Sunday Matinee #18 Aliens
Plus a new Subscriber Giveaway!
Here it is, another fifth Sunday and that means another subscriber giveaway for R-Rated Movie Club! If you’ve been having fun with this newsletter so far, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to get Bonus Content each month, including the ability to leave comments. Ready for our next giveaway for all subscribers? Here we go.
Subscriber Giveaway
I’m grateful for all R-Rated Movie Club readers and I’m especially grateful for all of you who are subscribers. I’m encouraged by you coming along for the ride on this new creative project of mine. As a way to say “thank you” to all subscribers, we have a giveaway on fifth Sundays.
Enter to win a Prize Pair of one Bible and one movie!
About the Bible: The winner will receive a print copy of one of the three Bibles I use for preaching. The winner gets to pick which translation; I get to pick which edition.
Bible Options: New Revised Standard Version, Common English Bible, The Message
About the Movie: The winner will receive a copy of one of the movies highlighted in Quotes With Notes or the Feature Presentation between February 5, 2023 - April 30, 2023. That’s the time period since our last fifth Sunday subscriber giveaway. The winner gets to pick the movie and which format (DVD, Blu-ray, 4K, digital).
Movie Options (Wow a lot to choose): The Blues Brothers, Sicario, Frances Ha, Nope, Ronin, Emily the Criminal, Bird Box (maybe not this one, as it appears to be a Netflix streaming exclusive), Blade Runner 2049, Cocaine Bear, Lady Bird, A Few Good Men, Glory, Stand By Me, Carrie, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Aliens.
Subscriber Giveaway: Who can enter and how to enter?
All R-Rated Movie Club readers who 1. subscribe. That’s it! Everyone who is a subscriber, free or paid, by today at 11:59pm on Sunday, April 30, 2023 is automatically entered to win.
One entrant will be randomly selected. I’ll notify the winner via the email address they use to subscribe to R-Rated Movie Club. The winner has 72 hours to confirm receipt of the notification email. If they don’t respond in 72 hours, a new winner will be randomly selected and they have 72 hours to respond and so on.
Subscribers are eligible to win once per calendar year. If you win the giveaway from April 2023 you won’t be eligible again until April 2024. That way all subscribers have a chance to wine a Prize Pair every year.
Many will be automatically entered. One will win. I’ve always wanted to write that.
Quotes with Notes
Acts 17:22-25
Full Text: Acts 17:22-31 (Revised Common Lectionary)
6th Sunday of Easter (May 14, 2023)
Sign up for a free course at EnterTheBible.org to learn more.
Context: Paul and his companion Silas have escaped prison and the crowds are in an uproar over their teaching about new faith. As they go through the city, trying to evade capture while evangelize the Good News that there is resurrection and new life for anyone, Paul sees the city is filled with idols. He becomes distressed and appeals to their better nature.
22 Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely spiritual you are in every way. 23 For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things.
Aliens (1986) | 20th Century Fox, Brandywine Productions, Pinewood Studios
Starring Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Lance Henrickson, Bill “Game Over!” Paxton
Written by James Cameron, David Giler, Walter Hill | Directed by James Cameron
Context: Lt. Ellen Ripley is the sole survivor of her crew after encountering an alien species (spoiler alert for 1979’s Alien, sorry about that!). She’s called before a company board meeting to explain what happened - especially why she destroyed their gigantic starfreighter in the process. They only seem concerned about the money, not the danger. The exchange gets heated.
Ripley: Look, I can see where this is going. But I'm telling you that those things exist.
Van Leuwin: Thank you, Officer Ripley, that will be all.
Ripley: Please, you're not listening to me! Kane, the crew member-- Kane, who went into that ship said he saw thousands of eggs there. Thousands!
Van Leuwin: Thank you Ripley, that will be all!
Ripley: Goddammit, that's not all! 'Cause if one of those things gets down here then that will be all! And all this... [grabs a few pieces of paper] This bullshit you think is so important... [tosses the paper, scattering them] You can just kiss all of that goodbye!
Computer Readout: FILE STATUS: CLOSED
Commentary:
When I was in high school, I was on the Speech competition team. I did pretty well, but I stuck with three categories: Dramatic Duo (you and a scene partner), Creative Expression (writing your own piece), and Humorous Interpretation (ooh, I got a State medal here!). I enjoyed it and played to my strengths and don’t regret how I participated. Looking back, I do wonder what would have happened if I’d tried out some of the other categories like Informational Speaking and Original Oratory. Both are steeped in trying to be persuasive. These days, I find myself needing to be persuasive more often than quoting Monty Python, and I wonder if a little extra practice would have gone a long way.
The apostle Paul always seems to be at a disadvantage in his travels. People chase him off or hunt him, just as he did to others when he was in their shoes. He’s put in prison, he’s confronted by crowds, he’s put through trials. Nevertheless, he persists in his persuasion. When he reaches Athens, he’s appalled by what he sees. Idolatry is everywhere. Literally, idols are sold in the street markets and this is in contradiction with the God who Paul knows. If in last week’s entry Stephen found it hard to call people out, here we see Paul take a different tact.
Paul acknowledges the idols and says you thought you had to engage “an unknown god” this way, but I say to you God knows you and engages you in another way. You didn’t know God, but God knows you. Not everyone believes him, of course, scoffing at his ideas - especially resurrection. He’s compelling enough, however, that others do listen. Rather than throw him in prison or run him out of town as others have done, they say okay, we’re intrigued. Tell us more. Some even leave the area with him, converted.
Aliens takes place in our future, the year 2179. I only mention this because when the film came out in 1986, they must have thought $46 million was a mighty unthinkable number for a starcraft by then. Adjusting for inflation, $46 million in 1986 dollars is ~$127 million today, so yes, they underestimated that a bit. Still, the scene holds up and the one thing the company is most-concerned about is money, money, money.
No one listens to the warnings that Ripley (Sigourney Weaver, in an Oscar-nominated role) gives them. They read back her reports and scoff. They want to know what happened to their ship. She can see what they really care about, so when danger to other people’s lives doesn’t work, she takes a different tact.
Ripley acknowledges their idol: money. She grabs their reports, that $46 million ship payload report, and waves it at them. They have no idea what this “unknown” alien will do if it gets here. They can kiss these bullshit money and business and profit margin idolatry goodbye. Unlike Paul, Ripley doesn’t get through to them. At least, as far as she can tell. There will always be questions - in this movie and beyond - about how much the company knew and when they knew it - but in this moment, the danger is nothing compared to the idol.
What are your idols? What prevents you from seeing something that brings you joy - such as a faith in resurrection like Paul taught? What keeps you from recognizing something dangerous before you - like Ripley’s warnings of the xenomorphs on planet LV-426? We may not want to admit we have idols, but we all have things that can get in our way of living our best lives or being the best people we can be in our relationships. Are you prepared to confront “this bullshit you think is so important”?
It’s always risky posting links to unofficial videos, but for now you can watch this entire board room scene here (This is slightly extended from the theatrical cut. Van Leuwin’s dialogue after Ripley’s outburst and before the computer screen is from the extended cut.):
A Word of Encouragement
Thanks, everyone, and I hope you have a wonderful day. May you find holy wisdom anywhere you look, whether in the scriptures or even at the movies. And to today’s preachers, may worship bring you closer to the holy as you do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly in the name of God. God’s peace and good movies to you!