Wow, I can’t believe it has been almost ten years since I first read The Shack. “My” copy of the book no longer exists. A very good friend received an early copy, he passed it to his father, who passed it to his other son, who passed it to me, I passed it to my wife, she passed it to my step-father. At that point the book literally fell apart. Yeah, I think you could say that it was well received.
It was greatly loved by each of the recipients. I enjoyed the way the writers changed tradition to make me reexamine my beliefs. I was hesitant with a “univeralism” point (minor and Wayne has written his feelings against it). And, I was greatly affected by Missy’s murder. So much so that I couldn’t look at the book again (until now). But overall, The Shack is unique and enlightening.
Movies by their nature are limited and can destroy what their based-on book meant to convey. With hesitation, I took my wife to see The Shack for her birthday last month. Brad et al did a wonderful job converting the book to the large screen. I couldn’t believe how much of the book they were able to incorporate into the movie. There were several parts that I didn’t remember being in the book so I bought a new copy and devoured it. Yummy for the soul and spirit.
There was one part of the movie (and book) that I hated. It was when Papa was on the porch and made the comment, “Men! Such idiots sometimes!” (page 194 of the book) This one part dropped my rating of the movie by one full point. I understand that Paul Young had messed up in real life and The Shack was a reflection of his struggle to regain his wife’s trust and save his marriage. However, that is no reason to degrade all men and call half the population, idiots. This falls into the currently controlled by Satan media’s attempt to put men down and wreck the family unit. I don’t understand why this part of the dialogue was thought to be so special as to be a part of the book and movie.
Not to end on a negative note; I left the movie enriched, especially the Judgement Seat scene. And, as Wayne teachings in all of his writings, trust God not our understanding of a situation. Side note, I perceived Sarayu as different – more visually transparent, floating, and colorful, but fully understand the limitations of the movie format and special effects budgets.
If you haven’t seen the movie, then go see it. If you haven’t read the book, then read it. Do both. Definitely don’t do neither.