Since we have all grown up with the movies, we are by default amature movie critics. So let me get that part of this "conceit" out of the way.
The creators of the Narnia movie did a wonderful job of sticking to the story. They added a little bit here and there for continuity (in my mind) and one little scene for drama that was totally in keeping with the spirit of the book.
The kids did a fine job of acting, the digital creatures were believable and the action scenes riveting. And the music? Well the music was in a word...
(Can she only use ONE word?)
Superb.
Uplifting, soaring, and transporting, more like!
(I KNEW it! Can I call 'em or what?)
And for those of you who cry at movies.... I give you my "Hankie Rating"
I used eight and one half hankies.
The half a one was to mop myself up on the way out of the theater.But you should modify that compared to your own hanky scale, I am one easy mark in the boo hoo department. I cry at sad moments AND happy ones. I am a leaky faucet that way. A veritible "watering pot" to coin an archaic phrase.
However, be all that as it may, that is not what I want to talk about today.
In my mind, what really makes movies magical is what you bring into the theater with you. And I will say, at the risk of sounding like a pompous fool, because of my personality type, I bring one very LARGE bag of stuff to the party. Hence the watering pot syndrome.
Movies after all, are stories. (Or they SHOULD be.) Human beings have been telling stories ever since God breathed the breath of life into our beings. And in all stories are certain themes that play out in millions and millions of ways. We never tire of hearing them. Because they are part of our root. Exile, betrayal, sin, corruption, scheming, kidnapping, false accusation, mistaken identity, sybling rivalry, love triangles, power madness, and oh thank God for this last one...... redemption.
I found it VERY amusing to hear several people who wrote or talked about the Narnia movie before it came out, saying it had this overt "Christian" theme. And that this somehow was a subversive tendency in movies. Slipping in that religious stuff in a kids movie! What will they think of next?
Had any of these dolts ever read anything by C.S. Lewis? He was a devout Christian! What are we supposed to do? Emasculate the story to bland it out till all that is left is a nice little tale of lions and witches? Heaven forbid that it might touch anything deeper than our desire to be entertained. Idiots! Cretins! Fools!
As with all epic themes ( I so hesitate to use the word "myth" I have SUCH a hard time with it, because it carries with it the connotation of "made up rubbish") .... but with all of mankind's themes comes the one of a chosen, annointed. A called out one who makes some kind of altruistic gesture for the good of many.I don't think Christianity has a corner on that theme.Though I am very happy to list it among those that do!
And just to drive a point home, last night on television they had the first two of the Lord of the Rings movies on back to back, and what motivated those people over and over? Allegence to a king. And the hope of a "high king" over all the others.
And here I come to the part of this little essay where I out myself.
I come to the theater ready to believe. I'm Mulder. ;-)
The reason I cry my eyes out at movies with themes of redemption, is that I think that ultimate redemption is real. I think we all DO want a High King. And the reason we need one is to lead us up to higher levels of "humaness" so that we will be able to bear the revelation of the Creator of the Universe, Whose sole purpose in creating anything at all was to have a dwelling place among us.
This is the BIGGEST theme of all. The mother of all themes. Talk about "Deep Magic".... this is the deepest.
(She continues on a bit of a tangent.....)
Last night as I was watching Aragorn swinging his sword, and Legolas shooting his arrows, I thought, at least they could SEE what they were up against, (nasty orkses as Golum called them) and they could go out and hack it to pieces or thwap an arrow into its eye. But today, our enemies are more subtle. And we fight in near darkness, sometimes not knowing for sure if we are doing the right thing.Constantly second guessing ourselves because good and evil are so intertwined, it is VERY difficult to make sure you are making right choices.
(Is that an Ork or an Ent?..... uh oh, I'm getting into this....)
And what are our enemies these days? Pride, arrogance, greed, lust,self absorbtion. But worst of all the things that come because we are in the final days before the redemption... darkness, apathy,and a tendency to fall into deep sleep when we ought to stay awake.
My Rabbi teaches me that the fallen things in the world that we are elevating today (by our doing good in it) look like the lowest of the low. The minutia. The dregs. BUT in fact these subtle things that we are releasing, come from the highest places. The basest things have fallen from the most rarified realms, and they need tikkun ... (repair).We cannot weild a sword sharp enough to free them. We cannot shoot an arrow true enough to split the ropes that tie them. Instead we stumble in the darkness, uttering prayers, lighting candles, encouraging one another, trying to live in simcha (joy),hoping for the geula (redemption).And crying out to God, Ad Matai? How Long? Until you send us the Annointed One, who will teach us and prepare our souls to be able to survive the awsome day of HaShem (the Name).
Listen, another reason I cry when I go to these movies is that they become a visual representation of the longings of my own soul. The desire for a King is real. Think about it. If you KNEW for SURE that there was a King that was ALL Good, Just, and True. You would pledge your allegance to him, and find out that you would be doing things greater and nobler than you thought you had in you. That's the PURPOSE of a real King don't you see?
But there is one thing, a big kabbalisic secret I am going to share with you. The one really great thing about our situation that is not readily apparent is this: Because we are sifting through these dregs, and living in this age, working with such difficult things, under such trying times, the smallest things we do for good, can have incredibly far reaching effects in the grand scheme of things. Holding your tongue when you might want to say something nasty, could save a world. Giving a bit of charity could tip the scales toward redemption. Things are that finely balanced.
And let me tell you this. One day, songs will be sung, and stories told about this generation. The one that stood in the greatest darkness that the world of men has ever endured, with a faltering candle in their hand, looking for those last bits of stuff that needed to be fixed, so that the Moshiach (annointed) would come and set the whole thing straight again. The generation that didn't despair, that never gave up hope, and called out in a loud voice, Ad Matai? How Long?
And one more thing before I go.
We will not come as beggers to the table.
But as heros.
HaShem knows what He is about in these matters.
*Four hankies were used in the creation of this essay.
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