Today is the anniversary of Rich Mullins’ death and the first of these to occur since the release of the movie about his life, Ragamuffin. If you have not yet watched the film, maybe today (or this weekend) would be a great time to do so. It’s not your typical cheesy Christian movie. I wrote the rest of this a while ago, but decided that today was the right time to post it. Ragamuffin (the Rich Mullins Movie) is now available everywhere. For some time now Ive felt like I should post something about my take on this film. If you have seen the film, then you will know that my character is one the prominent storylines in the movie. The film depicts me as being Rich’s first roommate at Cincinnati Bible College. Anyone close to the story will know that that is not true. In fact there are many liberties that were taken to help streamline the story. As the filming progressed, my character kept being elevated. If you are reading this then you are close enough to me to at least be my friend on facebook, and as such, I feel an obligation to separate the facts from the fiction. I learned a lot about the movie process during the development and filming of Ragamuffin. I have been a movie buff most of my life but being on the production side of a movie opened my eyes to the challenges a filmmaker faces in bringing a story to the screen. The main challenge is time. Literally every second of the film is critiqued. Rich had a big life and a lot of friends. Each character needs to be developed. The audience must care about them and in a sense, make friends with them as well. For this reason, I became Rich’s roommate at CBC, because it was important for the audience to understand and care about our relationship when my Dad dies later in the story. Rich really did move to Wichita to be mentored by my dad, but I was never his roommate. In fact, I am probably one of the few people alive that lived in Cincinnati in the early ‘80’s that did not room with him. My character is a compilation of a lot of people. I never sang with Rich, (I tried to—he heard me sing and asked me to be on Zion’s teaching team). Tom Weimer was the male singer in my time and I know there were others before him. In fact, I was the last arrival in Zion. I joined during the last two years. Rich brought me in and everyone was suspicious of me and afraid that I would be a bad influence on him—this still makes me laugh when I think about it. Rich was the founder and official wildcard in the group. They were afraid that I was his new drinking buddy. I kind of was, but not really. I believe I had a bit of a moderating impact him. Even if I didn’t, my parents did. Especially my Dad. So my role in the film was elevated because Rich loved my dad and altered his life to be with him. I became the roommate, so Maurice could be introduced as the first alternative father figure in the film. Maurice really did play that role in Rich’s life. Rich really was my friend, just not my roommate or singing partner. Additionally, David Schultz, the films writer and director played my role in the film. In a limited budget film, plot holes tend to get filled with an inexpensive, available actor, hence the writer, director became a convenient solution. All of this is being said just to acknowledge that I know that I am not all that. Rich and I were very close for a time and I believe I knew him well and remained close over the years, but he had many friends who also knew him well and there are a lot of stories that did not get told in this take on Rich’s life. The most glaring of these is the absence of Beaker. Beaker was Rich’s closest compadre--they lived together…travelled together…wrote and performed music together and generally shared life throughout the Wichita years. As has been written elsewhere, Beaker did not want to participate in the project and so that story was not told. Nevertheless, I do not presume to usurp the role Beaker had in Rich’s life. I am a supporting character in the film and my role is to represent the many people who came along side and befriended him in his life. Besides Beaker, there were the Ragamuffins, the Kid brothers, Lee and Nicki, Jeff, Steve, Kyle, Connie, Jenny, Gay and a cast of multitudinous characters that found themselves on stage, or behind the scenes with, or living next to Rich over the years. It is a lot of life for a little over two hours in a movie. Finally, I struggled with many of the things others have expressed about the way Rich is depicted in the movie. My first exposure was a partial screening at my house. Dave Mullins brought over the first two reels. As I watched my excitement turned to anxiety. I was really surprised and shocked, and honestly kind of troubled by the version of my friend that I saw on the screen. It was so dark and serious. This was not a complete surprise. I and others had mentioned this concern during the filming. I had hoped that they had inserted some fun into the story. I have never met anyone like Rich, and this character seemed so depressed and average. I felt a little let down but I trusted Schultz and I knew there was time. The music was good and the level of honesty the film portrayed was hopeful. The next version I saw was nearly three hours long. This time I wasnt surprised by the film’s version of Rich and I was therefore better able to recognize the parts that were familiar. I was also learning about the filmmaking process. The editing process is intense and rigorous. The story was getting better. By the time the final version was complete, it was just a little over two hours long. I was still not completely at peace with the depressed, emotive Rich, but so much was right with the story. His darkness in real life, while mostly hidden, was present in his unsettledness and torment. Rich was troubled. He was amazing and fun and generous and insightful and wise and artistic and devout and wild and unpredictable…and troubled. He would hide his hurt but it was never really concealed. It would seep out. Sometimes it would burst out. The movie, though incomplete, gets the pain and redemption right. It also captures his ragamuffin pursuit of God. Here is my review of the movie interspersed with some memories of the man: Ragamuffin is a compelling drama that is effective, if flawed. Rich was a close friend of mine. I knew him from college and beyond. The thread the film focuses on is perhaps the major theme in his life. The redemptive arc is both authentic and compelling. His demons are depicted, less so his angels (and both are severely moderated). Rich was incredibly complex. He was playful and impish and significantly less verbally moody than depicted in the film. But, he did have an overwhelming angst--its just that he mostly didnt talk about it. It came out in his music, in his rants at his concerts, and sometimes late at night over beers (or Long Islands). He was also fun and funny and incredibly irreverent. He loved being radical and controversial. He would frequently nearly flame out with righteous indignation over a wrong perpetrated on someone or something, especially if he perceived them to be one of “the least of these.” The summer he read Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, no one could be around him. He was alive with wrath and this was way before he ever found his way to an Indian reservation. He would say something shocking for the mere joy of watching the reaction he would get. He would also give his stuff away. Not just a little bit of it...a lot of it...and all the time. And wherever he went, what he didn’t give away, he left. He couldnt remember to take it with him. Stuff didnt mean much to him (although he did love nice sweaters…and Jeeps). He was curious about life; he was always learning and pursuing a million projects and ideas. His sorrow, for the most part, was below the surface. Above the surface was an overwhelming infectious spirit of joy and passion and participation in life. Rich was nearly always present. He was passionate and involved. He deeply loved the people in his life and it was easy to become one of the people in his life. But, the darkness was there. It did drive him. And his darkness and longing had little to do with getting the right girl (this is the films biggest trivialization—though he did have some heart-breaking romances). Rich was always longing for a shelter that is larger than this room. He quietly moved with an understanding that this world in not my (his) home. If you want to make a movie about his life, then the darkness that he mostly suppressed had to be elevated to a place where it could be seen and redeemed. The film does this well (although Rich would have been terribly embarrassed by some of the words they put in his mouth). The movie affects people when they see it. Many are driven to confess, or at least talk about their own imperfection and struggle. Rich was a ragamuffin and so is this movie. Ragamuffin is a flawed, brilliant, inconsistent and ultimately inspiring film. The flaws with the beauty capture the spirit of Rich. It could have perhaps captured him better. There was certainly a whole lot more to his life than what was depicted. But the filmmakers got a good deal of it right. And the parts they got right were among the bits that mattered most.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 12:51:07 +0000
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