Here We Go Again

Thank God for the inside voice...

It’s awards season again, the first of the bunch kicked off last night. I’m happy to say I didn’t watch. Instead the Mr. and I chose to watch the new version of Ben Hur. Which despite reviews from the critics, we loved. I’m not surprised though, since the producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett are out as Christians (a group critics seem to love to marginalize and criticize).

I made a decision long ago to simply “unplug” from the things in entertainment that go against my morals, values and beliefs. All too often instead of celebrating good art (which unfortunately these days is so few and far between), it winds up turning into a half-baked political pontification session.

Well apparently last night was no exception. The Hollywood mucktey mucks did not disappoint this year, and their brave leader was none other than Meryl Streep. After the movie was over, I picked up my phone and there it was, all over social media and the news. So of course I had to go find a clip and see for myself what all of the hullabaloo was about. My inside voice was going “watchu talkin bout willis” while I almost spilled what was left of my dunkins decaf all over my lap.

Now I’m not going to pick it apart because I do believe we are all entitled to our own opinions. To think for ourselves, to be what we want and to not let others do our thinking for us. I will say this though… her entire argument and character assassination of Donald Trump was based on a total lie.

I wonder though... where pray tell were all of the Hollywood "defenders of the disabled" last week when a disabled boy was held hostage and tortured for up to forty eight hours on Facebook live by four african american teenagers while they screamed obscenities? What was that? Crickets... that's what I thought.

Lies, misrepresentations, things taken totally and utterly out of context, are exactly what almost the entire news media or her precious “profession of journalism” did throughout the entire election season. All in a planned correlated effort not to get to the truth (that she said in her speech she is worried about protecting), but to hide the truth from the American public. In order to elect or shall I say coronate their hero none other than Hillary Rodham Clinton.

To their shock and horror it did not work. The American people chose instead to unplug just as I have from the media propaganda. Donald Trump brilliantly decided to go around the media and take his message straight to the American people. Thank God it worked because I honestly do not believe America could have survived a Hillary presidency. It would have been the nail in the coffin for our country after eight years of the Obama nightmare.

Am I being hypocritical for lambasting Meryl for having an opinion when I clearly have my own? Noway hosay. Meryl is entitled to have all the opinions she wants. The problem is when she goes on national television and broadcasts that opinion on a show that is not about politics; that further perpetuates a story that is based on a total lie. Sorry, but that is just plain ignorant in my opinion.

Hollywood is so mortified by the thought of a Donald Trump presidency that they have taken to making these pathetic PSA videos being shared all over social media. The funniest thing about them is these actors are all going on and on about the Constitution and our founding fathers, when 99.9% of them would not know the constitution if it bit them in the butts. Really can you imagine some of them passing a simple quiz about our nations actual founding history?

When uninformed people with a worldwide platform insist on pontificating publicly and perpetuating lies it is dangerous. Have an opinion, yes be involved, disagree even, but for the love of God please, please, please get your information from somewhere other than the mainstream media (and if I have to explain what the mainstream media is then I rest my case).

These Hollywood celebrities whine that the “majority” of the American people voted for Hillary, blah blah blah… they are having temper tantrums because they say the American people did not get who they voted for.

Newsflash to all the Hollyweird crybabies: the American people got exactly who we voted for. We the American people (you know the people in flyover country, the Christians, the silent majority) got exactly what our founders so brilliantly and uniquely created. They set up a system to prevent mob rule and tyranny. Since the Electoral College didn’t go their way now they want to abolish it. Had Hillary won though, they would all be praising the brilliance of it all, hypocrites.  

So please stop whining, stop making PSA’s. Trump is President. Get over it, just like we all had to for the last eight years. Go back to making movies, art and hopefully one day you will wake up to your stupidity. If not, you’ll most assuredly find yourself four years from now, and God willing eight years from now in an America that is greater and stronger than ever before (no thanks to you).

Blessings, Love & Music,
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com

The Prize

Through the darkest of times we still have a hope...

It's that time again, the time of year when I find myself day dreaming about flip-flops and wishing the white stuff would disappear for good. It's also awards season... the time of year when eyeballs around the world tune into see who takes home the golden statue.

Personally I was surprised at the Golden Globes snubs this year. There were some pretty fantastic films that didn't even get a mention. Funny to see what was celebrated while the one film that has the possibility to perhaps make the biggest impact on people was sadly missing... Unbroken. Not just because I was first in line to see it on Christmas Eve with my family and a bucket of popcorn in my little hands and a cup of Dunkin's hidden in my bag either.

Not to knock any of the other films but Unbroken was not only superbly produced, but it has the potential to change lives. If you're thinking; yeah, yeah a big budget Hollywood film made by a big Hollywood star how could it be anything beyond all the narcissistic tabloid hullabaloo?... hear me out. Unbroken is a true story unlike anything anyone in my lifetime can even comprehend living through, but it's also just the beginning of the story. The film leaves off when the hero returns home. That is where his journey really begins.

Unbroken tells the story of Louis Zamperini, a World War II prisoner of war survivor. It details his gripping experience including 47 days floating on a raft in shark-infested waters in the Pacific Ocean. While the film details much of Zamperini’s life, including his Olympic career as a distance runner, it only shines a light on part of his story. Perhaps the best part is told not by a big Hollywood studio or star, but by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Filmed before Hollywood came calling "Louis Zamperini: Captured By Grace" tells the story of his life after returning home a hero. Through the power of the Gospel and his experience at the 1949 Billy Graham Crusade in Los Angeles, Louis overcame alcoholism, night terrors and a failing marriage to live a joyous and full Christ-centered life until his passing at age 97. Along the way he inspired millions. (To learn more about seeing it - click here)

We can get upset or complain about the things we see as problems. The economy, the weather (guilty as charged), global unrest, pop culture run amuck, and on and on. I however don't think anything we face today compares to what he lived through. Not only Louis Zamperini, but also all of the other men and women of The Greatest Generation. Many have no idea what price was paid for the lives we have. The world might look a lot different today had it not been for their courage, strength and determination.

What I love most about his story is that as dark as it got he was never really alone. A man who didn't really know a lot about faith, or grace: while he was out there floating on a raft in shark infested waters he made a promise to God that if he survived he would serve him the rest of his life. A promise that was long forgotten after being rescued from that raft, captured, thrown into one of the worst Japanese prison camps ever, living through years of brutal torture and starvation, and then actual rescue when the war was over. It wasn’t until he was home and his life was falling apart due in part from suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder while attending that Billy Graham rally that he remembered that promise. While telling his story he says when he remembered he stood up without hesitation and gave his life to Christ. Once he did for the first time the nightmares were gone. The anger and desire for revenge were also gone.

He spent the rest of his life as a Christian Inspirational speaker focusing on forgiveness. His story was hard, it was brutal, and none of it made any sense at the time he was going through it. As a boy he overcame going from a troubled youth to an Olympic Athlete. It was his strength and determination that got him through that part of his life and it were those same qualities that helped him to survive his ordeal and go onto become a hero. He also had help from above. When looking back on his life it's hard not to see the fingerprints of God all around.

So am I surprised that a film that has the power to impact people in such a way was snubbed by a liberal leaning secular organization? Not really. I hope it won't be the same case with the Oscars. Because I suspect that after watching the film viewers will get curious to what happened after the movie ends and discover for themselves the rest of the story. Where he not only lived out the miracle of grace but went onto to share it with countless others along the way. That in my opinion is the best prize. So I do hope it will be included in order to be exposed to people across the globe.

Something I also hope to do with my music. Though I've spent a large part of my life chasing after a "prize" success in the music industry... I've come to understand the real prizes of life are not what we necessarily think they are. That's why I'm working on my first faith based Contemporary Christian Music Album. My hope is to inspire people to be strong, courageous, to never quit, but most importantly to share the love of Jesus. To let people know they really are something beautiful, and to believe that no matter how far they've gone, there is someone who cares, who loves them and thinks they really are something worth dying for.

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippines 4:13 (NIV) 

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com