Are You “Up” for an Adventure?

Of the many themes that could be discussed in the movie “Up”, the pursuit of adventure stands out amongst them all. The film opens with Carl and Ellie meeting as children in the context of wanting to go on a great adventure to the Lost Land in South America. They grow up together, get married, and live a long, full life. Ellie can’t have children (a particularly and surprisingly heart wrenching scene), and Carl makes his living selling balloons. Ellie passes away, and Carl is left at home, alone, and full of regret. He always meant to take Ellie on an adventure to the Lost Land in South America, but “boring life” got in the way.

After her passing, their house became the manifestation of Ellie to Carl. Soon to be sent to a “retirement community”, Carl hatches a plan of escape. Using thousands of balloons of his trade, he floats his house from all who would take him away from all that he had. Of course, the plucky scout Russell is along for the ride, and they have lots of fun together as Carl goes through some great character development, but that could be a topic of another post.

Near the end of the film, Carl shuts himself in his house, now situated in the Lost Land in South America. There’s a need for him to act, but he has finally brought “Ellie” to where he promised he’d take her. Leafing through her adventure journal, he sees the progression of his wife’s life through her eyes, which is her life with him. At the end of the journal, she changes his entire perspective. “Thanks for the adventure,” she tells him. In a few words, she changes his bitterness to joy, as he realizes that he gave the woman he loved exactly what she wanted. His “boring life” was not boring after all. He had been on the greatest adventure he could have been on- living a full life with Ellie.

Emboldened by her words of encouragement, Carl goes off and saves the day. This is only possible because he listens to Ellie, and realizes that he hadn’t missed the adventure of a lifetime. Oftentimes, we think that our life is boring, and that we are missing out on a better, more exciting life. Look around you and see that you are most likely living a great adventure already. Sometimes all it takes is changing our perspective to see that life is not that different from Carl’s, Indiana Jones’, or Frodo and Sam’s adventures.

You just need your Ellie to tell you, “Thanks for the adventure. Now, go have another one!”

You Can Never Keep Up With “The Jone$es”- Spoiler!

A blatant punch in the face to American consumerism, “The Joneses”, starring Demi Moore and David Duchovny, is a smart film that exposes the real cost of materialism. Kate and Steve Jones are the perfect couple and have all the latest gadgets, cars, and fashion items “everyone” wants. Their two high school children also seem to have all the greatest stuff. Everyone in their sphere of influence lusts after the expensive things this family purchases, and lust for these things turns into purchases.

What everyone doesn’t know is that the “Joneses” are really actors paid by a corporation to sell expensive products. The family doesn’t buy any of the things they have- but have to work their way up in the company, selling more and more expensive items. For example, Steve “buys” a fancy sports car that his neighbor and new friend admires. Soon, that neighbor purchases the exact same car. Then, Steve “trades up” and gets an even more expensive car. Frustrated, his friend just can’t keep up, but desperately wants to. He works extra hours, but nothing he can do will ever match what Steve buys next. It’s all based on the lie that the Joneses are an affluent family. Everything is actually given to them with the intent to influence others to buy buy buy. And they do.

Isolation is a strong theme near the end of the film. Since Steve is not really married to Kate, his sense of loneliness is intensified as he has to “pretend” to be in love with someone he’s actually attracted to while they sleep in separate beds. He has to sell whatever the corporation wants him to, and there are things he doesn’t really like but has to pretend that he does. His disingenuous interest in these products begins to weigh him down. Tired of the lies he has to live day after day, Steve starts to change. Meanwhile, in order to pay for everything, others start going into deep, unsustainable debt. Steve clues into this when a pivotal event in the film leads him to change his worldview. He experiences firsthand how greed, lust, and comparison can cause significant destruction and loss in people’s lives. Reformed by the end of the film, he’s a different man.

The film serves as a powerful allegory to all the “Joneses” out there- those early adopters who influence others to consume, often unsustainably. I hope this film inspires us all to look at why we buy what we do. Otherwise, we’ll spend it all on things we actually don’t need or really want. Because no matter how cool an iWhatever is, do you (or I) REALLY need one?

That’s my 2 cents, and you can take that to the bank.

Fighting as a “Gladiator”

Among the battle scenes and epic storyline of redemption in “Gladiator”, there is a deeper tale dealing with personal identity being told under the surface. Most have seen the film helmed by Ridley Scott so I won’t bore you with a synopsis of the entire movie, but there’s much more to the story than grisly battle scenes and political scheming. Maximus learns the true value of who he is and what he’s willing to fight for. Maximus has just been offered to succeed the dying Ceaser. Ceaser’s son Commodus, of course, isn’t going to let this happen. It’s his job to rule, and he will stop at nothing to get it. After the smothering of his father, Commodus has Maximus arrested and taken to be executed. However, Maximus is a resourceful and skilled Roman soldier. He escapes and kills his would-be executioners and races to save his family. Too late, he is taken by slavers to be a gladiator. It’s as a gladiator that Maximus takes a knife and scrapes off the tattoo on his arm that designates him as a soldier and citizen of Rome.

What a crazy response! That would be akin to an American citizen renouncing their citizenship and losing all the benefits thereof. The tattoo removal tells us something important about Maximus. He no longer identifies himself with Rome, an empire he once swore to protect because he loved and believed in what it stood for. He was wronged by the very institution he had previously given his life to, and under Commodus and as a slave he can no longer consider himself a citizen. He doesn’t want to. It’s not that he is rejecting Rome, he’s rejecting the idea that Rome gives him his identity. This is in stark contrast to the cultural norm of the day- blind allegiance to and worship of Ceaser no matter what. Anything other than that was deserving of punishment by law- an effective tactic at ruling the large empire that was Rome. Maximus knows himself well and has the courage and self-determination to fight for what is right, and nothing can take away that away from him. It’s not his Roman citizenship that defines him and determines his life anymore. He is defined by the ideals he holds, which contrast with what Rome under Commodus had become.

This isn’t about political reform, although I see how it could be taken as such. This is about identity, and what informs it. It’s an interesting character study, as Maximus defines himself based on his convictions not his circumstances. His identity shift occurs with the removal of his tattoo, and from that point on he is a different man. He is no longer a soldier, but a gladiator. He’s given up his old life as a soldier and has embraced his new life as a gladiator so that others can benefit.

He knows who he is no matter what others do to him, with or without shackles.

Writing a Great Story with “Ink”

The indy film “Ink” is a fresh take on the battle between good and evil as they fight over our souls in the unseen, spiritual realm in which they interact. The film, which was not wide-released, focuses on the redemption of the relationship between John and his daughter Emma. This battle takes place in an extra-dimension in which our world can be seen but not interacted with physically. Two groups, the Incubi and the Storytellers, within this existential realm are in constant opposition. The Incubi seek to recruit members by infusing fear and hatred through nightmares. The Storytellers seek to recruit by giving people hope through good dreams. When the two sides clash, street-fighting style battles erupt.

Ink, a recent addition to the spiritual world, needs to deliver Emma’s soul to the head Incubi in order to join their forces, in a sort of initiation. He’s intercepted by a gang of Storytellers when he abducts her soul and successfully takes Emma with her as he journeys to the Incubi headquarters. Meanwhile, in the waking world, she lies in a coma. John, estranged from his daughter for reasons revealed in the film, battles with himself over whether to visit her in the hospital. This battle is intensified by the influence of the Incubi and the Storytellers as they both try to sway John’s decisions through the dreams that they give him.

As the spiritual realm affects those in the film through dreams, there’s a cause and effect that happens. Will characters be influenced by the evil, dark, destructive Incubi or the hopeful, valiant, heroic Storytellers? Taken a step further, what can be said about decisions that we make every day? The idea that our decisions are affected by and affect a reality we don’t see is provocative. The stakes are high, as decisions to love or to hate either add to the good guy side or the bad guy side. Will bitterness help evil forces at work in the spiritual realm, or will love and forgiveness add to those who fight to give hope to the hopeless?

There’s not much mention of any kind of leader of each of these groups. There’s a sort of head Incubi, but not much is explored with this character. There’s a brief mention of God from the Storytellers. Perhaps this was done on purpose. Spiritualizing the film too much would have turned many off. However, the absence of any kind of mastermind behind each group begs a lot of questions. Does the film mean to invoke the idea that God and the devil are involved? Who gives the orders? Who strategizes? What are the motives of both sides, other than to recruit members? Why does one side need good to flourish, and the other side need evil?

These questions and more make “Ink” a provocative and psychological mind-bending, accessible film.

Exploring Cultural Differences in “District 9”

Produced by Peter Jackson, District 9 is a dark movie that examines what happens when two cultures collide. The alien species, or prawns as they are called by humans because of their crustacean-looking bodies, have a ship that hovers above Johannesburg, South Africa for 20 years when the film opens. They seem unable to operate their ship, and are stranded on Earth. Living in tenements below, they scavenge what they can. They love raw meat and strangely enough, cat food. MNU, a military contracted private corporation, "keeps the peace" between aliens and humans. This means all kinds of maltreatment and abuse, carried out with military precision. The filmmakers have said that the story is not a political statement, but it's hard to hide the fact that those in power have abused those who are weaker in the film.

The story plays like a reverse colonialism scenario. The aliens, who have traveled from some distant planet, have landed on a spot on Earth and have taken up residence. Instead of taking ownership and invading, like many other alien films, they are destitute and must rely on the help of humans. They seem as though they don't even know how to operate their own technology very well, causing the question to be asked: Did a "higher" intellectual class exist before some mutiny on board their ship?

For the past 20 years, interactions between the aliens and the humans have allowed the two species to be able to understand the other's language, although misunderstandings are frequent. It's easy to sit in an ivory tower and judge the humans for their poor treatment of a helpless group. Ask yourself these questions: What would I do in the same situation? What policies would I enact to ensure the safety of humans while also aiding the aliens? What would I do about communication? Those are not easy to answer.

As you might have guessed, after 20 years, the aliens start to fight back. They are tired of the oppression that is undeserved. They just want to go home. An especially bright alien enacts a plan to reach the mothership in order to leave Earth. The closing scenes are incredibly graphic as humans explode when the alien weaponry is used. It's ultra-realistic, and the CG animation of the aliens, as well as the special effects of explosions, spaceships, and robots is impressive as the plot unfolds. Half the movie is shot like a documentary, the other half like a true sci-fi movie. Most of the cameras used are handheld, lending a very intense, in-your-face experience.

What a great experience it is!