No Surprises

I'm sitting here listening to Radiohead. I've recently had my interest in their music piqued by a book I just read called Everyday Apocalypse. It's written by David Dark who is the best articulater of a Christian reaction to art that I have come across. His chapter in the book on Radiohead was amazing. The whole book is based around the idea of good art being "apocalyptic," and in turn calling us as Christians to lead "apocalyptic" lives. It's not apocalyptic in the sense of people disappearing from cars and a person from a former Soviet Bloc country taking over the UN, but rather in the sense of a radical rethinking of the way things are and the way they should be. Or, "apocalyptic" reveals and exposes truth. Apocalyptic art challenges our notions of reality, or at least offers us alternative visions of experience, and that's why this kind of art should be a crucial part of our lives. Apocalyptic art pierces sentimentality--an idea that tempts us to compartmentalize our lives into "spiritual" and "secular" parts. If we are to live out the "apocalyptic" life, we must realize there is no reality but the coming kingdom of God on earth and everything we do is firmly grounded in that perspective.

I think this idea of the revelation of truth in art is what makes Radiohead's music so darn good. The way I read their song "No Surprises" (which is informed by Dark's reading) is that the more sentimental we make our lives, the more damage we do to ourselves. I can't do the song justice by explaining it; you'll have to listen to it for yourself and see how it strikes you.

The last idea of Dark's that I want to mention is from a question and answer session that we just had with him in my Media Criticism class yesterday. We were discussing this idea of sentimentality as it relates to "The Passion of the Christ." Dark has not seen the film, but he said that he feels any film about the crucifixion of Christ that is disconnected from the ethic of Jesus' life ultimately falls short of portraying the true story of Christ. In order to illustrate this ethic of Christ more fully, he discussed Mel Gibson's response to a question he was often asked during interviews relating to promote the film. Gibson, being accused of anti-Semitism in his portrayal of who really killed Christ, was often asked the question of "Who really killed Jesus?" His response was usually, "We all did." I've heard this response before and I've thought it makes sense, being the sinners that we are. But Dark took this perspective a step further. He said, "It's not that we all did kill Jesus, it's that we all would." I was so struck by this statement, because I think that he's dead on. When I think about it, I do not live a life that is pleasing to God, but rather one that is filled with pursuing my own selfish desires. Too often I devalue people with whom I do not agree, people who have hard truths to challenge me with. To have the ramifications of my sinfulness brought home in this way, by thinking that I would crucify Christ today if given the opportunity, felt to me like a truly apocalyptic experience.