and just realities always costs us something. ALWAYS!  Are you (am I) willing to pay the price?

THREE:  You need a team. As good as Wilberforce was, he could not have done this on his own, and in fact, did not need to. There were other abolitionists who were as equally committed and dedicated as he was. Wilberforce just happened to be the one positioned for the most political influence. Without their team contributions - Wilberforce would not have been the force for change that he was. It is probably more accurate to say that The Team was the force for change (and not just an individual leader). Who is your team? And are you really leading in a way that it is not about you the individual leader, but about the team?

FOUR: There were a number of times during the movie, when I realized just how much others depend on and need great leadership on their behalf. The slaves needed others to work tirelessly on their behalf. Who are the people who NEED YOU to make a difference for them? And are you living and leading with those people constantly on the front burner of your heart?

And there are more leadership insights, but these were four that hit me repeatedly throughout the movie.  It is a rich source of inspiration for anyone who likes to use movie clips to illustrate ideas. And I encourage you to go much deeper in to the man, the team, the cause and the leadership by reading the book Amazing Grace by Eric Metaxas.

Brian Rice

Good Teachers

Lou Holtz had this to say about good teachers. A good teacher (as well as a good coach or trainer):

• Knows the subject inside and out.
• Is able to present the subject in a thorough AND interesting way.
• Has enthusiasm for teaching and its outcomes.

According to Holtz, Snape would qualify as a good teacher since he fits the first three criteria. But he is not a good teacher if you add in the final two.

• Loves those who learn.
• Engages in the subject and with the learners as a "fellow learner."

For a really great movie on teaching/mentoring which contrasts two diametrically different styles, watch Finding Forrester. Sean Connery is Forrester, the good mentor/teacher. And the main classroom English literature teacher is the bad teacher.

Brian Rice

The Long Journey Home

Here is the biblical narrative stated in the form that I am using this Sunday. We are lost and searching for home. We weren't always this way. In a spiritual, metaphysical sense, here is that story.

Life started in the Garden where we were homesteaders.

Then we were exiled from paradise (Genesis 3:23).

We became wanderers and nomads who move from place to place (Genesis 4:12).

In time we became aliens and strangers living in a stranger land (Psalm 137:4).

Through Jesus, we become citizens of heaven (Ephesians 2:12-13).

life on earth is now the long journey home as we are pilgrims looking for and longing for our better country and home (Hebrews 11:13-16).

This journey has been told so well by Dante (Divine Comedy), John Bunyan (Pilgrim's Progress), C.S. Lewis (Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce), and most recently by John Eldredge (in many of his books including The Sacred Romance and EPIC).

For a fun movie that captures the pain of being an alien and stranger in a strange land, watch The Terminal with Tom Hanks.

For another very powerful movie which has this same theme, although in a different way, watch one of my all time favorite movies - Shawshank Redemption.

Brian Rice

Freedom Writers

I just watched Freedom Writers starring Hillary Swank. It is based on a true story of a young teacher who begins to work with inner city, gang members as their 9th grade English teacher.

It is loaded with excellent leadership clips on at least a dozen different topics (vision, passion, sacrifice, perseverance, trust, Ephesians 2:10 creational makeup stuff, suffering, and much more).

It is also a great source for inspiration for women leaders since it is about a teacher who was much more than a teacher. She was a teacher/leader.

Brian Rice

"Stranger than Fiction" ... a must see

I recently watched the film "Stranger Than Fiction" for a second time. It's a "must see" in my book. Some films so eloquently depict the biblical drama in one way or another. This one certainly does. It reminds me of the work of Craig Detweiler and the City of Angels Film Festival based out of Fuller Seminary. Detweiler is a professor of mass media at Biola University. He has done much to help Christians engage with culture in a meaningful way.

An Inconvenient Truth

Becky and I recently watched the movie - An Inconvenient Truth. It is a documentary on the issue of global warming by Vice-President Al Gore.

I want to stress that THIS POST TODAY IS NOT ABOUT THE ISSUE OF GLOBAL WARMING or what I think about it. The post is simply about the leadership of Al Gore on this issue.

To begin, I probably need to say that I was never a fan of Al Gore. I wasn't that impressed with him. So what follows is not because I was a raving fan. But, he did a very nice leadership job with this movie. Here are some leadership illustrations.

(1)  Gore is clearly both a visionary and a passionary on this topic. Right or wrong in his assessment, he cares deeply about the issue and you can tell.

(2)  He is masterful in creative communication. To tell the truth, I was expecting to be a bit bored on the issue. Gore took a pretty technical issue and found a way to bring it alive through his creative communication which depended HUGELY on images!

(3)  He was a Story-Teller! Gore wove in to this topic, his personal history and experience. I came to understand his heritage and background. I felt like I came to know the man Al Gore in a way that I never did before.  (See the recent post - leader as story-teller!)

(4)  He is tireless and persevering in promoting the issue. He said he has presented this at least 1000 times in public!  I found myself thinking of The Tipping Point and how Gore is seeking to create a grass roots "contagion."

(5)  I heard and saw VITAL OPTIMISM. Even though the topic is a potentially pessimistic one, Gore was forward looking, optimistic and communicating hope and change. Even when leaders talk about difficult issues, being positive is crucial.

(6)  It was obvious that he knew the subject inside and out. He was truly an expert. Leaders take the time to learn and master what they are going to "cheer-lead."

(7)  He proactively anticipated the objections and dealt with them on his terms. More really effective leadership. Don't be reactive to the critics, proactively anticipate their objections and head them off at the pass.

Brian Rice

By the way, I thought he was pretty funny at the Oscars too!

Facing the Giants: Great clip to watch

A friend of mine at Living Word just sent me a link to a video clip from a new movie - Facing the Giants. The clip was excellent.  I have provided a link. I'm not sure how long it will be available at that link so check it out ASAP.

Click Here for the clip.

Then - think about what it means to give your best to the work of leadership!

Brian Rice

The Devil Wears Prada: A Leadership Story and the Power of Choice

The Devil Wears Prada

Okay, I resisted getting this movie at first, but Becky and I did finally rent it. And I loved it.

Leadership trainers - watch it - lots of good clips in this one.

Meryl Streep plays a great role as, Miranda Priestly, the head of a fashion magazine empire and the example of all that is wrong with authoritarian, abusive, aloof, leadership. She is ice, insult, injustice and injury.  She cares nothing for others, than that they serve her, immediately and competently. She is a monster and yet on top of her business world.

Andy Sachs (played by Anne Hathaway) is one of Streep's new personal assistants. The movie is about the corruption and transformation of Andy into someone who can survive and succeed in that world. There are powerful scenes about the choices we make. And the consequences of those choices.

Definitely worth watching. And then reflecting on the course that your own choices have led you. I won't tell you how it ends - watch it and find out!

Brian Rice

Little Miss Sunshine and Motivational Speakers

Okay, I am going to blow off a little steam on this one. But in reality, it is more than a little steam. It is about a deep tension that I feel.

This past week, Becky and I watched the movie - Little Miss Sunshine. It is a dark movie but a powerful movie. It shows us a rather typical (according to NPR) American family, which struggles with extreme dysfunctionality along with broken dreams and failed aspirations on the part of almost every participant. (If you watch it, be ready for a lot of vulgarity, especially on the part of the heroin addicted grandpa played by Alan Arkin).

Greg Kinnear (pictured to the right encouraging his daughter) plays the dad in the family and it is his aspiration to become a successful motivational speaker. He has his nine step "formula" that if followed will turn you into a winner. As I watched the various scenes in which Kinnear is being the motivational expert (usually with his family), I found myself cringing. The writers and producers came up with a role that is both a parody and a commentary on "pop motivational leadership" in American culture. At times I didn't know whether to laugh at how foolish it was, or to "cringe" at the similarities of Kinnear's persona with that of many of our "pop Christian leadership icons."

Here was the scary part. I had breakfast with a good friend of mine two days after that and he lent me some CD's of motivational speakers that he was listening to. I listened to it this morning. The first speaker (a well known secular expert in  the motivational movement), at times, sounded identical to the parody that Kinnear was portraying. And yet, his audience applauded him.

This leading secular expert (and by the way, I think their Christian counterparts sound pretty similar) managed to mix phrases of truth into the midst of sentences of foolishness, embedded within paragraphs of misinformation and distorted interpretation. And yet, his audience loved it.

I describe him as a salesman peddler of simplistic, self-help, reinvent yourself, be successful, be a winner, rise above the herd formulas. And he was good at it. And did I mention - his audience loved it?  (The Christian speakers just sprinkle in Bible verses here and there in their versions.)

"For the time will come when men (and women) will not put up with sound doctrine (in this case - leadership teaching). Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."  (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Therein is some of the tension I feel as a coach, mentor, trainer of others. It is so tempting to resort to what will pump up the crowds. Tell them what their itching ears want to hear. Over-promise on the formula and if the product/result falls short - blame it on their lack of motivation to follow through . . .

That is one possibility. It is tempting. Or to walk the harder, narrow road. Talk about the costs of leadership. Walk with people through the wilderness journey of growth and transformation. Explore the mess and mystery and learn how to entrust ourselves to God in the midst of it all.

Popular and faithful are not often compatible. Simplistic slogans and wisdom are even less so.

Brian Rice

Lord Acton and J.R.R. Tolkien: Suspicion About Power

This coming Monday evening the topic for our Leading Edge class will be on power, authority and the servant leadership model of Jesus.

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Historian Lord Acton (pictured to the right) said that in the late 1800's.

Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, certainly influenced by the events of World War 2, explore the abuse of power and the corruption that power has. The One Ring of Power created by Sauron promises great power, but corrupts all who receive it. Saruman (a good wizard turned evil) and Boromir (a great warrior of Gondor) are both corrupted even by the lust for the ring. Three of the great and good figures - Elrond (ruler of the elves), Gandalf (the good wizard who remains good) and Galadriel (another ruler of the elves) all refuse to take the ring. They know the ring would corrupt them.

The only ones who are able to carry the ring (and bear its burden) are Frodo and Sam. The lowly, simple, humble Hobbits of the Shire are the only ones who can resist its temptation. And in the end, even Frodo sucuumbs!

Tolkien said these words about power:  "The proper study of man is anything but man, and the most improper job of any man . . . is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity."  Tolkien, Letters #52

Let me paraphrase, a bit, some advice from James 3:1.

"Not many of you (according to Tolkien, less than one in a million) should presume to be leaders(using the word leaders instead of teachers), because you know that we who lead will be judged more strictly."

Power and authority are terrible things when corrupted by our inner darkness. The misuse and abuse of power is one of the main reasons why leaders don't finish well. Faithful leadership, that finishes well, means we are constantly vigilant on how we are doing with the use of power. 

May we be one in a million!

Brian Rice

Drumline: A Leadership Story

If you haven’t seen it yet, watch the movie Drumline.

It is the story of three leaders in the context of a marching band (and its “drum line”) in the southern United States.

Dr. Lee is the band director. He has a passion for the old music, what he calls the true music. He doesn’t want to give in to the pressure to perform the contemporary hip-hop, rap styles of music that the crowds love. He is in danger of losing his job. Dr. Lee has a great vision for his students. His vision is that they love music and they become a team. Their motto is “One Band, One Sound.” It is his direction and strategy that needs to change.

Devin Miles is the young, brash, and very, very good new drummer. He has a major attitude. He is entirely self-focused. He becomes competitive (immediately) with the drum line section leader (Shawn Taylor) and constantly challenges and upstages him. Much of the movie is about their deteriorating relationship as band members.

Shawn Taylor is the section leader. He once had the vision of One Band, One Sound. But now, he is threatened by Devin and does everything he can to make him look bad and to get him out of the band.

Now throw in the climax of the annual competition for the best band of the south and you have the context for Dr. Lee, Devin Miles and Shawn Taylor to work through their personal issues, find a new direction that will help them become One Band with One Sound and compete for the prize.

There are great leadership clips about character and skills throughout this movie. The music is a lot of fun also.

BR