Pro-Life Feature Film in Pre-Development

I am encouraged by the nature of the most recent public attack on me by the Jezebel, Joanna Higginbotham, of Oregon. In the six years that she has been attacking me in public I have never answered one of her accusations--until now. I am encouraged because the nature of the attack is indication of the presence of God in my activities surrounding the pro-life movement and the sanctity of the life of the unborn. Higginbotham joined her partner-attacker, Minas Michael Christie, on his blog in inferring that I am pro-choice and was an Obama supporter. Higginbotham posted a sermonette in the comment section apparently designed to correct me. Although the content of her words are true, the context in which they appear is deceptively misleading and defamatory. Anyone seeing the post and the comment would get a false understanding of who I am. Anyone seeing the post title alone,  "Busted Again", would have no doubt as to the intentions of both Higginbotham and Christie to discredit me.

Christie's Stolen & Doctored Photo of Lewis

Higginbotham's Comment

I supported, and even campaigned for Mike Huckabee in the 2008 election, primarily for his pro-life views, and posted a JTO article at the time to that effect. I actively ran the Tennessee For Huckabee blog which was listed on the official Mike Huckabee For President website. I later voted for John McCain who won the nomination. The Republicans still have a pro-life platform which is worthy of consideration when deciding for whom to vote. I have never nor would I ever vote for a candidate that was not pro-life. During the same 2008 election cycle, I operated a blog called "O-bortion" which highlighted the then-candidate Obama's extreme abortion views.

When Obama won the election in 2008, I posted an article asking all to pray for our new president as we are commanded to do, because he was, in fact, to become the President of all Americans. Here is the short JTO post in entirety:

"I invite all JTO readers to pray for President-Elect Barack Obama as he leads the United States in this most difficult time in our history. I echo President-Elect Obama's words to those who did not support him during the election. He will be the president of all Americans. Choose prayer rather than criticism and allow our sovereign God to work his will and way in this nation. Prophesy if you must and criticize if it is warranted, but remember, the Kingdom of God will prevail and all nations and leaders will one day bow before the throne of God. God is still in control and Christ will come again."

I myself, did, in fact, later criticize with an article called The Usurper, but I also have prayed every week at the altar for "The President of the United States and all those in civil authority."  But Christie and Higginbotham have skewed these facts.

So why have Higginbotham and Christie borne false witness against me in this matter?  I believe this scripture explains it:

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

The spirits of darkness that influence both of them would have them present me as the very opposite of who I am and the very opposite of what I am equipped by our Lord to do, so as to thwart the purpose of God in protecting the innocent unborn. But why attack me in particular, and to what purpose?

Through my Rocky Top Pictures, LLC, I have been producing a feature film designed to be the definitive pro-life film. The Rocky Top Pictures website has been cryptic as to the nature of the film, and the title is still undisclosed, because it is a true story whose subjects are still alive. You, the JTO Readers, are the first to be privy as to the nature of this film. The adapted screenplay is ready and meetings are talking place to produce it and bring the film to the theaters.

JTO readers, do you want to see this film made? Then pray. Pray that the Jezebelian voices like Higginbotham and Christie will be silenced and that those of us who are given a voice in the film industry are allowed to speak for the sake of the unborn.

JTO readers, do you want to see this film made? Then leave an encouraging comment in the comment section or by e-mail journeytorothodoxy@gmail.com.

"Writers Are The Prophets Of This Generation"

"Writers are the prophets of this generation." These words were spoken to me by a friend who has spent his career in the literary and publishing world. At his words, my soul was pierced and a healing balm of God's Spirit was poured in.

Indeed, the prophets of our day use the art of writing to speak to the world at large and to specific individuals. It is true that writers are the prophets of this generation, but not all writers. Thus it is also true that prophets are the writers of this generation, but not all prophets. But for those prophets, with the gift, the calling, and the opportunity to communicate through writing, one stroke of a pen, one click of a button, one signing of a publishing contract and they are allowed, by the grace of God, and by their obedience, to speak to more people than the prophets of old did during their lifetime. But how do we know today the words that the prophets of old spoke? Their spoken words were written--the people read them--and still read them today. To him who has ears to hear, let him hear. To him who has eyes to see, let him see. The written word by the prophet hits its intended target audience.

Writers are the prophets of this generation. With the words of my friend, I found myself at the culmination of a long season of preparation. I am a writer. By God's grace, my prophetic platform goes beyond a blog. It extends to a larger platform. I am a screenwriter and a film producer.  I am inspired to write that which speaks to the individual, to the nation, to the world through feature films.  I write, then film what has been written-two mediums. A greater audience. 

"You will speak to the masses." These are the words spoken to me by my creator many years go. As I have moved through seasons of life, events, struggles, death of many visions, He has been present to show me, in the secret place of the most high, that place where prophets go to have their flesh annihilated and their will prepared to receive. My life is not my own--I am bought with a price--I speak the will of God in season and out--to those willing to hear and to those who might do me harm. "You will care what no man does to you", said my God.  So, now, this season has arrived and I have penned, clicked and signed- to speak the mind and will of God.

Rocky Top Pictures LLC is the structure from which I am writing and producing several feature films (dramatic films for theatrical release). A feature film that is the definitive film about abortion. A feature film based on the life of Saint Moses the Black. An 1800's period piece showing the spiritual evolution of an outlaw. A feature film about the enduring friendship of an autistic white boy born into wealth and privilege and a black boy from the other side of the tracks.  A feature film about a fallen priest who finds redemption defending a Native American tribe from oppressors. Now it seems, the God of all creativity, is saying to me "Go speak what has been written." And with that, He makes a way. He lights the path. He brings others to aide in the process. Even other prophets to add their words and works. 

Writers are the prophets of this generation. "And He Himself gave some to be prophets...For the Lord does nothing unless He reveals instructions to His servants the prophets."

Lord make me an instrument of your peace and write your words upon my heart.

Film Review By Ben Andrus

Pasolini’s Gospel According to Saint Matthew

A Review By Ben Andrus

In Pasolini’s masterpiece, The Gospel According to St. Matthew, we encounter Jesus Christ praying in the morning on his knees with his arms lifted, palms open, ready to encounter his Father’s presence. Similarly, early Christian icons depict prayer in the same manner. Though an Atheist and a Marxist, Pier Paolo Pasolini still emerged from a devoutly Roman Catholic culture, and these ancient depictions would be familiar to him.

In this review we will discuss Pasolini’s much beloved film, demonstrate that it is truly a Christian film while also presenting particular problems and inadequacies as a text.

Can a non-Christian artist produce truly Christian art, or must the artist be a believer to transmit the lore of the Faith purely? Certainly there isn’t enough space to adequately discuss this question in this review, but suffice to say that we will approach the topic of The Gospel from the perspective that it is entirely possible for a nonbeliever to create Christian art. Lloyd Baugh, author ofImagining the Divine takes the opportunity to discuss this more thoroughly in his book. He makes three points that are worth repeating here: first the film must be judged on its own merits as a film (does the film accomplish its “mission”), secondly, and apropos our discussion, if The Gospel According to St. Matthew received official sanction by the Roman Catholic Church, then certainly others can produce films of the same caliber. Thirdly, Baugh makes an important point that the question of belief versus non-belief is a complex one. Baugh states, “ The lines of demarcation between belief and non-belief are sometimes very unclear and often include wide areas of grey. Perhaps…the sincere and coherent searching of the agnostic can be a valid position from which to search, to reflect artistically on the Christ-event by creating a Christ figure.” (111-112) Though Pasolini was unequivocal about his Atheism; we must offer the distinction that he was not necessarily anti-Christian (99).

The story of Pasolini’s decision to make The Gospel is a compelling one. Virtually confined to a house in Assisi awaiting preparations for the visit of Pope John XXIII (to whom his film is dedicated) while a guest of Pro Civitate Christiana, a Catholic cultural organization, Pasolini read the Gospel of Matthew straight through like a novel (95). The specific passage of scripture that riveted him was Matthew 10:34: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” Pasolini’s desire was to depict the gospel strictly from the text, a “realist desire to show what lies hidden,” for often this passage glossed over or ignored. In it Pasolini discovered a Jesus who was a revolutionary (Viano 133).

Photographed in stark black and white, the Jesus of The Gospel According to Saint Matthew is a revolutionary. When a Pharisee chides him for healing on the Sabbath, this Christ replies in single-mindedness “ Is it not lawful to do well on the Sabbath.” He gives the Pharisee a scolding look as he (the Pharisee) was an insolent child.  Of course, the aforementioned scripture, the one that first inspired Pasolini to make the film takes prominence. Jesus walks through a city and prepares his disciples for a mission and for a future of martyrdom. The scene culminates with a swelling musical score. Jesus tells his disciples that he has not come to bring peace, but division. The ancient, crumbling city and the rugged hills of southern Italy make up the background.  This film-Jesus is a dynamic energetic figure, less the mystic sage, but ever on the move, and filling the screen space with his intensity. At least one critic has drawn a comparison between the fiery portrayal of Jesus by Enrique Irazoqui and the equally fiery revolutionary Che Guevara (Macnab 62). Truly, Irazoqui is only missing a beret. “Often Pasolini’s camera pictures him from behind, from the point of view of the disciples as they try to keep up with him. Jesus’ words acquire great power because they are spoken as he moves, or as he stops and twists his body to look back at them and us” (Baugh 102). Critic Maurizio Viano conjectures that Pasolini wanted his Jesus to evoke a love/hate relationship with tradition and the Law. “Such a gesture of simultaneous affirmation/negation,” Viano states, “is cleverly emphasized by a recurrent image in Pasolini’s film: Christ’s most often-repeated posture shows him walking decisively ahead, with his back to the camera and his face turned towards it, an image which stresses leadership but also conveys the sense of going ahead while looking back” (141).

Though very intense, this Jesus is not without mercy and compassion and genuine warmth. Jesus smiles happily, obviously full of joy when he is surrounded by the children in the temple. The encounter and healing of the leper—perhaps one of the most poignant, beautiful scenes in the entire film—is compelling. “…There is a marvelous warm exchange of smiles between him and the man.” Jesus also seems to enjoy very much the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and also speaks kindly to his disciples during the Last Supper scene (Baugh 103).

Far from being a complete word for word rendering of St. Matthew’s Gospel, Pasolini’s film is not without its problems. Pasolini completely leaves out the Transfiguration from Matthew 16. Jesus’ mother Mary is also inexplicably present at the Crucifixion whereas in the Gospel she is not. “Here Pasolini is blatantly violating his own rule of absolute faithfulness to Matthew’s text” (101). The disciples, whose presences unfortunately are mostly limited to long camera takes, get short shrift in Pasolini’s film. “The Apostles are not fully developed characters; none of them has a personal story, not even Judas who, as a rule, is the privileged locus of psychological interpretations.” The Pharisees themselves are only shown as virtually faceless, rigid symbols of power (Viano 139).

Though certainly not a Catholic or even a Christian of any stripe, being in fact an Atheist and a dedicated Marxist, Pier Paolo Pasolini dedicated The Gospel According to St. Matthew to Pope John XXIII. Pasolini was convinced that Christianity and Marxism, at there deepest level, were very similar (Baugh 99). Certainly, his film was an attempt to reconcile the two, hence his strong, revolutionary Jesus. Of course if Marxism shows any resemblance to Christianity it is because the religion influenced culture for almost 2,000 years before Marx published his writings. We can affirm that concern for the poor, and speaking truth to power “come with the territory,” when speaking of Christianity. Pasolini’s film, however, remains a beautiful, startling work, both truly representative of the revolutionary figure of Jesus Christ and the revolutionary time it was made.

Works Cited

Baugh, Lloyd. Imaging the Divine: Jesus and Christ –Figures in Film. New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, Inc. (1997).

Macnab, Geoffrey, Lucy Neville, and Matthew Leyland. “The Gospel According to St. Matthew (Film).” Sight & Sound 12.12 (2002): 62.Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 18 Jan. 2011.

Viano, Maurizio Sanzio. A Certain Realism : Making Use of Pasolini’s Film Theory and Practice. Berkeley: University of California Press (1993).

Ben Andrus is an Orthodox Christian. He is a freelance photographer and is currently studying film in Virginia, USA.

You may watch the entire film on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ewh5k5-gY

Orthodox Boy In Motion Picture

Shooting will wrap this week in LA on the film, Gumball. The poignant, humorous, and moving story of nine-year-old Lawrence Ashby, who hatches a plan to save his parents failing marriage, stars Nathan James Sharp, an Orthodox boy, and the grandson of JTO author, Nathan Lee Lewis. Pray for Nathan, his parents, and all Orthodox Christians who work in the film industry.

Where Are All The Orthodox Film Investors?

I recently ran across a blog article that asked the question, "Where are all the Orthodox filmmakers?" My response to the article was, "We are here!" I then added an alternative question, "Where are all the Orthodox film investors?" After many years as a professional filmmaker and producer, I have settled on this adage, "Filmmaking is not brain surgery, but film producing is harder than brain surgery."

There is no shortage of Orthodox filmmakers, though there would be many more if they had the resources. Many are actively working as good stewards of the gifts God has given them, even amidst well-meaning, but ignorant detractors who believe that filmmaking is inherently evil. Those who have a vision for reaching the non-orthodox world through the medium of film, clamor for projects, such as Moses The Black-The Motion Picture, which I and my partner are currently producing. They clamor and pray and ask questions-all good things, however, the pragmatic thing to do is to pull out their checkbook and financially support such ventures. Filmmaking is not brain surgery. Here is the simple equation:

Filmmakers + Investors = A Produced Film

I am thrilled when I hear someone take on the burden of wishing there were more Orthodox films via Orthodox Filmmakers. I would be even more thrilled if those same people would lead out to rally others to financially support those filmmakers.

Do you want to see the lives of Saint Moses the Black, Saint Mary of Egypt, and others, produced as feature films? Look at us and our project and see how you can be involved:

www.mosestheblack.com