Netflix's Black Mirror: looking at screens versus looking at Christ
Niv Lobo
W.H. Auden, the 20th century poet, once said: "Every man carries with him through life a mirror, as unique and impossible to get rid of as his shadow." It’s a striking metaphor, describing the personal impact of how we see ourselves.
Auden proposes a "parlour game for a wet afternoon — imagining the mirrors of one’s friends." But in the 21st century, we don’t have to imagine.
letter from Latvia
The gospel benefit of pulling together
John Woods
Over the last month or so, the Latvian Men’s International football team has played England at Wembley. The match was a one-sided affair with Latvian parking the defensive bus and spending most of their time in their own half trying to keep England out. They did well to restrict England to three goals but the difference in depth and quality was plain to see.
The other example of Latvia punching above its weight came at this year’s Oscars ceremony. Flow (Latvian: Straume) is a 2024 animated adventure film directed by Gints Zilbalodis, written and produced by Zilbalodis and Matīss Kaža, which won the best animated picture category. It also won in the same category at the Golden Globe awards in January. The film was made on a budget of less than $4million, which is tiny compared to the budgets of giants like Disney, Dreamworks and Pixar, all of whom were beaten by this lo-fi animated film from Latvia.
culture watch
Are we too quick to demonise screens?
Rebecca Chapman
Too much time on screens can provide something of a health-hazard. Physically, emotionally, even arguably spiritually.
A huge number of column inches over recent days have been devoted to the perils of the screen-based online world for young people especially, following the release of Netflix’s Adolescence. Meanwhile, YouGov data released in March revealed that in the last year, the median Briton has only read or listened to three books. A staggering 40% of the public had not read or listened to a single book in that time. This perhaps becomes less surprising if you consider that in England, 18% of adults aged 16 to 65 – so 6.6 million people – have “very poor literacy skills”. If you were looking to increase Biblical literacy, you wouldn’t start from here.
Anniversaries prompt reflection on life’s big questions
This year marks two anniversaries – 244 years since the end of the American Revolutionary War with the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781, and ten years since the first performance of Lin Manuel Miranda’s record-breaking musical Hamilton which commemorates the former as part of its retelling of the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton.
From late September onwards there is the opportunity to watch the original Broadway cast in UK cinemas or see it live in the West End or catch the UK tour as it visits Norwich and Glasgow, and I would highly recommend doing so. But what has made this musical such a runaway success?