End of the Spear

Wow, there are so many movies out right now that I don't really want to see, I am amazed we found one I did want to see. End of the Spear didn't disappoint either. I was steeling myself for it to be too factual and skipping the need for movie drama while telling the story of the Waodani and the missionaries they killed in 1956. But it was a wonderful mix of storytelling to honor the true story and storytelling that created a good storyline for a movie. There were no slow spots, or overly cheesy pictorials of the men as holy heroes. I actually said at one point, "They remind me of the goofy guys in Crusade." I think even though I read the book, I didn't realize how young they were, like my missionary friends who are exuberant about life in Christ. I especially liked how the story was told from the perspective of the tribal leader and via voiceover from Nate Saint's young son. It clarified how that meeting on the beach was truly a horrible misunderstanding due to the missionaries inability to communicate and the Waodani's culture of killing. I thought the movie did a good job of identifiying the situation as squarely a result of cultural misunderstanding and not one side's "fault" or the other's.

Here is a discussion on the movie I found interesting. I like what the last guy says, so keep reading all the way to the end and let me know what you think in the comments section.

This movie is MISSING the point
by - mikehsc 1 day ago (Tue Jan 24 2006 22:23:42 )

As a Christian who knows many missionaries, I found the characters in this film to have strangely ambiguous motivation and faith. The story comes off more like simplistic-humanism (can't we all just love each other?) rather than a portrait of ordinary people driven by the extraordinary, selfless love of Christ. It's too bad that the filmmakers tried so hard to make this story "mainstream" that they betrayed the inner music of these incredible missionaries.

They should have taken courage lessons from Mel Gibson.

The producers of "End of the Spear" are marketing this film to Christians, even though they've blatantly stripped away its inherent Christian message (as if we'll eat up anything thrown at us.) Well, I for one am not biting.

Just because the story is “about” Christians, doesn’t mean it’s a Christian move.

This film is missing the one essential ingredient needed to tell this story accurately ... Jesus Christ.

Re: This movie is MISSING the point
by - bealsj 1 day ago (Wed Jan 25 2006 07:33:26 )

would you rather have a movie that only christians will like, and thus puts off many who would otherwise find the story interesting?

mel gibson made a movie about christ, you cant downplay the christianity in that movie, because its ABOUT that. but this movie can, and was, made in such a way that the central themes were made accessible to anyone.

as a non-christian i find it funny that many christians think that being subtle is a bad thing.

Re: This movie is MISSING the point
by - zoller9 1 hour ago (Thu Jan 26 2006 09:25:41 )

Mike, you're missing the point! bealsj is right, subtlety is not a bad thing; but this movie isn't really even that subtle as such. Rather, it's something other than a gospel tract. It is pretty faithful telling of a true story. The detail of the gospel message is not explicitly given in a cognitive verbal fashion - but how wonderfully it is given in a symbolic way! Those missionaries literally laid down their lives for the Waodani, and it was a redemptive act. They are not Jesus, of course, but they echo his work, and he honored theirs. All this is plain in the story, and it reaches the heart.

And the one time the gospel is expressed verbally, it is in the mouth of a Waodani character, and in the culturally understandable images of that people. Is that a case of muting the gospel for commercial accessibility? I submit rather that it is a story telling choice that underscores the transcultural value of Christian faith. In fact, it is the nature of the Incarnation that God meets us where we are, in the midst of our own unique and messy circumstances.

Here's a question: why did Jesus teach so much with parables? and do so little theology in an abstract or simply cognitive manner? I think it is because the truth needs to reach not only our minds, but more significantly our hearts. In using elements of common human experience we are invited to connect truth to our own lives, and to see it in things around us. Jesus used all these agricultural pictures to teach about his kingdom, and if you spend any time gardening in a reflective way, you can find truth being underlined in your experience.

Similarly, this movie has much to which everyone can connect: fear, loss, anger, the struggle for control, forgiveness, trying to the right thing when outcomes are unclear- there are many places for us to see ourselves in the story. I know I found myself in tears at the end, not in vague sentimentality, but thinking of the meaning of my own life, choices I have made, and choices I have yet to make.

"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." That, I think is the unspoken, but clear, message of this film.