What Eliza Dushku Has to Teach the Church
It’s hard saying goodbye to a friend, especially if it’s another one of Joss Whedon’s creations that passed before its time.
Dollhhouse is not Whedon’s best work, but it may be his deepest. It lacks the punchiness that made Buffy so much fun, and the creativity which made Firefly soar beyond science fiction. It did, however, use a sexy model with sad puppy dog eyes to raise questions about the dangers of man’s relationship with technology and the nature of the soul.
After the Firefly debacle nothing was going to keep Whedon from telling his story. After season one, he released “Epitath Part One” straight to the internet, telling the story of a post-apocalyptic future directly resulting from the technology used to run the Dollhouse harems. Season Two seemed hurried, trying to accomplish the plot and character development needed to reach the end of civilization. Although rushed, the last few episodes were exhilarating, with heroes becoming anti-heroes and villains becoming pastoral leaders.
Dollhouse raises a number of important questions, but perhaps the most important is about the societal and spiritual implications of our growing dependence on technology. Christians, except perhaps the Mennonites, seem to ignore this.
Could projected preachers create a dangerous celebrity culture? Does social networking increase or impede our ability to function as the body of Christ? Could driving 30 minutes to worship cripple our ability to love our neighbors?
I’ll miss Whedon’s latest, but the questions it raised will stick with me.
Have you seen this? http://www.bohemiandrive.com/comics/npwil/1.html
“Could projected preachers create a dangerous celebrity culture?”
We live in a dangerous celebrity culture already. It just means pastors, and parishoners, need to be on their guard.
“Does social networking increase or impede our ability to function as the body of Christ?”
Yes.
“Could driving 30 minutes to worship cripple our ability to love our neighbors?”
It wouldn’t have to, but I think it often already does. I think the suburban cultural norm has become the driving to activities and creating community around those activities. These flavored communities are cool, except that they have been at the expense of ‘neighborly’ communities. This is probably more of an impediment to the mission of Christ’s body than most people realize. Folks are afraid to love their neighbor, unless it’s through some activity/program/structure. . . safely away from their ‘castle.’
Speaking of Community. Have you heard of “Crowded House” and the book Total Church
http://theresurgence.com/steve-timmis-total-church-lectures
Thanks! I’ll check it out.