Christian Life 5 - The Hollywood Effect

 I promised that the last post was, indeed, the last post I would type regarding my thoughts on theism v. atheism.  I have no intention of going back on that promise.  Over the last few weeks, however, I've come to realize that this blog is probably a good place to store my various musings for future reference, so I'll be adding more posts to that end.  These will not be for public consideration.  I will not be making timely checks to see how many people have read them, made comments, etc.  These will be simply for my own reference.  I'm hoping that, years from now, I can come back here and say, "oh, yeah.  I remember that.  That was pretty smart/stupid of me."  What follows is the first of those musings.

In reference to life, let us consider the metaphor of one of those old pre-CGI epic films, the ones with "a cast of thousands."  We're talking Ben Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Anthony and Cleopatra stuff.  Regarding end credits, it seems to me that the actors fall rather neatly into five categories:

1. LEADS - these will be the roles such as hero and ingenue; those characters around whom the plot revolves

2. SUPPORT - these are the characters that drive the story toward or away from the leads; the villain, the sidekick, the mentor, etc.

3. NAMED MINOR CHARACTERS - these characters may not be central to the plot, but they are important enough and have enough lines to be given names by the screenwriter; Joe the Bartender, Betty the Cop, etc.

4. UNNAMED MINOR CHARACTERS - these characters have such small roles that the writer doesn't bother to name them; Taxi driver, Frat Boy, Street Vendor, etc.

5. EXTRAS - These are faces in the crowd who don't even have lines, they just make up mobs, walk across the street, eat in the restaurant background, etc.

If life is an epic movie, we must consider two questions - "What do we think our roles in life really are?" and "What do we want our roles in life to be?"  I suspect that most of us realize that we are really cast as extras, but I also suspect most of us would like to play a lead if possible or, if not, preferably a supporting role.  A named minor character, at the very least.  This is understandable.  If one isn't even involved in the story-line in any significant way, why bother being in the film at all?

I would like to submit, however, that there is much to be said for being an extra.  A lead character is played according to the script.  His/her past, present and future are predetermined by the screenwriter and the director.  Their appearance is determined by the makeup artist, costumer, gaffer and cinematographer.  Not only is their story predictable, it's also going to be boringly redundant.  If history teaches us anything, it's that "leads" continuously do the same things over and over, almost always with the same results.  History is one big cycle of always doin' what you always did and always gettin' what you always got.

The extra has no such constraints.  The extra has no story at all; no past or future, and the present only happens to relate to the larger movie plot as a matter of coincidence.  The one playing the extra has complete freedom to make the character anyone one wishes with whatever backstory, future, etc. one fancies.  The only requirement placed on the extra is that the character have a reason - any reason - to happen to walk down this particular street carrying a bag of these particular groceries at this particular time of day when the police car happens to whiz by.  Why doesn't matter.  The character's action may relate in some way to the main action or not, completely at the whim of the actor portraying him/her.  Furthermore, once the shot is "in the can," the rest of the character's life is equally determined by the actor, as it is no longer important to the movie plot.  They may, if they choose, simply disappear from view.  In fact, their disappearance is required!

I call that freedom, a concept unavailable if one's every action is predetermined by others as in the case of the leads.  Leads may live happily ever after or not, according to what's written on the last page of the script.  For the extra, it's an individual choice.

Pax