I understand why some filmmakers make changes when they make a movie out of a novel. The two art forms are different. The movie version of Voyage of the Dawn Treader added some plot elements–the green mist, the seven swords–but, as my wife said, they sort of served the larger story, tying together an episodic plot that works better in print than on the screen. The movie nailed the characters, though, especially Lucy, along with a Reepicheep wonderfully voiced by… Read more
We have no cynicism
December 13, 2010 By Gene Veith 2,091 Comments
Kathleen Parker, writing about diplomatic fallout from the Wikileak documents, includes a poignant reaction: Writing for the center-right Le Figaro, French journalist Renaud Girard said: “What is most fascinating is that we see no cynicism in U.S. diplomacy. They really believe in human rights in Africa and China and Russia and Asia. They really believe in democracy and human rights.” Yes, we really do. If Americans are guilty of anything, he said, it is being a little naive. Let’s plead… Read more
Dawn Treader launches
December 10, 2010 By Gene Veith 30 Comments
I was greatly disappointed with the movie version of Prince Caspian, and I feared the treatment of Voyage of the Dawn Treader would be more of the same, playing down the Christian themes in favor of Hollywood blockbuster cliches. I had heard from people who might know that Dawn Treader would go in that direction, despite the disappointing box office performance of Prince Caspian. That movie caused Disney to dump the franchise, but Dawn Treader was picked up by Fox. … Read more
Church & family values go up with education
December 10, 2010 By Gene Veith 84 Comments
Used to, college graduates went to church less than the moderately educated. For some reason, though, this has changed. Along with church-going, higher education is also associated now with stronger families. In the 1970s, the moderately educated — blue-collar, working-class Americans with high school diplomas or some college — were more likely to go to church every week than people with college degrees. That has now reversed: Today 34 percent of college graduates attend weekly religious services, compared with 28… Read more
Obama goes after Independents
December 10, 2010 By Gene Veith 90 Comments
On the President’s concessions on the Bush tax cuts: Although his liberal supporters are furious about the decision, President Obama’s willingness to extend all of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts is part of what White House officials say is a deliberate strategy: to demonstrate his ability to compromise with Republicans and portray the president as the last reasonable man in a sharply partisan Washington. The move is based on a political calculation, drawn from his party’s midterm defeat, that… Read more
Revolt of the children
December 10, 2010 By Gene Veith 142 Comments
A 16-year-old boy in the Netherlands was arrested for bringing down the MasterCard and Visa websites in retaliation for their refusing to process payments for Wikileaks. More young hackers are promising more attacks. In the meantime, British university students have been rioting in protest of that country’s new austerity program, which includes raising tuition rates to a fraction of what American students pay. The British students, notorious for their political apathy previously, are breaking windows, smashing shops, burning cars, and… Read more
Advent and the Four Last Things
December 9, 2010 By Gene Veith 126 Comments
For those who even celebrate Advent these days, it has become the season to lead up to Christmas. As such, it’s happy and anticipatory. It used to be a sober time of penitence, like Lent. And the four Sundays of Advent, with its four candles in the Advent Wreath, were not all about Hope, Preparation, Joy, and Love. They were about “the Four Last Things”: Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven. I don’t begrudge the happy Advent. I’m glad to find… Read more
Why don’t we protect Iraqi Christians?
December 9, 2010 By Gene Veith 338 Comments
World editor Mindy Belz raises a good question about U.S. policy in Iraq: Three years ago I attended a meeting outside Washington with a NATO adviser recently returned from briefings with commanders of the war in Iraq. The question had been posed to them: If there should be a targeted massacre of Christians in Iraq (the word actually used was genocide), would the U.S. military respond? The answer from the commanders: No. It was December 2007. Gen. David Petraeus had… Read more
Internet war
December 9, 2010 By Gene Veith 84 Comments
In support of Wikileaks, an army of hackers has declared war. Their first battle is to attack Mastercard and Visa. Hackers have declared an Internet war in support of WikiLeaks, with groups of anonymous attackers disabling major credit card websites in retaliation for denying service to the controversial website. The group, going by the name “Anonymous,” rallied its supporters in a Twitter post Wednesday, calling for them to get their “weapons” ready to attack the Visa website for the next… Read more
Unflagging a word and setting us free
December 9, 2010 By Gene Veith 38 Comments
Thanks to tODD for figuring out how to get into the spam filter to keep it from blocking the word “socialist.” The filter keeps a list of words to flag that usually are associated with spam. All that had to be done was to delete “Cialis” from the list. Now you commenters can talk about “socialism” all you want, whether you are for it or against it, and your comment won’t get filtered. This really opens up the subject matter… Read more
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