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When you see the title Ford v. Ferrari, you may think that this movie is only made for the car junkie who tells you about the newest upgrade to his car while you smile and nod even though you don’t know how to jump your car battery. This is far from the truth. Ford v. Ferrari is based on the incredible true story of Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon), a retired racer, and Ken Miles (Christian Bale), an ambitious British racer, and their journey to build a revolutionary race car and racing team to beat race car powerhouses, such as Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone), at the track Le Mans.

While the trailer makes this movie look like a serious, put-together story, this movie puts you in the same chaotic, ambitious shoes of Shelby and Miles. The dialogue is filled with passion and conflict as the team from Ford is hustling to build a world-class race car after Enzo Ferrari backs out of a deal to sell his company to Ford because of a much more lucrative deal given to him by Fiat. In 1964, Shelby would take over the Ford GT40 project from John Wyer after the Nassau Race, and Shelby with the help of Ford would go on to make the GT40 a staple of not only Ford engineering but of all racecar engineering.

Come out to the LaHaye Event Space on February 29 at 8pm to watch this incredible true story of an underdog duo.

https://www.foxmovies.com/movies/ford-v-ferrari

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1950186/

 

Written by: Andrew Reynolds

Andrew is a Senior Project Management Major, and enjoys writing for the blog because of the opportunity it gives him to grow as a writer and to challenge himself to see current topics and discussions from a view point he may not have otherwise thought about.

A common question that is asked here at Liberty is to tell somebody your “story” or “testimony”. One of the most crucial aspects of a life story is the people that influence you through it. Although everybody has a different story and has been impacted significantly by multiple people, I would love to shape your perception of “Pastor’s Kids” and show how growing up with fathers as pastors has influenced our lives and our walks with the Lord.

Pastor’s kids, often referred to at Liberty as “PK’s”, have a much different experience growing up than anybody else, and I can personally attest to this. As a PK, the same person that we live with, who takes care of us, who we see the good and bad sides of; that person is also our pastor and the leader that we seek to learn from at church. It can be a really interesting dynamic. I have many friends in which some of their greatest role models are their pastors, but in the life of a PK, that same role model is also the parent who disciplined them the night before.

A Liberty student and fellow PK Caleb Romberger said, “My dad inspired me to walk daily with Jesus and not only did he teach me and train me as a father, he did so as my pastor too.” This is a beautiful visual of the special dynamic that pastors get to spend with their children and how they are able to teach them in two crucial settings. According to another PK, Hope Wright, “You see the highlights and the lowlights of their normal life and their spiritual life and it kind of sets the tone for what’s “expected” in a way.” Nobody is perfect, and that is made visibly clear in the life of a PK. Pastors are held in such a high standard, which is good, but in reality, they are humans like everybody else. It just so happens that their job is to teach the Word of the Lord to others. I would argue that far too often kids see their parents, especially those in the ministry, as perfect and without flaw. Kids are then left to deal with the shock when they find out that their “perfect parent” isn’t perfect anymore. Another PK, Haley Henson, said, “I think it influenced me in that I got to see that my dad wasn’t perfect from a really young age even as a pastor, which kind of made his role one that was teaching me while also trying to learn himself.” This is helpful to realize the younger you are, because from then on you get to live your life realizing your dad/pastor is learning and, quite literally, practicing what he preaches.

One of the hardest parts of being a pastor’s kid is the way that everybody treats you. Growing up, you are a normal kid until everybody finds out that your dad is the pastor and then everything changes. You are known only as the “pastor’s son” and everybody starts treating you differently than they did beforehand. Donny Betts, a pastor’s kid himself, said this about his situation, “It’s not my dad who can be the problem, it’s other people who like to make me look like a perfect kid.” This notion that pastor’s children need to be perfect and spotless is unhealthy and can have many negative effects on the kids as they grow up. There are so many weighty expectations placed over the children of pastors, and when they don’t achieve them, it can bring forth many emotional issues because the kids think that they let their dad down. Of course, that is not the case, but it is still unfair to think of pastor’s kids in such high esteem. They are just that… kids, and they should be treated as such. They should be free to live and make mistakes while still being able to be corrected.

A unique aspect of being a pastor’s kid is the day when we transition into our own relationship with the Lord. Alivia Chenoweth, a student and PK at LU, says it best, “We grew up with God in our lives and in a way, our faith was our parents’ faith.” This is a struggle for every Christian that grew up in the church, but even more so with those that are pastor’s kids. For me, having grown up in the church, it can be easy to look up at the stage and see only my dad instead of my pastor. Growing up with this, I learned to just accept the Christian life and that was all that I knew. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school and then again early in college that my faith grew apart from my parents and into my own. I will always be thankful to have an avenue where I can call one person and it fills the void for the pastor and father. Both roles should operate as spiritual leaders, but both work under different scenarios and situations.

I hope that this is insightful information for you. Be on the lookout in the future for PKs and watch their dynamic with their father. The next time you see your friend that is a PK, be sure to ask them what it was like growing up with their dad as a pastor. Treat them normally and don’t hold any unhealthy expectations over them. Their answer will give major insight to how they arrived where they are currently at. Odds are, their dad had a lot to do with it.

 

Written by: Josiah Frisbie

Josiah enjoys writing for the blog because he believes in the power of discussing relevant topics. He wants to be challenged in his writing and research style while still growing and striving for knowledge.

Recently on the blog, we shared an opinion piece about the NBA All-Star rankings. In the post, one of our staff writers, Swain, passionately denotes statistics and historical data to support his thesis, which is that putting the power into the hands of fans to make decisions about who the best in the league is can be detrimental. He goes on to say fans often look at popularity and name recognition in lieu of looking at what should matter most, which in the case of the NBA is how great of a player they’re voting for. If you want to read more about this theory, hop on over to the blog post “Seeing Spotlights, Not Stars” part one. This blog post is part two, and it will focus more on the upcoming Oscar nominees. This year, just like every year, the Oscar nominees are never unanimously praised. In recent years, many issues like race for nominees overall, gender of director nominees, and snubs for Best Picture have come to light, raising the question each year of “who is this Academy made up of anyway?”. And should they be making decisions year after year for the greatest award a film or individual could win?

Here’s a little background information for you – the Academy Awards (aka, the Oscars) are decided upon by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. There are approximately 8,000+ men and women who “recognize and uphold excellence in the motion picture arts and sciences”, according to Oscars.org. There are many different branches in the Academy, ranging from Actors to Costume Directors to Production Design and so much more. Requirements for even just being eligible to be considered a part of the Academy is to have “achieved unique distinction, earned special merit, been nominated for an Academy Award”, etc. They don’t just let anybody in!

You may be thinking what I’m thinking – how do we know anything about the 8,000+ people who are involved in the Academy decisions? Unfortunately, there isn’t a list of every person in the Academy, but from this article published on January 22, 2018, the average Academy voter in 2014 was “on average 63 years old, with 76% of the members being male and 94% of the members being white”. Of course, that was six years ago, making it difficult to know if those numbers have changed much at all.

With this in mind, let’s take a look at the most nominated films for the 2020 Oscars. The top spot is taken with 11 nominations by Joker, followed closely by Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, The Irishman and 1917 with 10 nominations. Here are some snubs everyone has been talking about:

• Greta Gerwig (Little Women) for Best Director
• Uncut Gems as a whole
• The Farewell as a whole
• Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers) for Best Supporting Actress
• Lupita Nyong’o (Us) for Best Actress
• Dolemite Is My Name as a whole
• Frozen 2 for Best Animated Feature Film
• “Spirit” (from The Lion King) as Best Original Song

There are more snubs, of course, but these are the ones that are being discussed the most. Many commentaries have been released after the Oscars nominations came out on January 13, and many of them have caused movie fans to question – should the Academy have this much power? Are they making the right decisions when it comes to awarding the people who deserve it? Or are they looking through biased lens, especially when the top four movies that are nominated are, in my opinion, a bit more interesting to males? I mean come on – Joker is about a criminal mastermind, 1917 is a war movie, The Irishman is a post-war movie about organized crime, making Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood the most “sentimental” of the top four movies (and it still includes action and violence). Sure, films that may seem to appeal to women more such as Little Women and Marriage Story each have six nominations, but the odds for a Best Picture win aren’t necessarily in their favor. To me, this is because the Academy is a group of people that are dominantly male and, as aforementioned, in the age range of the 60s.

This is the question that can be posed: does the Academy just see spotlights, not true stars? This isn’t to say that anyone nominated shouldn’t have been; instead, there are many people and films that should have been. But what does the Academy make this all about – true talent, or their own bias and subjectivity? And finally, is it even possible to choose films that should win categories without a little bit of bias?

Don’t get me wrong, there has to be a group of educated, qualified people who make the decisions for the Academy Awards. Can you imagine if fans were the voters? That sounds like an absolute disaster, and I can say pretty positively most people would agree with me on that one. Therefore, my best suggestion (which is idyllic and will come off quite naïve, but oh well) is one I believe many people would suggest themselves – to push the Academy towards including more diverse members when it comes to race, gender and age. This is something that seems to be actively happening, but with any change in a group of 8,000+, the steps we will take to get there will expectantly be slow.

At the end of the day, we’re silly to think we don’t see spotlights instead of stars. Our celebrity-obsessed culture makes it difficult to recognize true talent, whether it manifests itself in NBA stars or Oscar nominees. And when you’re not one of the people who make the big decisions, it can feel like your opinion doesn’t matter anyway. But there are ways we can show support to the true stars we care about. Purchase tickets to the movie you want to win Best Picture – go see it multiple times! Support starts from us, and we can show it in small ways effectively.

What do you think about the Oscar nominees? What is your favorite Best Picture nominee?

Sources

https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-features/oscars-2020-biggest-snubs-936702/

https://oscar.go.com/news/nominations/oscar-nominations-2020-list-nominees-by-category

https://www.motionpictures.org/2018/01/meet-7258-members-academy-choose-oscar-winners-okay-not/

https://www.oscars.org

Welcome to Episode 3 of Binge and Banter! This time around we will be discussing the famed Disney+ show The Mandalorian. On February 18th, Student Activities will be hosting the “Banter” portion of this show. During this event, we will be showing short clips of the series, discussing characters, significant plot moments and symbolism, and driving at hyperspace speed into fan theories with complementary Star Wars-themed concessions being available. Both Sith and Jedi alike can come for a night of discussion about this beloved Disney+ series with plenty of audience discussion to be had. In the past, we have covered binge-worthy shows such as 13 Reasons Why and Stranger Things with audience interaction being the cornerstone of the event, so come prepared to comment and theorize with us about the vast Mandalorian series.

Following a grizzled bounty hunter who was rescued by the fierce Mandalorian people at a young age and raised as one of their own, The Mandalorian is the story of how Din Djarin discovered and must protect a half-century old child of the same species as famous Jedi Master Yoda. The Child, who displays impressive force-sensitivity despite being the equivalent of a baby in his species, has yet to be named but is highly sought after by the Imperial Forces. Regardless, both bounty hunters and Imperial forces alike are going all out in search of the Child, who is protected solely by the father-like protectorate Mandalorian.

Binge and Banter: The Mandalorian is a free event open to students, staff, and the public. Disclaimer: there will be spoilers, and some of the talking points we will discuss have ties to other Star Wars TV shows such as “Rebels” and “The Clone Wars”, so it is recommended that you come having watched those or at least have looked into their involvement with the Mandalorian people and folklore. Cosplay is welcomed and encouraged, but not required. If you’re not already thinking about coming, Student Activities will be giving away a whole year subscription to Disney+ to someone who attends the event! From the event developer perspective, few events have made us more excited, and we hope that excitement has carried over to you as well. Come to Student Activities Binge and Banter: The Mandalorian on February 18th – I have spoken.

Many people are unsure of what adoption and foster care is and what the difference is between them. Legally, adoption is “the process by which a legal and permanent parent-child relationship is created through a court process” (Adoption Network), while foster care is “a temporary arrangement in which adults provide for the care of a child or children whose birthparent is unable to care for them” (Adoption Center). One is considered long-term and the other short-term respectively, however, both are very important. As Christians, we should be more educated on what adoption and foster care are because we are all adopted children of our heavenly Father.

According to IFoster, in 2019 alone there are “approximately 440,000 foster youth nationwide”, which means that the epidemic is not only growing, but it is growing at an all-time high. The four largest football stadiums in the United States could be filled to capacity and still not hold all the children who are currently in the system. The concerning part is that the system used to be so much worse, so these numbers are a sign of substantial growth.

Starting in the early 1700s, we had the earliest forms of orphanages. Even though orphanages were more helpful than doing nothing, they were ultimately only putting a Band-Aid on a bigger problem. There were lots of horror stories from orphanages back in the day, and my personal experience working in one this past summer in Romania confirmed that there are still many lingering issues. Orphanages were often overcrowded, understaffed, and lacked proper resources for the children, which resulted in unsustainable care for these children. In the 1900s, the United States started to figure out these issues and made a switch to the earliest form of the child welfare system. Foster care started booming in America: “By the 1950s, more children lived in foster homes than in orphanages in the United States, and by the 1960s, foster care had become a government-funded program” (Spence, 2018). This was such a positive sign, but we knew we still had a long way to go.

According to Adoption Network, “135,000 children are adopted in the United States each year.” This statistic is encouraging to look at, but if you do the math, you will find that roughly 305,000 children are still in foster care at the end of the year instead of in a permanent home. The Abba Fund surmises, “If one family in every three churches in the US adopted a waiting child, every waiting child in the US would have a forever family.” Imagine a society where every child has a home to call their own and a place to grow in love. Even though one-third of Americans have considered adoption, no more than two percent of those people have actually adopted children (Adoption Network). As I look at the growing abortion rate, which is already at 3.2 million abortions worldwide for 2020 (Worldometer), I can only help but think if that baby would have been born it could have been adopted into a loving family. The key within that is that we have to be able and ready to adopt or else this epidemic will never end. We are a part of the problem and we are a part of the solution.

Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.” This verse shows us that adoption was not an afterthought in God’s mind, but rather His plan. We are called His sons and daughters because God adopted us into His heavenly family. John Piper states, “You were adopted for the praise of the glory of his grace. God’s action in adopting us is radically God-centered and God-exalting.” We are not adopted because we are perfect, but rather because we are imperfect and broken and we need someone to take care of us.

As Christians, we are given the opportunity to be more like our Savior when we decide to adopt children who do not already have a home. We do not deserve the gift of eternal life with God and the label of being His precious child, but He freely gives it to us anyways. I strongly believe we should learn how to give the gift of a home or family to a child in need, especially because it was given to us first even though we did not deserve it.

Sources

https://adoptionnetwork.com/adoption-definitions

https://www.ifoster.org/6-quick-statistics-on-the-current-state-of-foster-care/

https://www.adopt.org/what-foster-care/

https://adoption.com/do-orphanages-still-exist/

https://www.worldometers.info/abortions/

https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/predestined-for-adoption-to-the-praise-of-his-glory

In an era of sequels, prequels, and book adaptations, it is a rare occurrence for a single story to claim such high praise. Knives Out and Dark Waters both fall into such a category as they have received major success at the box office, as well as extremely positive reviews from critics. Student Activities is going to treat you guys to a double-feature of these incredible films at the Vines Center on February 8^th! With that being said, here is a preview of what to expect before seeing these movies.

From director Rian Johnson, Knives Out tells a mind-bending mystery that leaves audiences completely speechless with how the story unfolds. With a star-studded cast including Daniel Craig, Toni Collette, Chris Evans, and Jamie Lee Curtis, the audience is able to see this modern “whodunit” elevate the mystery-thriller genre. This film tells the story of how a wealthy crime novelist, Harlan Thrombey, invites the characters to his luxurious mansion for his 85^th birthday. Shockingly, Thrombey is found dead in his study. Thus, a classic whodunit story is carried out and will leave you, the audience, stunned at the conclusion and the truth behind the death of Thrombey. This film has been nominated for “Best Original Screenplay” at the Oscars this year, and it was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards, including Best Actress (Ana de Armas), Best Actor (Daniel Craig) and Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (this film being the latter).

Todd Haynes, director behind Dark Waters, tells the true story of detective Robert Billot and his discovery of a dark truth that connects a growing number of unexplainable deaths to one of the largest corporations in the world, the DuPont chemical corporation. Billot, played by Mark Ruffalo, finds himself risking his career and the relationships with his family to bring justice to this dark case. Also starring Anne Hathaway, Dark Waters expertly displays the very real-world effects of deception, crime, and injustice and puts the audience in the shoes of an exhausted yet righteous detective.

Grab some blankets and your friends and come out to the Vines Center on February 8^th for some free popcorn and to see how these brilliantly crafted stories play out!

Sources

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dark-waters-movie-review-2019

https://www.focusfeatures.com/dark-waters/about

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8946378/

 

Written by: Alex Quan

Alex is a Junior Business Communications Major and enjoys writing for the blog because of the opportunity to express his thoughts and interests through the medium of a blog! It’s a healthy way to share his opinions with others and hopefully start a dialogue with them.

 

“With great power comes great responsibility” is the life quote of Uncle Ben from Marvel’s Spiderman, and its reigning truth is evident in fans of all genres. Fans hold the power to support artists, taking someone from being a nobody to a headlining star in virtually no time at all. Fans have the power to get into the head of an opposing visiting player and cause him or her to lose concentration as they try to make a key free throw. Fans have the power to encourage or discourage the success of a project by way of reviews and attendance. The amount of power fans have is, in my opinion, honestly astonishing.

My argument is that fans oftentimes abuse their multi-faceted power – the NBA All-Star voting being a prime example of the abuse of power, lack of wisdom, and fullness of immaturity of fans. The All-Star game carries no mid-season significance, but its effects can be lasting in terms of endorsement deals, contracts, confidence, incentives, momentum, and even Hall of Fame voting. It’s not just playing time in a glorified pick-up game on the line here; there are some long term implications. With 50 percent of the vote for All-Stars belonging to fans and 25 percent going to the media (with the last 25 percent belonging to the players themselves), fans carry a tremendous amount of power in determining who gets to play on February 16^th in Chicago.

In their ignorance, fans have voted more for name recognition than for recognition of how players have actually played this season individually. They love what is popular, but is popularity always good or productive during the season? For example, Steph Curry, a multi-time MVP and champion who revolutionized how people play basketball by bringing about renaissance of the 3-point shot, is sixth in the West for guards as of January 16, 2020. The trouble is that Curry has only played in four games this season after injuring his wrist against the Suns early on. Based off of how Curry has performed in the past, it is safe to say he would likely end up in the All-Star game based off his production levels. Yet, this year, due to his injury, he has not been able to produce. Because Curry is taking up a spot in the fan-voted guards category, players like DeMar DeRozan of the Spurs and Jrue Holiday of the Pelicans are not currently in the Top 10, both of whom have been very productive for their teams this year. They do not carry the same name recognition as Curry – yet is that reason enough for them to not be in the Top 10?

Alex Caruso of the popular Lakers squad is averaging less than six points with only 2.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, but is fourth in the guard voting for the West. This is all because the LA Lakers have a vast fanbase and Caruso has become a bit of a league meme. Caruso’s level of production is nowhere close to DeRozan, who is averaging 22.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game. Another Lakers star, Dwight Howard, is tenth in the West’s frontcourt voting with 670,643 votes, yet is only averaging 7.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and less than one assist per game. The only reason he is in the All-Star fan vote Top 10 is due to past popularity, the team he is on, and fan ignorance regarding which players actually deserve to be in the Top 10.

This is not to say that popular players are not producing or deserving of All-Star votes altogether, as many of them became popular by playing well and earning their spots. Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo is averaging 30.1 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 5.5 assists and he leads the East in votes. This is also not to say that popularity should play absolutely no role in the voting process. Rookie sensation Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies is not putting up as impressive of numbers as some other guards, but he is competing at stellar levels as a rookie. For this reason, it is understandable why he would be in the running for an All-Star spot. The problem becomes when popularity causes fans to blindly vote for players and hard work is inevitably neglected.

Many advocate for the dismantling of the fan vote, which I am for if fans continue to make extremely biased decisions when determining who to vote for. We the fans should recognize good game instead of just names, and we should applaud hard work and productivity – not just popularity. We should help the underappreciated become recognized through the powers we possess. To conclude as this piece began, we as fans have a great amount of power in our hands that we have to take responsibility for, just like Uncle Ben says. And if we don’t take responsibility to make educated decisions, the question of our freedom to make decisions is the only one that remains.

(All stats are taken from the NBA All-Star voting bios on NBA.com or from ESPN.com)

Sources

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28497105/lakers-lebron-james-maintains-lead-fans-vote-all-stars

 

Written by: Landen Swain

Landen believes the human experience longs to be expressed; through our art, our labor, our songs, our storytelling. As a published playwright, author, and poet, he enjoys expressing his little chapter of the human experience through his writings and is thankful that the SA blog allows him to do that. He is published in numerous magazines, literary journals, and has several plays published by Off the Wall Plays, an online play publishing house.

Have you ever thought to yourself “it would sure be nice if Student Activities highlighted some upcoming events this semester on their podcast”? If you have, you’re in luck! We have recorded a short and sweet conversation about the events and concerts we have coming up this semester so that you’re in the know. At the end of the day, we all just want to be up to date on what’s going on around campus, right?

This podcast features Erin Cleveland (Assistant Director of Programming), Steph Ward (Director of SA), and Avery Watts (Event Supervisor). The episode was produced and edited by Clay Copper (Event Supervisor). Our jingle was created by Judd Harris.

At just 30 years old, Jonathan McReynolds has accumulated more critical acclaim musically than some artists do in their entire careers, and for good reason. The Chicago-raised singer’s angelic voice has raised the eyebrows of recent stars such as Tori Kelly and Justin Bieber as well as legends like Stevie Wonder and Kirk Franklin. Franklin went so far as to say that Jonathan is “the future of gospel music”. Considering Franklin’s mountain of influence, that compliment is high praise.

Critics evidently agree with Kelly, Wonder, and Franklin, as McReynolds’ work has been nominated for multiple Grammy awards. Jonathan is no stranger to the Dove awards either, taking home a GMA Dove Award for his second album, Life Music: Stage Two, as well as numerous Stellar Gospel Music Awards for other projects. While musically intelligent and talented, McReynolds is also intellectually genius, being recently named a member of Mensa, a high IQ society. Other honors include being named to Apple Music’s “The A-List: Gospel” playlist, McReynolds was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. It seems like whatever McReynolds touches turns to gold.

Those who are wise enough to purchase tickets to Jonathan McReynolds’ February 21^st concert in the LaHaye Event Space will be able to brag for years that they saw him for a cheap price before he is selling out arenas all over the country and world. McReynolds’ musings promise to leave you astounded at his songwriting, blown away by his voice, and in awe of the God he proudly sings about. From fan-favorite song “Cycles” to the show-stopping hit “Make Room”, those in attendance are in for a great night of worship music and vocal talent. Make Room on your schedule for this night that promises to be worth the price of admission.

Sources

https://www.jonathanmcreynolds.com/

This episode of SA Conversations is a special one to us for the reason that our boss, Chris Misiano, is the interviewee! Chris has been a part of Student Activities for enough time to see it change drastically into what the department is now. He has also gained quite a bit of responsibility during his time at LU, causing him to now oversee many more departments than just SA. We chat with Chris about not only SA and Campus Rec, but also about his advice for keeping up productive habits. We especially enjoyed hearing him discuss some of his favorite podcasts, music and books, which are great recommendations for listeners. Happy listening!

*We are also now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts – woohoo! Just search SA Conversations to see the episodes we have to choose from.

This podcast features Erin Cleveland (Assistant Director of Programming) and Steph Ward (Director of SA). The episode was produced and edited by Clay Copper (Event Supervisor). Our jingle was created by Judd Harris.