This week at the movies

Hi all,

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a chance to share something with all of you, the fine people of The Table, and so this Wednesday I’m going to stick with something I know: movies.

We’re going to take some time to think about the very human tendency we have all inherited to categorize each other and to create exclusionary groups. To do this we’re going to spend some time looking at the work of one of cinema’s lasting geniuses, Charlie Chaplin. Very few artists of any medium have managed to explore the human condition with the sort of depth that Chaplin managed repeatedly, and I think it will not only be enlightening, but hugely entertaining to have a conversation around the tale of societal in-grouping and out-grouping that he sets up in arguably his greatest masterpiece, City Lights.

Alas, we won’t have enough time to watch the whole film, but feel free to bring popcorn or other snacks (we’ll make ice tea), and a willingness to laugh hard and think hard about what it means to be on the outside (of prosperity, of racial/sexual/gender acceptability or of spirituality) looking in.

Looking forward to having a great conversation!

Tim (Penner)

 

P.S. As with any good promo, here’s a trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2NTUnujk1I