This recommendation came from a new friend I met while learning to scuba dive last summer in Billings, MT. He was my dive buddy for several dives as I was learning more skills to become advanced open water certified.
Recommendation #34 from Eric Randle
Law Abiding Citizen by Wimmer & Gray
Per Wikipedia, Law Abiding Citizen is a 2009 American crime-thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray from a screenplay written by Kurt Wimmer. It stars Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx and takes place in Philadelphia, telling the story of a man driven to seek justice while targeting not only his family’s killer but also those who have supported a corrupt criminal justice system, intending to assassinate anyone supporting the system.
One of the few movies on my recommendation list, I first encountered it while in Queenstown. I came in late one night and my roommates were watching it in the living room. As I had missed the first half of the movie, I didn’t watch it then, but I did see how violent the movie could be. And now, having watched the entire film, I would caution anyone who watches it. It is a very violent movie that also requires a healthy amount of suspension of disbelief. The website Rotten Tomatoes also agrees with me, giving it a 26% (4.4/10) rating and saying, “Unnecessarily violent and unflinchingly absurd, Law Abiding Citizen is plagued by subpar acting and a story that defies reason.”
Ultimately, this film shows the opposite path to forgiveness. Revenge is often what we desire when we are hurt; when things we love are taken from us. And while it can be a very powerful force in one’s life, it is also a violent, unfulfilling one. Revenge is characterized by the Old Testament’s law of “an eye for an eye”. The way to ease your own suffering – to be just – is to cause suffering in the lives of those who were responsible. But is revenge ever truly fulfilling? Does making someone suffer as much as you have suffered ever bring about more peace, beauty, or love? Shouldn’t that be the point to justice? Resolution rather than revenge?
Which is why the sacrifice of Jesus is truly a remarkable thing. Because Jesus, rather than getting revenge on those that hung him on a cross, instead asked that they be forgiven, “for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus showed us all a better way forward, one characterized by love and peace. While I truly understand how hard it is to turn the other cheek, the alternative is that we all continue to live in our pain, striking out at those around us, and causing more pain in the world. “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind.” That’s not the type of world I want to live in.
So, while I can’t recommend this movie to you, I can still appreciate that it shows the dark side of pain and how that is contrasted by the enlightened human life of the God I love and serve. Whether you believe Jesus was God incarnate, or whether you believe he was just a wise teacher, his life and words certainly show a unique approach to living, justice, and love.
Thanks for reading. Here’s another song from my Dependence playlist for January 2019 – Worth Fighting For. This is the type of fighting that I want to do, fighting by loving other people.
You lit a fire
It's burning bright
The love grenade has set my heart alight
My heart alight
This love is like a war
It's taken hold of me
It's cut me to the core
But darling can't you see
That you're worth fighting for for for
That you're worth fighting for for for