My eyes hurt. My brain hurt. I was exhausted.
I had watched two episodes of the television show “Homeland” following a day of reading. The show was fast-paced and frenetic, images changing every second. My emotions were frayed and I wasn’t sure why.
The visual has a powerful impact and we give it tremendous weight in forming conclusions. “I’ll believe it when I SEE it.” “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Especially in a visual culture that values brevity, words are increasingly dispensable. There is even an Oscar-nominated film this year that is only 1000 seconds long – the visual is that powerful! It’s called “Fresh Guacamole” but it’s not just about avocadoes, evidently.
Graphic images of violence and torture upset me to the point where I turn away and usually have to leave the room. I know it’s not real, but the terror and fear I feel is real. I still haven’t been able to see films that are highly praised (“Pulp Fiction,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” even “Schindler’s List”) because I don’t want these images in my head.
Last Sunday at Adult Ed Phil Rose led us in a group discussion of how movie or television programs had influenced our lives and our actual behavior (his series continues next this coming Sunday). My list would be a long one; I still want to be Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and Karen Blixen in Out of Africa.
However, sometimes visual images don’t just overwhelm; they heal. Bring us back to a part of ourselves that we thought we had lost. Access wonderful emotions we thought we had buried. Take us back home.
I hope you’ll join us tonight for part 1 of the Lenten Series. We’ll see excerpts from a movie that will bring you “back home” and talk about how it feels to go there.
Soup and bread at six. Childcare provided. Program at 6:30.
See you tonight at church.
Barbara
