(No.2 in a series on the 2011 Oscar Films)
"I find that the further I go back, the better things were, whether they happened or not" ~ Mark Twain
There’s a decadent French pastry cafe near us that’s to die for… you know what I mean. Isabelle Brien’s has creamy cappuccino, buttery almond croissants, savory french toast (obviously), and a sweet name that reminds me of my grand-daughter. It’s a fine breakfast with ma belle femme on a Saturday morning.
Which is why I’m thinking about film critic David Edelstein’s recent remarks on the film Midnight in Paris, when he boiled down the basic philosophy of Woody Allen's films in one sentence: "Life is meaningless… the best you can do is find a good restaurant." Seems like alot to ask from your beef bourguignon! However, food and feasting do hold incredible meaning for us - if we'll listen.
And in Midnight, Allen has his fine restaurant. Paris is romance par excellence, and we're treated to a visual feast from the opening credits. In classic Woody style, he also sets the table for us with some great questions. Yes, we do often find ourselves dissatisfied, with our time (doesn’t every age?), and our circumstances can feel meaningless, as even Solomon discovered – so what to do? Have another croissant! Merci!
Or, as Paris suggests, why not escape to the “good old days” - even the ones that haven't happened yet?
Nostalgia Calls
On vacation in the “City of Lights” with his upwardly mobile fiancé Inez (Rachel McAdams), Hollywood screenwriter Gil Pender's (Owen Wilson) dissatisfaction with life kicks into high gear. If only he could go back to the golden age of literature - Paris in the 20's! Hear the heart of Hemingway; see the flair of Fitzgerald! If only he could leave the shallowness of his day-job behind, and finally pen something with substance! If only he could marry Inez, and return to Paris to write - ironically, a novel about “a guy who owns a nostalgia shop.” But while Inez indulges her “if only” with the insufferable Paul (Michael Sheen), a pseudo-intellectual who prefaces his sentences with “If I’m not mistaken…”, (a sure clue that he probably is), Gil strolls deep into the heart of the city. Eventually, he sits down to rest…
And at the stroke of midnight, an elegant taxi appears to whisk him back in time, to the golden age of his dreams! There’s Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates) to dispense literary advice, Salvador Dali (hilariously played by Adrien Brody) to show him the essence of love and art, and even Ernest Hemingway himself (in a great turn by Corey Stoll) to suggest the meaning of life: Hemingway: Have you ever made love to a truly great woman?
Gil: Actually my fiance is pret-ty sexy...
Hemingway: And when you make love to her, you feel true and beautiful passion, and you for at least that moment lose your fear of death...
Gil: ...No, that doesn't happen...
Hemingway: I believe that love that is true and real creates a respite from death. All cowardice comes from not loving, or not loving well, which is the same thing...and when the man who is brave and true looks death squarely in the face, like some rhino hunters I know, or Belmonte [the matador], who is truly brave, it is because they love with sufficient passion to push death out of their minds, until it returns, as it does to all men. And then you must make really good love again...think about it.
L’amour! Surely this is the meaning of life? But when Gil finds himself smitten with the alluring Adriana (Marion Cotillard), he soon discovers (surprise!) that she is also dissatisfied with her own age. Alas, this has all been tried before, with gusto: wise Solomon went this route to cure his meaninglessness, and 700 concubines later, he came to a different conclusion (see Ecclesiastes 7:2).
We Want to Change our Circumstances…
As Gil loses himself in the past, surrounded by his real-life idols, Allen flirts with the question: Is a change of circumstances, or even the ability to “turn back the clock” the real issue? Is romance, or beauty the meaning we’ve been searching for all along? Or might there be something even deeper? Listen to CS Lewis:
Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that had settled the matter. Wordsworth's expedient was to identify it with certain moments in his own past. But all this is a cheat. If Wordsworth had gone back to those moments in the past, he would not have found the thing itself, but only the reminder of it; what he remembered would turn out to be itself a remembering. The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things - the beauty, the memory of our own past - are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers... C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Could it be that the search for the good old days are less about the days (or whatever it is we think we need), and more about our hearts? Perhaps this is why "the past seems so much more vivid, more substantial, than the present," writes A.O. Scott. But maybe "... the good old days are so alluring because we were not around, however much we wish we were..." Maybe this is what Solomon was getting at when he said,
"Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.” Ecclesiastes 7:10
"Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.” Ecclesiastes 7:10
...But God Wants to Change Our Heart
So allow me to suggest... A New Philosophy: Life is meaningful, so find a really good restaurant!
Wait, you say - that sounds a bit un-spiritual! But remember how Jesus kicked off his ministry? His first miracle, announcing what his whole mission was really about, took place at a feast - a wedding. 180 gallons of water were transformed into the finest wine. What was going on?
Like you and I when we attend the marriage of friends, Jesus was thinking about his own wedding! That day when He would take His ransomed bride and throw the most amazing party and feast that has ever been, beyond our wildest dreams:
"On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine--the best of meats and the finest of wine." Isaiah 25:6
Which means that in holding up his glass of fine wine, Jesus was trying to show us the meaning of life! There's a wedding coming...
And you must remember that the way there, to the feast – as well as the meaning of your every moment today - is completely unexpected. The “foolishness” of the cross (I Cor. 1:18), where real love won the day, opens the door to life. Real celebration. Because on that "good old day," the King of Love pierced the heart of evil, and a world of darkness was flooded with light .…and meaning was revealed. Forgiveness flowed forth. Slaves to sin were set free, and brought back to God – our deepest longing.
Three days later, Christ stepped out of the grave, having "swallowed up death in victory." So that this day, this moment, you could find your meaning, and new strength to love, in Him.
Midnight in Paris is full of whimsy and wonder, a great film to enjoy and to help us explore what really matters: where we look for meaning. So the next time you take a bite or lift a glass, pause and wonder...and give thanks. There's a greater, more lavish feast coming. Think about it...
Note: Taking an x-ray picture of our heart (our dreams and escapes), as counselor David Powlison says, is an important clue for discovering what rules and enslaves us, and where we tend to look for meaning. The place where we sip our usual daydreams, indulge our if onlys...then I'll be happy!"? can tell us alot about what we're really living for.
Note: Taking an x-ray picture of our heart (our dreams and escapes), as counselor David Powlison says, is an important clue for discovering what rules and enslaves us, and where we tend to look for meaning. The place where we sip our usual daydreams, indulge our if onlys...then I'll be happy!"? can tell us alot about what we're really living for.
Here's a few of our everyday, garden variety if onlys…
If only I had more money…(living for pleasing ourselves, pleasure)
If only ______ would notice me! If only my nose was straighter, my butt smaller, my hair less curly (or straight)… oh, if only I hadn’t had that second croissant! ...(living for approval)
If only my kids were nice, obedient children...(living for good behavior, pride, and nice circumstances in life...)
It’s a smorgasboard of poison - often masquerading as real food - that's never ending. And when we find ourselves dining there for our meaning and joy (instead of enjoying them as gifts, with thankfulness), we not only grow sick and in despair, but miss the greater meal and greater affection our hearts were made for. Only Christ is strong enough to conquer the idols that enslave, setting us truly free to love well again. So learn to feed on him, for He has prepared a real feast for you in His Gospel. Taste his mercy, kindness, and love - and see that He is good!
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do Eccl. 9:7
