by Yours TrulyStunt Doubles
Yesterday, I went to the movies with a special friend. After much coercing and a little concession, I got to choose the movie we’d watch. And trust me, the last thing I’ll choose to spend 2 hours on is a chick flick. I’d rather go for movies with things flying around.
So we saw The Expendables 3.
In a nutshell, it was awesome. Even after delivering on its promise of things flying around, it was much more. Blazing guns, flying knives and close-up shots of popping muscles, the whole crew was on point. Gibson, Ford, Crews, Statham, Stallone, Banderas, Li, Couture, Snipes, Schwarzenegger, the fighting lady and the younger crew… everyone was simply awesome.
And as much as I’d love to go on and on about the movie itself, where I picked today’s lesson was, in what seems to be a twist, the movie credits.
I’m rarely in a rush to run out of the hall when the credits are rolling, as, you all know, these movie people, most of the time, slip in some sort of epilogues and cameo appearances in there (a la Thor 2, Captain America: Winter Soldier, A million ways to die in the west… etc.). Also, I’d rather not bump into people battling glare and trying to find their way down dimly-lit stairs on their way out of the cinema hall.
So we just sat there.
Each character was re-introduced with special effects… For example, Terry Crews, in his usual boisterousness, held a gigantic gun (that looked like it was supposed to be attached to a Humvee/Helicopter) as if it was a handbag. Everyone else was featured with some special scene from the movie as well.
And then the credits started rolling. So we figured… maybe there’s no extra scene in this movie after all. So we got up to leave.
As we were leaving, my eyes caught something in particular. Something, surprisingly, I’d never seen in movie credits before.
Stunt doubles.
Each major character had a stunt double. Well, from my little understanding, a stunt double is someone, usually a trained professional, who does most of the dangerous stunts you see the actors doing. So, for example, when Antonio Banderas was free-running (jumping) down a building, trying to impress Stallone, he most likely wasn’t the one actually doing it, but his stunt double.
Besides, these guys are like, really old. They had to have doubles.
But I digress.
And that got me thinking…
Throughout the movie (the part that people actually watch), you never see the face of the stunt doubles. Just the actors. Most likely, these guys do more strenuous work than the actors themselves. But in the end, the actors take most of the glory. Not too fair, right? But you know the funny thing?
That’s how it was meant to be.
And then, I figured out something…
Our relationship with God is also quite similar to the above-stated analogy. We are here on earth, battling the elements of life… making the tough choices… pulling the stunts… crisscrossing the terrain… roaming the range… doing the flips… and getting our hands dirty. But in what would seem a little strange and less-than-logical, in the end, we’re to give God the glory. All of it. We are to be satisfied with the world looking at us, and instead of seeing us, seeing Him. Even more, we shouldn’t be bothered when all they see is Him – and none of us. Why is this, you might ask?
Because that’s how it was meant to be.
Boy, is it a long and humbling process.
“Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.” – 2 Cor 10:17