Have you noticed how many Hollywood remakes there have been in the past few years? Remakes of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, True Grit, and a certain Quentin Tarantino film that rewrote World War II history are just a few examples (the original was an Italian film made in the 1970's). Some fans and critics wonder if all those award-winning writers have run out of ideas, so they're just remaking these films. However, others say that such activity is an homage (honor) to movies considered classics. Yes, some say, but why mess with a good thing? The debate will continue and the public will pay to see these films. It makes me believe there really is "nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10). Human beings, in one way or another, still rise and fall in much the way they did when Qoheleth ("the Teacher") wrote those words so many centuries ago. Power, money, and sex still drive most human behavior. You don't have to be a high-powered Wall Street broker or a Washington politician to exercise power. The results might be less earth-shaking, but there is still an attempt to wield power. Money, especially the love of it, makes people do things that beggar description. The recent case of a person who tried to sell a child is almost indescribable in its implications and inexcusable in its actions. Sex, or its lack of restraint, also makes people really weird. The number of people being treated for sex addiction (of any kind) is expected to continue to rise. There are many factors in these issues, the most controversial (and in my mind sensible) one being that people are sinful; there is something spiritually wrong with us that drives us to commit bizarre, illogical, and self-destructive acts. How does this connect with the idea of film remakes? One of the traps we fall into is the idea that if we reinvent the wheel (or politics, technology, clothing, drink mixes, or anything else) we will get past our foibles and failures and the world will be better. Like filmmakers who "update" a previously-made film, we think doing the same to anything in life will make us better. Sometimes it does, but we still seem to have, as Guns N' Roses put it so indelicately, an "appetite for destruction" that shows in varying degrees and actions. Jesus Christ came to rescue us from this delusion and to show us that real "remakes" involve a change of heart, not technology, politics, or any other thing we think will improve our lot in life. Though changes may come in those areas and others through faith-based efforts, the real change that is needed is from within, as we let Christ tranform our hearts and lives for His glory. | 
