Saw Danish Worlds Apart movie, have questions

by jws 19 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  undercover

  6) Your points are true - sounds like artistic license to get the point across. He certainly could get reappointed as an elder within a few months, so maybe the director just condensed things.

  That's what I thought also....it would be too time consuming to show the actual timeline of events, so for the film it was condensed into one setting. Condensing seperate events into a tighter timeline can also help set the mood or evoke the emotion that the director wants from the audience.

  I saw a rerun of Tombstone on TV the other night. Brothers Virgil and Morgan were shot months apart in real life but the film portrayed it as happening the same night. The writer/director condensed the events so the viewer can be both informed of the events and have their emotions tugged at to keep them interested in the movie.
• 

  sir82

  But this was a field with some folding chairs and some people sitting directly on the grass.

  Hmm, in that case I don't know. Could be a Danish thing.

  Based on the description it sounds like a re-creation of one of the covert assemblies held behind the Iron curtain or in Fascist countries while JWs were under ban - gather a couple hundred people for a "picnic" in the countryside, and so long as no authorities are about, have the speakers give their assembly talks. But the work is certainly not banned in Denmark, so who knows - probably just more artistic license.
• 

  blondie

  I'm pretty old and I can remember jws sitting on the grass at Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds in the 1950's. I remember seating put out on Sunday on the grass of the ball fields after protection was put down and people had to take off their shoes.
• 

  chicken little

  Hej,

  I live in Denmark. Beards no problem usually. Longish hair..no problem, usually. Jeans on service if you are young..no problem usually, you may get told off. Sisters wear trousers here on service.

  All servants have been instructed to greet people coming in and out of the Khalls, usually there is an official welcomer who gets the job.

  Been to funerals with the casket in the Khall.

  We have a large outside assembly site in Silkeborg (google it, Jehovas Vidner Stævn Silkeborg). Recently they have partially covered some of it as it was a nightmare in the cold windy summers we have here. The set up was more primitive on the film but gives an idea for the public.

  Having your child disfellowshipped is not automatically removal from being an elder, especially if the child is not living at home. The father could well have been made an elder after she is thrown out to show how loyal he is to the org. It was probably condensed to keep the story line.

  This movie was seen by over 350,000 in Denmark...that is alot for a little country.
• 

  jws

  Thanks chicken little.

  I wonder how JWs viewing this film would react. I think they'd be OK with it. In my opinion, the film doesn't demonize either side from their point of view. I could easily see them thinking how sad it was that she left the org, but she gets what she deserved. She dabbled with worldly people and this is the result. She was weak. And now she's lost her faith over a worldly boy and is going to die at Armageddon. It will be a lesson on bad associations and becoming unevenly yoked. The heros in the movie will be the father, the younger sister, and the elders.

  In the end, while she is free from the JWs, I also think she was very naive. She's a 17-year-old JW and her friend describes her as a JW nerd. She probably never had a boyfriend. Then she falls in love with and moves in with the first guy who pays attention to her. And this guy is, as the film says "Worlds Apart" from her. How many people end up happily-ever-after with their first boyfriend or girlfriend? Usually you're just anxious as a teen to have somebody who cares about you, not to mention hormones. Whether or not you've got anything in common and are truly compatible is usually not going to stop you, but those issues are key to your future together.

  The relationship she's forged with Teis will probably end. Now she's on her own. She's dropped out of high school. At least as of the end of the movie, she had no job. She hasn't got family support (maybe from her mother). It's going to be a rude awakening. It's also the kind of thing that has often drawn people back to the JWs. They leave to chase what they think is paradise and when it turns bad, they blame the dream they were chasing. They sometimes think "this is what the JWs warned me about in the world" and they come back repentent.

  Don't get me wrong. Leaving the JWs is a good thing. Tying it to something that may very well be temporary can be trouble and may not keep her away from JWs.
• 

  hemp lover

  "But there was so much detail, it would seem they had an ex-JW as a consultant."

  The woman whose story they were telling was the consultant. She's actually in the film at the very end - the one who talks to the main character on the train.
• 

  Albert Einstein

  Eastern Europe:

  If you wear beard, not a big deal, can give talks in your congo, not possible to be invited as a speaker to another congo. Not possible to work as an attendant at the assembly, not possible to cooperate any closer with Bethel.

  Outside assemblies normal, but at the stadiums, never on the grass.

  Was in Danmark - really more free, many elders with beards..., many with longer hair.

  Havent seen the movie. Wish to.... maybe some day...

  Albert
• 

  Gayle

  I saw the film. I thought it was well done. Yes, years ago stadiums were outdoors specifically for the district assemblies. If it rained, we brought umbrellas, raincoats and big clear plastic sheets and loyally stayed for the whole program. At least, for people never JWs who see this film can learned a lot of facts and reality of JW world. I had one girl contact me through an ex-JW site recently who was dating a JW and wanting to know about JWs of which he would not speak about. We met for coffee and spoke for 2 hrs. I loaned her the DVD to watch "To Verdener" and she has been reading also Ray Franz' book. She broke up with him last week.
• 

  Scarred for life

  If you read the last frame of the movie, the real-life girl is living in Copenhagen now and going to nursing school. It does not mention that she is still with her boyfriend and I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't. But it does seem that she has moved on in her life and has left the JWs for good. Good for her! I loved the movie. Some parts of it reminded me of my own story.
• 

  apostatethunder

  Any active jws watching the movie will probably focus on the small details and discard the whole message of the movie, the keeping of appearances, the hypocrisy, the conditional love, the control over the intimate lives of others, the blackmail... I think it is a very accurate portrait of what it means to be one of jws. Neither Jesus nor any of his true followers would ever treat people like that, it is not that they are not Christians, they are the opposite of Christians.

  I hope no elders will ever show up at my door, people that stalk others belong in jail.