regenerate Action: Beyond Boycotts

Okay, so the purpose of this website isn’t just so you can read my pontifications and bask in the depths of my wisdom (trust me, it’s a shallow pool).  One of my goals is to promote what I call “cultural activism” – actions that help foster the creation and success of regenerate art. Constructively.

How so?  Well for starters, I’m not going to be promoting any boycotts or such – it’s not about what we’re against, but what we’re for.  Case in point: rather than condemning “degenerate” movies, we’ll be supporting regenerate movies.

What’s the best way to help a movie be successful? Attend the movie (bringing as many friends along as possible) on opening weekend.  Granted, there are always exceptions, but box office results from opening weekend typically will make or break a movie, so attendance that weekend (preferably Friday or Saturday, not Sunday) is crucial.  I wrote more about this a couple years back in a column you can find here, and if you want to go even deeper you should read this book.

But it’s not just about supporting regenerate art, but creating it as well.  One example of where artistic skills can be put to good use? The 48 Hour Film Project, which challenges teams to a competition where they have to write, shoot, edit, and score a film in just 48 hours. Some folks from our church just signed up (they’re on the waitlist) for the DC project which is coming up on May 1st.  These projects take place throughout the year at different cities across the country (and the world) and are an incredible opportunity for regenerate artists to combine artistic excellence with a redemptive (but not cheesy!) message.  At a frantic pace.

Projects such as these provide tremendous opportunities to not only give voice to a redemptive message, but to demonstrate that Christians value excellence when it comes to art.  (I’d talk about how people could have gotten a different idea, but like I said, this website is about what we’re for).