Brian C. Russell

I know you’ve probably been thinking to yourself, “What does Brian think about this whole Jon and Kate Plus Eight business?”

Well, you’re in luck because that’s what this post is about.  So just sit right in your chair, pace around if you’re my friend JB while scrolling down on this baby because it’s going to be good.

Let me start out by saying that there are countless other blogs that have already covered this topic, along with some fantastic articles that really deal with the severity and gravity of this situation with a wonderful heart for these people and their plight, all the while upholding the truth of Jesus Christ.  You can find some of those HERE, HERE, and HERE.

For a while, I was thinking of letting you all know about what me and my wife were learning about in our devotional about how men need to have jobs to feel like they matter because it’s their instinct to provide and just how communication is paramount in a marriage and use Jon and Kate as examples for all of those marital lessons.  

But, as I thought more about it…  I realized that there was a more significant problem.  One that encompasses their lack of communication skills, poor decisions, their inherent greed (SEE HERE FOR GREED), and their incredible fall from Christian viewers’ grace.  

I don’t think anyone has addressed this yet…

The real problem is that Jon and Kate sold the souls of their children to the Devil.  Cute and cuddly, perfect for television cameras, these little creatures were and are where the couples problems started.  Everyone’s all about judging Jon and Kate and Octomom for getting these crazy invetrofertilization procedures, and about how bad an idea it is, but what about the soulless children that come of these crazy bargain deals the Devil gets?  

It is the belief of this reporter that these babies practically have TLC branded on their skulls from birth.  This is unfortunate that the parents were so quick to sell their children’s souls to the Devil for fame and glory because we all see how this turns out (ie. Lindsey Lohan, Britney Spears, Gary Coleman, McCulley Culkin).  But there’s something extra creepy about mass producing these ill-fated creatures.  

Now, if you’ve undergone invetrofertilization, have no fear, your child probably still has a soul.  Unless during the pregnancy a man in a fancy suit showed up at your hospital and said, “Hello, I hear you’re having multiples.  Wanna make a TV show and lots of money?”  If you said yes, it’s too late.

To recap, while I do think that Jon’s soul has been dashed on the rocks of Kate’s attitude, I do not think that they sold their own souls, I think they sold their childrens.  Fame, fortune, disaster and some whacked out kids are in our tabloid future.  If you think they’re whiny babies now… they’re only 5, and TLC’s in it for the long haul.  AND, when they’re old news, VH1 probably has a reality series already lined up for them.  Something low brow most likely.  Like, “8 Chances at Love” or “Blind Date with 8″.  One thing’s for sure, it’ll rhyme.

I watched Goodfellas last night.  

I’d held off on it for a long time.  I wasn’t a big fan of The Godfather, and in general, gangster movies just don’t appeal to me, but…  it was available for instant-play on my Netflix, and I had some time to kill…  and I thought I’d go out on a limb.

Now, before I continue, I have to clarify to the men reading why I didn’t like The Godfather.  So, here’s my reasoning… there’s an hour-long wedding party at the beginning and a whole lot of nothing.  I actually stopped watching it the first time I tried.  I got so bored that I stopped watching it.  Lame.  It gets better towards the middle… so about 2 hours in.  Then it gets boring again.  And, no, I haven’t bothered to watch the others.

Moving on.

There’s something about gangster films.  (And that’s “gangster” in the original sense of the word, not “gangsta”)  There’s that strange sense coolness to them even though they’re doing horrible things.  Stealing, cheating (the law, their wives, their girlfriends), murdering, and generally getting away with all of it.  It’s not surprising that a consequenceless life intrigues some people.

Goodfellas starts out with some guys riding down the road.  They hear some bumping around in the trunk.  They pull over and open the trunk.  A bloodied man rustles around.  Joe Pesci drops some f-bombs and stabs the guy a few times and Robert DeNiro shoots him too.  Ray Liotta stands back a bit, looking horrified and the voiceover says, “I always wanted to be a gangster.”

Interesting beginning to say the least.  It goes on to show the ravaging affects of a “consequence-free lifestyle” and after the movie, I was left wondering why anyone would still want to be a gangster.  All that happens is everyone is constantly on edge and paranoid, never knowing who was going to turn their back on who.  

And all of it starts with greed.

Greed for the lifestyle.  Greed for the power, the respect.  Greed for the money.  Greed for the women, the drugs, the promotion.  And all it leads to is ruin.

Paranoid that someone’s going to kill you, imprison you, catch you.  Your best friend for 15 years, your wife, your girlfriend, your boss, your kids.  You never know.

I recently watched another movie too about this same thing called The Departed.  It’s all about the same thing.  It all comes down to a main theme of greed = ruin.  And I don’t get it.

Not that I’ve never been greedy or jealous of stuff or friends or people, but I can’t understand the continuous draw of it.  So many people just want so bad to live like this, and it always ends the same.  How many gangster movies end happily?

To recap:  It’s always intriguing to me to find movies that have an overtly Biblical theme or moral thread wrapped up in them that they don’t mean to do.  But that’s exactly what Goodfellas (and pretty much every gangster movie I’ve seen) taught me.  Greed = ruin.  

Sometimes, it’s just hard to mask a truth.

What movies have you pulled a message out of that probably wasn’t what was intended?