I saw the devil and wanted to kill him

0 comments By Nate in General, Philosophical/Theological on November 22nd, 2011 .

I Saw the Devil is the most gruesome film I have ever seen. I have never hated a movie character as much as I did when I watched this movie. I didn’t just want to see him die--I wanted to be his killer.

The premise of the movie is that Kyung-chul is a cannibalistic murder-rapist who targets young and attractive ladies that are alone. The first victim we see is Kim Soo-hyeon’s fiance. Kim, after the murder of his wife, is given a leave of absence from his civic duty; he then assumes the role of bad cop. He tracks down Kyung-chul, beats him up, plants a GPS device in his stomach, and tracks him. Kim’s purpose is to make Kyung-chul feel more pain than whatever pain was inflicted on his fiance; he doesn’t want to kill Kyung-chul right away.

The most disturbing thing is that I empathized with Kim. Kyung-chul did the nastiest things and preyed on the most helpless of victims. It was so unfair what happened to those girls. I wanted to see Kyung-chul pay for what he did, and, in the midst of the movie, I abandoned my morality and fully desired to see Kyung-chul die slowly and in the most pain possible.

However, this desire was hardly fulfilled. Kyung-chul died a rather quick death. I wasn’t able to savor it, and I hardly doubt Kim savored it either. This caused me to question whether Kyung-chul’s death was justifiable in any sense. With disturbing remorse, I concluded that it wasn’t.

Revenge in the reciprocal sense is never justice. It is merely the outplaying of our beastly nature and will only serve to perpetuate a cycle of revenge. True justice is the abandonment of that cycle. Justice is forgiveness--especially when forgiveness is hardest.

I had no relational attachment to Kim’s fiance or any of Kyung-chul’s other victims, but I think I would find it hard to forgive him for his barbaric acts. How much more difficult would it be if I were Kim? Unimaginable! Yet, forgiveness would have been the most powerful and just thing to do.

This film opens up an incredible avenue of discussion on the topic of justice. What do we do with criminals? What is a criminal? How should punishment be allotted? Why are we so moved to be vengeful? What is justice?

What do you guys think?

Orchestra

0 comments By Nate in General on November 22nd, 2011 , tagged with .

I have been playing the cello in an orchestra for the past 11 years. I have been practicing as a soloist for the first 7 of those years. It’s usually more fun to play as a soloist because the pieces are written especially for the instrument, but, as I have been growing older, I feel that playing in the orchestra is gaining a mature appeal (like a fine wine, but I hate wine actually).

Whenever I am in rehearsal any given Monday or Wednesday evening, I find myself listening more–not necessarily listening to myself (because that’s what young players do for intonation, tone, dynamic), but I listen to the rest of the orchestra. I’ll even look over the rest of the orchestra whenever I find the chance.

The view is really quite magnificent. It is even more grandeur when you consider what I am looking at: a score of violins, a wind and brass section, and the violas (that I rarely look at since they are seated next to me, but who wants to look at the violas anyway?lololjkjk). All of these instruments are supposed to be playing in concert both within their sections and as an orchestra. It is usually seen as a trivial task, but it really is one of the more complex things some of us set out to do.

Within the cello section, I am elated whenever I find myself keeping up with my stand partner; when our bowings are in unison in both direction and length; when we both play our dynamics; when our notes sing the same. It is the best feeling in the world to be doing something together. It is the most beautiful thing in the world when we all are doing something together.

I wish life were more like the orchestra. I wish we all could agree on one thing and understand that we all have different parts that amount to that one thing, that none of our parts harms the other.

(image source)

Christians Artists Bore Me

2 comments By Nate in General on September 11th, 2011 , tagged with .

I was just rereading my title as I began to write this, and I realized someone could read the title as Christian artists giving birth to me. Ahahah, no. I don’t want to be a product of Christian artists.

What I actually mean by the title is that Christian artists do not interest me. They are quite boring. They sing about the same thing. All they sing about is God. It gets boring. It’s very uncreative. I’m very dissatisfied with the state of Christians artists. But I can’t be mad at Christian artists, right? By name, that’s what Christian artists do.

I was listening to the public radio the other day because I don’t usually listen to the Christian radio unless I really want to listen to Christian music (but I usually don’t want to listen to Christian music). Pink’s new song came on the radio, and I think it is kind of catchy. What a lot of people don’t know is that her song is really God singing that song to us.

OK, maybe not verbatim. Maybe not even the whole song. But God sings the chorus of Fuckin’ Perfect to us all the time. We could, of course, discuss the implications of God saying we are perfect to God no matter what, but the idea is that we don’t need to be perfect to be loved. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). I’ve probably heard that same idea over and over in Christian songs, but I love it when I hear it outside of Christian music because it’s catchy and everyone else is hearing it. That chorus is Christian music, and the entire world is hearing it! It’s mainstream!

The Gospel is going mainstream. How exciting is that?

What I am proposing is for a new breed of Christian artists (when I write artist, I mean music artists). I’d like to see Christian artists with lyrics that contain immersed Christian messages and content. I don’t want to hear explicit lyrics about God or Jesus. Save that for worship service on Sundays.

I feel like a lot of Christians will question me on that point: Leaving God in church on Sunday. I’m not saying we leave God there. I’m saying we reserve that form of worship in that place of worship. I’m proposing that Christian artists allow the  environment dictate their form, to meet the ears of mainstream America where they are at. We wear formal black attire to a funeral, but we don’t wear it everyday.

Yeah, I get the whole thing about being set apart because that is what being holy is. But to what extent will Christians divorce themselves from the world? Or, rather, why do Christians have to distance themselves from the world when it comes to music? It frustrates me. OK, don’t sing about sex, drugs, or getting hammered at the club, but I don’t see why Christian artists can’t write songs about loving another guy or girl or enjoying a night off on the weekend.

I also understand the idea of being inspired by God for your artistry. I dig. I’m inspired the same way. But consider whether God is inspiring you to do another type of art that glorifies God without making explicit reference to God. I’m certain it’s possible. I think that’s what the world needs more of.

Ultimately, I’m sick and tired of the boundaries of Christian music. All it ever is is hopeful, uplifting, sorrowful, sorry, or proclaiming a quality of God. And it’s the same White artists on the radio that have the same exact sound. I didn’t know legitimate Christian rap existed until I met my roommate.

So boring. *yawn*

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