For anyone who read yesterday’s post, you’ll know I was struggling to stay in the writing game. Mostly because I’m still not sure what the game actually is, not to mention that I am generally not a big fan of games of any sort.
At one point in the afternoon I ended up talking to my cousin, who, though slightly older, is none-the-wiser than me (I know there will be some serious repercussions to that statement – but let’s just say we both struggle on a few shared topics).
He too, was raised within the clear strictures of the black-and-white Mennonite world. And because I was also wrestling with my aforementioned writing of my novel, I started asking him about one scene that I’d been trying to nail down. It involves a young girl watching a movie about the rapture in a Mennonite church basement in 1970. Clearly I am modeling her experience on mine, so I told him what I remembered about that terrifying film.
I see it now as a completely abhorrent and horrible thing to do to anyone, but especially a child…which is when my cousin told me that he too had been completely freaked out. But first he practically screamed into the phone when he said, “The shaver! Remember the shaver buzzing around in the sink?”
But better than that, he gave me the name of the movie; A Thief in the Night. Apparently, it’s an ongoing crowd pleaser and is still being shown in various church basements. All I know is that kids are pretty dependent on having their parents around and it’s not very nice to tell them they could disappear any second. I am being very restrained when I say it’s not very nice. I am trying to remain polite about this.
In reading the reviews about the movie, people talk about the cheesy sets, the 70s bad clothing, the lousy production values…but mostly, they talk about being scared spitless. As my cousin emailed me later, “And we weren’t allowed to watch horror movies. Hmmmm…”
There is a lot of talk about the Mennonite writer. I still don’t really know what that means. Maybe it means writing past the fear. But then I suppose every writer does that. What I do know, is that in watching this two-minute trailer, I was transported to being ten years old and terrified. I hope I can capture that on the page.
On the Parents Advisory page on the IMDb (Internet Movie Database) the caution reads as follows:
“As you can see from many of the comments, this movie can be extremely traumatizing to children, especially if they are told the the events in the movie will actually take place–that “The Rapture” is real. I saw it when I was 12 or 13, and it gave me nightmares for many months. In fact, I am in my twenties and still have nightmares because of this movie. Please, please do not show this film to children. If you would like to teach them about the Rapture, there are ways to do it that will not traumatize them in such a fashion!”
Oh yes, me too. (This to your last comment). Love. (“There is no fear in love.”) Thankfully I was never shown that particular movie. But we did have big charts that explained how everything was going to unfold. And fear is a subtle thing. What really made me upset was when our oldest son came home from his first summer at camp (this was the 80s) and I discovered that the theme of the week had been the End Times. I could not believe it! — If you put the angry passion you’re feeling into the chapter, it’s going to be real on the page!
Thank you Dora. It was all such crazy-making stuff and has taken me years to unpack and examine (and I know I’m hardly started…) so that I could see how these early lessons were still informing, or should I say, deforming, my view on life. If I really look at it, there’s not that much separating that kind of thinking from the purple-Kool-Aid crowd.
Your son is very lucky to have had a mother that got mad about that kind of camp experience. You’ve once again confirmed my opinion about what a good person you are.
I hope you’re right about the ‘angry passion’. I am trying to be careful to not tip into solely angry writing, because it’s just too off-putting and I can easily slip there. It’s hard striking a balance but I’m hoping passionate works. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s so appreciated.
All I know is we are not alone. There are many who were freaked out by this movie. A movie shown to them by parents who forebade them to see a horror movie. These well meaning parents dragged their kids to this movie and then on the ride home told them ” that’s real you know”. But that is just one of the scars.
And the ‘well-meaning’ part of your comments is so true. Our parents were terrified that we’d be left behind or go to hell and were intent on ‘scaring us straight’. Sort of like the ‘shock-and-awe’ part of the program. They did accomplish one thing with me; I do not believe in fear-based approaches to anything. If it doesn’t feel or look like love, well, then guess what? I’m outta there.
Real love is patient and kind and compassionate and empathetic and never hurts – and it certainly is not punitive.
Love doesn’t make you feel bad, it makes you feel good. Basic things to know. That’s what I believe in; love.
Okay, that is really freaky. Like War of the Worlds applied cultishly and selectively to children. I didn’t know that about the Mennonite church. I knew it was controlling and rigid, but not that it stooped to that level.
In their defense it was the 70s and it was certainly not exclusive to the Mennonite church…it was basically an evangelical Christian spin. The saddest part is that there are plenty of Baptist churches and Pentecostal-type churches that are still showing this and other movies like it. Crazy and cruel.