I haven’t seen Walt Disney’s The Princess and the Frog movie yet, but living in a neighborhood with young families many of them have, and they seem to have enjoyed it. The television advertisements for the film make me a little wary since it is supposedly the best Disney cartoon since The Lion King. But come on, what about The Emperor’s New Groove?
Two articles in Religion Dispatches give me reason for pause in seeing the film, or at least to watching it more critically if I do decide to see it. The first is an article by Anthea Butler titled “Disney’s Lump of Coal.” The author’s displeasure with the film may be summarized with the words, “I’m going to go all out and say that the entire movie is a wholesale desecration of New Orleans, Creole culture, Cajun Culture, religion, zydeco music, the Evangeline story, and Louis Armstrong..”. In the second article, Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado focuses her displeasure with the film specifically on its treatment of Haitian religion in a piece titled “Bad Magic: Voodoo According to Disney.” Maldonado feels that “this film perpetuates offensive stereotypes about Voodoo.” As the author concludes the analysis she writes:
I did not expect critical race analysis or a sophisticated presentation of Voodoo when I walked into the theater. It is, after all, Disney. I did not expect such a blatant, racist, and misinformed presentation of Voodoo, however. The reduction of religion to magic is also reaffirmed in the curious absence of Catholicism in the film. My son is correct, Disney Voodoo is bad magic; it just doesn’t have anything to do with the authentic African Diaspora religion.
But how should audiences react to elements of race, culture, and religion as portrayed in a fantasy cartoon? Even Butler writes, “Yes, I know, it’s just fantasy, right?”
On the one hand, elements within a fantasy film take on the meaning given them by the writer of the story. This is a basic principle of literary, and by extension, cinematic interpretation. So it would be inappropriate to critique Harry Potter for providing “inaccurate” portrayals of witchcraft, since J. K. Rowling was creating a contemporary fairytale form of witchcraft rather than a representation of Wicca outside of her fantasy context.
But on the other hand, it would be a mistake to give fantasy a pass in terms of being divorced from the social and cultural context in which it is produced. Josha Bellin, author of Framing Monsters: Fantasy Film and Social Alienation (Southern Illinois University Press, 2005), reminds us that in addition to entertainment and escapism, fantasy has a dark side that is often missed because it is held to be separate from reality:
But of course, that’s what makes these films particularly powerful vehicles of social alienation, the phrase I use to suggest the whole range of processes by which marginalized groups are stereotyped, victimized, and scapegoated: fantasy films’ resistance to critical scrutiny enables them to perpetuate loathsome social ideologies under the guise of “harmless entertainment.”
My previous interview with Bellin on this topic as the thesis of his book can be found here, along with a second interview contrasting the original King Kong with Peter Jackson’s more recent version. Both interviews shed light on the need for a more critical reading of fantasy films that will enable viewers to gain a deeper appreciation of the many facets of fantasy and how they reflect social and cultural contexts. I offer this as food for thought for those who want to probe Disney’s latest cartoon offering beyond holiday cinema escapism.
My latest article for Cinefantastique Online is now available at this link, a review and commentary on AVATAR. Following is an excerpt:
In regards to Na’vi religion, some commentators have referred to it as pantheism, but this is technically inaccurate. The Na’vi believe that Eywa, the divine “All Mother,” is connected to and in some sense “in” all things, but the “things” of the planet are not identical to Eywa and the All Mother is not the only reality. AVATAR’s religion may be more properly understood then as a form of panentheism and animism, the belief that deity resides within the world, including its animals and plants, but not that deity is the only reality.
An Internet search of “AVATAR and religion” yields a variety of perspectives, including many from those unhappy with the film’s religion. In one sense, it not well received due to the current culture wars between conservatives and progressives, but even so it would appear to fit well within the context of twenty-first century “progressive spirituality,” which meets current needs, according to scholars like Gordon Lynch, such as “the need for a credible religion for the modern age; the need for religion which is truly liberating and beneficial for women; the need to reconnect religion with scientific knowledge; and the need for a spirituality that can respond to our impending ecological crisis.” Religious conservatives on the right chaff at AVATAR’s depictions of deity and nature, but they might also pause to consider that it may arise as a response to perceived shortcomings or deficiencies in more traditional forms of Western religiosity.
I extend a very merry Christmas and happy holidays to all the readers of TheoFantastique. I hope you have a fantastic and monstrous holiday season that meets your greatest expectations.
And may 2010 bring us better things than the challenges of 2009.
My poking around the fine blog Frankensteinia reminded me that I was remiss in recognizing the 35th anniversary of the film Young Frankenstein which appeared in theaters in North America on December 15, 1974. I saw this film in the theaters at ten years of age and laughed from scene to scene. Today this film is in my DVD collection and I still laugh every time I see it as I recite the dialogue. Thankfully its comedic genius has been passed along to my wife and children as the next generation to benefit from this comedy classic and homage to Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, and Son of Frankenstein. In my view it is Mel Brooks’ best work as a director, largely due to the story put together by Gene Wilder and his work as an actor in bringing the story to life with the rest of the great ensemble cast.
Various media sources are reporting on the death of screenwriter Dan O’Bannon. He was perhaps best known for Alien and Total Recall, as well as the remake or re-envisioning of Invaders from Mars. He also wrote the screenplay for the neglected horror film Dead and Buried, which involves an interesting take on the zombie mythology. O’Bannon died today in Santa Monica at the age of 63 after a long battle with Crohn’s disease. More information is available in the Sci Fi Wire obituary.
I’m reading a couple of books to prepare for interviews after the first of the year. They are both very good, so I’ll give them a plug and a preview.
I became aware of the first one while reading a book proposal for my friend W. Scott Poole, author of Satan in America. It is On Monsters: An Unnatural History of Our Worst Fears by Stephen T. Asma (Oxford University Press, 2009). The dust cover for this book reads as follows:
We feared them lurking in our closets and under our beds in our childhood bedrooms. They were the characters exploited every year in our Halloween festivities and rituals. They stalked the pages of some of our favorite books, and now with the release of Where the Wild Things Are, they will roam freely on the movie screen. They are…MONSTERS! And as we continue to walk that fine line of fascination and fear for them, it is valuable to learn and analyze their place in history, so that we are able to face them, regardless of the form they take.
Stephen Asma’s ON MONSTERS explores the history of monsters and analyzes how they have evolved over time, what functions they have served for us, and what shapes they are likely to take in the future. Asma describes how monsters, from the obvious movie creatures to terrorists to serial killers, embody our deepest anxieties and vulnerabilities, and symbolize they mysterious territory just beyond the safe enclosures of rational thought. Exploring philosophical treatises, theological tracts, newspapers, pamphlets, films, scientific notebooks, and novels, Asma illuminates the many ways monsters have come to represent our insecurities and uncertainties in daily life. And in these somewhat frightening times, Asma shows how we can live with our monsters, even if it means holding up the mirror to ourselves.
Asma is Professor of Philosophy at Columbia College Chicago.
It seems we’re awash in vampires these days, in everything from movies, television shows, and novels to role-playing games, rock bands, and breakfast cereals. But what accounts for their enduring popular appeal? In Vampire God, Mary Y. Halab examines the mythic figure of the vampire from its origins in early Greek and Slavic folklore, its transformation by Romantics like Byron, Le Fanu, and Stoker, and its diverse representations in present-day popular culture. The allure of the vampire, Hallab argues, lies in its persistent undeadness, its refusal to accept its mortal destiny of death and decay. Vampires appeal to our fear of dying and our hope for immortality, and as a focus for our doubts and speculations, vampire literature offers answers to many of our most urgent questions about the meaning of death, the nature of the human soul, and its possible survival after bodily dissolution. Clearly written, with wry human, Vampire God is a thoroughly researched, ambitious study that draws on cultural, anthropological, and religious perspectives to explore the significance and function of the vampire in relation to the scientific, social, psychological, and religious beliefs of its time and place.
Hallab is Professor Emerita of English Literature at the University of Central Missouri.
Look for an exploration of these great books here in early 2010.
The following post brings a little levity to TheoFantastique with a brief clip from a Bob Hope film, The Ghost Breakers (1940), that combines comedy, pre-Romero voodoo conceptions of zombies, and politics. The clip seems especially relevant in light of our current national debate over health care legislation and the Democratic majority related to this decision making process. Whatever your political affiliations and perspectives on our current political debates, please enjoy this clip in the spirit in which it is offered.
Like any specialized blog or website TheoFantastique receives a number of review copies of items, including comics. Comic books and graphic novels are an expression of the fantastic in popular culture, and they have been discussed here in the past. But with this post we turn over comic reviews to a new guest columnist, Richard Moore, a comic artist and writer responsible for Far West, and Boneyard, as well as The Pound and Deja Vu. (See the previous interview with Moore for more background.)
Justin Leach’s MAJESTIC XII
Leach & Kilian
By Richard Moore
For those who’ve been keeping track of the dwindling comics market (yes, I’m speaking to both of you), it’s not pretty out there. No one knows the difficulty of launching a new comic title better than myself, which is why I’m loathe to criticize a new entry into the field. I genuinely wanted to find something worthwhile to recommend in Justin Leach’s MAJESTIC-XII, but unfortunately I was limited to the contents of the book.
MAJESTIC-XII is the story of a team of superheroes charged with fighting a secret war against alien invaders. One has to wonder how these aliens–who already control most of the universe–can possibly be held off by a handful of superhumans, who seem to do nothing but engage in chaotic fist-fights with other superhumans, and moon over each other in constant, maudlin interior monologues. Oh, and did I mention that most of these superheroes(?) are criminals, freshly sprung from prison? See, that makes them a rag-tag group of anti-heroes; it makes ’em edgy.
The writing is awkward at best, from confusing scene jumps to sledgehammer exposition delivered through cliche-ridden dialogue. Consider this charming example, followed by “revealing” inner thoughts, from a superheroine in the midst of a super-powered brawl:
“Eww! That smells like fried zucchini–Ick!” Wow, Legend is soo dreamy!!“
Even the emphasis of particular words within the dialogue is baffling. Emphasis should crystallize dialogue, help it come alive inside the reader’s mind. Here, it creates a verbal obstacle course, tripping-up the reader and requiring multiple readings of the same lines to make sense of them.
All this might at least have been tempered by good (okay, great) artwork, but such is not the case with MJ-XII. Backgrounds are virtually nonexistent, which not only means that no sense of space is created, but at times makes it difficult to tell exactly where things are taking place. Bodies are uniformly massively-muscled, with the only difference between genders being huge breasts on all woman. I realize subtlety is not the point here, but it would be nice if every single character didn’t look like his or her super power were superhuman tolerance of anabolic steroids.
This is only the first issue of MJ XII, and normally I’d allow for the possibility of growth. Unfortunately, about the best that can be hoped for here is that readers will mistake the book’s glaring flaws for camp.
Last weekend I took a stroll down memory lane courtesy of a couple of special edition DVDs from my local library. I picked up copies of The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Forbidden Planet, two films that are presently in my library, but the two in my collection do not include the extra features on these special edition discs. With my wife shaking her head at my drooling fanboy reactions, I spent several hours over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday watching the features associated with these films, and learning more about them and coming to appreciate them even more in the process.
The first disc I put in my DVD player was the one that included the features associated with The Day the Earth Stood Still. These included a Making of The Day the Earth Stood Still, Decoding ‘Klaatu Barada Nikto”: Science Fiction as Metaphor, The Astounding Harry Bates, and The Mysterious, Melodious Theremin.
The second disc included special features associated with Forbidden Planet. Among these features I enjoyed Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet, the Turner Classic Movies original documentary Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us, an entertaining collection of science fiction movie trailers, and Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon. (This last featurette included the work of Fred Barton, aka “The Robot-Man, who has established himself as an artist and technician in recreating custom made robots from various movies and television programs, including and especially Robby. See Barton’s website to learn more about this. If I had the disposable income Robby would be in my basement office as a part of my collection on the fantastic!)
Bringing the features together for these two films made for an interesting process, and it was striking to see a few similarities between them.
Both films differed from much of the science fiction of the 1950s in taking the subject matter perhaps a little more seriously than many of the cinematic offerings of the time. They offered intelligent screenplays that dealt with significant issues but in different ways. The Day the Earth StoodStill moved outward to address national and international issues related to post-war nuclear America during the Cold War in a standoff with the Soviet Union. By contrast Forbidden Planet moves in the opposite direction to raise issues related to the individual. Drawing upon the Freudian notion of the id, this film suggests that the real challenge may not be from aliens we encounter on other worlds, or even those who may come to us as alleged invaders, but rather the monster within ourselves that our increasingly sophisticated technology may empower with even more destructive ability.
Another similarity is the striking scores within each film. The Day the Earth Stood Still includes a score by the great Bernard Herrmann, who used two electronic instruments, theremins, to produce the eerie and alien sounding main element of the theme which has since become stereotypically associated with science fiction and alien films from this time period. One of the interesting features associated with the special edition of this film is a description of the theremin and how it works, and a demonstration of this process through a Main Title Performance by Peter Pringle. Forbidden Planet has an equally memorable score courtesy of the first completely electronic music (or “tonalities” as credited in the film) that at times also served a dual purpose not only as music but also as sound effects.
In my view these films not only hold up as great examples of science fiction from the classic period of this genre in cinema, but also raise questions with contemporary relevancy. While The Day the Earth Stood Still may be read as a film investing hope and possibility in the young United Nations of the time, in the intervening decades of UN scandal and lack of ability to enforce sanctions aimed at impeding nuclear proliferation, are we still a nation and a world threatening not only our own survival, but that of possible intergalactic neighbors as well? In light of Forbidden Planet‘s warning of our inner monstrousness, how do we proceed with caution so that new technologies are used to further the best of humanity rather than materializing our monsters of the id?
The Day the Earth Stood Still and Forbidden Planet are two classic science fiction films that provide us with challenge and fodder for reflection amidst the tales of giant, irradiated creatures from the 1950s. They’re worth looking at, and thinking about, again and again.
When we think of bestselling authors in literature let’s not forget a giant who made his mark in a number of genres, particularly horror. That author is none other than Edgar Allen Poe. Poe recently set a record at an auction for one of his works. The Baltimore Sun for Dec. 5 reports:
Move over Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer — Edgar Allan Poe sets auction records
At a time when best seller lists are dominated by Dan Brown and Stephenie Meyer, it’s nice to see an old master — someone who helped define their genres — get some respect. Edgar Allan Poe is widely credited with creating the detective story, and as everyone knows, was also a master of the supernatural. Yesterday, his genius was recognized at a Christie’s auction in New York, when a rare 1827 edition of poetry sold for $662,500, a record for a 19th century book of poetry. Even more surprising, two-pages of hand-scrawled verses from 1849 netted $830,500, breaking the 19th century literary manuscript record. (It was the first eight stanzas of “For Annie,” written for a passing love, Nancy L. Richmond.) Neither buyer was identified.
In honor of Poe, one of the influential sources in my warped youth, I’ll point to a couple of items that allow us to enjoy this great and haunted writer. First, for their Halloween edition, Rue Morgue magazine featured Poe on the cover as they celebrated the bicentennial of his birth. Coverage included an interview “with experts including filmmaker Roger Corman, author Clive Barker, academic Scott Peeples and Poe House curator Jeff Jerome.”
The second item is the first installment in a brilliant performance by Vincent Price of Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart.”
I haven’t seen Walt Disney’s The Princess and the Frog movie yet, but living in a neighborhood with young families many of them have, and they seem to have enjoyed it. The television advertisements for the film make me a little wary since it is supposedly the best Disney cartoon since The Lion King. But come on, what about The Emperor’s New Groove?
Various media sources are reporting on the death of screenwriter Dan O’Bannon. He was perhaps best known for Alien and Total Recall, as well as the remake or re-envisioning of Invaders from Mars. He also wrote the screenplay for the 
I’m reading a couple of books to prepare for interviews after the first of the year. They are both very good, so I’ll give them a plug and a preview.
The second volume I am enjoying is 
Like any specialized blog or website TheoFantastique receives a number of review copies of items, including comics. Comic books and graphic novels are an expression of the fantastic in popular culture, and they have been discussed here in the past. But with this post we turn over comic reviews to a new guest columnist, 
Last weekend I took a stroll down memory lane courtesy of a couple of special edition DVDs from my local library. I picked up copies of 
Bringing the features together for these two films made for an interesting process, and it was striking to see a few similarities between them.
When we think of bestselling authors in literature let’s not forget a giant who made his mark in a number of genres, particularly horror. That author is none other than Edgar Allen Poe. Poe recently set a record at an auction for one of his works. 
