Over the weekend I had the opportunity to watch the 1937 film "Shall We Dance." Our protagonist, Petrov, sets his sights on Linda Keene. Both are famous dancers, and rumors spread of a secret marriage. There was no kissing in the entire movie. They tap dance together. They waltz together. They occasionally hold hands as they roller skate in a park. By the end of their story, they go to a justice of the peace and make the rumors true. It is clear that they love each other by their words, the tone of their voices, the sweet looks they give one another when the other isn't looking. It is what real love looks like to an outside observer.
I find that beautiful stories like this are not the norm in movies today. They only exist in small, independent film companies and in the hearts and minds of those who are young at heart. I have heard phrases like, "They don't make them like they used to." My response is maybe they should. Maybe that should be the bar. How much of the story can be told without cursing, overt sexuality, violence, and computer graphic special effects? How much of the story can be told with people being respectful of each other's dignity? How much of the story can be told using innovative practical techniques and vaudevillian smoke and mirrors?
Peter said to Jesus, "We have given up everything and followed You. What will there be for us?"
Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on His throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who had given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of My Name will receive a hundred times more and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19: 27-29
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