Unpop Culture

For those lamenting Pixar’s artistic decline, take heart: there is reason to celebrate. I’m even prepared to say Inside Out is Pixar’s best film yet. Granted, that’s just my opinion—but it’s true. I’m thrilled about the movie’s opening weekend gross of $91 million—the best opening, actually, for an original story in cinema history, beating out James Cameron’s Avatar . To quote  Entertainment Weekly , “Even though Inside Out ended the weekend in second place [behind Jurassic World ], it’s the biggest No. 2 debut of all time, demolishing the $68.7 million record previously held by The Day After Tomorrow .” Yes, this movie is receiving the financial and critical accolades it so rightly deserves. Oh, Pixar, how do I love thee? Let me recount the ways. As a reminder, I rate movies based on three criteria: potentially objectionable content (C), artistic merit (A), and my personal opinions (P). (CAP. Get it?) CONTENT (C): 10 out of 10 A typical Pixar film avo...

When Shannon and I took our infant daughter to the ER last month, we didn’t plan on a week-long hospital stay. We didn’t plan on days of scary bouts of pertussis-induced apnea. We didn’t plan on getting snowed in at the hospital, nor on me coming down with food poisoning, nor on Shannon developing a sinus infection. It was a comedy of errors, and while we weren’t exactly laughing, we weren’t despairing either: God’s was at work in the midst of our suffering. During our stay in the hospital, we repeatedly had to suction Elanor’s nose out to keep it clear. Sometimes we used an electronic aspirator and sometimes we used a handheld bulb. Each time, Elanor protested the invasion of her sinuses with pitiable vehemence. It was obvious that she didn’t fully understand what was going on and didn’t appreciate the discomfort that came along with her treatments. And in these respects, she reminded me of myself: how I—and, I suspect, many people—relate to God. More specifically, she helpe...

Interestingly, one of the most famous pieces of Christian literature ever written on romance and marriage was addressed to singles. Evidently, single people need to understand marriage and romance just as much as married people do. I know I did. Due in part to my idolatrous view of marriage, the last several years of my singleness were some of the most acutely painful years of my entire life. Paradoxically, those years also ended up being some of the most fruitful of my life. I guess you could say it was the best of times and the worst of times. It was the best of times because God was doing a lot of beneficial work on my heart . It was the worst of times because I was a single person living in a married person’s world, and I longed to be married. Events like Valentine’s Day only served to remind me of what I didn’t have. What I needed to read was that famous piece of literature addressed to singles about marriage. Being a good Christian guy, I’d glanced at it before, but...

Inquoris “Inky” Johnson used to play football for the University of Tennessee. But on September 9, 2006, his lifelong plans for the NFL were shattered. During a game against the Air Force, Inky experienced a life-threatening and, ultimately, debilitating injury on the field. He was left with the inability to pursue an athletic career of any kind. Weaker men would have shaken their fist at God and wallowed in the mire of bitterness. But that’s not how Inky responded to his injury. Even though he wakes up each morning with constant pain and a paralyzed right arm, he smiles and embraces life. That’s the response, not of a weak man, but a meek man. 1 In contrast, I’m the kind of guy who becomes agitated if I get behind a slow driver on the freeway. I can respond poorly when my plans—even my minor plans—aren’t fulfilled. That’s why I asked Inky, whom I have come to call my friend, to share a little with me, and the readers here at Happier Far , about what it looks like to trust ...