Discussing
Sing Sing, Daughters, and Breaking Down Prison Walls

Two new movies — a drama and a documentary — model the visitation rites of Matthew 25.

I've been thinking what a great double-feature these films would make, too, Zachary. Great double review here!

There is a quiet moment in SING SING that elicited an audible response from me--and from most of the packed theater house I saw it with. It's a moment that I don't want to spoil for others by writing too much about it here, but it involves the first time we hear Divine Eye utter the word "beloved" to one of his colleagues in the theater troupe. Somehow, the camera manages to capture the vulnerable intimacy and restored dignity that word contains--an alternative to the many other monikers prisoners are assigned (or choose to adopt for themselves). In many ways, it is the moment in the movie which reveals how God sees each of us, regardless of which side of the fence we happen to be living on. And it suggests something about the kind of community we ought to cultivate within the church, too.