Skip to main content

Real Community

I'm incredulous as to why I blew off Lars and the Real Girl for so long. Maybe it was the premise: lonely guy falls for sex doll. It sounds crass, but the movie is very sweet and Lars, played by Ryan Gosling, is ubersympathetic. Here's a character so emotionally crippled that human touch hurts him.






Even more amazing is that the community he lives in, some unidentified northern Midwestern town, goes along with his delusion, he treats Bianca, the doll, as if she were real, out of love for Lars. They create a convincing, though it would have been as tough as hell to actually live that out, beloved community. They allow Lars to work through his problems without judgment (for the most part) until he is ready to rejoin them. And yes, a church is part of the heart of this town. The writer and director create a world that is preposterous and real--and desirable! I think why can't I live in a town like that, better yet, what am I doing to create a town like that?

Oh yeah, Lars and the Real Girl is funny too.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Another Publishing Triumph 3.23

 This is the third time I've been published in Jesus the Imagination . It is, however, the first time a poem of mine has been published with this journal. I haven't finished reading my copy, but so far there have been some excellent essays. Get yourself a copy today!

Another Publishing Triumph!

So, the first of four poems has dropped. Point your critical browser to this URL for lots of good stuff at Ekstasis :  https://www.ekstasismagazine.com/poetry/2023/bird-is-the-word Constructive criticism welcome!

What I Read: 2023 Edition

  I know I failed to post this last year for what I read in 2022. So, here is what I read this past year. As always, these are listed in the order of reading and not any kind of ranking. The Shadow Lamp * Stephen R. Lawhead Book four in the Bright Empires series, continues with many of the same characters and a few new ones. The mystery of the Skin Map underscore a threat to the entire universe. The story is a bit pulpy and not Lawhead’s best (I’m speaking of the series as a whole), but still an enjoyable read for fans of Sci-fi and to a lesser extent, fantasy. Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation that Starts in your Yard * Douglas W. Tallamy This continues his ideas expressed in Bringing Nature Home . Essentially, if you want to “save the planet” (a phrase full of hubris) start with your yard and your neighborhood. If you’ve read about this stuff before, you won’t find any new insights, but it bears repeating. This is as good as any place to start for backyard ecology.