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So...
We watched "300" and (finally) "Kingdom of Heaven", these last two nights.
I much prefer "Kingdom of Heaven".
My darling husband asked me, the other night, to site the difference between violent movies like Lord of the Rings and violent movies like Preditor.
Having never seen Preditor, this was a bit of a problem (although I suspect I could point to things like 'plot' and 'character development' and not be far off the mark).
But.
I would put LotR and Kingdom of Heaven in the same category together (and not just because they both use a lot of swords).
While I would put 300 in a category that might include something like... Oh, that Sci-Fi Arnold-Schwazenegger movie that takes place on Mars? Does anyone know what it was called?
And here is why:
The latter seem to set a lot of store by showing women who are available for sex, and men who are tough and violent and somewhat impolite and therefore (???) The Good Guys[1].
On the other hand, the former - despite being set in brutal, feudal societies - set a lot of store on developing their main characters as actual good people (people with manners and human decency and a willingness to at least attempt to see another person's point of view), on pointing out that bloody warfare is *bloody* and gruesome and frightening, and not at all pleasant (possible exception here: keeping score on body counts which I personally find a bit distasteful, but hey, I found the short-jokes a bit distasteful, too. Can't do much about it now).
I don't want my eventual kids to pick up snotty, grand-standing, rude-crude behaviour from the Arnold category. I'd be quite happy if they picked fictional role models from the heros of the LotR category, though[2].
There is a third category -- into-which PotC and Princess Bride fall.
This is comedy. and that, I think, gets judged by a different standard than movies whose scripts expect you to take them Very Seriously. :-) It certainly does by me, at any rate. :-)
[1] I confess, I also found the story line of 300 to be presented a bit too much as: "If you hurt a small number of US, then we will reltaliate by the thousands in order to anihalate YOU, you tyranicalAfganis Persians!" I assume it's safe to hope that the original graphic novel was not so heavy-handed?
[2] Note: Obviously, I would be teaching my own kids some morals and ethics and what-not. But I know how kids immitate things/people they think are cool. I'd rather they thought that Aragorn or Sam or Balian were cool and worthy of immitation than, say, movie!Leonides whose way of life presents both fear and love (love!) as weaknesses.
We watched "300" and (finally) "Kingdom of Heaven", these last two nights.
I much prefer "Kingdom of Heaven".
My darling husband asked me, the other night, to site the difference between violent movies like Lord of the Rings and violent movies like Preditor.
Having never seen Preditor, this was a bit of a problem (although I suspect I could point to things like 'plot' and 'character development' and not be far off the mark).
But.
I would put LotR and Kingdom of Heaven in the same category together (and not just because they both use a lot of swords).
While I would put 300 in a category that might include something like... Oh, that Sci-Fi Arnold-Schwazenegger movie that takes place on Mars? Does anyone know what it was called?
And here is why:
The latter seem to set a lot of store by showing women who are available for sex, and men who are tough and violent and somewhat impolite and therefore (???) The Good Guys[1].
On the other hand, the former - despite being set in brutal, feudal societies - set a lot of store on developing their main characters as actual good people (people with manners and human decency and a willingness to at least attempt to see another person's point of view), on pointing out that bloody warfare is *bloody* and gruesome and frightening, and not at all pleasant (possible exception here: keeping score on body counts which I personally find a bit distasteful, but hey, I found the short-jokes a bit distasteful, too. Can't do much about it now).
I don't want my eventual kids to pick up snotty, grand-standing, rude-crude behaviour from the Arnold category. I'd be quite happy if they picked fictional role models from the heros of the LotR category, though[2].
There is a third category -- into-which PotC and Princess Bride fall.
This is comedy. and that, I think, gets judged by a different standard than movies whose scripts expect you to take them Very Seriously. :-) It certainly does by me, at any rate. :-)
[1] I confess, I also found the story line of 300 to be presented a bit too much as: "If you hurt a small number of US, then we will reltaliate by the thousands in order to anihalate YOU, you tyranical
[2] Note: Obviously, I would be teaching my own kids some morals and ethics and what-not. But I know how kids immitate things/people they think are cool. I'd rather they thought that Aragorn or Sam or Balian were cool and worthy of immitation than, say, movie!Leonides whose way of life presents both fear and love (love!) as weaknesses.
