Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Firefly and Morality

Today’s quote comes from Joss Whedon.

“If nothing we do matters, then the only thing that matters is what we do.”

This quote reminds me of a quote from Serenity, Mal is talking to Shepard Book who says “Only one thing is going to walk you through this, Mal. Belief.” Mal of course scoffs at this saying “I ain’t looking for help from on high. That’s a long wait for a train that don’t come.”

To me this entire conversation speaks to a sad condition in our world today; people aren’t willing to search for truth. Saying that the only thing that matters is what we do leaves out an important part of doing the right thing; why we do what we do. If we do the right thing for the wrong reason does it really matter?

Monday, March 29, 2010

Jedi and the Truth

Today’s quote comes from American writer Neil Gaiman.

“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten.”

This is exactly why I got involved in making films. I want to tell tales that will be immortalized in the medium of film. Film has an incredible ability to influence what people believe. For example during the 2001 census in England and Wales 390,127 people put down Jedi as their religion. In fact in most areas of England and Wales the number of people who identify as Jedi is higher than those that identify as Jewish or Buddhist.