I know you have been waiting and waiting after I included the teaser for the film Saved in my last post. I have actually felt guilty that I have not posted quite yet about it. Well, my millions of adoring fans, here it is!
I cannot remember which one of my lovely friends introduced me to this movie, but I have been thanking God ever since that fateful day. This is one of favorite movies of all time and it should be yours too. Where else does Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, christian music, teen pregnancy, and "a jewish" all come together in Hollywood? It is awesome. Jesus is in the house!
This film follows Mary, a christian jewel, and her struggles with her faith and being a teenager. She has lots of common teenage problems, her friends, her mom flirting with Pastor Skip, her boyfriend, and the new skateboarding-for-the-Lord-Preacher's-Son Patrick. She also has her struggles with teen pregnancy. The script is excellent: "I'm not really a stripper," "Well, I am not really a Christian" "I am FILLED with Christ's love," "Shut up you fornicator," and the casting is even better. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Macaulay Culkin, I feel like we grew up together. Don't all of us Home Alone kids feel like that?
The movie is also narrated by Mary, our main character. Mary is played by Jena Malone and her delivery is so very...level. I love it when you see actors and actresses play very different roles! In our last film, Martin Donovan played Montrose, a questionable character, and in this one he plays a hip, jive talking pastor with a passion for Christ. He has very expressive eyes and I found it difficult to get past this with both characters, but I enjoyed his performance in both films.
In addition to the funny there is a lot of good conversation starters and nuggets o' learnin' about faith, love, friendship, and that sort of thing. Even some good stuff about the Americans with Disabilities Act. All of those lessons are so perfectly perfect for RA programming and residence hall viewing. The teen pregnancy lesson is pretty obvious and easy to program around. But there is an overwhelming theme that everyone is a little different and should be loved just the same. The hate is so ugly in this film that it is easy to see and program around as well. Students could watch this movie and document all of the stereotypes they could find and share them aloud after the movie. Just today the RHDs and I had a conversation about the assumptions we have to be careful not to make about students and their culture/backgrounds. This film is full of those stereotypes and because it presents itself as a serious film but is at heart the funniest movie out there, it makes for a good learning tool. Add a discussion about the dangers of those stereotypes and how they do nothing to strengthen the communities we have taken time to form in the halls and voila! Program finished and accolades awarded.
Another nugget of knowledge that could be tied into this film is the current events surrounding reproductive rights (click here for info) in Texas or Wisconsin and Wendy Davis. Abortion is mentioned and referred to a few times in the film and since pregnancy is such a large part of the story it would fit perfectly to compliment the news of the day to this film.
That is what we like to call in higher ed- the hidden message. We are always learning in them halls! Just ask our hundreds of satisfied customers...er residents.
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