Sunday Matinee #93 Horrible Bosses
The last shall be first, the first shall make peanut shampoo?!
Mark 10:35-45 | EnterTheBible.org
Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost | 10.20.2024
Context: It’s not just enough to be one of the twelve, brothers James and John want to be declared the best of the disciples. Jesus isn’t putting up with this. Instead, they get a lesson in how just when you think you’re the best, it’s time to be a lot more humble.
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”
Horrible Bosses | 2011
IMDb | Letterboxd | RRMC
Context: Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis), and Dale (Charlie Day) decide they’ve had enough of their horrible bosses and possibly maybe the only way out is… killing them (fun fact: never a good idea). They argue while on stakeout to figure out what to do. Nick and Kurt lock out Dale and talk through their options.
Dale: You seriously locking me out of the car like we're in 8th grade?!
Kurt: What about Harken? Probably always got that injector thing.
Nick: Doesn't shower with it.
Kurt: So then we'll put some peanuts inside his shampoo.
Nick: It would be a couple of fatal accidents we're not even there for.
Kurt: Motherfucker Jones would be so proud.
Nick: Yeah, he would.
Mark 10:35-45 James and John want to sit at Jesus's right hand.
Commentary:
When best friends in comedy movies have a disagreement, the audience is usually in for a real treat. When it happens in real life, it can be a real source of pain and loss. In the Bible, it can sometimes be a mix of both.
Because we the audience of the Bible are thousands of years removed from the scenes and stories depicted in it, we in a sense “already know the ending.” That can lead us to find humor in moments like this one, where disciple brothers James and John agree that they are well within their rights to tell Jesus we want you to do whatever we want for us. When Jesus disagrees, we might smile or even laugh at their naivete. Somehow, they have stumbled into a bad idea.
The thing is, they should know better, just by the lessons they witnessed in just the last few verses of Mark 9-10. In Mark 9:33-37, they were amongst the disciples arguing about who is the greatest (hello, it’s Nathanael!) and Jesus says children are, so be like children. Then in Mark 10, they try to stop children from coming to Jesus and are rebuked for their rebuking. Then they see a man turn away from Jesus because he thought he was ready but he wasn’t. Okay, those are three big lessons on what it means to follow their teacher. Will they learn from that and avoid silly requests?
Sadly, no. Or perhaps gladly, no. I write “sadly” because you’d like to think that if you’re learning lessons first-hand from the great teacher, you would actually absorb them in demonstrable ways. I also write “gladly,” because we have a lot to learn from these students who don’t always get it. Let me put it this way: none of us are perfect, and to see Jesus work with imperfect people can give hope that, hey, even we have a chance!
The constant bickering and failing upward in Horrible Bosses is a big part of what makes it funny. These three best friends, Nick, Kurt, and Dale, face a different dilemma than the disciples. While the disciples’ “boss” is always trying to teach them something, this trio’s bosses are actively trying to make their lives miserable. While they try to support one another, they argue and disagree constantly.
This scene in the car is a good example of how they play off one another. Nick and Kurt make the mature decision to lock Dale out of the car because they’re upset with him. Good! Except, their seclusion lets them make the mature decision to plan a murder. Via peanut shampoo. As Jesus told the disciples whoever is first shall be last and the last shall be first, perhaps he’d tell these guys whoever wants to be first shall not commit first-degree murder via peanut shampoo.
The disciple brothers want a promotion, the Bosses trio want a reprieve. James and John are seeking results of their ambition. Nick, Kurt, and Dale are seeking relief from their horrible bosses. Both act in a bit of desperation to get the result they want. The disciples get a refresher on the definition of selfless service and sacrifice. The Bosses trio live a lesson in self-serving plans gone wrong.
I only recently saw Horrible Bosses and Horrible Bosses 2 for the first time this fall, and I liked them both. I like how these guys each take turns being the smart one, the foolish one, and the one in-between. Like how the disciples’ journey can remind us that nobody is perfect but everybody can do good, this trio of protagonists gives off a similar vibe. Both this scene from scripture and this scene from the movie challenges you to ask what would you do?
Hopefully, you’d do better than any of them!
Who has been your best boss? What does selfless service look like? When did you bite off more than you could chew and how did you handle it?
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