Review of Blue Like Jazz (2012) by James W — 14 Apr 2012

The MAX screeched by as we stepped into the theater at Lloyd center. We walked to the last auditorium, at the end of the hall, and it occurred to me that I'd never gone to see a movie in the last auditorium. The lights dimmed and the previews started enticing us to view upcoming summer blockbusters by well-known filmmakers. Then Blue Like Jazz started.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie funded through Kickstarter donations. It ended up being the largest Kickstarter project in the history of the site and they figured that they would need about $125,000 to make the movie, they ended up raising $345,992. Which is quite a lot of money by Kickstarter standards, but it's a pittance by Hollywood movie standards. The website IMDB estimated how much was spent on the movie - a low estimate by industry standards - and they came up with $1.2 million.

Then the movie started and everything changed. The dialog was tight, well-acted and well-written. I immediately started to care about the main character as he struggled with life in a Southern Baptist church. He earnestly engaged in the activities that, to the audience, seem ludicrous. He cared about the people around him, but he was still wounded by a father who left. This is no Christian stereotype, Don, the main character, is more of an archetype for anyone who is trying to disambiguate themselves from the indoctrination of their upbringing. For Don it was Southern Baptist, Texan, Republican-ism, but he's relatable to anyone who's struggled to reconcile present reality with past teaching.

A shock sends Don running as far from Texas as he can get, which lands him in Portland, Oregon at Reed College. It's renowned for its incredibly high academic standards and its liberal, anti-Christian bias. The urinal-peeing, lesbian BFF, Lauren tells Don, "You better get in the closet and stay there, Jesus boy.".

As the story unfolds, Don meets people who don't agree with what he's learned and the words of his estranged father, descrying his Christian beliefs, echo in his mind, "You only believe that stuff because you're afraid to spend time with people who don't." Now, Don is surrounded by people who don't share his beliefs, and they're even antagonistic toward Christianity. The Pope - not the real pope - relentlessly attacks religion, in all its forms. And at the same time, he and Don become good friends over the course of the school year.

The climax of the movie is the annual debauch known as Renn Fayre where the Reed students celebrate the end of the school year with days of drinking, drugs, dancing and everything else. This is the moment where Don is faced with the apparent dichotomy between his faith and his friends. What could be a sappy, predictable and artless scene is, instead, gripping and moving. The tears in my eyes reflected the tears shed on the screen as Don and the Pope talk.

As the credits rolled I was struck by the high-quality of the movie, the artful nature of the cinematography and the dialog, mostly I was struck by how lost I was in the story. I forgot I was at a movie watching characters playing out a script on a screen; instead I was immersed in the drama as they told my story. No, I didn't grow up Southern Baptist in Texas, but I did have to struggle with separating what I was taught from what I really believe. I did have to cope with the difference between purpose and popularity, and I did walk with Don through the shame of being different from everyone else in Portland, Oregon.

Then I learned that everyone in Portland is different.