I watched an entertaining German film on cable last night called Run. Lola, Run. The plot revolves around how a young woman named Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 marks or her boyfriend gets executed by the mob.
The film cleverly replays a 20 minutes running scene in which Lola reacts differently each time to things which happen on her run(s).
One incident has Lola nearly knocking down an old woman pedestrian as she rounds a corner. Each time, the old woman curses Lola - even calls her a "f!@#$ bitch!" once after nearly being bowled over and then they cut to a rapid fire scene of the old woman's imagination. This one has her celebrating a lottery win, as if this is what is really her heart's desire.
But it's the old woman's final reaction to Lola's run that is of interest here. Recovering from being nearly knocked over again, and after looking back at the running Lola to call out "Bitch!"", the action then cuts to a congregation in a church. People are praying and receiving communion, as if to highlight the double standards of the Church goers and the old lady's own hypocrisy of spirit.
Then it comes. You have to be watching with full concentration, for it only takes about half a second. And as if almost subliminal, right at the end of this religious reaction vignette, there she is, the same old woman, standing on a street corner and holding up two brighly covered magazines - obviously The Watchtower and Awake!
Making fun of JW's in movies is nothing new. But what struck me about this one was how the filmmakers lumped in the Watchtower Society with the mainline churches to illustrate the double standards often shown by so called Christians - even harmless looking little old ladies. To me, this is futher proof that the WT Society is being seen more and more as just another part of Christendom etc. It makes you wonder how effective those theocratic scribes in Brooklyn have been with their constant blabberings about how different Watchtower Witnesses of Jehovah are to mainstream Church goers. Not much in Germany.
Just out of interest, for all you film buffs and trivia freaks. What other films can you think of which either send up the Society or use its high public profile for cheap laughs, usually involving the persistent confrontation of the door to door ministry?
I can think of two obvious ones. 'Flying High' where Leslie Neilsen knocks a Watchtower-offering JW brother out of the way while striding through the Airport terminal. Or 'Coneheads' where Dan Akroyd and another guy pose as Witnesses to get inside the house of the Coneheads to gain more information about them. In this one, Akroyd actually produces a little witness spiel, mentioning something about how only 144,000 will be saved.
Can you think of any others?
Uncanny