Sunday Matinee #63 Animal House
For Palm Sunday?! Well, sure, it has a parade scene, so...
Mark 11:1-11 | Revised Common Lectionary | EnterTheBible.org
Palm Sunday | 03.24.2024
Context: Jesus makes his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. This is the scene that many churches remember on Palm Sunday, though only the Gospel of John expressly says the crowd met Jesus with palm branches. For most of the gospels, Jesus enters for the festival of Passover, remembering the Jewish peoples’ exodus from Egypt under God’s protection.
8 Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields. 9 Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
National Lampoon’s Animal House | 1978
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: The “animals” of Delta House take their revenge on the college and local authorities who put them down and kicked them out. They bring chaos and disaster to the local parade, leaving the public in a panic. In a comedic juxtaposition, everyone runs this way and that, screaming, while Omega pledge Chip Diller (Kevin Bacon) stands in the midst of the chaos, a big smile on his face. He shrugs his uniformed arms in assurance.
The crowd runs and screams all around the young college student in uniform.
Chip Diller: Remain calm. All is well!
Later, the crowd continues running and screaming all around Chip, ignoring him.
Chip Diller: AAALLLLL IS WEEELLLLL!!!
Chip turns to see a mob rushing at him.
Chip Diller: Remai–
The mob crushes Chip Diller. He’s bowled over and flattened like a pancake, just like in a cartoon.
Commentary:
Who doesn’t love a good parade?
My favorite parades have three things: ordinary people doing extraordinary things, a sense of pride and/or celebration, and delight. I’ve experienced all three as a parade goer and a parade participant. As a parade goer, I love seeing floats and decorations you don’t get to see every day, or those hard-working marching band teens, and the smiles on my children’s faces as they run out for a little candy tossed their way. I’ve been in my fair share of parades, too, and though it’s hard work, it’s always worth it.
The parade in this scripture reading is one that gets brought out on Palm Sunday in many churches. I have years worth of memories of processing through a church worship space, waving a palm branch as people sang all around me. Later on those Sunday mornings, the pastor would talk about this moment when Jesus made his triumphant entry into Jerusalem and what it meant for their then and our now. It’s probably the most-famous parade in the Bible for Christians. One detail found in 3 of the 4 gospels - that’s often as close as you’ll get to getting them all to say exactly the same thing - is the people shouting “Hosanna!”
There are lots of “church words” that we hear, say, or sing, but not necessarily know the meaning of, off the top of our heads. Amen is “may it be so,” or “it is so.” Hallelujah means “Praise the Lord.” And Hosanna? It’s how to tell someone “All I wanna do when I wake up in the morning is see your eyes.” No wait, that’s Rosanna, Roanna. Hosanna means “Save now, please!”
The people around Jesus on his victory parade shout Hosanna from the Hebrew root “to save,” and that’s the same root as the name Joshua. Or in Aramaic, Yahshua. Or, Jesus. Hosanna! “Save us now, Jesus, please!” It’s a cry of vulnerability and trust. We know we need saving, we know you can do it. It lays it all out on the line.
Sometimes, the scripture reading and movie scene I write about are a perfect pair because the scene serves as a good illustration of the themes and theology of the reading. Then there are pairings like today, which strike a strong contrast. Say “hello” to our movie paired with the Palm Sunday reading, Animal House.
There are no shouts of “Hosanna!” Only screams of terror, as the “animals” of Delta House wreak revenge on the Dean, the Mayor, and everyone who mocked and belittled them. They’ve been kicked off campus and out of college. Is it their own doing, and a long time coming? Absolutely. Did many powerful people conspire against them? Without a doubt. Nevertheless, they are taking a stand against “the man.”
In the midst of the chaos, you get young Chip (Kevin Bacon in one of his first movies), a young Omega House pledge trying to keep people calm. It’s played for laughs. There’s no way he’s going to get people to relax with his approach, not when they’re seemingly fleeingly (I’m inventing words now) running for their lives. When he loses his temper and shouts, “ALL IS WELL!” clearly it is not.
What a fun juxtaposition. Over here, a vulnerable crowd who admits they need saving cries out “Hosanna!” And over there, an overly-confident young man shouting at a panicked crowd that “All is well!” I don’t know what it would’ve taken to break through the chaos of that post-parade riot, but I do know this: extraordinary things, celebration, and delight are out the window. Let’s say Chip was right - what would it take for them to listen? What about us, do we listen for how we do have peace in our lives? That, despite our hardships or stressors, that in a greater, big picture sense, all can be well?
The people running around Chip needed saving. It wasn’t up to him to tell them they’ll be fine. It’s up to the crowd to admit they need saving. That’s how it worked in the gospel, at least. Can you admit when you need saving?