by joelbear 19 Replies latest watchtower bible
Interesting movie that culminates with Babette cooking a sumptuous meal for a group of devout Christians who feel guilty about enjoying anything because of the sinful nature of enjoyment and their fear that enjoyment of life now will diminish their eternal reward so they vow to each other not to show any signs that they are enjoying the meal.
I saw it the other night and it always reminds me of the witnesses I knew back in the 60s.
Why would a movie of supposed Christians remind you of the Dubs?
Cheers,
Ozzie
Basically, it reminded me of the self denial tradition of the witnesses of the mid 60s when witnesses in general were poorer and much more restrictive on showy displays such as big houses and cars and world travelling, high dining, etc.
Much more of an acetic view of life now. I
Its a view held by people in all the major world traditions, not such Christianity. Hindus, Buddhists, Islam etc all have factions of "non-livers". Its a trend that has mostly died out among witnesses now I think, although there are certainly still some hard liners.
Joel
I love that movie and Babbette's self-sacrificing gesture is spending all the money she had in the world to teach these pious christians that life was to be savored and enjoyed now and not wait for the promise of a hereafter.
these pious christians that life was to be savored and enjoyed now and not wait for the promise of a hereafter.
Sounds like the premise for the movie "Chocolat".
I enjoy any movie with Johnny Depp, but would recommend it even if he wasn't in it. lol
circe
Yes, but are JWs Christians?
Cheers,
Ozzie
Yes, a very good film, based on Isak Dinesen's short story of the same title.
I think the story has a lot to do with the ways art intervenes in our lives, and isn't really any sort of invective against religion [i]per se[i/]. Babette, the French cook, is first and foremost an artist; the stern religious community, in which she is an outsider, experiences a transcendant evening through her culinary innovations, something their religion alone hasn't done for them. Their "pious ecclesiastic party or sect" fails to keep petty feuds and friction from festering over the years, but it isn't, I think, the cause of those feuds and frictions.
So, I really don't think either the story or the film is a refutation of religion. More about the mediation of art in the religious experience, the convergence or conflation of the two, and the ways they create meaning in our lives. Something along those lines.
Of what happened later in the evening nothing definite can here be stated. None of the guests later on had any clear remembrance of it. They only knew that the rooms had been filled with a heavenly light, as if a number of small halos had blended into one glorious radiance. Taciturn old people received the gifts of tongues; ears that for years had been almost deaf were open to it. Time itself had merged into eternity. Long after midnight the windows of the house shone like gold, and golden song flowed out into the winter air.Wonderful stuff.The two old women who had once slandered each other now in their hearts went back a long way, past the evil period in which they had been struck, to those days of their early girlhood when together they had been preparing for confirmation and had in hand had filled the roads round Berlavaag with singing. A Brother in the congregation gave another a knock in the ribs, like a rough caress between boys, and cried out: "You cheated me on that timber, you old scoundral!" The Brother thus addressed almost collapsed in a heavenly burst of laughter, but tears ran from his eyes. "Yes, I did so, beloved Brother," he answered. "I did so." Skipper Halvorsen and Madam Oppegaarden suddenly found themselves close together in a corner and gave one another that long, long kiss, for which the secret uncertain love affair of their youth had never left them time.
Dedalus
Ozzie,
I would say that yes....in my book, Jws are Christians. I can see that you don't think so but.....They do try to worship God and follow the example set by the bible account of Jesus. So, yes, they are Christians. How do you define Christians?
TimB
Dedalus,
Thanks for providing a different point of view. I need to read Dineson's original.
My comeback to you would be that the power of actual giving demonstrated by Babette was proven more powerful that the simple recitation of prayers and hymns about heaven uttered by the devout.
Joel
Joel,
As with all great stories, there's more than one legitimate way to see what's going on here. The film, which I've seen twice, is excellent, and very faithful to the story.
Dedalus
