Beasts on Film
The two biggest movies out during the holidays now are The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and King Kong.
There is one thing that both have in common besides being reasonable hits, and I'll elaborate on that in a minute. But first some thoughts about the films.
I loved the Chronicles of Narnia book series, and like all C.S. Lewis fans I reveled in the way he made what was biblical into fantastic allegory. There are just flatly certain things we long to engage in, and brilliant, beautiful fantasy helps us connect with that. Lewis acknowledged wonderfully that God did not give us imaginations for nothing.
But I must say that I was disappointed with the film. As much as Christians all around have said that Disney kept all the "Christian" stuff in, for one, that's not exactly the point, and for two, it was still a grand Disney simulation. Being completely Disneyfied, it was not only missing critical dialogue, but all the uniquely enchanting Lewis charm was eviscerated. Some even said it was The Passion of the Christ for kids. Nah, it was more like The Lord of the Rings for kids, and I for one can't stand the Lord of the Rings.
King Kong was one of the groundbreaking films in the 1930's that blew away audiences, and it was as much its horror as its astounding (for its time) special effects. This year's effort was pure silliness. Director-of-epics Peter Jackson plus state-of-the-art special effects does not equal magnificent filmmaking, and I think everyone thought it would. There were just too many times my suspension of disbelief was brashly spat upon (when it so didn't have to be) that the whole thing just became exasperating. After about the 14th time the Naomi Watts character and Kong looked lovingly into each other's eyes, I'd had it.
So here're two widely promoted and very expensive features panned by me (with some reservations). The key thing that got me about both films, indeed the one thing that concerns me most about them, is that each had a beast.
A beast. In Chronicles, it was the lion. In Kong, it was the gorilla. Both were in some measure the featured character, if not the protagonist all together. And both died for the love of another. So in a very profound way, they were both Christ figures (with the lion Aslan the more unashamedly obvious one).
But the thing I want to point out here is that they were both mere images. They were deftly-drawn, graphically-impeccable, computer-generated images. Ironically, in Kong is a scene in which they are deep into the distant terrifying Skull Island, and the filmmaker in the film, played by Jack Black, comes across a wide gorge filled with Brachiosauruses (you know, the big hulking dinosaurs we used to call Brontosauruses). As he cranks his 1930's movie camera, he asks his male lead movie star to step into the scene. This is so the people who see the movie back home won't think what they are witnessing is fake.
Well, it is all fake. And the fakeness is looking more and more real. I couldn't help but think while I watched Chronicles, and confirmed watching Kong, "they worshipped an image of the beast." Now I don't exactly think moviegoers will bow and sing hymns to either image at the theater.
But if they don't know Christ-- the true risen Jesus Christ of Scripture-- then how susceptible will they be when the media experts make remarkable images of things they want them to worship?
Thing is, they already do. The question is how much further lost will the Catholicist be when he or she gets sucked into better and more meaningful idol worship, as produced by the grand Walt Disney simulation machine?
Want to see a list of a lot of those idols? Click here.
There is one thing that both have in common besides being reasonable hits, and I'll elaborate on that in a minute. But first some thoughts about the films.
I loved the Chronicles of Narnia book series, and like all C.S. Lewis fans I reveled in the way he made what was biblical into fantastic allegory. There are just flatly certain things we long to engage in, and brilliant, beautiful fantasy helps us connect with that. Lewis acknowledged wonderfully that God did not give us imaginations for nothing.
But I must say that I was disappointed with the film. As much as Christians all around have said that Disney kept all the "Christian" stuff in, for one, that's not exactly the point, and for two, it was still a grand Disney simulation. Being completely Disneyfied, it was not only missing critical dialogue, but all the uniquely enchanting Lewis charm was eviscerated. Some even said it was The Passion of the Christ for kids. Nah, it was more like The Lord of the Rings for kids, and I for one can't stand the Lord of the Rings.
King Kong was one of the groundbreaking films in the 1930's that blew away audiences, and it was as much its horror as its astounding (for its time) special effects. This year's effort was pure silliness. Director-of-epics Peter Jackson plus state-of-the-art special effects does not equal magnificent filmmaking, and I think everyone thought it would. There were just too many times my suspension of disbelief was brashly spat upon (when it so didn't have to be) that the whole thing just became exasperating. After about the 14th time the Naomi Watts character and Kong looked lovingly into each other's eyes, I'd had it.
So here're two widely promoted and very expensive features panned by me (with some reservations). The key thing that got me about both films, indeed the one thing that concerns me most about them, is that each had a beast.
A beast. In Chronicles, it was the lion. In Kong, it was the gorilla. Both were in some measure the featured character, if not the protagonist all together. And both died for the love of another. So in a very profound way, they were both Christ figures (with the lion Aslan the more unashamedly obvious one).
But the thing I want to point out here is that they were both mere images. They were deftly-drawn, graphically-impeccable, computer-generated images. Ironically, in Kong is a scene in which they are deep into the distant terrifying Skull Island, and the filmmaker in the film, played by Jack Black, comes across a wide gorge filled with Brachiosauruses (you know, the big hulking dinosaurs we used to call Brontosauruses). As he cranks his 1930's movie camera, he asks his male lead movie star to step into the scene. This is so the people who see the movie back home won't think what they are witnessing is fake.
Well, it is all fake. And the fakeness is looking more and more real. I couldn't help but think while I watched Chronicles, and confirmed watching Kong, "they worshipped an image of the beast." Now I don't exactly think moviegoers will bow and sing hymns to either image at the theater.
But if they don't know Christ-- the true risen Jesus Christ of Scripture-- then how susceptible will they be when the media experts make remarkable images of things they want them to worship?
Thing is, they already do. The question is how much further lost will the Catholicist be when he or she gets sucked into better and more meaningful idol worship, as produced by the grand Walt Disney simulation machine?
Want to see a list of a lot of those idols? Click here.
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