God in Movies

Sometimes it's easy to see pictures of God in movies that I watch. Sometimes it's not so easy. A few weeks ago in CPE, we watched the movie Anger Management, and we talked about it today. One of the questions we had to answer was where is God in this film? Is God embodied or is God's presence implied? I had seen this movie several times, and had never thought about this question. But as I thought about it, I did begin to see a picture of God.

I can see the character of Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson) as embodying some aspects of God. This was illustrated most in the way that Dave (Adam Sandler) didn’t understand Buddy’s methods or ways, and yet it for his learning and growth, and ended up giving him everything he wanted. It reminded me of how I do not always understand why God does things a certain way, and how it seems crazy at times, but in the end, it all makes sense. However, Buddy was manipulative in his approach, whereas God allows us freedom to choose to follow His plans. Buddy set-up the entire court process, and then used the threat of jail to force Dave to follow his methods. God lets us choose if we want to trust His methods.

As we talked about it today, several people were surprised at the thought of Buddy as God. If you've seen the movie, you can understand why. But the reality is that God can be seen in every human relationship. And sometimes we have to look to see it. He can be found in the most unlikely places, or the most unlikely movies.