Just before Thanksgiving, my wife and I were searching the various apps on our television for something to watch during the upcoming break. Most of the time, this is an experience in frustration for us. While I am drawn towards slower-moving dramas, my wife typically wants to watch movies and shows that are light-hearted and uplifting. The result of this difference in taste usually leads to some form of continuous scrolling through Netflix and Apple for something that we can agree on. In most cases, nothing fits the bill.
The beginning of the Shrinking series is a picture of what can happen when life is disrupted in an unexpected way.
Because of our history in failing to find a suitable show, it was a welcome surprise when Apple TV+’s Shrinking popped up as a recommended show. The show stars Harrison Ford, Jason Segel, and the hilarious Jessica Williams as a group of friends and colleagues living upper-middle class lives in California. While the show is certainly raunchy at times and portrays a view of reality most Christians will find lacking, it is nonetheless a masterpiece of the modern streaming series genre. In Shrinking, the characters struggle through their existence encountering death, illness, and divorce in a way that is familiar to all human beings. In almost every moment of joy that is portrayed in the show, a brokenness and disappointment hovers in the background, reminding the characters and the viewers that Eden is unattainable in this life.
The Painful Reality
The most compelling character in the series is Jimmy Laird, played by Jason Segel. The opening scenes show Jimmy as a disoriented widower struggling to find his way after the death of his wife. His work as a counselor is ineffective, and his teenage daughter Alice serves as the adult in the home, even as her resentment and anger towards her father grows. In one early scene, Jimmy’s neighbor scolds him after he wakes her up in the middle of the night having a loud party in his pool. The shame on his face is heartbreaking as he tries to cover up the drugs and girls he is using to deal with his pain.
The beginning of the Shrinking series is a picture of what can happen when life is disrupted in an unexpected way. Jimmy’s wife’s death didn’t come at the end of a long, slow process during which he was able to come to terms with his grief. Instead, his wife’s death came in a sudden car accident as their relationship was on the rocks. While most viewers may not have lost a spouse, everyone will be able to identify with Jimmy’s condition in some way. Not only is he lost, but he is also flailing towards anything that might provide relief, while neglecting the main thing he needs to do to move forward—face his pain and receive grace for his failings.
The Pattern of Redemption
One of my favorite books in recent years is the J-Curve: Dying and Rising with Jesus in Everyday Life by Paul Miller. The book provides a framework for transformation and an explanation of the often perplexing ways that God works in our lives. Following the pattern of Christ, Miller details how the Christian life is a series of deaths and resurrections that slowly conform us to the image of Christ. The pattern begins as a “death” inflicted by some sort of life experience that leaves us knocked off balance. In this moment (or more often season), the Christian experiences a type of fellowship with Christ in his death. Like Christ, we often wonder where God is and we become disillusioned with our lives. Imitating Christ, we are led to cry out: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Perhaps the defining feature of this experience is that we are unable to rescue ourselves from the pit we find ourselves in. Sometimes it lasts for weeks; other times the suffering can go on for years.
Life is found in faithfulness to the beautiful and difficult experiences and relationships God leads us into.
While the J-Curve gives us a framework for our suffering, it also explains our deliverance. At some point in the pit, something begins to change, and God shows up. The result is a growth upwards that leads us to a more mature faith than what we had before. In the process, our illusions about ourselves and our God are stripped away, and we can see more clearly that God was working in our lives all along. The pain leads to redemption, just as Christ’s suffering led to the kingdom of God breaking in through His death. According to Miller, this is the way we are sanctified, and it is a continuous experience throughout our lives.
While Shrinking is far from a Christian show, the characters freely embrace sexual sin and often celebrate evil things as good, it is an unexpected Christian narrative. While the first few episodes show Jimmy in the pit, the unfolding of season one results in Jimmy’s redemption of sorts as his close fellowship of friends surround him and love him through his pain. Unlike many shows where redemption comes quick, Jimmy’s healing is a process of ups and downs. Through many scenes of forgiveness and mercy, Jimmy’s relationship with his daughter is slowly restored and his friendships come back to life. Even Jimmy’s counseling practice, which was dull and ineffective, becomes a vehicle for transformation as he can connect with his clients in a new way. Much like the story of the Christian life, the death in Jimmy’s life becomes a vehicle for further growth.
It is always encouraging to me when a secular pursuit inadvertently mirrors the gospel. It reminds me that God has worked His story more deeply into our imaginations than we realize. Although our culture tells us that life is found in pursuing new pleasures, the truth is that life is found in faithfulness to the beautiful and difficult experiences and relationships God leads us into. Patience is the way forward. Almost every relationship in Jimmy’s life is contentious at times, but through perseverance, both Jimmy and the other characters learn to value each other in deeper ways.
Perhaps the most touching transformation is Jimmy’s relationship with his daughter Alice. As Jimmy steps up into the father he wants to be, a softening occurs in Alice’s demeanor as she begins to trust her father in new ways, even if things don’t always go her way. The pain is the vehicle for Jimmy to become the father he was destined to be.
Sometimes, God does not give us the healing or change in the situations that we long for.
During our time watching Shrinking, our family has also been going through a J-Curve of sorts. For the past year I have had to endure a sickness that has often led to a bewildering set of symptoms that are both frustrating and scary. While the moments of redemption have increased, we are still waiting for that deliverance that would lead us to higher ground. In our hope, we also understand something foundational. For Christians, this deliverance is not always what we expected or hoped for. Sometimes, God does not give us the healing or change in the situations that we long for. While this is true, it is not the only narrative. We live in a reality where the kingdom of this world is slowly slipping through our fingers, but the kingdom of God is patiently emerging in our disappointments and joys. In our experience, we come to understand that the J-Curve is actually a process resulting in a deeper and more sincere love of God’s kingdom, despite the frustrations of the earthly kingdom.
Reminding Us to Hope
Shrinking captures the reality of life in a way that few television shows have achieved. The best part of the show is that the characters exist as imperfect people who are slowly being changed while remaining broken. Although the show is hilariously funny and often sweet, the reality it presents is realistic. The most difficult parts of life are the most transformative.
The work of change and the patience needed to wait for redemption can leave us questioning God’s goodness. Despite this, our suffering is leading us to a deeper experience of life. As Paul so eloquently states in Romans 5:3-5, we are to “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
If created characters in a secular television series can unknowingly imitate the gospel story, how much more hope do we have as a people being led by a sovereign and good God? If you can watch Shrinking, I hope you will receive the hope of redemption that God has knit into our creation in such a way that even Apple can’t avoid pointing to.
