Costly Grace and the Avatar

In his writing Costly Grace, Dietrich Bonhoeffer talks about Christians receiving the grace of God with out repenting. Cheap grace is believing that your sins are paid for, but you have no need to live differently from the rest of the world. Bonhoeffer says "That is what we mean by cheap grace, the grace which amounts to the justification of sin without the justification of the repentant sinner who departs from sin and from whom sin departs." Costly grace is receiving the grace of god and fighting against the desire to live a life that is acceptable to the rest of the world.  The avatar must also fight this desire. He is faced with the challenge of defeating the Fire lord, but to do this requires violence; exactly what the avatar is trying to prevent. The rest of the world and even the past avatars are telling him to kill, but that would be the cheap grace. He instead looks for the right way to end it, the way the avatar should live his life. Aang is not choosing the easy route of cheap grace, he is repenting and accepting his complete role as the avatar without submitting to worldly standards.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog Review

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog is a 43 minute film created for the Internet. It tells the story of an upcoming villain Dr. Horrible, he is  applying to be a part of a secret evil society run by a horse but struggles with his desire to be evil. He battles his arch nemesis Captain Hammer who conveniently has stolen the heart of the Dr.'s long time crush penny. Penny is a girl he sees at the laundry-mat twice a week but he has only recently worked up the courage to talk to her. Penny is a good girl who is always doing volunteer work for the community. Dr. Horrible starts to feel like maybe he should try to be good if he wants to win her over.  The Evil League of Evil tells Dr. horrible he needs to prove his evilness by killing in order to join them; this is a problem for him at first because he has lately been fighting off his inner good. He questions whether he could really kill someone, and if he really even wants to. He eventually attempts to kill his nemesis Captain Hammer but ultimately fails and accidentally kills his secret love Penny. This tragic irony gets him into the League but he will never truly be happy. I thought the film was entertaining and did a good job at compressing a complex story into 43 minutes. Act 1 was pretty funny with the blogs and the stupidity of posting your secret plans online. It gave a good background of who the villain really was and a taste of what his everyday life is like. Act 2 really got the story moving, the songs were clever and kept me interested. The theme of the “hero” Captain Hammer really being arrogant and selfish makes the audience feel more for the villain even though he was evil. This is a good twist from the normal superhero story and made the story more interesting. I thought the fact that Dr. horrible was confused between good and evil throughout the movie made the ironic ending appropriate. I applaud the director for ending the movie with a tragedy and not having Dr. horrible become good and save the day. It had a slow start but overall it was entertaining and witty, I give it a 7 out of 10.

The Dark Knight Exception

The Dark Knight  is a perfect example of exceptional sin, if there really is such a thing. Some people would say it is never right to steal even if it was to feed your starving family, or that it is not acceptable to run a red light in the middle of  nowhere. Certain  situations require a bit of a bend in a persons morals; if Batman and Lucius Fox were too righteous to use the cell phone sonar, two boats full of people would have been murdered. The Joker was in a building overlooking the river full of hostages with a detonator for the bombs placed on each boat, the sonar was a necessary sacrifice made in order to save the lives of many people. The film perfectly displays the rules of exception, sometimes rules and moral boundaries must be broken for the greater good.Yes, some of the people's privacy  was invaded but that action directly saved the lives of many.  This sonar would not be acceptable if it were used  daily in order to prevent crime, because the threat does not yet exist and that is a true invasion of privacy.

Incredible Family

Family can be many things and serve many different purposes, the Incredibles are a realistic example of what home life is for many people.  Though they all have super powers and live extraordinary fictional lives the Incredibles are a family with many problems that are very real. A family does not necessarily have to be a mother, father, and children but a family does need to be loyal to one another when adversity hits. Mr. incredible is in great danger, and the people he can count on to save him are none other than his own wife and kids. No matter who a family is composed of, the thing that makes it a family is the love and the loyalty shared within the group. A child might not have a father and a mother, but that does not disqualify him or her from having a complete family, an older brother or grandparent can serve the same purpose and love that child the very same way. In The Incredibles, the characters displayed are a traditional family with a mother and father. The traditional family is definitely the most ideal and beneficial when raising children, but a family is not limited to parents and children. Anyone who has been there for you with the same loyalty and love for your life is just as much your family as your brother or sister.

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    Masked Identity

    V For Vendetta illustrates a super hero who uses a simple mask to hide his face, but V also uses his mask to explain his true identity. The Guy Fawkes mask and the V symbol shown in the film explain everything it is that V represents. Guy Fawkes was a part of a group of catholic men who tried to assassinate King James I, and destroy parliament in the year 1605. These men wished to restore the Catholic religion in England.   Though Guy Fawkes was considered a terrorist and hung by the neck, he chose to stand against the government for what he knew to be right. V wears the mask of Guy Fawkes with the intentions to do what that group of men failed to do, and he begins a revolution giving the people of England the power to overthrow an oppressing government.

comparison

China's all seeing eye, V for vendetta, and the Pacifists Response to September 11th all share the common  theme of an over powering Government. V for vendetta has obvious scenes in the movie expressing the power of the dictatorship. The security systems in china are so good that they may violate human rights, and the Pacifist explains that America is a violent war raging country that cares only about killing the enemy. Personal Freedom is at stake in each one of these situations, the most basic human rights are stripped of people in V for Vendetta, just as they are in China's security cameras, and just as the pacifist describes America

contraversial fashion ad

This advertisement from Sisley clothing suggests fashion is an addicting drug. I do not know why they would create such a negative ad, but the negative description may be what draws in the customers. Just as the phrase  "sex sells" explains why dirty movies and shows do so well, this photo suggests people are attracted to other hidden pleasures what they spend money on. The facial expressions and the messy hair of these models suggest they are unhealthy and tired, the company is assuming target audience is attracted to this. The Picture says people who wearSisley are associated with a wild party life, the table they are sitting at resembles that of a night club, and the dresses they have on are perfect examples of dance club attire. The bag of cocaine  is moved to the side so that they may get to the real stuff, a little white dress. The dress is obviously more of a rush than cocaine, so it must provide a fulfilling lifestyle. Under the Sisley label the words "fashion junkie" explain that the models are experienced fashion addicts who know what to buy, or snort. Young people may look at this ad and think it is disturbing, but they will associate it with a fun night out.