Yes, you heard me. Finding God and themes of redemption and forgiveness in Venom, one of Spiderman's greatest foes.
Before I do that, for those of you who don't know Venom and his importance to Marvel Comics, let me give you a brief history of Venom...
You may remember Topher Grace (That 70's Show, Traffic) playing Venom in Spiderman 3. Before Venom became, well, Venom - he was Eddie Brock. Eddie Brock was raised in a Roman Catholic household in San Francisco. His mother died due to complications of his birth and so, Eddie was raised by his devastated father. As is the case with a distant father, Eddie grows up trying desperately to win his father's love and approval by overachieving. He was an athlete but decided to switch majors in college to journalism after being inspired by the Watergate scandal. Keep in mind, this backstory is a fictional one... for a comic book character. Eventually, Eddie lands a job with the Daily Globe and marries Anne Weying.
Once Eddie buries himself in his work, things really start to go wrong. He becomes convinced that he has heard the confessions of a serial-killer named, Sin Eater and writes an exclusive article revealing this fact for the Globe. Unfortunately, it turns out that the man who confessed to these murders is a compulsive confessor and Spiderman captures the real Sin Eater. Eddie's professional life is destroyed and he is promptly fired from the Globe and is forced to work for sleazy tabloid magazines. Brock blames Spiderman for all of this.
To make matters worse, Brock has cancer and it will be killing him. Eddie decides to get back into athletics and weightlifting to reduce stress and his body grows to Olympic size as he packs on tons of muscle. Anger and depression remain though and he and his wife, Anne, divorce.
Suicidal, Brock heads to a nearby church to pray for forgiveness and this is where the alien symbiote that Spiderman has discarded finds Eddie and bonds with him. It feeds off his cancer and his hatred and fear and now Eddie possesses similar powers to Spiderman. Like everything in Eddie Brock's life, he plays second fiddle to Peter Parker's Spiderman as the symbiote sees Brock as a second rate host and really wants to attach itself to Spiderman. Brock names himself, Venom because he sees himself as poison to Peter Parker/Spiderman.
As violent and malicious as Venom is, he still can't bring himself to kill innocent people (not always) and over the years, Spiderman actually asks Venom for help. Venom has become the anti-hero and fanboys love him.
Spiritually, this figure is an amazing representative of us. We sin. We mess up. We make poor choices and sometimes, we revel in those choices. Forgiveness and forgiving others is a big part of following Christ and the character Venom seems to seek forgiveness quite often. He looks to be absolved of some of the heinous deeds that he has done and even his lawyer, Matt Murdoch (Daredevil) believes that he is an innocent who is not responsible for his actions as a result of the symbiote's attachment. Still, despite all of this, Eddie Brock struggles and often wonders if God can forgive him for the "devil inside". It is pretty compelling stuff. I believe Venom is the visible and ugly junk that manifests itself in all of us when we decide to follow our own way instead of God's. Just a thought. See? I told you all truth is God's truth.
Pop...
Greg
I just saw the film, "Conviction" on DVD and I must say it delivers exactly what it promises. It is about a brother and sister (played by Sam Rockwell and Hillary Swank) and the bond that holds them together forever. The brother has been convicted of murder and is wrongfully convicted at that. His sister who has not finished high school is so committed to seeking justice for her brother that she journeys to become a lawyer to right the wrong that has cast a dark cloud upon the family.
It wasn't a bad film - I would compare it to "The Hurricane" starring Denzel Washington (1999). What makes the film extraordinary is the story because I could imagine myself giving up numerous times. This journey that Hillary Swank goes on costs her her marriage, custody of her sons (or at least, they prefer to live with their dad in their teen years because of her obsession with her brother's case) and other important milestones that pass her by.
The questions that I felt impressed upon me were:
1. Would I do the same for my loved ones? Would I sacrifice years and years to see justice done or would I simply make peace with it and move on?
2. Was it worth it?
3. Could I unsettle my family for one family member?
In the end, it could have been worth it (I wont' give away everything but it's fairly satisfying). Some good questions come out of this that are worth asking. I am reminded of Jesus' parable of the lost sheep where he leaves the ninety-nine in search of the one that is lost. Certainly, Hillary Swank is no Jesus but I thought the comparison was apt.
The film's rated 14A - mainly because the f-word is used a lot. It seemed at times that the people portrayed on film had Tourette's Syndrome as they use swearing almost as an art form in the way they say it so much in most sentences. There are a couple of graphic shots of the murder victim but no graphic violence. Take this warning seriously if language is offensive to you. Overall, I would give this film 2.5 Pop cans out of 5 (meaning good).
Pop...
Greg
Hello people or person reading this post:I have decided to blog (about 10 years after it was new and popular). One of my biggest passions is pop culture - I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed of that. Perhaps my biggest passion should be saving the dolphins or providing clean water for every single inhabitant on the earth (both good things BTW) but while I work on changing my priorities, whoever reads this (most likely myself because I'm such a fan!) should know that the focus is on pop culture and Jesus.
It's been said that "all truth is God's truth" and I would agree. I don't know if it's completely healthy to focus on depressing truths or oblivious truths but I like looking for illustrations and truths that film, music, art, television and the net provide. Today, there will be no truth parallels, just a top ten list of my favorite pop stuff:
10. Funny websites - Awkward Family Photos, etc. I can't cite all websites because, if I did, chances are people would be offended at the content. I like being a pastor but also take my responsibilities of recommending things seriously. I will try my best to give adequate warnings regarding things that may offend. Take them seriously.
9. Archie Comics - funny, dated and if I was Archie, I wouldn't be so lame as to try to date two hot girls at the same time.
8. Western Film - John Wayne, Young Guns, Seven Samurai (look up the definition of western film), Once Upon A Time in the West, Shane and 3:10 to Yuma - my wife says they're boring and I say "No" - what a convicting argument.
7. The Simpsons - there was a time when I knew every episode by heart but having kids changed that as by the time my oldest was two, she could state all the main characters plus the secondary ones. My wife wasn't impressed and since my daughter started quoting the show herself, we decided it best not to watch in front of them.
6. Marc Chagall - I like his paintings - yes, I am adding this just to make it look like I'm cultured. I do like his paintings but need to be reminded which ones are his.
5. Gangster Films - Goodfellas, Road to Perdition, etc. There's something spiritual in having power and being totally afraid that you're condemned to hell because of it - I like the duel that occurs between a gangster of who he'd like to be and who he really is.
4. Venom and Wolverine - two comic characters who really add depth, violence and fun to Spiderman and the X-Men/Avengers, etc.
3. Scott Pilgrim series - Bryan Lee O'Malley wrote this and he's a genius - vegan police, Sex Bob-omb, Knives Chau. Great imagination and the film (directed by the guy who directed Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) was well done.
2. Wrestling autobiographies - I know, lame with a capital LAME but I've liked wrestling since I was a kid. I don't watch Raw or Smackdown but do keep up with what's going down. The best reads: "Have A Nice Day!" by Mick Foley, "A Lion's Tale" by Chris Irvine and "Hitman: My Life in the Real World of Cartoon Wrestling (or something like that)" by Bret Hart. I love to hear the backstage gossip, who didn't get along with whom, real fights, fake fights and how a wrestler can manage having a family and being this business (for the most part - they can't).
1. Video Games - Wii? Got it. XBox? Got it. PS3? Got it. DS? My wife's got it but she lost it. PSP? Yes until my son wrecked it. I love getting Christmas and birthday money - guess where it goes?
There's lots of other cool stuff that I like but we'll save that for an official post.
Pop...
Greg
