July 8 – “The Critic’s Review”

In this summer of TV reruns and Astros losses we have started a new series on Netflix.  We had never heard of it before a mention was made by one of the kids at church.  And as we have so often done in the past, we decided to watch to get a handle on what kinds of cultural phenomena are gripping the young people of our country today.  The show’s basic premise is flawed (particularly theologically), the lifestyle of the characters is morally bankrupt, and perhaps worst of all, they occasionally break into song.  A musical?  Really?  On the plus side, it is light-hearted.  And most of the time good wins over evil.  Some kind of positive “moral to the story” generally fights its way to the surface.

The name of the show is Drop Dead Diva.  The premise is kind of a faulty take on reincarnation.  An aspiring model dies in a car wreck.  As she comes to the computer terminals in heaven, while the angel in charge of her case looks away, she reaches over and pushes the “return” button.  That sends her back to earth, but puts her consciousness inside someone else’s body, that of a “plus-size” lawyer.  She convinces her old best friend about who she really is, and then the angel who was doing her intake in heaven – the one who looked away – shows up as her guardian angel, a demotion for him.  Kind of an “It’s a Wonderful Life” approach to the work of angels.  Hence the bad theology.  Not to mention the story line where the angel falls in love with the lawyer’s roommate.  I think I saw that movie somewhere, too.  Or maybe that was Greek mythology.  Oh, and the guy who was her fiancée before she died works at the same firm.  In her new body she has to learn lessons of life about not being shallow and helping people and the like.  So there’s the defective take on reincarnation.  Is that enough potential for story lines for you?  I don’t know yet how many seasons the show ran or if it is still on the air somewhere.  But at least we’ll have some ide what Travis and Sydney are talking about now when they bring it up.  Do I recommend it?  Not particularly.  See paragraph one – theology, lifestyle, and … singing.

Ephesians 5:15-18 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.”

Father, thank you for all the people you have brought to and through Seaside over the years.  Watch over them in the new endeavors they all face every day.  Amen.