Mark Millican: A tale of two movies: ‘The Avengers’ and ‘Courageous’

Published 7:34 am Wednesday, May 30, 2012

When minister and best-selling author John Bevere was in Dalton in April of last year, he taught on his latest project called “Extraordinary,” which encourages people to believe they can lead extraordinary lives if they line up with God’s plan for their future.

To buttress his thesis, Bevere noted the top movies of all time in terms of putting viewers into theater seats and bringing in revenue have been about superheroes. In other words, rather than war pictures, romance films and teen angst and antics, moviegoers want to see ordinary people become extraordinary and accomplish great things.

That’s because deep inside of us there’s a desire to do the same, he said.

When my wife and I went to see “The Avengers” at the drive-in theater in Blue Ridge a couple of weeks ago, I’ll be honest — it was more about going to see a movie at a drive-in than about the characters or plot. In fact, the movie started so fast I thought initially it was a preview for something else. Then I realized we probably hadn’t seen the other movies that have led up to this one, so we just strapped ourselves in and got swept along in this fantastical two hours of cinema.

In fact, I had to go on the Internet to figure out that Iron Man wasn’t Metal Man, as he was pejoratively addressed by one of the other characters in the movie.

As you can tell, we’re not big moviegoers ourselves. The last one we saw before “The Avengers” was actually on a much smaller screen at a Valentine’s weekend couples dinner at Cohutta Springs Conference Center. It was a good setting because there were several dozen married couples there, and perhaps a few pre-married couples, to see a movie about husbands and their wives who are not superheroes — in this case they’re law enforcement families — but try to find the strength to address issues in life that can come at you like a villain’s shield or hammer.

The movie is called “Courageous” and it’s by the group in Albany, Ga., that has cranked out the high school football movie “Facing the Giants,” with a cameo appearance by University of Georgia coach Mark Richt, and “Fireproof,” about a marriage tainted by pornography with noted actor Kirk Cameron in the lead role. “Courageous” leaves out the big names and hones in on lawmen and the problems they face on the street protecting us, and how they also deal with family tragedy and deception in their own ranks.

Reports of how the movie is impacting viewers are coming in from around the world, the producers say.

• In Ecuador, after seeing “Courageous,” 300 police officers publicly proclaimed “The Resolution” — referencing a scene in the film where the sheriff’s deputies do the same.

• In Panama, 700 police officers drove four hours to see the film after hearing about it.

• In Baton Rouge, La., the chief of police offered to personally cover the cost for any of the city’s 630 officers wanting to see “Courageous.”

• A church in Orlando, Fla., bought 2,000 copies of the “Courageous” DVD and committed to give a copy to each cop in the city “to show every officer and their family that we love and appreciate what they give to us,” a church leader said.

In “The Avengers,” the Iron Man character played by Robert Downey Jr. — who has been accused of being self-promoting and egotistical by Captain America — carries a super-powered crystal through a portal in the sky to plant it into an evil mother ship and destroy the “uglies” attacking New York City. He is warned that he probably won’t make it back alive, but that doesn’t deter him as he blasts off — a superhero attempting a super act we expect him to accomplish.

But what of mortal men and women such as ourselves who face at times what appear to be supernatural powers attempting to take us out through substance abuse by a family member, relationships dashed on the rocks and life-threatening illnesses? Do we have a chance?

I dare you to be “Courageous” and find out by watching this extraordinary movie.

By the way, it’s got a more rollicking start than “The Avengers.”

Whitfield County native Mark Millican is a staff writer for The Daily Citizen.