Ironically I grew up in GR
(Grand Rapids, MI) but our family moved to Bellflower when I was in high
school. Paul Schrader begins his movie "Hardcore" in GR ..and the
kids are headed to a young calvinist convention (something the Christian
Reformed Church used to do, maybe still do, for adolescents of the CRC)
with a big sign on a bus that says Bellflower on it. But before I recap the
movie for those of you who haven't seen it (by the way, it's available on Tubi
for free now, finally).
I guess I didn't see it because I hadn’t made
a point of it, and it hasn't been free until now. I’m not a “fan boy” of Paul
Schrader just because of our similar backgrounds. If he creates good material I
will applaud it. Otherwise, not. But when it popped up as a “new free
movie” on Tubi I took the time to critically view it. You can also view the
opening scenes on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3x46EkgGfc or https://rb.gy/29yjho
So this film was
released in 1979 when I was 12 years old, and of course when I was a kid in the
70's in Grand Rapids it would not have been a movie my parents would have
approved of, even if it was a Paul Schrader movie- or maybe especially
because it was a Schrader movie. He was considered a rebel back then by the
CRC- and may still be in some parts. My parents never mentioned him, either
intentionally or because he simply wasn't in their sphere.
I only knew of him because
of little things I heard or read here & there- maybe at my Christian school
(GRCH) or later at Calvin College. I haven’t gone back to research this
aspect of Paul Schrader’s life, but as best as I can recall there was some sort
of controversy about Schrader when he was on the Chimes staff, and something
about the college chaplain, and something about the code of counseling
confidentiality etc etc, … ; and something happened that I won’t
speculate any further .. some say he got kicked out of Calvin; others say he
graduated. Numerous stories abound and maybe we will never know for sure.
Schrader himself may have started some of the rumors to add to his “rebel
image”. At this point, it doesn’t really matter.
Even when our family moved
from GR to Bellflower when I was in high school I didn't know anything specific
about the movie Hardcore or any of his other movies. I don't even remember when
I saw Taxi Driver, the movie he is best known for (probably, as he himself
says; but some make an argument for “American Gigolo”) . Here’s one quote I
come across re Taxi Driver: “In 1973, only five years out of
Calvin College, Schrader wrote a near-perfect first screenplay, including
revision, in ten days while living in his car following the demise of his first
marriage, drinking heavily and attracted to pornography, guns, and suicide. No
surprise, then, that Taxi Driver (1974) is not a cheerful work, displaying at
length the badly tangled psyche of marine-vet Travis Bickle (De Niro), a New
York cabbie who drives the night shift because he can't sleep anyway.” https://www.booksandculture.com/articles/1999/julaug/9b4020.html
And of course I had never
seen him in person nor even a picture of him. I mention this because much later
in life when I was a young adult working in Los Angeles & exploring
different parts, I started going to the UCLA Hammer Museum on a periodic basis
(by the way, I also worked for a short time at UCLA as a chaplain in the
medical center, and completed CPE there (Clinical Pastoral Education). Even
though the museum is far too lefty for my taste, I would go there as a
Christian evangelist and try to reach people with the good news of Jesus Christ
our Savior- if nothing else- leaving little Bible tracts underneath windshield
wipers. My code of honor as an evangelist is that if a person rejects the
gospel I can at least try to be influence or inspire them to be a good
citizen.
And one day I noticed the
Hammer Museum calendar saying that Paul Schrader was going to be there in
person- so I made sure to mark the date to attend the free event. Of course,
Schrader attended the UCLA for cinematography (or whatever they call it now)-
and for this event he was showing a film and having a conversation with a
museum person (& I think he was donating some of his "historic"
materials to the UCLA archive). So I arrived a little early and entered the
lobby of the Hammer Museum, and there was an elderly chap sitting alone on a
bench waiting for the event to begin and I just passed him by to find a seat in
the auditorium. What I didn't know until the show started was that it was Paul
Schrader himself sitting there.
I wished I had known
what he looked like so I could have said hello and mention to him our similar
pathways- ie we both grew up in GR, both attended GRCH & Calvin, both grew
up in the CRC, etc. He originally intended to go into Christian ministry, while
I actually did so; but also dabbled in show business myself (more about that
later). It would have been a fun conversation.
Also, by the way, his late
brother Len was involved in Hollywood film making, mainly as a writer- best
known for his film entitled "Kiss of the Spiderwoman" -
another film which I did not see until late in life- and for that matter- I
didn't find it very compelling- and never actually finished watching it. It had
a lefty agenda which I don't necessarily agree with- or find very entertaining
either. But it did win an Oscar, for what it's worth.
It stars the late William
Hurt- and I noticed that Paul is currently married to Mary Beth Hurt- who as
best as I can tell was originally married to William Hurt- but it ended in
divorce (I think). Another connection to the Schraders is that Len attended the
University of Iowa writing program in Iowa City (coincidentally, I was
born at the University of Iowa Medical Center when my dad was working his first
full-time job as a CRC pastor- and my parents had interacted with Len on a few
occasions).
Anyways, I attended
the Hammer Museum event -watched his film about "Mishima" - listened
to the interview- nothing particular memorable about any of it. Never got a
chance to talk to him. With all of this as a prelude, let's get back to the
Hardcore movie- as mentioned it begins in GR with kids sledding on a hill -
like I did when I was a child - I think they show "Richmond Park" for
the sledding scene (where I never went sledding- we would usually go to
Brookside or Tower Park on the SE side).
They also show at
least one Christian Reformed Church in the opening scene- I think it is Leonard
Street CRC. This is the west side of GR- opposite of where I grew up. I would
rarely come over this way on my own or even with my family - except for a few
times when we might go to John Ball Zoo. I remember playing against
"Westside" school in basketball when I was playing for Millbrook on
the southeast side (I remember Bill Sall was their best player. Now he’s the
Calvin Coach. Small world). That's about it. Anyways, the point is that Paul
Schrader was a “west sider.”
Later in life I've explored
the west side of GR a bit more, but we never attended the Christian Reformed
churches on that side of town (our family attended 1st CRC, also known as Bates
Street). Of course we had west side kids in our class at GRCH- all the
Christian junior high students (from Ada, Millbrook, Sylvan, East Paris,
Westside, Creston, etc ) eventually meet at the one main high school (some of
these junior highs no longer exist, including mine).
The opening scene also
apparently shows Paul's dad shoveling snow and Paul's actual house (lots of
actual real snow- makes me wonder if they filmed this after the famous blizzard
of ’78? I was living there at the time and remember it well. And it fits with
the timing of the release a year later).
There's also a scene
at a factory, and also at a home that says in fading paint “Van Dorn’s
Celery”- (apparently, celery farming was a thing in west Michigan for
some time. See https://www.thehenryford.org/explore/blog/celery-in-western-michigan ) where they show some of the
elderly folk talking about Reformed theology- all familiar topics to me
Later, there's even a
scene where the main character - the father in search of his daughter in Los
Angeles (played by George C. Scott) has a conversation with a young lady about
"TULIP" - the reformed acronym for Total Depravity, Unconditional
Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistable Grace, & Perseverance of the
Saints - to which the female character responds "Wow, you're more
messed up than me", or something like that.
Why is the father
searching for his daughter? Because somewhere after reaching Los Angeles, the
daughter disappeared. And nobody knows what happened. So after hiring a private
investigator who is only partially successful or honest with the father, the
father decides to go to L.A. on his own to find his beloved daughter.
And here is where I need to
mention some particulars about the movie that are misleading. Of course the bus
says they are going to a convention in Bellflower which is indeed in Los
Angeles county- but Bellflower is one of MANY suburbs & incorporated cities
(88 in total) of L.A. county -and it is not necessarily in a "seedy"
area as depicted in the movie.
From Bellflower to downtown
is 18 miles. If a young person was going to L.A. to be LED ASTRAY (no pun
intended, but it works well ie LA= Led Astray), Bellflower would not
necessarily be the place to go. Bellflower was originally mostly Dutch farmers-
in fact my dad, as the son of a CRC pastor, partially grew up there in
the 1930's before moving to Holland Michigan. He has photo album pics of wide
open fields- dirt roads, lots of open space etc. Of course by the 70's it had
become much more established, but still then and today is not near
Hollywood nor the lefty craziness you might think (of) (sorry to end with a
preposition). In the 70’s and even still today it is a relatively mundane
community - not a lot of exciting night life or theatres, etc.
For entertainment, people
might go to Cerritos Mall; or venture all the way downtown or to Hollywood for
special shows etc. Belfllower is surrounded by other suburbs such as Lakewood,
Long Beach, Norwalk, Downey, Paramount, and the list goes on. For sports,
there’s Angels Stadium in Anaheim, and Dodger Stadium near downtown, and all
the other sports teams, but none are near Bellflower. Perhaps Bellflower’s
biggest claim to fame today is the football team at Bosco Catholic High School.
They are a regular top seed in the entire nation for high school football, and
high prospects will travel or move to the area to attend Bosco- with high hopes
of a college career and maybe even the NFL.
Originally, however,
Bellflower (originally called Somerset) was a stronghold for the CRC- including
Valley Christian Schools- associated with the CRC- which my grandfather (also a
CRC pastor) co-founded back in the 30's. So the Bellflower sign on the bus is
misleading. If this CRC father's daughter went to Bellflower- to get "led
astray" into pornography she would have had to travel on her own or be
picked up by somebody - to the other side of L.A. (county, not city) -
most likely San Fernando Valley (about 40 miles from Bellflower) - which is
known to be more of a pornography -producing area. I am now imagining the
snarky hyper-sexual punk out there reading this sarcastically saying
suggestively, “How does he know it’s a porno area? “
And the answer is: I study
and read, and learn. Not from personal involvement in it. I also worked as a
substitute teacher for the LAUSD for many years while going thru seminary and
so I got to know the area from working at the many LAUSD schools in the area,
and you learn as you go. San Fernando valley (not to be confused with the City
of San Fernando in SF Valley) is comprised of many cities, from Glendale out to
Thousand Oaks, and everything in between. Of course, there’s also Burbank,
Tarzana, Studio City, North Hollywood, etc
There’s also the mainstream
film industry in this area, including Warner Bros, Disney, as well as numerous
other smaller film production companies. When I was still in seminary I bought
a used station wagon a few decades ago- a beautiful Mercury Colony Park- &
it just happened to be from a fellow who was a film producer living in Studio
City and had used it to transport “suits” (ie film studio executives around the
lot).
To put all of this into
context: Grand Rapids to Holland MI (or Grand Haven if you prefer) (a drive I
took millions of times to “grandpa’s cottage” growing up in West Michigan) is
about 30 to 35 miles, closer than Bellflower is to San Fernando. Basically,
“the valley” is the other side of “the hill” – which Mulholland Highway
traverses from the Bel Air area towards the Hollywood Bowl area ( I recently
drove it with my elderly parents & my sister who was visiting from
Michigan- showing them the sights.
Anyways, this leads me to
another point: After my family moved to Bellflower, I still went back and forth
to Grand Rapids as I attended Calvin College, and two of my siblings remained
in West Michigan. And my grandfather on my mother's side still resided in GR -
and ran a profitable butter business.
Anybody who knows a little bit of Dutch
American and CRC history can easily figure out who I am from all the clues I’ve
given. And people who knew our family -and made the association of us
with my successful businessman grandfather (& his "mansion" in
East Grand Rapids) -- assumed when we moved to southern Cal we were moving to a
place like Beverly Hills - like a mansion or something. Because they also knew
my dad was moving back to California to work for a successful televangelist
Christian ministry- which evoked images of financial well-being, in the minds
of some people.
However, Bellflower is NOT
Beverly Hills. It's not a "bad neighborhood" necessarily but it's
just basic middle-class houses - some areas nicer and more spacious than other-
but some parts very close together- including lots of apartments. Our family
moved to a nice 2-story home: 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, big backyard, near a park,
etc - also in an equestrian area- where some people had horses- and they would
ride them on the nearby riverbed and on the streets as well. But it was NOT a
fancy area that you might see in Sunset Magazine etc.
I say this because over
time- we would have CRC friends visit from west Michigan (some of them “Eagle
Knights” -ie who attended GRCH & Calvin like myself) and often they
would come with certain pre-conceptions as mentioned only to find out we
lived in an "ordinary" middle class neighborhood. Some with less
class would return to Michigan and tell snarky stories about where we live as
if we ever pretended to be rich Beverly Hills people. WE never did. And still
don’t to this day (although I don't live in Bellflower anymore, my parents
still do in the same house).
We are not and never were a
“flashy” family, nor was my wealthy Grand Rapids grandfather (apart from the
mansion, of course). My wealthy grandfather drove station wagons his whole
life, and kept his Lake Michigan cottage fairly primitive. Even today the driveway
remains unpaved. His son who took over the business is more of a flashy type-
in terms of cars and boats. But those of us who moved to Bellflower were never
the flashy types.
There were also a few
“friends” who assumed I was going to be in the movie business myself because of
the images and associations they had in their minds of me and my family (as mentioned
my dad also worked for a televised ministry that periodically interviewed
famous guests as part of the church service; including the occasional Hollywood
celebrity who had at least a little bit of Christian conviction). And some
thought I had “Hollywood looks” whatever that means. But I never had any dreams
or ambitions of becoming a so-called “movie star”.
One of these people I knew
from Calvin showed up by surprise one day when I was still in Bellflower and
she was shocked that it was nowhere near Hollywood and the film industry. And
disappointed for that matter. She mistakenly thought I was part of that crowd.
Sorry Audrey (& Eric). I never said I was, nor pretended to be (but that’s
another story for another time). Later, I did become a little involved in show
business – but mostly for the sake of my Christian ministry- and trying to
reach people in those circles with the good news of Jesus Christ (yes, I am an
evangelical!)
CRC kids & families all
over USA know about other CRC communities all over the USA from missionaries
who visit their parish, & from reading The Banner, and for those who go on
to Calvin, they meet fellow CRC kids (young adults). However, unless you're a
rare bird, like me (or one of those CRC pastors who bounced around, or a family
member of such a pastor) you probably don't personally know much of anything
about that other CRC community.
I’m such a rare CRC
bird that over time I searched out all the CRC locations in California –
attending a few- but mostly just taking pictures of them for a blog. Later, I
did the same in the Chicago area- primarily for the purpose of getting to know
the physical locations of these Christian Reformed neighborhoods. Even as late
as 2023 I’m still doing this- most recently around the greater Grand Rapids
area- wow -so many CRC’s and RCA’s and even Protestant Reformed Churches- it’s
mind boggling. I sometimes ponder how much more we could do as the Body of
Christ if we could find a way to unite!
As best as I can tell, the
only reason Paul Schrader used Bellflower as a prop on the bus was apparently
because he knew of it as a Christian Reformed stronghold. I wonder if he has
actually ever been to Bellflower? And as far as I know they never filmed any of
the California scenes actually in Bellflower, nor even in L.A. County. From
what I hear, many, if not all, of the risque CA scenes are actually filmed in
San Diego County.
