No Dust on Me
‘His Dark Materials’ Reflects Our Deeply Questioning Age
Archive & Blog
The Clique of Heaven
I tend to sit on the edges of things. To not get too involved. To give little and expect nothing. Like C.S. Lewis’s Tisroc of Calormen, I’m unwilling to stretch my hand any further than I’m able to pull it back.
Wherever I Go, That’s Where the Party’s At
My favorite character in all the Narnia stories has only a small space devoted to him within the Chronicles’ pages. He is not a great hero, nor does he play any particularly significant role.
Those Who Read vs. Those Who Watch
Early this year, after watching Amazon’s adaptation of Wheel of Time (among other things), I began wondering if a (moving) picture is really worth a thousand words. The articles linked below are the result of the research I collected and analyzed during that time. Instead of determining whether television and film can do justice to…
The Annihilation of Bruce Wayne
How the Batman Becomes a Popular Avenger I knew I’d love The Batman about thirty minutes in when Robert Pattinson (as Bruce Wayne) locks eyes with the mourning son of Gotham City’s slain mayor. It’s a weighted moment, heavy with meaning but free of the excessive, drawn-out cinematic melodramatics typical of Zach Snyder’s DC takes….
“I, Myself, Will Go Down With You”
At the beginning of 2021, my One Year Chronological Bible Reading Plan had me in the throes of Joseph’s story—after more than twenty years believing his son was dead, Jacob, the Hebrew patriarch, learned Joseph was actually alive. In his frail, old age, Jacob faced the startling proposition to leave Canaan, the land he’d known…
There Are No Cruel Narnians
What The Horse and His Boy Can Tell Us About Racism, Cultural Superiority, Beauty Standards, and Inclusiveness The Chronicles of Narnia has legions of fans around the world. According to journalist and novelist Lev Grossman, the much-beloved series published in the 1950s split the atom on the modern fantasy novel. But as our society becomes more aware…
Pixar’s SOUL is the Perfect Movie for a World Weary of Living
There’s a scene in Pixar’s latest movie Soul where Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), a struggling middle school music teacher, steps out of a jazz club after one of the most triumphant moments of his life and realizes he doesn’t feel the way he thought he would. He’s just performed with Dorothea Williams (Angela Bassett), fulfilling his life-long…
The Mouth of Sauron: A Meditation on the Year Past and the Year to Come
In my opinion, a scene cut from The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King is one of the greatest scenes in what is arguably the world’s greatest-ever film trilogy. The three-minute clip finds Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Pippin, Merry, and Eomer facing off with Sauron’s spokesperson in a pre-determinedly futile attempt to…
Why Batman Is a Terrible Superhero (Or, Why Our Present Social Crises Demand a Different Class of Hero)
I’m a huge fan of the Dark Knight, so I was ready to throw hands a few weeks ago when someone told me they considered Batman to be a terrible superhero. “You can’t just say that. You have to give reasons,” I demanded. Well, she did: “Bruce Wayne has wealth and access and power, and…