We Rock

Description

Meet the Rock-heads, a crew of pale, 90lbs weaklings obsessed with Dwayne Johnson. For Lewis and his friends, movie quotes and YouTube workouts aren’t enough. They want to look in the mirror and see the Rock grinning back at them. So they do the only sensible thing: a steroid-focused heist of their local chemist, Tony. In the middle of a robbery, which is more Jumanji than Fast and Furious, they discover Tony is still in his shop. The Rock-heads scatter, but Lewis is apprehended by DJ, an older body builder. He gives Lewis and ultimatum: jail or the gym. In addition to a new workout routine, DJ helps Lewis to see the value in the young man looking back at him in the mirror. This transformed self-image is a threat to Lewis’s old friends. Lewis finds himself unable to be a Rock-head, but not fully welcome at the gym where Tony is a regular.

Biblical Connection

At the stoning of Stephen, we meet Saul. (Acts 7:58) He is a Pharisee of Pharisees (Phil 3:4-6). His identity is his adherence to the law. After murdering one apostle, (Acts 8:1) Saul sets out to systematically hunt down the rest. On a journey to find and destroy these followers of Jesus, who he sees as an existential threat, he encounters Jesus. (9:4-6) His identity — even his very name — is ripped away. Where before he was a predator pursuing Christians, now he is hunted by his erstwhile friends and a pariah to the disciples in Jerusalem. (9:26) Like Saul, Lewis embraces an identity centered on behavior. It’s an impossible standard — Lewis can no more be the Rock than Saul could live a sinless life. As Lewis goes to criminal lengths to reinforce his identity, DJ appears. Like Jesus, Ananias and Barnabas, DJ reveals a better identity based on Lewis's own, unique creation. Like Paul, Lewis’s new identity makes people from both sides unhappy. We all say: I am ____. In laughing at crazy-fan Lewis, I hope we can release our politics, nation of origin, ethnicity, sexual behaviors, vocations and even fandoms and simply say: I am God’s beloved.