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SERIAL
G D in the movies
COURAGE UNDER FIRE
Who are we when the rubber hits the road? Trials and adversity are what strip back our illusions and pretensions, and reveal what’ s really in our hearts. All of us aspire to be people who would hold on to our faith and hope even in the darkest circumstances.
All storytelling needs adversity. Conflict drives drama, which is why cinemas are full of stories about characters whose convictions are put to the test. Our cinematic heroes are people who struggle under the weight of what the world throws at them, but ultimately triumph.
One classic example of this kind of story is The Shawshank Redemption( 1994), a film cited by many people as their favourite of all time. There’ s a reason for this enduring popularity. The story of Andy Dufresne( Tim Robbins), the innocent man who is shut in Shawshank Prison for nineteen years before making his ingenious escape, strikes a chord in all of us. It echoes the biblical narrative of suffering and redemption, positioning Andy as a Christ-like figure who‘ comes out clean’ in his very own resurrection outside Shawshank’ s walls.
Tom Hanks endures similar trials in Cast Away( 2000) as Chuck, a FedEx employee who is stranded alone on a desert island for four years. The film follows his struggle not only to survive physically, but to hold on to his humanity. He even draws a face on a basketball, gives it a name, and treats it as a friend and confidante. Creativity and humour, it seems, are survival skills too.
In 2013’ s Gravity, Sandra Bullock plays astronaut Ryan Stone, who finds herself stuck somewhere even more isolated than a desert island; outer space. Though the problems she must solve to make it home are highly practical ones, matters of engineering and physics, we understand that the real stakes run much deeper. After a tragedy back on earth, Ryan needs to believe that she still has a reason to live.‘ I’ ve never prayed before,’ she admits during one terrifying moment – but her ordeal leads to an emotional and spiritual rebirth. The film reminds us that adversity can be a gateway to a fuller life: or as the Bible puts it,‘ suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope’( Romans 5:3 – 4).