Today it is Movie Review Monday, and we’re going to take a look at the worldview behind the movie Gifted Hands.
Gifted Hands is the Ben Carson story; the story of his life, from the hard life of a young boy in a single parent home just making it by, to the most renowned neurosurgeon in the world.
The Worldview:
Ben Carson had a hard childhood, and the movie uses that fact to push his character to the man he eventually became.
The movie has his past influencing his future. A TV game show is his incentive for learning and he doesn’t like being made fun of in school. The motives are selfish. He doesn’t learn because he wants to help people. He learns all he can so he won’t feel like a loser and won’t disappoint his mother.
Carson falls into the wrong crowd. He develops anger issues, a short temper, and a pride that gets him into trouble. This drives him so far that he nearly knifes a kid. Then, there is a turning point in the film where he breaks. Everything he had done up to that point had brought him to a brokenness. He recognizes God without naming him, and asks him to take away the pride and the anger.
What it Should be:
Credit for the transformation in young Carson was offered to God, but not attributed to God. Carson’s motives for learning to become a neurosurgeon seem to be entirely selfish. He wants to see and experience the magic of the brain and its intricacies. Carson, even after his change, as miraculous as it was, is still not living for the glory of God. He lives as a Christian, upright, cheerful, offering prayers and thanks to God in his life. He even says once, in anticipation of the biggest operation of his lifetime, that he prays every day.
Summary:
I was grossed out by the surgery scenes during the last 30 minutes of the movie, and actually commenced to writing my thoughts down during such scenes to divert my eyes. It’s amazing what surgeons do and what Dr. Carson has done… But, I just don’t want to have to see it. God created the most amazing thing when he created the human body, specifically the brain. He is amazing, and though they speak of the awesomeness of the brain, they lack to speak of the awesomeness of the one who created the brain. God is the great physician, and the gifted hands of Dr. Carson were formed by Him.
The movie is great, and Cuba Gooding Jr. was stupendous! Though it’s not my favorite genre or style of movie to watch, I enjoyed it, because it was driven by a story, not just a character. I enjoyed it because it had a strong message, I just think it had an incorrect motive.
The purpose of this film was to encourage people to live beyond social expectations and exceed the marks set for them. But what good is an exemplary life if it is not lived for Christ. The story was good, but the glory was God’s, and this movie robbed some of God’s glory by giving credit to Carson for the miracles his gifted hands wrought.
As always, thanks for reading.
–the anonymous novelist
the anonymous novelist 