Faith Is Kind: Disney's Pinocchio

    Everyone wishes or dreams for something. One of the classic ways people express their wish is by wishing on the Wishing Star. But some people think that's silly. One example is Jiminy Cricket. But that soon changed. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what the story of what Disney's Pinocchio is about. 

     Once upon a time, the travels of Jiminy Cricket brought him to a "quaint little village" and the home of a woodcarver named Geppeto. Seeing that Geppeto's light is on, Jiminy goes inside to find Geppeto finishing his work on a puppet that's in the likeness of a little boy. When he's finished, Geppeto names the puppet Pinocchio. That night he sees the Wishing Star, so he wishes he may, he wishes he might, have Pinocchio become a real boy. While Geppeto's sleeping, a beautiful blue fairy appears and brings Pinocchio to life. He's still made of wood though, and the Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio to "prove yourself brave, truthful, and unselfish, and someday you will be a real boy," and to "always let your conscience be you guide." Since Pinocchio doesn't know what a  conscience is, Jiminy volunteers to help him know right from wrong. Will Pinocchio be a real boy, or will he be "a boy who won't be good," and "might just as well be made of wood?"

     Disney's Pinocchio has a great amount of symbolism in many parts of the story. All together, it's a story that is true to life. All your life, you work hard and do good things to go towards something better. For Pinocchio, it's gaining the life and body of a real boy.  This is one of the main branches in the film that leads off to other ideas. 

      When we think about it, we find that Pinocchio is linked to religion. Particularly Christianity. (I'm Mormon, and yes, we are Christians.) This has to do with what was said earlier about working towards something better. Those of us that are of a certain Faith, believe that we must to our best in order reach the highest happiness in the next life. 
       The symbolism in this is also put into some of the film's characters. (This applies to us Christians mostly.) Pinocchio has to listen to either Honest John, a sly fox, or Jiminy Cricket. This represents the influence that both the Devil and the Holy Ghost can have on our hearts and minds when it comes to facing temptations and other obstacles. The Blue Fairy giving life to Pinocchio can also be used to represent the power of God in the creation of life. 

    A great aspect of Pinocchio is something we have in our lives whether one is religious or not: Consequences. Pinocchio learns about consequences more or less the hard way. He almost gets kidnapped by a traveling puppet show man, and then almost becomes a donkey. Obviously, turning into a donkey might be worse. How did this happen? Before he knows it, Honest John puts Pinocchio with a bunch of other little boys on a coach, where an evil coachman takes them to a place called Pleasure Island. There, the little boys can do what they want and misbehave a ton without being stopped. (That part can stand for our agency in life.) Once the boys are in, the Coachmen orders his men to lock the doors and says, "give a bad boy enough rope and he'll soon make a jackass of himself." This turns out to be literally true. Most of the boys have turned into donkeys and will be sold into slavery. 
    Going back into religion, Pleasure Island represents all things that are worldly, such as cigars, drinks, fighting, and pool, and also symbolizes how Satan himself delights in our misbehavior. Nothing good comes from these things, so now the boys must face the consequences of their behavior, as we all must.  

     Here's the good part about all of this: For the boys that turned into donkeys on Pleasure Island, it was probably too late. Pinocchio was able to realize what was happening to him, and was able to escape with only a pair of donkey's ears and a tail. At the end of the film, he's able to no longer have them, thus representing forgiveness through Christ. Although we don't turn into donkeys when we do bad things in real life, we still face consequences. But luckily, we can almost always repent. Then through faith, we can have the knowledge that God and others will be kind and forgive. 

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The Feel For Freedom: Glory

Warning: The following film is in fact rated R for some somewhat bloody violence and the N-word. May also contain spoilers.

   Even though ETF wouldn't normally do rated R films, this film, entitled Glory, has impressive themes and features that that the writer of ETF couldn't help but write about. As said above, the film does contain violence, given the fact that this is a war film. Violence such as seeing from behind, a man's face/head being blasted off. The language is questionable, such as the N-word, and the F-bomb being dropped at least once. 
    Anyway, Glory takes place in the late American Civil War. It is also based on the true story of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the 54th Massachusetts Regiment, the first black soldiers in America. 

    Once upon a time, Captain Robert Gould Shaw was chosen as Colonel to lead the 54th Massachusetts Regiment. Throughout the film, the men face will racism and intense hardships. They face all this while waiting to go into battle, but they have only been used for manual labor. These men have to learn and grow together along the way. Some don't think black men are capable of fighting. Will they be able to eventually fight for their freedom, or will they be denied the glory they've been longing for?

     The actors did a stunning job on the characters they portrayed in the film. Matthew Broderick, (Shaw), was able to act with the character of a man who was not used to working with black men besides his lifelong friend Thomas, who was free. By the end of the film, Captain Shaw has developed a relationship with his men that was unusual. They become very loyal and respectful of him, including one of the men named Trip. When Robert was shot before their eyes, you can see the deep shock and emotional affect it had on them. Trip, in the beginning, was a hateful  person and didn't have much respect for Robert or the others. At the end of the film, Robert and Trip are put right next to other in the same mass grave. This represents the relationship they developed, even as they died for the same thing.
       

       The white people and the black people in Glory have very different roles and thus, different behaviors. The actors who played the black people at the time had to be able to portray people who had been treated as inferior for the majority of their lives. They also needed to show great enthusiasm and hope. The black folk at the time most likely had a constant but tired hope that things for them would indeed get better and that they would be free. 
        The role of the white man is a different story. Most of them at that time had a much better life than that of the colors. Some of those actors had to demonstrate the characteristic of being prideful. Two characters that are not like this are Robert and his best friend in the military, Cabot Forbes. Seeing the horrors of the Civil War has humbled them, more so Robert than Forbes. Why this doesn't seem to affect the other military officers we are not sure. 

         Why it's called Glory: Before the war, the "Negro" had rarely been treated well, often being frowned upon. Now they have been given the opportunity to fight against that. The first sense of glory in the film is when after a Confederate proclamation was read to the entire Regiment saying that if they're captured in battle, they will be returned to slavery or put to death. Everyone stayed. Robert had expected many of them to leave in fear. The morning after the proclamation was read he simply said, "Glory hallelujah," upon seeing that no one had left. The next moment of glory is when the men finally receive their uniforms, and are marching down the street. All of the people are cheering and waving the flag for them, something that makes these men feel very proud. The best is the opening to the climax. Knowing the regiment's will to fight and despite that many lives will be lost if he does so, Robert volunteers himself and the regiment to lead the attack on Fort Wagner. As the 54th Massachusetts Regiment marches down to the beach, they pass other troops that will later follow them in the attack. These troops cheer on the men of the 54th. The white man that started cheering for them first was a the man who had earlier harassed them. But now we suspect that he and the others are moved by the men of the 54th's bravery and cheers for them, making these Negro men feel a glory that they have seldom felt before.

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The Eater of Films and of Children: Stephen King's IT

      Clowns....y'all know they're real creepy. Once meant to bring laughter, clowns now bring what's mostly anxiety and fear. This is extremely manifested in the media and on film. That, ladies and gentlemen is where ETF introduces Stephen King, an iconic horror writer. One of his works is a story called, It. When the book was adapted into a 2-part tv movie in 1990, one of Hollywood's scariest clowns was born. 

       Once upon a time, there was a town in Maine called Derry. Children are disappearing and when they're found, the sight of what's left of them is horrific. No one knows what's happening. Nobody, that is, except for 7 friends. When they were kids, they and other children were terrorized by an evil clown called Pennywise. Apart from being evil, Pennywise is no ordinary clown. He has the ability to change into whatever you're afraid of. He does this to children, and then proceeds to eat them. Since he isn't actually a clown, he earns the name of It. This group of friends, calling themselves "Lucky Seven," takes it upon themselves to venture into It's lair and destroy it in order to save the other children in Derry. They succeeded the first time, but now It's back. Will Lucky Seven come back together to destroy It once and for all, or are they all going to be It's next meal?

    Pennywise is given plenty of scenes in the film, and when he's on screen, it's impossible to focus on anything else. Derry looks like a run-down, dull place, and has not much color. Pennywise, being a clown, stands out with his vivid clothes and bright red hair. Intentional or not, this effect makes Pennywise all the scarier because he doesn't blend in with the rest of Derry. 

     It makes us think about how we face and react to our fears. Each of us fear different things, including the kids of Lucky Seven. A lot of the time, but not always, It puts strain on the some of them by taking the form of a specific person. For Beverly Marsh, it was her abusive father. For Bill, it was his little brother, George. The link with seeing these people? They provide weakness, making the victim more vulnerable to It. In addition to the mere sight of the person, they would usually say things that would bother the desired person. When Beverly saw her father, she heard him say, "Bevey, what do you think you're doing down here with these boys? Now get home." This was naturally distressing to Beverly so she tried answering or talking to the hallucination as she would her real father. Luckily, the others were able to remind her that who and what she was seeing wasn't real. 
 
    Once something's gone, it's gone right? Not always. This surfaces multiple times throughout the film. The main thing is Lucky Seven's impression that It was dead. But now it's thirty years later, and It's back and hungry once again. When the friends come back to Derry and stay in a hotel, they're unexpectedly confronted by an older and insane Henry Bowers, a fellow student who had bullied them as kids. The meaning is basically that you never know when, and if, something could come back to haunt you. 

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The Movie You DON'T Want To Watch Before Going Swimming: Jaws

    The 1970's: The dawn of Steven Spielberg's career and movie blockbusters. The blockbuster we're going to look at now is Steven Spielberg's one and only Jaws. There's definitely no going back into the water for a while after watching this film. Made in 1975, Jaws was a sensation and still is today.

     Once upon a time in on Amity Island, the beaches are being terrorized by a mysterious and horrific predator. But with summer as the means of tourism and major income, the mayor refuses to close the beaches. After a young boy is killed, the heartbroken mother is putting a bounty on the monster that killed her son. Now Police Chief Brody, shark expert Matt Hooper, and fisherman Sam Quint are setting out to find and kill what they're sure is a large and deadly great white shark. Will the be able to save Amity Island from a set of killer jaws?

     Jaws has an excellent use of suspense. In the film, we rarely see the shark itself till the climax. One reason for this is that the mechanical shark used in the film kept breaking on set. (Fun fact: The mechanical shark that the film makers used was named Bruce. This is how the shark from Finding Nemo got his name.)  For Steven Spielberg, this is something that worked out in his favor. This iconic director was able to give us moments in the film that shocked, if not, scared us. 
     
    In reality, sharks aren't as malicious as Jaws. This film has the #1 image for the shark being seen as a man eater. But humans are not a shark's usual idea of a meal. Most shark attacks aren't fatal, depending on the damage. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_white_shark ) However, that does little to distract us from the sight or thought of a scary man eating shark like the one we've seen in Jaws. So trust me, a great white shark would rather eat a seal than you. Check out the link to learn more about great white sharks! 

    Why a film about a shark? For generations, going to the beach has been a favorite summer past time. Most people probably over look the idea of a hungry shark being in the water. Count on Steven Spielberg to bring that to life AND make it look realistic. In the film, the shark and the some of the stunts, (as well as the blood,) look very real. It looks even more real because the movie was filmed in the actual ocean. All these things put together make the shark fin soup for a blockbuster film known as Jaws. 

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A Foreboding Film: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

    The Enchanted Tale of Film you're about to read is very unpleasant and somewhat depressing. It is also not very enchanted. This is Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and it is the writer of ETF's dismal duty to review the film based on Lemony Snicket's books, which recount the Baudelaire children's miserbale journey. If you'd rather read something else, I'm sure the writer of ETF has some material that's more desirable. However, if you're up for a film about three clever orphans on the run from a greedy count, then you're welcome to stay. If not, this would be an appropriate time to click on something else or simply leave the computer or cellular devise where this blog is being shown.

     Once upon a time, there lived three children: Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Beaudelaire. Violet is good at inventing things, and knows "there's always something." Klaus loves reading the books in his home's library, and remembers everything he reads. Sunny, the youngest, has a set of sharp teeth that she loves to use for biting. One day, their banker tells them that their parents have died in a fire that's now destroyed their mansion. With nowhere else to go, the orphans are sent to live with a Count Olaf, who will stop at nothing to get the children's large fortune. For reasons not being said here, the children are sent to live with one guardian after another, with Count Olaf following them wherever they go. Will the Baudelaire children be able to stop Count Olaf and find home again? 

   The film has a Tim Burton/Neil Gaiman style to it. Looking at the children's clothes, they wear darker shades of clothing, especially violet. It makes them blend in with the look of the film but makes them seem different from what they're like. This look is also particularly obvious in Count Olaf's house. There is such an appearance on the in and outside of the house that lets you know that something is definitely wrong. There are few places untouched by this effect in the film: Uncle Monty's house and the Baudelaire Mansion. Those are the places where the children are happy and feel safe. The rest of the world seems to be but an unfriendly and woeful place. 

    In the film, (and also in the books,) the children are thrown into the midst of people who see them as inferior. We really don't know why. It could be because of jealousy at the children's wealth, or it could be to make those people feel better about themselves. Some of the orphan's bad treatment is shown in the film's deleted scenes, and there's still plenty of it in the film. In this way, both the people and the places that the children encounter are somber and hateful. 

    "At times the world can seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe us when we say that there is much more good in it than bad. All you have to do is look hard enough. And what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events may, in fact, be the first steps of a journey." Even though the Baudelaire children faced so many bad things, they had only experienced a small part of the world, and a small portion of their lives. It's true that some people will endure more misery and woe than others, but in different ways, we are all fortunate.  

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