Our "Family Worship" Night this week....DVD World's Apart (To Verdener)

Open mind

To fully cooperate with the loving counsel from The Slave, our family dutifuly watched "Young People, What Will You Do With Your Life?" this week.

Oh wait. No. That would have induced simultaneous projectile vomiting.

We watched a secular version of it instead.

"World's Apart" (To Verdener), a film released in Denmark, February, 2008. It's now available on DVD with English subtitles exclusively at Blockbuster.

It was a surreal experience. It was like we were watching "The Scarlet Letter" and wondering how a society could be so cruel and judgemental. And repeatedly throughout the movie, we realized, oh yeah, that's us.

Barbara & Joe Anderson posted about it here early in 2008.

http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/152166/1/Danish-film-Worlds-Apart-about-JW-girl-reviewed-by-XJW-author

Wish we had gotten to it sooner. Aside from a couple of pretty inconsequential inaccuracies, the film was VERY well done. Quietly understated, yet powerful in it's impact. Highly recommended.

Unless you want to remain a JW.

om

Balsam

I'm going to go get that, have been wanting to see it forever since I heard of it.

Thanks for letting us know.

Ruth

sweet pea

So what were your children's comments OM?

OnTheWayOut

The inaccuracies in that film are minor as you noted. The accuracies are scary. The JC and shunning stuff.

Great film.

Open mind

Sweet Pea, the kid's loved it! It was a very positive experience.

It's SOOO nice to be able to communicate honestly, and (hopefully) openly with our kids without the Borg Big Brother standing in the corner. Here's a couple examples.

*SPOILER ALERT*

(Don't read the following if you want to see the movie with a clean mental slate.)

There was a scene early in the movie where 17-yr-old Sara (the central character) and another JW girl go to a club. We asked our kids what real world, NOT Watchtower World, bad judgement call(s) did Sara make?

They both were savvy enough to know that you don't accept a mixed drink from a stranger in a club and they had both heard of Roofies (sp?) the date-rape drug.

Later in the movie, when Sara has sex with her 23-yr-old non-JW boyfriend, I asked "What big problem do you think might have happened if this was a couple of 17-yr-old, virgin, naive JWs slipping between the sheets for the first time?"

"Yes, Dad, they probably wouldn't have had condoms and they probably wouldn't have known how to use them."

This response was complete with a bit of eye-rolling and slight exasperation on their part. Hey, I'm still a Dad. That's my job.

Only now, our two biggest guiding principles are Safety & Health, not arbitrary Watchtower rules. The kids may not always agree with what we think is best for their safety or health, but at least we all agree it's a very valid basis for various house rules.

om

Open mind

One more quote from my daughter:

"This movie is the sad, awful, truth."

om

sweet pea

Out of the mouth of babes . . .

WTWizard

Sure sounds like a better way to spend the night than wasting it watching washtowel programs or reading washtowel littera-trash.

zarco

OM - We enjoyed the film when it came out... I think it was on On Demand for a while in the IFC section. It is a very thought provoking film. One scene that sticks in my mind is the one when the boyfriend is questioning Sara in a store about the fact that her religion teaches that all these people will be destroyed. He points to different people in the store and asks her if they will die... it is a powerful scene

Family study night at your house sounds like fun!

Open mind

Zarco:

Family study night at your house sounds like fun!

Thanks. It is because...

1. We only use Watchtower publications if we're looking for a good laugh (or cry).

2. It's spontaneous. Probably happens a couple times a month.

3. No sacred cows. Anything's on the table.

om

Our "Family Worship" Night this week....DVD World's Apart (To Verdener)

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