Mila Kunis – Looking to God

In the film Oz the Great and Powerful, James Franco plays a Kansas carny performer who has overstayed his welcome. In every town he visits, he performs the same scam. He first gains the trust of those around him then he takes advantage of them until either they throw him out, or he has no choice other than to run. You see, Oz is not your ordinary circus performer, he is a very good circus performer who knows people and how they work. That is why he makes an excellent profile for today’s Wednesday Warriors.

In Kansas, Oz is your typical sideshow act. He’s a magician, an illusionist, a performer, an example of what is right in the world—or at least that is what he thinks of himself. Meanwhile, he has wooed multiple women with the same technique he has used countless times. A music box does wonders to a woman’s heart.

But not everyone admires the dashing actor. Husbands, in fact, hate him, and would do anything to see him hanging from a tree until dead.

When Oz attempts to sweep the wrong girl off her feet, his worst nightmare becomes a reality. In an effort to escape an enraged spouse, he hops into a balloon and casts off to places unknown.

The resourceful Oz has no one to rely on than himself. Yet, how different is that from the other times he had to make a quick getaway from other folks who have wanted to make him part of a funeral procession?

What Oz doesn’t count on is the twister that suddenly makes an appearance during the most inopportune time. With the winds wailing, the balloon lifting to heights beyond comprehension, Oz can only dream of a time when his feet will once again walk on solid earth. He will never again take to flight in order to thwart the evil musings of a jilted lover.

After having landed in a place unknown, he discovers the land is not what he expects. He notices the large flowers, the waters alive with creatures he has never imagined and the air running amok with birds that have the ability to swallow him whole. Indeed, Oz is not in Kansas anymore.

As the story progresses, Oz comes upon two sisters (Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz) and a kingdom filled with riches. His eyes fall on the treasure promised to the heir of the fortune—a great wizard who will save the land from the Wicked Witch and her minions. Without knowing what the prophecy means, Oz becomes the unwitting center of the story. But he has more on his mind than saving a people from a woman he could dismiss with a wave of a hand. Oz has the treasure in mind that he wants to inherit all to himself.

The film could run a predictable course where Oz steps on everyone’s dreams as a means to exact his greed-filled desires. But in true Disney fashion, Oz becomes a bigger man than he would have otherwise predicted for himself.

Revealing more of the story would also mean to ruin an experience for the viewer that would highlight a man’s willingness to put aside his own desires for the love of a people.

And seeing Oz in that position of growth is not only inspiring but also a miracle.

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RANGER MARTIN AND THE SEARCH FOR PARADISE, on sale October 20.

Have you seen Oz the Great and Powerful? What do you think about Oz’s growth in the film?

When is it right to kill. When is it right to eat of the earth that which it provides as food? The death of an animal may prove fatal for the animal, but for a human it becomes food. So begins the film The Book of Eli, in ash-filled woods with a cat chewing on the foot of a man with a bullet firmly planted in his head. The cat becomes food.

The Book of Eli's Solara — The Book of Eli’s Solara

Eli (Denzel Washington) travels the dystopian nightmare hunting for trade. A pair of gloves and scarf can provide him water for a week. Hijackers can also use those articles. Eli doesn’t have trouble dispatching the gang. Armed with a machete tucked neatly under his coat, five quickly become none.

In a bar across the street from where Eli left his battery for recharging, a patron picks a fight with the wanderer. Not a good idea. The machete appears once again to clear the room of all the other gangsters, rather, patrons. Just as he was about to deliver the final blow, Solara (Mila Kunis) appears saying two simple words prompting the barkeep maiden’s inclusion in my Women Who Wow Wednesday series. “Stop. Please.”

Strong willed, persistent, yet something’s missing in Solara’s life she never knew she missed. She realizes Eli possesses the key. He knows, and it all begins with dinner for two holding hands and uttering words with closed eyes. She doesn’t know what it means, but she carries that memory to her mother, reciting the same words—a blessing over the food in God’s name.

By the time Eli leaves town, Solara’s curiosity drives her to follow him. A sidekick who gets into trouble more than once, Solara cries for what could have been her death. Soon after Eli saves her, she attempts to personally inspect the book he so guards with his life. In clear terms, he states no one touches the book. However, he neglected to commend her on her courage.

When a conflict ensues leaving her the last one standing, she takes it upon herself to save the day. With the wheel in both hands, she heads west, just as Eli had instructed. Filled with the hope for a new world, Solara follows Eli in faith, even though she doesn’t know what faith is. She trusts him. Wherever Eli goes, Solara follows. Nothing can stop her determined effort to live a life apart from the violence she left behind.

And that’s what makes Solara special. Into the mouth of the unknown she fights with her life for a place she can call her own. She believed all she saw, but with Eli, she believes in the unseen, having faith she will arrive where she belongs—a dwelling of peace and comfort.

Solara, Women Who Wow Wednesday’s woman of faith.