The Patriot Opinion

A modern day Liberty Tree under which an American Patriot makes a passionate attempt to reignite the smouldering coals of freedom in the hearts of his countrymen. "It does not take a majority to prevail, but an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men." -- Samuel Adams

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

"Based on a True Story" (Sort of)

Hollywood is famous for making movies that are supposedly "based on a true story", most of which barely resemble the source material in the slightest, but at least they added an additional disclaimer on this one.

Domino was released last year and sports the usual claim of being "based on a true story", with the unusual addition of "...sort of".

I haven't seen this movie, and I have no intention of doing so, given some of the content, but I stumbled across it recently and thought it worth a blog post.

The tagline is "I am a bounty hunter". It's a classic Hollywood favorite; a young girl who bucks the "gender stereotypes" and takes on a man's job. I can only imagine the fun they must have had, painting young Domino Harvey, daughter of actor Laurence Harvey, as a heroic role model for women, taking up heavy weaponry and glamorously blowing the bad guys away.

Nothing unusual so far, except that this movie--or rather, the movie's real-life subject, the real Domino Harvey--threw a little irony into the mix.

You see, Hollywood loves to glamorize twisted behavior and rarely, if ever, show the consequences.

Rebellion against God's design in one area almost always brings on rebellion in other areas of life. Domino Harvey was no exception. Homosexuality and drugs became a part of her life, and we'll never know what misery she suffered alone.

She was only 35 (going on 36) last year when the movie was planned for release. Knowing how her story had been modified and "enhanced" by filmmakers, she spoke of making a documentary of her life so that people could hear "the true story". Instead, she accidentally summed it up in one evening.

On June 27, 2005, she overdosed and died in her bathtub.

Hollywood can ignore the consequences of their beloved rebellion against God, but there's now a headstone somewhere standing as a monument to 35 years of pain and misery that ended in a drug overdose.

One of Domino's actual quotes that made the movie is "flip a coin; heads, you win, tails, you die."

It apparently didn't cross Domino's mind that either way, you will reap what you sow.

Domino's short 35 years on this earth is one sad testament out of many to the "feminist dream". Each story is different. Some involve drugs and violence, others involve boardrooms and lawsuits.

Some end with drug overdoses, others in venereal disease and yet others in the lonely emptiness that comes from cutting off God's blessing of a family.

The tragedy of Domino Harvey is just one of a long list of miserable lives that serve as the raw material from which Hollywood has "cooked up" a lethal batch of glamorous rebellion against God.

"Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

In other words, the rebellious high may look good on the silver screen, but watch out for the hangover. In Domino's case, as in so many others, it lasts for eternity.

9 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi David, I happened upon your blog through Alain's newsletter. I agree that Hollywood is usually pretty boring when they ignore the real human stories. One question on your mention of 'going against God's design': Are you saying the misery the real-life Domino felt was due to drugs and sex? Or are you referring to the lifestyle of killing people, which is not in our created nature? I can sympathize at least that drugs and sex, although a bad refuge, at least at some surface appeal over ending lives of others. What do you think?
--Brian

Thursday, April 27, 2006 12:53:00 PM  
Blogger David B. Thompson said...

I was referring specifically to the effects of:

Drug addiction, (at least three different types, if I’m not mistaken)
sexual promiscuity, (especially the lesbian variety)
and rebellion against God’s design for a woman.

We can’t be certain exactly how many of the consequences Domino suffered, (she died at age 35—relatively young) but it’s certain that she experienced some of them, and she still has God’s eternal judgment ahead of her.

Someone less hardened than Domino will feel some negative effects when they kill someone—more so, I believe, if they killed wrongfully (as opposed to killing in accordance with the law of God)—but I doubt that it bothered Domino much. I’m not sure how many people she killed, if any. Keep in mind that her job (to my knowledge) involved attempting to retrieve bail-jumping criminals alive. Out of around 50 “recoveries”, only 10 of them were classified as “dangerous”.

Thanks for reading!

David B. Thompson

Thursday, April 27, 2006 2:04:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Soo...What is God's design for a woman? I mean to say that the human design is a hugely complex thing and your comments boil it down to "no drugs" and "no chicks". Surely among billions of women worldwide we can think of other imperfections that help contribute to unhappiness...are drugs and lesbo love at the top of your list? Do they rank higher than murder??

And how do you doubt that killing people bothered her that much, but assume without speculation that sex and drugs caused her unhappiness? I'm basing my commments on the understanding that God's law is not to kill. Maybe I wasn't educated on when this commandment could be broken.

-Brian

Thursday, April 27, 2006 4:26:00 PM  
Blogger David B. Thompson said...

Brian,

To answer your first question simply, God created Woman to be a helpmeet for her husband. (Genesis 2:18, for starts)

Your next statement is patently false. Drug abuse and homosexual activity are two perversions out of many that will bring natural physical consequences as well as God’s ultimate judgment. If you want another pretty good list, go ahead and read Romans 1.

Murder, by definition, is the spilling of innocent blood. Self-defense killings are not murder. The job of a bounty hunter, similar to that of a county Sheriff, may involve necessarily killing criminals from time to time, but that is neither the crux of their job nor even an everyday occurrence.

I suspect that Domino’s drug addiction specifically probably caused her more grief than any killing she might have had to do. If you can’t understand the concept, I suggest that you give yourself a taste of it by pushing a little kid down to the ground, shooting yourself squarely in the foot, and deciding what bothers your more. (Physically).

By the way, I shouldn’t have to say this, but your comments indicate that you are the type of person to take the above comment seriously so I’ll go ahead and say it:

I am in no way serious about pushing kids or shooting yourself. It’s an analogy, and hopefully one that you can think about and understand without having to experience it.

My point being that the all consuming nature of drug addiction is probably enough to override any remorse felt for even a wrongful killing. That’s why people often resort to drugs and alcohol to “escape”.

As to God’s law, He never prohibited killing, (He would have been in contradiction to His own law) He did however, prohibit murder. (Go look at the original language text, this is one of the very few translation problems with the King James) Murder is the taking of innocent life. God not only allows killing in certain cases, but He also commands it at times.

By the way, I knew from your first post what your real issue was. From here on out, try to keep your comments restricted to the topic of the post. If you want to make your own policy statements, you can easily start your own blog. Try www.Blogger.com.


David B. Thompson

Friday, April 28, 2006 10:03:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Easy..no need to be abrasive to someone just wanting to extend a discussion on spiritual suffering...which I thought was the point of your post. I don't want to get into arguments on scripture interpretation since that's been going on for thousands of years and won't appear to let up anytime soon. I'll avoid offending your beliefs or mine so that we can enjoy our respective Fridays!

But on your pushing little kids vs. shooting your foot anaolgy, this demonstrates physical pain felt by the individual. I wanted to focus my inquiry on the spiritual pain. Obviously in our created human nature there's a correlation, but do you see a definite correlation in this example? i.e. which do you believe is more spiritually damaging: doing harm to others, or doing harm to yourself?

--Brian

Friday, April 28, 2006 12:13:00 PM  
Blogger David B. Thompson said...

Brian,

The point of my post, as everyone else seems to understand perfectly, was about how Hollywood is glamorizing evil (no surprise) and the irony of how this particular story plays out.
The point of your post, as I suspected from the first, was to make a statement about killing according to your own pacifist leaning views. As I said, get your own blog if you want to discuss a topic different from the one that I posted about.

Understand, your body, soul and spirit operate in a semi fused-together state while we’re here on earth, which, again, is why people often turn to drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. to escape from a guilty conscience or any number of other mental or spiritual afflictions.

The effects of drug addiction are likely to have caused more grief to Domino than any killing she had to do, and may have even completely drowned out any bit of remorse that she ever felt. Add to that any other consequences she suffered from her other “lifestyle choices” and you should be able to see what I mean.

I’m not going to get into a discussion right here on self-defense (which, by the way, is exactly what we’re talking about when we talk about Domino Harvey killing anyone) primarily because it looks like you want to have that argument under the “Guns and the Commoners” post.

To get back to my original point, Hollywood has once again glamorized the twisting of God’s design, and while they enthusiastically projected their admiration of Domino Harvey onto the big screen, she died a pitiful, drug-induced death in her bathtub.

Saturday, April 29, 2006 9:17:00 AM  
Blogger David B. Thompson said...

"Praising God In Hawaii"

Thanks for your post!

I haven't read the book you mentioned, but I am very familiar with the destructive power that Hollywood has wielded over this country since somewhere around the 1930s. You're very right about their desire to promote evil!

Keep checking my blog; I'm planning on posting on that very subject within the next few days. (Today or Monday)

Specifically, I'm going to explain how the power of film works, how the Church is guilty of keeping Hollywood in business for so long, and what we must do about it now.

It might well spark an interesting discussion!

God bless, and thanks for reading!

Saturday, April 29, 2006 9:29:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

David,
Am I not allowed a tangent discussion? Is the point of your comments section only for "Amen's" and "Here here's"?? I may have my leanings (pacifist is fair), but are no pacifists allowed to delve into other thoughts that arise from your postings?

Anyway, believe me or not, I can understand your points and where you are coming from. It's been pulling teeth, but thanks for entertaining my extra thoughts on destructive spiritual and physical behavior.

--Brian

Monday, May 01, 2006 10:17:00 AM  
Blogger David B. Thompson said...

Brian,

You are sadly mistaken. If you'll take a look at the "Gun and Commoners" comments, you'll note that your comment now appears. I apoligize for taking so long in clearing it, but I was quite busy over the weekend and just managed to get to it today.

I am most certainly open for discussing opposing viewpoints. If I wasn't, I would hardly be wasting my time replying to your comments. I'd simply delete them.

Monday, May 01, 2006 11:16:00 AM  

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