Gospel.com Blog

Evil is easy. Not just easy to do, but easy to portray in writing or film. Think about all of the interesting, memorable evildoers in literature and film: Count Dracula, Ebenezer Scrooge, Michael Corleone, Darth Vader, Benjamin Linus. Most exciting stories revolve around the reaction of heroes to dramatic evil, whether it takes the form of murder, deceit, theft, or any one of countless instantly-engaging acts of villainy.

Even the goodness portrayed in most of our stories is defined as a specific response to evil. The heroes of film and literature may be good people before the villain appears on the scene, but we don’t pay much attention to their goodness until they’re provoked by evil—and even then, the goodness we’re most interested in is that waged in opposition to evil.

Can you think of any good examples in film or literature of genuine, Christlike goodness practiced for its own sake? Are there characters whose kindness, grace, or compassion is even more striking than any portrayal of evil?

I was surprised at how easy it was to call to mind effective portrayals of evil, and how challenging it was to think of memorable, inspiring examples of good. One that occurs to me is the portrayal of Gandalf in the opening scenes of Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring (both the book and the movie). Before the evil Sauron or his minions appear on the scene, Gandalf is portrayed as someone who genuinely loves, without condition, the meek and humble. He’s one of the most powerful figures in the land, and yet he takes time every few years to pay a visit to the diminutive hobbits (who are ignored or scorned by some of Gandalf’s peers). He laughs with them, helps them put on dazzling parties, and watches out for their well-being without a single selfish motive. Once the story proper kicks in, Gandalf’s goodness becomes more closely defined by his fight against evil; but his kindness up to that point is inspiring and Christlike.

Do you have a favorite example of good portrayed stirringly and effectively in art?

Recently, I’ve been reading and watching stories that deal with time travel. It hasn’t been a wholly intentional move; in particular, the last book I read snuck it in without warning a hundred pages from the end. Interacting with so many stories with time shifting elements has made me start to wonder why it’s such a popular trope.

I think the reason we keep telling story after story of returning to the past is because it allows us to envision a world without guilt and regret.

We can go back and say “yes!” when we said “no!”, save ourselves or others from making a terrible mistake, or maybe even keep ourselves from sinning. We think it would allow us to keep tweaking our lives until we were perfect—or at least what we think is perfect. It’s an attractive proposition because it might even let us manufacture a life that didn’t need forgiving. We could, in short, create a sort of simulacrum of God’s grace cobbled together through an alternative timeline of correct choices.

Yet, as many of the characters in these stories realize, attempting to recreate the world to your own design usually introduces more problems than it originally had. Most time travel stories end with the characters foreswearing the ability to mess with the past. There’s an admission that our problems and mistakes are worthwhile in the light of a future guided by a small minority’s whims and ideals.

Also, it’s interesting to me as a Christian to read stories where secular authors come to the conclusion that, in the end, the original Creator’s intention with His Creation is better than anything humanity could come up for it. It’s a strong statement about man’s place in relation to an all-knowing God.

What about you? Why do you think people are fascinated with time travel? Or do you personally find it uninteresting?