God's Sovreignty & XMen

It's been spin cycle here and I've felt a spin or 2 behind. We made it through a regional conference, gave 2 presentations, got IEW into the hands of lots of homeschoolers, Viking Man and the notsolittles retrieved College Woman and everyone is still laughing, though complaints abound that I'm not feeding everyone nearly enough. We worked in the yard together most of yesterday weeding and replacing wind-burned plants. The veggie garden is looking good and some of the flower beds are looking kept. The lilacs are gorgeous this year and our 80 year old, 50 feet "fence" is fragrant and full- the notsolittles keep bringing me handfuls of bouquets and we all are soaking in smells and warmth of spring.

We watched "X-Men" yesterday between trying to re-claim the porch and trying to re-claim the yard and I have to say, I like it. It was fun and not too weird. I just can't seem to get away from WWII this year and of course, the opening science was of a concentration camp. The basis of the film is that some humans have evolved and are now mutants with special powers. The mutants are ostracized and villanized in much the same way that Jews were in WWII. Mutants and humans are struggling to co-exist because they are "afraid" of each other, afraid because of the "unknown." Throw in a bad guy who is doing genetic experimentation (think Mendel) and you have the movie in a nutshell.

The opening scene is set in a concentration camp and shows a Jewish boy being separated from his parents. It takes 4-5 guards and a blow to his head to stop his frantic attempts to be reunited with them, and while the blow to the head stops him, the iron gate is twisted and crumpled- all due to his telepathic and supernatural powers.

I found the premise of the movie interesting; the combination of fear of the unknown coupled with superhuman powers- telepathy, supernatural strength, the ability to glide through walls, etc. Isn't this the age old hope- that when things get really bad; really, really bad, that we'll have strength, strength that is invincible, beyond ourselves and comes from out of nowhere at just the right time to rescue us, right wrongs, bring injustice to it's knees and free the captive?

Of course, the parallels between so many of the Old and New Testament accounts of how the Maker of the Universe intervenes on behalf of His people are great. It might be fun to use this flick as part of a Christian apologetics course, how the current secular culture is looking for a Messiah and believing in magical thinking to bring about god-like qualities in the individual- the age old conflict between man and God- our humanity vs. His divinity, our independence vs. His sovereignty.

Honestly, I doubt it was meant to go that deep. Like I said, it's a fun summer flick. We're looking forward to watching the next couple of episodes (in between the Bourne movies- College Woman is such an influence!).