Steven Spielberg created some of the greatest movies of all time.
There are at least two very different strands to his career. The Steven Spielberg of Schindler's List. The Serious, gloomy historical movies. And the Steven Spielberg of E. T. and Close Encounters.
Both strands are important. Both strands have masterpieces.
But one of the two strands is far more important than the other.
It's like Dostoyevsky and the Book of Isaiah.
Dostoyevsky's works are incredible. Vast, dark, towering masterpieces.
But what if you found out that the same person wrote the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament of the Bible.
Some of the finest poetry or prose ever written.
And the sacred ideas that at least three world religions are based on.
And He Shall Be Called Wonderful, Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!
The comfort of a loving God.
What if you found out that the same person who wrote Dostoyevsky wrote that?
Those towering masterpieces of Dostoyevsky would look small by comparison.
That is Steven Spielberg's career.
Schindler's List, The Color Purple, Lincoln, things like that, are masterpieces.
But Schindler's List is Dostoyevsky.
E.T. is the Book of Isaiah.
Look, Schindler's List is an important story.
But if it were fiction, it would just be a really good post-apocalyptic movie.
E.T. is about Love.
Family.
Finding family in people from far away.
E.T. is about what really matters.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is about what leads us to learning what E. T. is about.
Following a dream.
Realizing that there is more to life than just surviving.
Schindler's List is Dostoyevsky.
E.T., Close Encounters, Raiders of the Lost Ark- those are the Book of Isaiah.
Yes, Raiders of the Lost Ark.
After all, the movie Is about searching for the Divine!
The Ark of the Covenant?
Raiders of the Lost Ark is about searching for the Divine- and searching for the Divine in our own history and our own world no less!
That is Steven Spielberg's true legacy.
Schindler's List is a great movie and an important movie.
No one does that kind of movie as well as Steven Spielberg.
But it's small potatoes compared to E. T.
E. T. is about what is really important.
And it's better poetry than even something like Lincoln.
And Steven Spielberg's Lincoln was damn good poetry.
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson