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It might not even be a hard-realism saga that preserves for our children the heights and the depths of today's tragedies. If you see The Fellowship of the Ring when it opens in theatres this December, I'd encourage you to remember that World War II was very much on the mind and heart of J.R.R. Tolkien as he wrote The Lord of the Rings and sent chapters to his son, who was in the military at the time.

There are countless action movies about the American ideal of revenge, from Dirty Harry to Braveheart. More recent films allow doubts and questions to enter the hero's mind, as in Memento. Even Ah-nold's recent End of Days portrays the cookie-cutter hero putting down his gun and handing the responsibility for vengeance over to the Lord. One film, Rob Roy, actually portrays a hero and a heroine who exhibit strength by refraining from the temptation to go out and seek violent revenge.

And there are other films offering a different view of violent justice, some realistic, some pure fairy tale. These titles show cruel and murderous men learning, sometimes too late, that they should have put down their guns and walked a better path. In Unforgiven, a shootout-weary Clint Eastwood resists the call to wreak violent vengeance. In Pulp Fiction, vile, violent, and self-centered men each reach a moment of decision where they may or may not choose to give up "the life" and instead do good on the earth, even venturing to help their worst enemies. Raiders of the Lost Ark gave us a hero who learns that, even though he's talented with a pistol and a whip, sometimes it is best to hold still and let God take care of evil men. Even Star Wars reminds us that the worst villains may yet be capable of a change of heart.

And doesn't the redemption of a Darth Vader-ish villain echo stories found in Scripture? There are many examples of God pursuing murderous villains in hopes of changing their hearts rather than torching them to appease our appetites for justice. Look back through the Bible. Jonah wasn't very happy when God forgave the people that deserved brimstone. Wasn't our beloved Apostle Paul, who began as a sort of terrorist stalking early Christians, forgiven and welcomed by the church when he repented?

Whatever your view of proper U.S. response to the threat of the Taliban, and regardless of what "big screen revenge" has conditioned us to feel, we are exhorted to be praying for those that persecute us. That requires more guts than John McClane or Dirty Harry ever showed.

Next week: Christian teens on a road trip in Extreme Days, Ben Stiller on the fashion runway in Zoolander, Swedes in a commune in Together and Anthony Hopkins in a Stephen King adaptation called Hearts in Atlantis.

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September (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45