Pop Xulture Newsletter # 6 – Focusing on The Princess Bride. 7/26/22
Hi Friends, welcome to another Newsletter dripping with juicy updates and, well, news.
Xurrent News
I’ll be posting a contest for a $25 gift card of your choice in next month’s Newsletter! I can’t tell you the rules yet but it’ll be kinda interactive, kinda fun and the theme starts with “t” and ends with “hanksgiving.”
I just sent the draft for my “The Great Wave” article to my Christ and Pop Culture (CAPC) editor, but we’re waiting on some artwork so it could be delayed a bit. Additionally, I just pitched a piece on several segments of media where a daughter doubts herself because of misinformation or misremembering. But each also has a father (or father figure) who shares truth, which gives the young ladies confidence to be themselves and take on their problems.
I just published an article called “Creativity, Part 2 – Play and Procrastinate,” which I’m pretty excited about. Regardless of what kind of problem-solving you’re doing, this article can help you be more creative in your solving of said problems. (And just be a better creative!)
Regarding my co-hosted podcast “Thoughts Beyond Thought,” we’ve released two more episodes since my last Newsletter. Check out “Episode 2 | Sexual Abuse in the Church (1 of 2)” and “Episode 3 | It's Mental: Judg, Environ, and Funda” on your favorite platform.
Xomposition Exclusive
In February I wrote two articles on The Princess Bride. One was for you (here) and one was for CAPC (called “The Princess Bride: 35 Years of Story and Twue Wuv”). The one for CAPC needed a segue from the story component to the true love angle and the below verbiage was my initial shot. As I just mentioned in my “Creativity, Part 2 – Play and Procrastinate” article, I wasn’t sure what direction the piece would take so I played with it. I ultimately decided not to dive so deep into themes like “submission” and “holiness,” although “sacrifice” certainly made it in. Enjoy!
Untitled Segue Section from Story to Love
Our culture truthfully reminds us we have a story. But it’s a lie that we’re the hero of our story because then we’re at the center of the universe. So if we’re broken or unhappy, there’s a good chance we’ll look for healing in happiness. But in reality God is the center of the universe and He heals in brokenness. We’d love to be Buttercup or Wesley, but we forget our royal role is to go back to the farm. Submission over control, serving over entitlement, sacrifice over comfort and holiness over happiness, don’t sound heroic.
But are we meant to be heroic or loved and loving? I think we can be heroic, but by God’s standards, which means any bravery, humility or compassion we have are because He’s worked them into us. However, where we really find our value is in recognizing we’re loved by God and we’re supposed to share that love with others.
Being broken – going back to the farm – may not initially sound like we’re very loved. But if God uses the brokenness in our stories to love us into something more beautiful, who are we to judge? Again, submission over control, and so on. Happiness is not the end-goal, although we may experience some happiness in God. Instead, to experience being loved in our story of brokenness and to be thankful and content is completely fulfilling.
For all his evil, conniving Prince Humperdink wisely puts this together, saying, “You truly love each other, and so you might have been truly happy. Not one couple in a century has that chance, no matter what the storybooks say.
[END EXCLUSIVE ARTICLE CONTENT]
Xoncluding Thoughts
Thanks for checking out the Exclusive content. Did I miss anything or not provide support for a conclusion? Leave a comment. I hope you enjoyed this update and look forward to next month’s contest!
Thanks, in Him,
-Chris (the Bearded Wonder) Fogle