{"id":162,"date":"2011-02-01T03:16:59","date_gmt":"2011-02-01T03:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/a-lesson-from-ernest-borgnine-positive-movies-to-look-foward-to.html"},"modified":"2011-02-01T03:16:59","modified_gmt":"2011-02-01T03:16:59","slug":"a-lesson-from-ernest-borgnine-positive-movies-to-look-foward-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/a-lesson-from-ernest-borgnine-positive-movies-to-look-foward-to.html","title":{"rendered":"A lesson from Ernest Borgnine + three positive movies to look forward to"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wisdom of Ernest Borgnine.<\/a> <\/b>Upon winning a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild, the legendary 94-year-old Oscar winner<\/a> (for Marty<\/a> <\/i>in 1955) had this to say: “We are a privileged few who have been chosen to work in this field.”<\/i> He added “I hope that we will never let our dedication to our craft
\nfail and that we will always give the best we possibly can to our
\nprofession so people can enjoy us in later years.”<\/i>
His advice to young actors: “Keep studying<\/i> (and always be) watching people,
\nlearning what life is about.”<\/i>
<\/i>
His advice is well taken — and not just by actors. Too many people in the entertainment industry don’t seem to realize that it is a privilege to be working in the field of communicating ideas — and that with that privilege comes a sacred responsibility to communicate positive ideas that build people up with faith and hope and offer positive examples of the ultimate triumph of love, kindness, personal responsibility and forgiveness.
There is a value to storytelling that goes beyond the ridiculously exorbitant paychecks given to a few and the ego gratification of endless awards.<\/p>\n

If anyone needs a reminder of how false, fragile and temporary industry success can be, The Wrap offers a poignant reminder<\/a> of how industry execs can be up one day and down out the door the next. The show business site tells the story of one such executive who has been out of work for several years. He was once on top of the world and is now struggling to make ends meet. That, as they say, is life. But, the positive part of struggle, is that it can make a person more understanding and empathetic regarding the struggles of others. <\/p>\n

Success in the media is not a birthright. It is a gift to be used, may I say, to glorify God and offer encouragement to His people. <\/p>\n

Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing (1 Thessalonians 5:11)<\/i><\/font><\/p>\n

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out
\nof your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up
\naccording to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen
\n(Ephesians 4:29).<\/i><\/font><\/a><\/p>\n

That said, here are three new movies in the offing that appear to follow that biblical advice:<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

Soul Surfer<\/b><\/i><\/a> – Starring Anna Sophia Robb as Bethany Hamilton, Soul Surfer<\/i> tells the true inspirational story of champion surfer Bethany Hamilton who, after losing her arm in a shark attack, eventually returned to championship-level competition thanks to her unwavering faith, sheer determination and support from her loving family.<\/p>\n

From the press release:<\/p>\n

In 2003, only weeks after Bethany
\nand her mom, Cheri (portrayed by Helen Hunt), prayed for God to reveal His
\npurpose for Bethany’s life, the young surfing champion was attacked by a shark
\nand lost her arm. Prayer sustained her against the odds, and she found strength
\nin her Christian faith, in her family, and in her church. Less than a month
\nlater, she was back in the water and on the path to return to championship
\nform.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

“We never know what life brings,” Hamilton said
\nrecently.  “Maybe there are some rough times for you now or in the future.
\nI think that if you seek God first and focus on Him, you’ll be able to endure
\nthose struggles and hardships.”<\/i><\/p>\n

Soul Surfer<\/i>, which also stars Dennis Quaid and Carrie Underwood, is based on the book<\/a> by Hamilton, Rick Bundschur and Sheryl Berk. The film is set
\nfor nationwide release (via TriStar Pictures in association with AFFIRM Films<\/a>) on April 8. It is rated PG. <\/div>\n


<\/i>There Be Dragons<\/b><\/i><\/a> – Set in the early 1900’s,
\namidst the turmoil of the Spanish Civil War,<\/span> Dragons<\/i> tells the story of two childhood friends who become
\nseparated during the political conflict to find themselves on opposite sides as
\nwar erupts. One becomes a priest, the other a soldier. Each will
\nstruggle to find the power of forgiveness over the forces that tore their lives
\nand friendship apart. The $35-million film is directed by <\/span>Roland Joffe (<\/span>The Mission<\/i> and The
\nKilling Fields<\/span><\/i>) and is planned
\nfor release in theaters worldwide on May 6, 2011<\/span>.<\/span> It is rated PG-13.<\/p>\n

Deep in the Heart<\/i><\/a><\/b> – <\/strong>Set
\nin Texas, Jon Gries stars in the true story of an alcoholic who turned
\nhis life around and became a successful entrepreneur and put hundreds of
\nkids through college via his charitable donations. Val Kilmer plays the
\n“Christ-like figure” who helped him on his path to recovery. The
\nindependent movie, which which reunites the two stars of 1985’s Real Genius<\/i><\/a>,
\nis being directed by Christopher Cain (Young Guns<\/i>). The film, which is
\ncurrently seeking a distributor, is co-produced by Scott Duthie who says
\n“Stories involving real-life inner struggles with positive moral messages always attract me.”<\/i><\/p>\n

Me too. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The wisdom of Ernest Borgnine. Upon winning a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Screen Actors Guild, the legendary 94-year-old Oscar winner (for Marty in 1955) had this to say: “We are a privileged few who have been chosen to work in this field.” He added “I hope that we will never let our dedication to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,12,16,1,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-church","category-christianity","category-family-matters","category-media","category-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nA lesson from Ernest Borgnine + three positive movies to look forward to - Catholics Media and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/a-lesson-from-ernest-borgnine-positive-movies-to-look-foward-to.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A lesson from Ernest Borgnine + three positive movies to look forward to - Catholics Media and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The wisdom of Ernest Borgnine. 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Kennedy","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/d80\/d801bc09698c0995d9ae402b4b55ab61x96.jpg","caption":"John W. Kennedy"},"description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media & Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations & Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}