Jul 25 2011
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Movies & TV

Review: Captain America, The First Avenger

Captain America has little reason to be successful, yes it does has fans, yes its source material is classic americana, but in comparison to the X-men, Spiderman, Batman and even Superman, he’s possibly the least interesting main-stream super hero. That’s why this movie is a victory, because by the end of the story, he’s so totally likable that even if you don’t like the plot, you love the hero of the story.

The Captain gets a shot

The Cap’ has seen other incarnations, none more cheesy than the 1979 TV series, footage from which has been used heavily by Conan O’Brian over the past few months. But for being the classic all American hero, he’s seen little action over the past 20 years. As a result, I’m not terribly familiar with the mythos of Captain America. I grew up watching the X-Men, Spiderman and other superhero’s TV shows and I read several of their comics, but Captain america was never among those that I read. I remember one two-part episode of Spiderman that featured the avengers- which told a really quick origin story of the Cap, but other than that – I was not a fan of his until yesterday.

I was delighted that director Joe Johnston finally got to direct a main-course film again. He made a splash with Honey I Shrunk the Kids in 1989. Then he made a superhero movie before it was cool- a period piece called the Rocketeer; this was a favorite of my family’s when it came out, and if you were to watch it today you would see why in many ways, Johston would be an obvious choice for a Captain America film. Most of the past 15 years he’s been relegated to desserts and side-dishes such as Hidalgo, Jumanji, Pagemaster and Jurassic Park III, all of which were underrated movies that failed to find audiences. He proved his ability to develop characters with perhaps his best known film, October Sky, which marked the beginning of Jake Gyllenhaal’s rise to fame. Having dabbled in the arenas of sci-fi, drama, horror, fantasy and adventure – Johnston was prepared to finally prove himself, by combining elements from all of these genres to make a truly great blockbuster superhero film.

The Plot:

The story Centers around Steve Rogers played by Chris Evans. You may recognize him from the Fantastic 4 movies which I usually list in my top 10 worst marvel movies to-date. (but don’t worry they still rank higher than Hulk, Electra, Daredevil and The Punisher) He plays a much more likable character as Captain American than as the Human Torch, who is down right obnoxious at times. To be clear, Steve Rogers is Captain America, not the sound engineer by the same name who did most of his work during the 80′s. That’s a different guy, I didn’t want anyone getting confused.

Steve Rogers is a loser, a little guy from Brooklyn – much like Peter Parker of the Spiderman Series. One of the ways in which the movie succeeds, is the development of Steve Roger’s character. Unlike Charles Xavior in X-Men: First Class, Rogers’ motivations for doing good are clear. Since he was small, he was bullied all his life. Though he didn’t start fights, he never ran from a fight. He says “If you start running, you’ll never stop.” Because the main course of the story takes place during WWII, Steve Desperately wants to go into the army, as he sees the Nazis as the ultimate bully and he wants to fight them even though at the start of the story he’s a 90 pound asthmatic. This also explains why his weapon of choice is a shield, he’s not out for blood, he’s out to protect the innocent.

After being rejected five times by the Army, he’s met by Dr. Erskine (Stanley Tucci) who sees that Rogers is a good man. Erskine chooses Rogers for a special program to become the ‘first of new breed of super-soldier.’ Erskine likes Rogers because he’s a weak man and ‘the weak man knows the value of strength.’ The procedure works, but in the process the serum used to create Captain America is destroyed so that Steve is the only Super Solder. At first he’s sent around the US as a mascot, wearing the Captain America guise as a symbol to the people, though he doesn’t see any real action. He goes to the front to entertain the boys where he finds out an old friend of his has been captured and is in an enemy base just 30 miles away.

Rogers, does exactly what you’d expect any superhero to do, he goes to the base and frees his friend where he meets Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving playing the role for which he was born) AKA the Red Skull head of a secret Nazi organization called “Hydra”. He discovers the Red Skull’s plan to annihilate several Cities the world over, including (bum-bum-buuum) New York! After Rogers’ success freeing the prisoners from the base as well as bringing back a great deal of intel on the Red Skull and his schemes, he’s given a team and is sent around Europe destroying more Hydra bases. The Shield is a surprisingly cool weapon throughout.

In the meantime he befriends a very young Howard Stark, that’s the father of Tony Stark (Iron Man) and a beautiful young woman, Agent Peggy Carter. Penny is a british special agent who runs into battle with American soldiers and despite having no apparent protective wear other than her rather feminine uniform, is inexplicably unscathed despite the fact that almost every man around her gets killed – go figure. Howard Stark is played by a different actor than the one we see in Iron Man II, this put me off at first, but then I realized that this howard stark is at least 25 years younger than the one we see in that episode of the series and so it makes sense they he would look significantly different. One of the cooler things is that we see the Stark Expo as it was in the 50s, the same one that we see 60 years later in Iron Man II. It also shows us the full character of Howard Stark as both Walt Disney and Howard Hughes – we saw the Walt Disney characteristics in Iron Man II, in this episode we see the Howard Hughes end of his personality.

What I Liked and Didn’t like.

The movie does a good job of portraying WWII era new york, at least to a guy in his mid-20′s who only took one history class in college. The true victory in this area, is that it resists crossing that line between the fantastic and the absurd in regards to what was possible at that time. I enjoy things in the steampunk Genre, but in general the box office hasn’t been kind to them. Throughout the film remains just on this side of believable. Perhaps most impressive in staying true to the era is a car/foot chase early in the film which happens through the streets of New York. I don’t know where they shot those scenes, but it truly looks like a period film.

The physical transformation of the Steve Rogers character is another victory, as Chris Evans’ entire body is replaced digitally for the first quarter of the film. If you didn’t know better you’d just think this guy was a scrawny looking kid with a big head, but when he comes out of the procedure, he, as my 6 y/o nice says “looks like a Ken doll.” This helps with what otherwise might be a terribly unbelievable plot. Since he went through such an enormous physical transformation, its easier to believe that he could do some of these amazing feats without any training.

Aside from the physical transformation – the development of Steve Roger’s character is my favorite part of the movie. You see how much of a little weakling he is at the beginning and how much he has a heart to protect his friends. He’s not cool, he’s not smooth, he’s not good with women and to many he’s not the obvious choice to become a super soldier. Yet, he has a loyalty and sense of honor that is consistent with the old-fashioned hero. He’s straight up good-guy; they don’t try to make him an anti-hero at all. We also see that he’s a strategist, he thinks his battles through and tries to be aware of what’s going on around him. He’s not caught off guard and he never leaves a man behind. This is all a part of why he’s the logical leader of the Avangers, in a way that none of the others could be. He may not have the most interesting powers or the coolest weaponry, but he’s a leader and after the first five minutes, you’re rooting for him.

My biggest problem with the story is that it feels like backstory. I don’t know if that’s just because I know that it is, but it doesn’t have the epic feel that a story of this scale could’ve. They skim over several action scenes by way of a montage and the final confrontation is not altogether satisfying. In one sense this movie is a middle sequel, between The Ironman Movies and The Avengers.

Wait, this isn’t a sequel…is it?

In case you don’t go to movies or read comic books and have no friends who do, let me explain what I mean by ‘middle sequel.’ Marvel comics has been producing a series of movies leading up to next summer’s release of The Avengers. The first of its kind, this new Avengers Film will use most of the same actors from five different movies featuring other superheroes from the team. At the end of the credits of each of these movies there has been a short scene teasing the tie-in to the new Avengers movie. The movie will feature Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, The Hulk and Captain America as well as several villains from several of their respective movies. Captain America is actually the last one of these movies to be produced before next summer when the Avengers is released, so in that sense it is both a sequel to these other movies and a prequel to the Avengers.

This movie is no different from the others in that it has a little something after the credits, but instead of a small scene we see the first trailer for next year’s Avengers movie. It looks wicked.

In Conclusion…

For entertainment value I give this one 4/5 stars. It’s a great movie, but the climax is so leading to next summer’s avengers that it feels a little incomplete. For film value I give it 4/5 stars – the believability of it is good most of the time, but there are a few places where it could’ve been better. The acting was generally very good and dialogue not too awfully cheesy, but it isn’t Oscar material at all. For family friendliness, I give it a 3/5. It is definitely violent, but few main characters die in the course of the plot and those who do are not shown to be gory. The one exception to this it when the Cap throws a nameless badguy henchmen through a propeller blade in mid-air, the moment was so out of place that I turned to my brother-in-law next to me and said “that was a bit much.” There is almost no sexual material aside from a couple of kisses (one of which is possible at the least opportune moment of any movie I’ve ever seen.) And the language is on the milder side of pG-13.

Overall I give it 4/5 stars and I encourage you to go see it, it will undoubtedly be one of the biggest movies of the summer and so far I have no problem saying that its in my top 3.

Jul 01 2011
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Everything Else, Health

Trapped: A Victim Mentality

A great way to stay trapped

Perhaps the greatest lesson that my father taught me about life from a early age is that a victim mentality gets you nowhere.

Likely everyone that regularly reads my blog would agree with me, but recently I saw some posts on Facebook that reminded me that some people earnestly believe that it is perfectly acceptable for individuals to rest on the excuses generated out of whatever unfortunate circumstances their life has given them.

To those people I’d like to say: that’s perfectly fine. From a secular point of view it is totally acceptable for you to use your past as an excuse for your current behavior, if you wish to stay trapped your whole life. That’s perfectly ok, no one will force you out of captivity.

A person in a victim mentality is much like a person who has been beaten, bruised and forced into a cage. Later, whether days or years, the bruises heal and someone will come to them with the key to their escape. Most will not use the key, however. Why? Because once you’re free you no longer have the excuse, you have to take full responsibility for yourself. Most people would rather be able to lean on the excuse of what has been done to them; garnering sympathy and demanding that people be sensitive to what has happened to them.

Before I continue, I should specify that I do believe that there are many reasons for a person to be a victim that they truly cannot help. Mental Illness or chemical imbalances caused by genetics are among them. But just as those people must choose to submit to therapy and/or medication; those who have chosen to be defined by their most tragic and painful moments, they need to eventually lay it all down to be truly free.

I also should say that I do believe in being as sensitive to people as is reasonable in every situation. I can’t begin to imagine the tragedy through which some people have lived and I would never deny them grief, anger, or mourning; all three of which are holy emotions expressed by Jesus himself. However, there is a massive difference between feeling and expressing a holy emotion and allowing yourself to fall victim to your emotions. The difference is in this phrase: “Because ______ happened to me I must always react by ______” When you say that you are becoming victim whether in a small or large way. By contrast each time you say “Despite the fact that ______ happened to me, I will choose to ______” you are choosing to not be victimized.

The Bible tells me so

Please understand that I’m not so arrogant as to say that people shouldn’t be affected by the tragedies of life. I don’t pretend to understand all of the different causes of strife in the world or the pain that people have experienced, but I do know that from a scriptural worldview its impossible to say that a victim mentality is acceptable.

I think you ought to know, dear brothers, about the hard time that we went through in Asia. We were really crushed and overwhelmed, and feared we would never live through it. We felt we were doomed to die and saw how powerless we were to help ourselves; but that was good, for then we put everything into the hands of God, who alone could save us, for he can even raise the dead. And he did help us, and he saved us from a terrible death; yes, and we expect him to do it again and again. 2 Cor 1:8-10 Living Bible

Or, Perhaps more to the point. . .

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake Col. 1:24a

There are many many more scriptures about rejoicing in suffering. So from a scriptural standpoint, we see Paul – beaten, tortured ‘doomed to die’ and what does he say? “That was good.” Wait, what? “Powerless to help ourselves” “that was good” “overwhelmed” “that was good.” “crushed” “that was good.” seriously. It’s only been in the last several years that I’ve come to realize this. Christians are blessed with the hope in Christ and the ability to say that our suffering only brings us closer to Him and by suffering for Him, we take part in the fellowship of His suffering. We go from “that was bad” to “that was hard” to “that was good.”

Is this some kind of sickness? Perhaps masochism? By no means! Looking back and saying something was ‘good’ is far different then deriving pleasure from it. Again, there is nothing wrong with anger and mourning. The only reason why Paul is able to look back at the bad times and call them good is because he realizes they brought him closer to Christ. He realizes that Christ’s resurrection power is at work in our lives, but to access that power we have to die. Think about that for a minute. Its easy for us to think of Christ’s death on the cross as the great tragedy of history and his resurrection as the restoration of that tragedy. Christ’s resurrection wouldn’t have been possible without His death. A Christian view of suffering is simply realizing that without death there can be no resurrection.

On the practical end of things…

Even if you’re not looking at this from a scriptural perspective, say you’re an agnostic or a secular humanist, then look at it from the purely practical end of things. If we decide that there are some things in life that a person cannot be expected to recover from, some wounds that cannot be healed; that’s fine, but do you really want to work with someone who’s single greatest aim in life is to make sure everyone is sensitive to their life’s tragedies? After a while there must be a reasonable expectation of growing from your past, and becoming responsible for your present. I don’t say ‘moving on’ because I think that insinuates that you must ignore your past, not at all, instead you grow from it and become stronger than ever.

Steven Covey, the writer of Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, talks about this in the first Habit. Which is “Be Proactive.” He simply states that a part of being proactive is taking responsibility for yourself and your behavior. He suggests that the main meaning of being responsible is being able to choose your response.

Most people who have the victim mentality get angry at the insinuation that they are somehow to blame for their attitude. They act as if that’s tantamount to being told that they are to blame for the tragedy in their life or their genetic make up. That’s a huge leap in logic.  Between stimulus and response there is a narrow space where you can choose. You’re not Pavlov’s dog, forced to salivate by every bell that rings. You’re not a programmed machine, who’s brain will always produce the same reaction given the same set of circumstances.

I recently had the pleasure of hearing a lecture by Ben Carson. Dr. Carson is the preeminent pediatric neurosurgeon active today. He’s participated in several firsts in his field including the first separation of siamese twins that were conjoined at the head. This is featured in a movie called “Gifted Hands” starring Cuba Gooding Jr. In 2008 he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom, the highest civilian honor in our nation.  That’s impressive, but what’s more impressive is that Dr. Carson came from a low-income single parent household in Detroit. At a young age his parents divorced and his mother struggled to find employment as she couldn’t read – the only work she could maintain was that of a house keeper where Ben would later say “She observed that successful people spent a lot more time reading than they did watching television.” And she implemented a rule that her two sons would read two books a week from the library. You can read more about Ben Carson’s upbringing on NPR’s website.

The reason why the victim mentality is so pervasive is because there is only one alternative: work. It takes work to overcome the setbacks, the emotional stresses, the tragedies of life. No one would’ve blamed Ben Carson for being a  below average student, he had a number of things against him. But his mother chose to fight that and later he chose to fight that as well, working hard to get into med school and then working hard to become the best doctor he could be. That’s because they chose not to be victims of our circumstances.

Most people can’t even admit that they’re choosing to be victimized because If you admit that you can do something about it and choose not to do something about it, it becomes your fault. I wouldn’t be writing about this if it weren’t a struggle for me also, but one thing I’ve realized is that once you are real with yourself about where you are choosing to be victimized then you can start to allow the solution permeate throughout your life.

Personally…

I’ve struggled with having a victim mentality about many different things. There are some ways in which I continue to deal with it. One small example is the fact that I’m not an athletic person and most of my growing up years I allowed myself to be victimized by that, but as I grew up, I began to fight the impulse to feel victimized and I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried new activities. Now I have a whole list of sports and activities that I really enjoy, even if I’m not the best at them. Stepping out in this manner has opened so many opportunities to me that I would have never had if I had rested on the laurels of victimization.

I think the message paraphrase of the Bible phrases paul’s words in Philippians well:

I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. Phil 3:12-14

I think one of the mistakes we make when trying to overcome our victim mentality is the idea that we need to have it all figured out, that we need to somehow be totally fixed before we relinquish our victim status. In reality, we just have to admit that we don’t always know exactly what the path to healing is going to look like and we need to trust that it ends at the feet of Jesus.

Whatever your excuse is for not living a full and healthy life, that’s not God’s will for you. I can tell you he wants you to take hold of you inheritance now. Yes you have eternal life in terms of length, but you also have abundant life in terms of height and depth, so stop making excuses and grab hold of the abundance that Christ has given you.

Jun 28 2011
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Movies & TV

Review: X-Men First Class

In the growing number of X-Men prequal movies, X-Men First Class will likely stand as the best. Not long ago 20th Century Fox was considering doing a Magneto origins story and they opted for this movie instead which accomplishes everything that a Magneto origin story would have and much more.

Gut Reaction:

I really liked the Movie over all – I found myself quickly putting it in the top two of my favorite X-Men movies. To give that context you need to know that I’m not just an expert on the comics. I read a re-print of the first 10 X-men comics and a few others when I was a kid, but no more than that. My understanding of X-Men mythology came mainly from the cartoon that came on Fox back when Fox ruled saturday morning cartoons. X3: The Last Stand was, to me the most like the cartoon. I recognize that lots of fans didn’t like it (though they sure forgot to let the box office know) but to me it was the most like the X-Men universe with which I was most familiar. First Class is in that same category and succeeds in having the same full-scale epic feel that I got from X3.

What I liked and didn’t like

The movie is an origin story, and origin stories have an automatic leg-up as there is a driving force that goes deeper than the basic episodic comic book plot. But unlike spiderman, Batman, Ironman or Thor this isn’t the origin story of one superhero, this is the origin story of – in many ways – a whole universe of superheroes and villains. That’s probably my favorite thing about this movie; you get a whole slew of characters; Not only Magneto, but also Mystique, Beast, Havoc, Banshee and, of course, Professor X.

There are a handful of areas where considerable plot holes open up when you watch this in close succession to the other four X-Men movies. For example, Emma frost, who is a teenager in Wolverine, is a 30-something woman in this film. Thats not the least of the issues, (SPOILER ALERT) At the beginning of X3 we see Patrick Stuart in a flash-back with the use of his legs, indicating that Charles Xavier was able-bodied at least until he was middle-aged. At the end of this movie Charles Xavier gets shot in the back, becoming a paraplegic in what seems to be his late 20s. (SPOILER ALERT OVER) There is also a considerable adopted brother/sister relationship with Charles Xavier and Mystique, though there is no indication that they even knew one another in the other movies.

The character of the young Charles Xavier is probably my favorite part, though it is also where I thought the movie could’ve most improved. I would’ve like to have seen some kind of explanation on how it is that a wealthy British boy, raised in a mansion in Connecticut, didn’t end up being a spoiled brat. There is no transformation in the story of Charles Xavier, who is possibly the most ethical person in the Marvel universe. How did he come to have such strong moral convictions about when to use his powers and when not to? He has the ability to completely control someone with his telepathic abilities, but he chooses not to – why? – other than the fact that it would make for a boring narrative.

The one thing that you should know is that this is ultimately not a happy story. While a war is prevented, villains are born and characters die. If you can accept that, then you’ll probably really enjoy this origin story. My parents did, in fact most movie-goers I’ve talked to so far have said that its their favorite of the X-Men films. While it has some cheesy moments and other issues that do push the suspension of disbelief just shy of its breaking point, it is still a very fun movie.

Conclusion

To sum it up: I give X-men First Class four stars for entertainment value, I give it three stars for its film value and two stars for family friendliness. A great comic book movie, not without its flaws and not one to take younger kids to, but it’ll probably on my shelf once its released on blu-ray.

Jun 17 2011
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Fun stuff, Music Video Fridays

Music Video Friday: Knights of Cydonia

I first discovered this music video in the summer of 2007. It is still one of my favorite music videos. Its an extremely bizarre mixture of the three iconic b-movie genres: Spaghetti western, sci-fi and kung fu. Like most music videos it doesn’t make much sense, but it is visually engaging and fun to watch. The song, written and performed by muse, is actually a pretty awesome tune as well, though the words are fairly incoherent.

I apologize for the random half-clothed make-out scene in the middle of it, but I should point out that they very purposefully have the ‘director and crew’ very visible in a mirror to the far left of frame in that scene. Check it out, It’s hilarious. You’ll also want to read the credits which are pretty funny as well. One example is at the end the Roman numerals MCMLXXXI appear, which translates as 1981 – giving you an idea of the era in which the spirit of the video comes from.

Unfortunately embedding is disabled for this video, so you’ll have to visit youtube to get it. There’s a link to it at the top of the list below. If you enjoy this video there are several more versions of it that you might get a kick out of so here’s my playlist with links to all the various versions of the video.

Jun 02 2011
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Musings, Spirituality

My Mission, My Adventure

The Mission:

In Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey asserts that everyone should have a purpose statement in life. This is the 2rd habit “Start with the end is mind.” Its about defining the word ‘important’ for your life. The 3rd habit, “put first things first,” asserts that if you have a standard for what is really important in your life then you can use that to determine how should should spend your time and money.

My life group has been reading through 1 Timothy, a book filled with advice for a younger man from his mentor. In chapter 3 the Apostle Paul outlines the qualifications for church leaders and one of them is that they be ‘temperate.’ One commentator points out that later on Paul says ‘not given to drunkenness’ so its unlikely that he means the same with his use of ‘temperate.’ The same commentator suggested that the word would be better translated as “vigilant.” The Message paraphrase goes as far as to use the phrase “cool and collected.” These may seem like unrelated terms, but where I see them all connected its this: To be temperate, vigilant or cool and collected, you must be purposeful and therefore prepared. The key to this is know what’s important – know the mission so you can be vigilant, so you can be collected, so you can know what to temper towards. Its about personal leadership.

The Adventure:

My lifegroup also recently read the book Wild at Heart by John Eldridge. I read it for the first time when it was first released ten years ago, so it was interesting to return to the book now as an adult. The authors argues that men in the church have become ‘nice guys’ when they’re actually called to be dangerous men of God who seek some kind of adventure. I don’t agree with every point in Eldredge’s book, but with this I agree whole heartedly. Consider Matthew 25, the parable of the talents: The risk-taking servants were rewarded. God doesn’t want us burying our riches in the back yard.

If the mission is about personal leadership, then the adventure is about personal vision. And as we know proverbs 29:18 says ‘Where there is no vision, the people perish.’ A more literal translation of this verse is ‘where there is no prophesy, the people cast of restraint.’ This may sound like a totally different message but it isn’t; both translations mean – when you stop seeking God’s perfect will for your life, you won’t get God’s perfect will for your life.

So I thought it was about time that I defined a few things: My mission and my adventure.

My Mission:

Its difficult, but I think I managed to get it down to one statement:

My mission is to find creative ways to disciple christians and communicate the gospel using film, theater, photography and teaching.

This will change over the years, I’m sure. At the very least I hope to add in the word “lead” and then “mentor others” in the future as my role changes, but for now I think this gets to the central message of it.

My adventure:

Part of the difference between the mission and the adventure is the fact that it is not a simple statement. After all, if you can express it in just a few words, how adventurous can it be? (Unless one of those words is “flamethrower”) Using both scripture and the desires I believe God has placed on my heart, this how I see my adventure at this point in my life.

I seek to accomplish everything I do – through arts, through teaching, through relationships with others – to the glory of the one true God. I seek to chase after God and His will for my life in such a way that others might say of me ‘If the gospel isn’t true, Will has totally wasted his life.” I seek to push myself spiritually, mentally and even physically, pouring it all out as a praise offering to God. I want to visit other parts of the world for the purposes of spreading the Good News and collecting stories to bring back home to tell others so that a desire for missions might awake in their hearts. I seek to live a pure and holy life that inspires others to do that same. I seek to have the kind of selfless, contented confidence that the disciples had, that others might say “He has truly been with Jesus.”

I seek to have a network of friends with whom I can share life who want to join me on my adventures – who hold me accountable and support me when I’m down. I seek to prepare the next generation so that when it is no longer my place to lead or work that there will be others, even more capable, who will take my place. I seek to have lived such a full life that when I am old, young men will say of me “I hope that I will one day be as used up, so I might have equally amazing stories to tell.” I seek to live such that when I am gone that the world around me won’t miss a beat – they’ll merely shed a single tear for the temporary loss of my company, but then smile with the knowledge that I carried the torch as long as was needed and that they’ll see me again one day – carrying on the task that God gave me. Carrying it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Hallelujah, praise the Lord!

This is my adventure – you can’t have it. Though yours may look similar, it might have more specifics than mine as God’s vision for your life might be clearer. I suspect as I live my adventure that it will become more specific.

Now its your turn

So, whats your mission? What’s your adventure?

May 17 2011
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Everything Else, people who inspire me

People who inspire me: Frank Wells

Michael Eisner, Ted Turner, Steven Spielberg and Frank Wells. Wait – Frank Wells, Who’s he? You’re probably wondering why he belongs among such famous execs; he was among them, one of the most successful studio executives of the past twenty years even though, you probably hadn’t heard of him until now.

Frank Wells was the Chief Operating Officer and President of the Walt Disney Company from 1984 until his untimely death in 1994. During those years he worked alongside Michael Eisner to make Disney the most profitable entertainment company in the world, but we’ve never heard of him. According to Disney.com:

“During his 10-year-tenure, Disney enjoyed unprecedented growth and revitalization with annual revenues up from $1.5 billion to $8.5 billion. Disney stocks increased a whopping 1,500 percent, while its theme parks and resorts revenues tripled. Disney Consumer Products revenues rose 13-fold, while its filmed entertainment revenues jumped 15-fold. Frank helped make Disney one of the most successful film studios in the world.”

Frank received a BA at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar in 1953. As a young man he had the fortune of meeting Roy E. Disney who would later recruit him to his position at the Walt Disney Company. By the late 60′s he was junior executive with Warner Brothers, eventually working his way up the ladder to Vice Chairmen in the early 80′s.

In 1984 Roy E. Disney started his first “Save Disney War” which ended in the ousting of Ron Miller, the CEO of the failing company. Michael Eisenberg took over as CEO of the company, but Roy knew that equally important was the position of President and COO. This person who would keep the practical end of the company running, much like his father Roy O. Disney had, just over a decade earlier. For this task, Roy asked Frank Wells to join Disney.

If you’re a mountain climbing enthusiast (and really, who isn’t?) you would’ve heard of Dick Bass, who wrote a book, The Seven Summits. Bass successfully climbed each continent’s tallest mountain including Everest. Bass was a businessman and his partner in this venture was none other than Frank Wells. Wells completed six of the seven summits, climbing all but Everest because of bad weather while he was camped at the base. He did this all in one year right before joining the Disney family, which placed him in the limelight in a way he never had been before.

In the 2009 documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty, it’s made clear that the media wanted to paint Eisner as the maverick visionary and Wells as the straight-laced numbers man. In reality, Wells was both the maverick and accountant. Eisner was more concerned with the bottom line than the soul of the company; when he hired Jeffrey Katzenberg, Eisner simply pointed toward the animation building and said to him “That’s your problem.” This was a bit of an insult to Roy E. Disney who had asked Eisner for the Animation division to fall under him.

Katzenberg was the visionary that pushed animation to make great movies like the Little Mermaid, Aladdin and The Lion King. Eisner was the CEO and the face of the company as it found new success with these new animation classics. Roy was the heir to the Disney throne if there was any. Between these three talented men there was considerable amount of ego and Frank Wells was the mediator. Proof of his importance to the company came with his death in 1994 which resulted in Katzenberg leaving the company to co-found Dreamworks. It also began the chain reaction that resulted in the ousting of Eisner by Roy Disney.

Frank believed in staying in the background. He wasn’t afraid of the spotlight, he just didn’t need it. Several workers in the animation department regarded him as both an avuncular moderator and a shrewd businessman. He was known for being quick and to the point, often asking questions and only giving a few moments for the person to come up with an answer, moving on to the next person after a few short seconds if they couldn’t answer him. He was known for having a good sense of humor, taking a pie in the face for one in-house video shot with Eisner. But above all, he never allowed pride to interfere with him serving his company. He was more interested in giving to others.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippians 2:4

Would that we all took the same philosophy in our calling; to be adventurous yet grounded, to be hardworking, yet gracious, to be confident yet humble. What a great example of what Christian leaders are called to be.

If I’m honest, I’m probably more like Eisner, Roy or Katzenberg, wanting to do right by the company, but also wanting my way. That’s why I find Frank so inspiring: he did what was best for the company in a way that the rest of them weren’t willing to, yet he stayed backstage and was barely recognized by the public.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 1 Peter 3:8

Grace and Peace,

W

May 11 2011
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Musings, Spirituality

A Culture of Giving

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35

My father played basketball at his high school in Indiana, during his time there he was on a team that won the mid-state championship. It was a small school and so the experience wasn’t all that unlike the plot of the movie Hoosiers. This is perhaps why that movie is one of my family’s favorites.

When my Dad’s team returned from the championship game the entire school had shown up to congratulate them. Several of the players spoke to the student body on behalf of the team. When my dad spoke up he told this story:

A certain saint asked God to show him the difference between heaven and hell. So God sent an angel to take him, first to hell. There he saw men and women seated around a large table with all kinds of delicious food. But none of them was eating. They were all sad and yawning. The saint asked one of them, “Why are you not eating?” And he showed the saint his hand. A long fork about 4ft long was strapped to their hands such that each time they tried to eat they only threw the food on the ground. “What a pity” said the saint. Then the angel took him to heaven. There he was surprised to find an almost identical setting as in hell: men and women sitting round a large table with all sorts of delicious food, and with a four-foot fork strapped to their arms. But unlike in hell, the people here were happy and laughing. “What!” said the saint to one of them, “How come you are happy in this condition?” “You see,” said the man in heaven, “Here we feed one another.”

My dad told this story and then explained that the team wasn’t selfish; they fed one another and that’s why they won the championship. The funny thing is that at this point in his life my dad didn’t know Jesus from Buddha, yet he grasped a simple truth about human nature and Christianity; selfishness is common but generosity is the key to success in community.

I’ve had the honor these past four years of being the class sponsor of Asbury University’s class of 2011 and I don’t use the word ‘honor’ lightly. I really consider it to be one of the greatest outpourings of God’s grace on my life. The responsibility included being involved with the class’s activities during their freshman year at school and later returning for their major events over the next three years. This past weekend they had their senior retreat and commencement. I and my partner, Tiff Hassler, were in attendance and I had one of the best weekends in recent memory.

I’m not sure how to describe why I enjoy the culture at Asbury so much, but I think that the closest phrase I can use to explain it is ‘a Culture of Giving.’ And when I say giving, I don’t mean money or anything material, though those things aren’t excluded. I mean a whole attitude of giving to the other people – in conversation, in competition, in creativity and in every other kind of interaction. This is what I think Jesus meant when he told us to love one another.

Late one evening on the retreat I just sat watching groups playing cards and boardgames and time and time again I saw this form of social grace extended in the way people just showed love to each other in common interaction.

I know that I often feel like the most selfish person in the world, so don’t think that I’m trying to claim any sort of perfection in this realm, but I do know this: when everyone decides that the other person is more important than themselves, something amazing happens in a community. So often even in the churches and in Christian families people are looking out for what they want, looking out for their own needs and desires, but we claim to love our neighbors as ourselves. Have you ever considered what that means? What it really looks like to care as much about the people around you as you do for your own good? We say that all the time, even secular humanists call it ‘the golden rule,’ but what does it really look like in practice?

It looks like a whole culture of giving. It looks like Acts 2:44 where all the believers were together and they had everything in common. It starts in conversations where everyone is genuinely engaged in listening as much as they are in talking. It starts in misunderstandings and moments of frustration and says ‘I will show them the same grace that Christ has shown me.’ It starts in times where I don’t get my way and it says ‘that’s ok, it wasn’t about me anyway.’

What if we turned John 13:35 into a question: “Will everyone know that you are my disciples by this?” And we asked it about our behavior when we’re interacting with a friend or colleague, meeting a brother-in-Christ for that first time or dealing with a fellow church member who really gets on your nerves – “Will everyone know that I am your disciple by this?” Or when you’re talking to your siblings, parents, children or spouse. “…by this?” Jesus says that it is by our treatment of other Christians that the world will know that we are His. That’s because the pull of heaven is irresistible: when people see it in others they have a longing in their heart to live in a culture of that kind of generosity. It is something that both convicted and encouraged me. As long as we choose to sit and complain about our forks while we starve to death – that’s Hell. But when we feed each other – that’s real Christian community. That’s Heaven.

So my fellow Christ followers, are we feeding each other? By this does everyone know that we are His disciples?

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May 11 2011
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people who inspire me

People who Inspire me: Blake Mycoskie

If you don’t know about Blake Mycoskie and his company, TOMS Shoes – you must be living under a Rock. For every pair of shoes you buy from them, TOMS will give a pair to a child in need.

I first heard of TOMS several years ago and have owned a few pairs and bought them as gifts for friends and family, but when I got to hear the founder of the company, Blake Mycoskie speak at the Willow Creek leadership Summit last year I was very impressed with him. I was most impressed with his economic ingenuity and his determination to create self sufficient ways of providing for people in impoverished countries. This came alive for me, when I took this picture in Haiti last month.

TOMS on a child in the deaf community

Blake is a Christian and was on the reality series The Amazing Race when he first encountered the simple problem that many children have in developing countries: they don’t have shoes. This is especially intriguing considering the number one cause of disease in these countries is soil-bourne parasitizes and bacteria, meaning that in many cases basic hygiene and wearing shoes can prevent these diseases.

“TOMS” is not a name of person but rather an ideal – its short for “Tomorrow” meaning these shoes are providing for the next generation in these countries. But most impressive about this charity, is that it isn’t a charity at all – its a for-profit company that is totally self-sustaining and its model has inspired many other similar companies to adopt their one-for-one strategy. In short, TOMS has made compassion cool. To borrow Tim Elmore’s language from his book Generation iY, this generation isn’t compassionate – they are ‘fassionate’ and this company fits the bill.

Posers

TOMS has become so popular that several other companies are mimicking their gimmick – Sketchers started ‘BOBS’ a blatant rip-off of TOMS. They boast that for the same price as a pair of TOMS that you can get a pair of BOBS and they will donate TWO pairs of shoes to a child in need.

I think sketcher is missing the point, however – TOMS is a people company that is more about a movement then it is about a price or numbers. For example, for the past two years TOMS has organized ‘A day without shoes’ to promote awareness about the shoeless children in developing countries. Thousands of people, including myself, went without shoes in an effort to get the word out. Can you think of any other shoe company that has done anything like this? That’s because its not about the shoes, its about the people, and to go further to the point, Blake makes a point that every pair of shoes they donate is taken into a village and put on the feet of a child. You can hear more about this in the shoe drop video below.

The Movement

Tom’s biggest mode of advertisement is word of mouth. In addition to their ‘Day without shoes.’ They have thousands of people who are walking around wearing TOMS and telling their friends about how they can get involved – it spreads like wildfire. They’ve taken great advantage of social networking, continually posting shoe drop videos. Last fall they topped on million shoes given to kids.

Last month they announced that in June they’ll be moving forward with the company: adding more than shoes as Blake said “TOMS is no longer a shoe company, its a one for one company.”

 

Buy a Pair

Everytime you buy a pair of TOMS they will donate a pair to child in need. The shoes are comfy and great for any job where you have to be on your feet all day. They come in lots of styles now and they make great gifts. You can buy a pair today visit their website at TOMS.com

Another company you might be interested in is Pangea water bottles. For every Pangea bottle you buy (BPA free btw) the company will  be able to provide clean water to someone in a developing country for four years. You can find out more at their website Pangeabottles.com

Apr 13 2011
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Adventure, Haiti, Travel

Haiti Trip: Day 3

Today  marked the last full day here in Haiti, it started very early as Patrick, Butch, Michael and myself went out to take a look at one of the places were looking to possibly relocate the Deaf community. The land looks like a really good option, though nothing is certain yet.

 

The trip out and back to the land was a short drive, but a long trip because of Haiti’s traffic and poor roads – this is the single biggest challenge to anyone patience, though our team has never showed a sign of frustration toward it. I got to sit and talk with a young man named James. James is going to college and majoring in computer science. He speaks English really well and taught me several Creole words including the word for sweet, which is pronounced something like “doose” which is also used the same way it is in the States – to express that something is especially cool. Kyle Reschke and I have adopted the word for expressing our approval at something.

When we reunited with the rest of the group at the deaf camp we were excited to find that they’d made a great deal of progress on the Census. As soon as we got there Tara interpreted for a young man who wants to be a preacher. He said he reads the Bible but he doesn’t understand it all and he wants to be educated – it was a powerful testimony.

 

Anne Louise and Kaylee were hard at work in the deaf camp painting the faces of the children. The kids in the camp are so cute and they’ll walk up to anyone and just hold their hand or beckon you to pick them up. Several of the kids were ver fascinated by my equipment. Something that was funny to me was that even the youngest of them wanted to see every picture I took of them on the back of my camera. It reminded me of my nieces and nephews who did the same before they could form sentences.

The kids are so affectionate and trusting, its hard to leave them, but with the census completed and a thorough ‘orvwa’ said to all we climbed back onto our bus and left the deaf camp. As we were leaving a deaf man came up to the side of the bus and signed to robin. “I need a Laptop, a TV, anything. I’m married. I’m bored.” We couldn’t help but be a little entertained from the young man laying it out there. This did eventually turn into a real discussion of ways we could encourage community building and even entertainment within the deaf community.

 

In the afternoon we visited a church where we discovered they have a considerable ministry to the deaf already in place. This Baptist church would be considered a small to medium building in the road in the States, but here its one of the larger churches in the area. Walking into the church there was a sense of calm. Butch commented “It feels like Frazer.” We sat in their sanctuary and met their pastors then we went out into their courtyard and played basketball with some of the teenagers at the church. We met a few deaf folks that don’t live in the camp. Its exciting to meet future partners in ministry here.

Last night we enjoyed dinner here at the children’s home one last time and sat down with our team plus Margret and Tara and debriefed. It was clear that everyone was excited about the possibilities moving forward; moving the community, building them homes, getting them clean water, educating them, building them as a community, giving them fun things to do and building  them a church.

There is much more a could tell you, but I have to get packed. I’ll see many of you soon. Thanks for the prayers!

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Apr 12 2011
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Adventure, Haiti, Travel

Haiti Trip: Day 2

Bonswa everyone! It has been a busy day here. It started with breakfast at the guest house. There was delicious mango that was (as with most of the food) grown right here on the compound. After thinking the kitchen staff, we drove to the deaf camp to take a census of the residents.

In order to take the census more quickly we split into two teams, each had one person who could interpret for the deaf and one person who could interpret for Creole. The Deaf camp has made considerable improvement over the last time we sent a team. They now have what are called “T-houses” – T for temporary. The houses are made of plywood and have tin roofs but have no bathrooms or water of any kind. They do have porches which is where they spend most of their free time.

 

The Census was mainly to find out if the community was interested in relocating and overwhelmingly they responded in the positive. During this time I walked around with my HVX200 video camera and a D90 still camera. I was surprised that everyone who saw me smiled – many beckoned me over to take their picture. I was shocked by how interested they were in being photographed. This reminded me of of some interesting charities I heard about at Catalyst last year that take photos of people in marginalized communities so that those people can have a photo of themselves and their family. So I’m contemplating a photography mission trip in the near future.

While the situation was much better than it was last time (largely thanks to the IFRC who built the T-houses) it is far from what most americans would consider livable. They have to walk to another part of the camp to take a shower, they have to walk even further to use the toilet. Parts of the camp have very tall grass still, which means misquotes and malaria.

 

Robin Pass, who was worried at first that she would have trouble communicating with the deaf, served as one of our interpreters. She was surprised to find out that the deaf here in Haiti are very similar to those in Alabama. Possibly the biggest difference is that when they sign they are mouthing Creole. Robin and Tara speak english while they sign. Both Tara and Robin say that the Haitians do sign with a Creole “accent” while Robin signs with a southern “accent” and Tara signs with a New York “accent.” It made me wonder if there are any deaf people who do impersonations of each other.

In the afternoon we took a drive around down town Port Au Prince.

If you have heard that Haiti has not progressed since the earth quake and didn’t believe it, here is photo proof. What you see here was actually a government building that housed several government agencies. It still lies in total ruin. As we drove past the first time I couldn’t process what I was seeing fast enough to take a picture – this was from the second time we passed it. We also visited St. V
incent’s, a school for the handicapped that had to be relocated after the earthquake. They teach deaf, blind and otherwise handicapped children. Robin signed with some teenagers there and remarked on how much they were like American teens; they were coy with their signing at first, blocking her view – (whispering, if you will) but they eventually warmed up to us. When we asked about school they all said they were done with school for the day and they didn’t want to talk about school

things. We took a picture of our entire team including Tara, Ronald and Margaret from 410 Bridge and several of the kids at St. Vincent’s.

The young man in the wheel chair told Robin that his parents abandoned him because he was deaf and lame and therefore ‘useless.’ Robin wouldn’t let him go until he finally said “I now understand that I am important.” He and all the kids at the school really enjoyed having their pictures taken.

We continued through Port Au Prince where we continued to see more devastation.


 These piles of rubble are everywhere throughout the city – combined with trash and (sorry if this is too graphic) even human waste. Perhaps the greatest indicator of the condition of the country was what they call the palace. This is their White House and in the wake of the disaster it looks like a strong wind could blow it over.

Could you imagine our white house looking like this? The dome is cracked and fallen forward. It looks like a scene from the movie Independence Day after the aliens have attacked. Could you imagine living in a country that couldn’t organize enough to repair it’s president’s house?

When we finally got back and had dinner we met with a woman named Georgia who is part German part Haitian. She works with the deaf community. This was very helpful in learning about all the players in the situation.

  1. “Friends of Deaf Haiti” – an organization that got the community to the location its in today and with the help of a french diplomat and an American. These people advise the community and are trusted as the leaders. 410 bridge is working on building their and our relationship with them
  2. 410 Bridge – the mission organization with which we’ve partnered. Most well known for their work in Africa, they specialize in building self-suffecient communities based off of micro-enterprising.
  4. Frazer – Us, the church that wants to preach the gospel, educate and build church for the people in the deaf community as well as answer any medical needs they have and assist in their becoming independent.
  5. The IFRC – International Federation of the Red Cross (not the same as the American Red Cross) this group oversees the land that the camp is on – they want to move in blind and paraplegic Haitians.
  6. Other smaller players – We’ve run into a few other smaller groups that also want to get involved in way way or another – not all of them are looking to collaborate in their efforts.

So the short version is – we need prayer to be sure that all entities can come together to help this community as best we can.

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