'Courageous' - An Antithetic Story of the Sexy, the Strong and the Sell-able!
(Disclaimer: In some parts of the write-up, I have used a broad brush. Please help yourself to a generous pinch of salt. :P)
Most popular Hollywood movies that I can remember, portray men epitomizing the 'trivial' attributes of manhood. They are either funny and stupid (think Will Farrell) or brash and bulldozing (think Arnold, oh how do I spell his last name - google help! yes, Schwarzenegger) or cocky and surefooted (think Russell Crowe) or in a few instances, mostly from the yesteryears, laconic and mysterious (think Humphrey Bogart). 'Real men' are seldom seen in Hollywood movies. Why? Because in this culture, it is the trivialized man that considered sexy, strong and sell-able.
Hollywood movies don’t celebrate 'real men' - the ones that walk around with a little paunch, try hard to do the right thing for their family, sometimes fail and pick themselves up and try again; they lose, they hurt, huddle to help each other, charge into a battle against evil getting bloodied up, they forgive, forget, reconcile; they are tender, they are tough, they are insecure and confused, yet 'real men' have a spine - they SEE God, they love their family. They are Courageous.
'Courageous' is Christian movie about 5 men that fall into the latter category of 'real men'. Of course, the wives and kids find these men funny, stupid, brash, bulldozing, surefooted, cocky too, but that is totally BESIDE the point of who they really are - men with a spine that take care of a family. 'Courageous' depicts the struggles that 'real men' face - from losing jobs when rent is due, to losing a loved one in an already stressed family, to having to own up for not having owned up to ones biological child, to incarcerating a dear pal that lost his integrity in a position of responsibility. In contrast to the swashbucklers of Hollywood's commercial successes, 'Courageous' epitomizes real men.
"The Magnificent Seven" is one of the 'more of the same' Hollywood classics that venerates magnificent heroes who live on horses, fight with guns and are sought-after by women. But, even that movie has its moment of antithetical truth… Yul Brynner is a celebrity mercenary that walks with a swagger, speaks in a baritone and shoots from the hip. He decides to help some hapless Mexican farmers exploited by the bandits. After witnessing Yul's brave stunts, a kid in the villager tells Yul that he is ashamed that his farmer-father is a coward and not as brave as Yul. Yul forbids the kid to ever think his father as being a coward for not fighting with guns. Yul says something that in-spirit means, "it take more courage to handle the plow and serve a family than to handle a gun to fight bad guys". Hollywood, when it speaks in terms of the normative, is seldom right, this is one of the few instances in which it is. As much as flamboyant cowboys are idolized, a life of handling guns and horses isn't really a difficult life. It is an Either/Or! Either you put a bullet into another man's heart or another man does it for you. Pretty simple! You are a man who has got nothing to lose except your life. So in a very ironic way, you are in control of your destiny, if you are good you live or you die.
On the other hand, to handle a baby in your arms is a whole another equation. It is to subject your destiny to something bigger - something you don't have control over. Such risk taking endeavor takes a 'real man' - one that has a spine. It takes courage to start a family, which on the surface, appears to be lacking an increasing number of emasculated urban progressive men that are born into the 'Hollywood-trivialized-superstars admiring' culture. They would rather be free, look slick and perpetually carry on the persona of the most-eligible-bachelor, than carry a baby and be befuddled by the vagaries of life.
Recently, I was reading an article written by a school teacher lamenting the problem of teenage pregnancies and the girls who end-up becoming unwed mothers. When one of his own students ended up a teen mom, he observed that she had become the superstar of his class. Apparently, being a 'teen mom' was the new cool thing! Bemused by this phenomenon, he organized a group discussion in his class on being a teenage mom. One of the questions he asked them was, "How do you think being a teenage mom would affect your prospects of marriage in future?" They all acted like this was a dumb question. None knew how to answer. He posted it to the teen mom. The girl sitting next to her blurted out, "Nobody marries anymore, Mister!". The whole class broke out in laughter, cheering the 'good' answer!
I read another article putting forth the idea that even if the embattled Euro survives and becomes strong, that Europe would still be headed for a decline. Reason? – very few people in Europe get married anymore. From 2000 to 2010, 37% of children in Europe were out of wedlock kids who will be raised in single-mom homes. In Sweden, 54% of kids our out of wedlock kids who will be raised in single-mom homes. The US isn't far behind either. In the 1960, close to 75% of households with kids had a complete set of parents. In 2010, it is just about 51%. This trend sociologist worry, is not likely create a stable society where children are the pillars of the future civilization. Among other things, one important cause for this trend is I believe the flakiness of modernized men, who don't have good role models for real manhood. It takes courage to start a Family, because it takes a sacrificial heart to really serve 24/7.
The fulcrum of the movie ‘Courageous’ is Joshua words, "as for me and my house, we will Serve the Lord". Joshua takes the idea of manhood to a whole new level. Joshua elevates running a family - the mundane routines of changing diaper to paying for school to caring for the sick kid, into something that serves a BIGGER purpose - that of SERVING God. This HIGHER purpose inspires him to do a better job at serving his family.
Malachi takes man's role in family one step higher. He is specifically addressing the man to not break faith. He is not asking the man to love his wife because she makes him feel good about himself, rather he says... Mal 2:15 Has not the LORD made them one? In flesh and spirit they are his. And why one? Because he was seeking godly offspring(!!!) So guard yourself in your spirit, and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.
Joshua and Malachi SEE God as an intrinsic part of the equation of 'running the family' in a way most modernized men don't. The 'real man' is one who tries to align himself to be true to the Image of God. Even if he fails, he is 'courageous' enough to try again, for he knows his purpose is to conform to the likeness of Christ. Only Christianity has a solid basis to restore 'manishness' back to man. It helps him put context into why he carries with him a weight - a weight that gives him a spine to be the Christ to the family and expend himself in its service.
One of the effects of living in a Godless, radically individualistic, inexorably insecure, Post-Christian society is that man's essence is trivialized to the point of making him a funny and/or rugged and/or cocky guy whose existence is ultimately pointless, spineless and useless. 'Courageous' is the anti-thesis to this trivialization of manhood. As contrived and longish the storyline is, 'Courageous' is a decent critique of the society. Interestingly, it is also a commercial success. 'Courageous' takes the dumbed-down version of the 'real man' who cares for his family and expends himself in doing the 'right thing' as a service to God, and makes him look sexy, strong and sell-able.