Leslie Hand, founder of Movie Glimpse, tells the story about a 
Catholic woman working on the set of E.T., and the brief exchange she had with director Steven Spielberg. During filming, Melissa Mathison and the cinematographer suddenly realized the similarities between the plot and the story of Jesus Christ. “His being left on earth, being found, his apostles, dying, the resurrection. We were cracking up when we figured out that one. When we told Steven [Spielberg], he said, ‘I’m Jewish, and I don’t want to hear anything about this.'”
Professor Richard Wiseman would refer to this as a gorilla moment. The concept is developed in his book, Did You Spot the Gorilla? How to Recognize Hidden Opportunities. The synopsis explains:
In a recent series of ground-breaking psychological experiments, volunteers were shown a 30-second film of some people playing basketball and told to count the number of passes made with the ball, followed by dialing the O2 number. After just a few seconds, a man dressed as a gorilla slowly walked into frame, beat his chest at the camera, and sauntered off. Unbelievably, almost none of the people watching the film noticed the gorilla. Exactly the same psychological mechanisms that cause people to miss the gorilla also make them miss unexpected but vitally important opportunities in their professional and personal lives.
I think the good professor’s on to something.
When it comes to contemporary culture, Christians are often guilty of missing the Gorilla. David Dark, in his book Everyday Apocalypse, suggests that spiritual truths permeate pop culture. To the observant eye, the sacred is everywhere. Dark purports that musical artists like Beck, Radiohead and U2, films like The Matrix and The Truman Show, and TV programs like The Simpsons all reflect subtle, subversive Kingdom principles. But rather than relishing these gorilla moments, Christians often resort to counting curse words and frowning upon accompanying indecencies. To some, it doesn’t matter that Bono is dangerously close preaching the Gospel—what matters is that he cursed three times in the process.
The Christian author must be adept at spotting the Gorilla, looking beyond the crude and commonplace, the ordinary and the run-of-the-mill, to affirm the God Who is There.
One of Jesus’ favorite lines was, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” (Matthew 13: 24, 31, 33, 44, 47). According to Christ, the kingdom of heaven was like wheat and tares, seeds and soil, birds and flowers—it was right there if they only opened their eyes. That’s a gorilla moment, when suddenly the kingdom of God isn’t a vague concept, it’s the field ripe for harvest, the sparrow building its nest, or the tears of a penitent son.
In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul stood at the altar of the Unknown God and said,
Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. (Acts 17:23 NIV)
He then proceeded to quote the pagan poet Menander: “‘For in him we live, 
and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring’” (Acts 17:28). Rather than rebuke their unenlightened mythology, Paul peeled back the literary skin to disclose the real Object of their longing.
Perhaps this is one of the charges of the Christian writer—to unveil the Unknown God. Jesus did this not by sermonizing, but by storytelling. Author Tim Downs, during last year’s keynote address to the ACFW national conference, noted the important distinction between stories and sermons. “Stories go places that sermons never can,” said Downs. And while “thou shalt not” touches the head, “Once upon a time” touches the heart.
Maybe this is why Jesus told as many stories as He did sermons. He spoke of rich idiots and impoverished saints, bad stewards and good Samaritans. Christ’s parables were anything but feel-good moralistic tomes. At times, they left their hearers with unhinged jaws. Jesus roused the religious gatekeepers by absolving prostitutes and vilifying the cultural elites. In doing so, He shocked His audience into the realization of the Gorilla in their midst.
Not only must we forge whopping good tales, we must populate them with gorilla moments. And really, they’re all around us. Pop culture is awash with His fingerprints. Whether it’s E.T. rising from the dead, Ahab sinking with his obsession or Darth Vader returning from the Dark Side, we need not look far for echoes of redemption, harbingers of the coming Kingdom. “For now we see through a glass, darkly…” (I Cor. 13:12). Yes. But to the keen eye and the open heart, there are gorillas everywhere.
All cultures are awash in the vestiges of a story once clearly recognized to the heart yet now lost in the fog of sin, rebellion, and more often than not willing blindness. Part of our task is to point out these vestiges wherever we see them to those who either cannot or will not see. Most, like Spielberg will likely fluff it off or actively ridicule our observations just as most on Mars Hill railed against Paul’s belief in the resurrection from the dead.
As a Christian writer I walk a fine line between telling a story and preaching a sermon. If all I tell is story and stay safely away from themes and observations by characters that might be construed as a sermon I merely become one of the gang on Mars Hill. For me, I think my calling is to use story to bring the reader as close to edge of truth as possible without it becoming sermon. Parables lead people to take their small questions and ask bigger ones – to take their vapid answers and seek out ones with substance
Tim, I think story and sermon operate on two different tracks. They are not part of a continuum, you know, a single line that changes from story to sermon. I envision them as two parallel lines, operating side-by-side, but distinctly different. Stories appeal to abstractions and emotions, while sermons to what is concrete and rational. I don’t think the issue is “thematic.” All stories have themes. It has more to do with how those themes are presented — as “thou shalt nots” or as “A sower went out to sow.” Thanks for commenting!
This makes sense to me. I write in one way as a technical writer, also a mode of writing that is concrete and rational and active voice and step-by-step. I write in another way as a fiction writer, with more freedom and creativity but appealing to much different sensibilities.
This reminds me of Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man, where he explains the Big Gorilla’s handiwork in preparing humanity (not just with the Jews) for the culmination of His presence through the writ-small life of Jesus.
One other thought on the language police issue. I agree we tend to fail to see those powerful vestiges of redemption in the most unusual places (like Bono who my pastor adores and I have honestly never listened to much). At the same time I find it interesting how defensive some Christian writers become when I suggest there are better ways to communicate that by emulating the lowest common denominator of our culture.
Not long ago I wrote a short review of The Book of Eli – http://bit.ly/g7c5WS. I spent well over the first half of the review talking about the 500 lb gorilla in the form of Denzel Washington looking more like an Old Testament prophet than anything I’ve ever seen in a “Christian” movie. I had high praise for virtually everything that was told in the story and how it was told. Even so, all that several of my “edgy” Christian writer friends heard in my review was my questioning of why the writers could only think of two words to use when anyone who was evil spoke. I was roundly chastised for suggesting there are more creative ways to tell such stories without dropping the F-bomb every two minutes. Every good thing I said about the movie was lost on my suggesting one of the goals of a Christian writer might be to find ways to tell the same story, with the same quality and clarity, while at the same time seeming to elevate the culture in some small way.
Before anyone else get on to me for being judgmental I have recommended The Book of Eli to everyone I meet with the exception of my 87 years old mother who would wash out my mouth with soap for having even listened to such things.
Tim, I had not seen The Book of Eli yet, but I’ve heard great things about it. Even when it was first advertised I wanted to go see it as it looked like something I would want to see. As far as the “F-bomb” goes, I think that if it’s something that one doesn’t want to write in one’s own work, just as with any other curse word, that’s fine, but if you’re willing to put a “D-bomb” or an “S-bomb” in there, then an “F-bomb” really isn’t that different if it fits the character. And it really is all a matter of whether the character would have said it or not considering everything about the character and what’s going on. If it’s just plopped in there to have cursing, then no cursing is needed and it should be taken out, but if it’s part of the character, then you either let it stand or find a way to say it without saying it and not looking like a bad writer at the same time. I’m not getting onto you with this. Just stating my opinion. I think it’s really cool of you that you said what you felt you had to say. Too bad so much was focused on it. Even my own comment here. 😉
Oh, and I still haven’t listend to Bono yet either and I’ve got friends that keep telling me I need to. Perhaps one day. 😉
During a certain time in our history, one couldn’t help but listen to Bono – he and U2 were everywhere, as ubiquitous then as, I dunno, Lady Gaga is today. He / they were inescapable. They aren’t as prevalent today, but no less important. If you listen to only one U2 project, I recommend The Joshua Tree. It was stunning back in the day (and won them a well-deserved Grammy for best Rock album).
Book of Eli was ambitious and fascinating, if only to see how non-Christians see committed (and also flawed, superficial) Christians. It’s not great, but it is interesting. I liked it despite its flaws, and it has a killer twist I won’t spoil here.
The parables present the contrasts and the similarities. When stories do that without judgment, their statements refect the basics of parables. Christian authors are often accused of preaching–and often with just cause–but really for some it’s no different than presenting the world with good and evil circumstances and people making choices within those circumstances.
Good post and anecdote about Spielberg, Mike. Sad really since his Judaism is so vague in his life.
I was impressed by Chuck Colson’s ability to see these kinds of moments. Regarding the first Harry Potter book, he said “What the fascination with Harry Potter really illustrates is what C. S. Lewis meant by Sehnsucht — the longing for the mysterious, the wonderful, the other-worldly that our daily experience does not satisfy.” http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/onlinediscipleship/harrypottercontroversy/charlescolsonharrypotter.aspx
I like to do the same thing. If all of this is God’s creation, and we are created in the image of God, we will see His touches everywhere we look, even in places that might surprise us.
The interesting thing about the Spielberg anecdote isn’t his response, it is that he heard the analogy at all. We aren’t responsible for how our audience responds, we’re responsible for sharing these glimpses in the first place.
Don’t miss an opportunity to share these gorilla moments in culture. Give the Holy Spirit a toehold. And then, having done our job, we can step back and let Him do his.
Take a look at reviews of Dean Koontz’ more recent novels and it will be an eye opener. He is certainly not CBA and is certainly one of the most successful authors in our generation. Over the years Koontz has begun to ask bigger questions in his novels. There is no overt Gospel presentation and he still loves some words I would can do without. But no one is mater of prose of popular suspense than Koontz.
And what do his fans from years gone by call him now ? Preachy, right-winger, wordy, etc … While we must avoid preaching and stick to story, as Niclole has pointed out, sometimes just contrasting light and darkness (as does Koontz) will gain us the label of preacher no matter what we do.
I fully agree with Mike’s premise. Having been a pastor with a good number of sermons under my belt, and now a fiction writer, they are two different worlds as far as how you approach them. A sermon can do somethings a story can’t, and a story can do some things that a sermon can’t. Which is why most sermons tend to have some kinds of stories in them, to illustrate the points being made. And how many preachers have used a scene from a popular movie to make a point in a sermon?
Jesus told parables for a reason, because He knew that would be the best way to get people who might listen, to listen and see. That’s all we are doing in telling our stories.
But, being “preached at” is in the eye of the beholder. There are some who will feel preached at, at the slightest hint of moral or agenda, no matter how natural to the story or characters, or how subtle it is.
I like it. Does this mean I can feel less guilty for liking some Queens of the Stone Age? And well, let’s see. Who else would fall into that category…
I just realized that my post on naughty words…WAS one of the “four times as many posts as on “Gorilla Moments”…so lest anyone think I’m just as full of “it”, I’ll post this here as well. Soon I’ll be looking for people to act with me in a mission endeavor. If you’d like to read through my initial thoughts, check out a blog entry I made a bit ago:
http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2011/02/slice-of-pie-who-put-psi-in-science.html
There are other parts of it as well, but this is among my first ruminations and the subject of my recent prayers. If you’re interested, lemme know…