Calah Alexander has a post up about her frustrations with Disney storylines, where plot can warp around the characters to make sure they get whatever they wanted at the beginning of the movie. Ariel’s father is portrayed as tyrannical, not prudent, when he tries to forbid her from chasing after Prince Eric, even though her choice puts her entire kingdom at risk. Magic abounds to help characters realize they’ve been special all along, and that they deserve their happy ending. She... Read more
In the run up to the release of Catching Fire, the second Hunger Games movie, the director sat down with io9 to discuss some of the changes they made to the second film. For instance, they bowed to fan outcry and swapped Prim’s cat so it looks more like the book one. An exchange at the end of the interview caught my eye. (Spoilers if you’re unclear on the premise of the new movie, I guess): One of the things... Read more
First Things has a review up that I liked very much of a Macbeth that the reviewer did not like very much. Kate Havard watched a Macbeth that took all the tragedy out of the Scottish King, reducing the title character (played by Ethan Hawke) to a stumbling, unpleasant man. She writes: Yet there’s something right about making the Scottish tyrant so vulgar and unromantic. It reminds us Macbeth is ultimately a butcher, not a hero. True, in a more nuanced Macbeth, we’d... Read more
Over at Friendly Atheist, there’s a trailer for a terrible looking Christian movie, where a noble Christian student stands up to his bullying atheist philosophy professor who begins the semester by essentially asking telling his students that they’ll need to disavow religion in order to pass. Cue the intense stares, montages, lazy apologetics, and guest appearance by a Christian rock band. Hemant Mehta titled his post “This Must Be What Christian Apologists Think A College Philosophy Class Is Like.” I... Read more
This year, I decided to have prizes for the Ideological Turing Test, and to have the winners pick them out for each other. The two contestants who were most successful at aping the other side swapped books, and so did the two people who, when writing their true beliefs, were the contestant that the opposing side most wanted to have coffee with. I asked each of them to give a few reasons for their recommendations before I made the purchases.... Read more
A few days ago, I was praying the Midday Prayer of the Divine Office, and I was struck by the juxtaposition of two of the psalms slated for that day (Wednesday, 31st week of ordinary time). First there was this part of Psalm 70: O God, make haste to my rescue, Lord, come to my aid! Let there be shame and confusion on those who seek my life. O let them turn back in confusion, who delight in my harm,... Read more
— 1 — I can’t decide if I want to roll my eyes at the sheer number of [X] Hall of Fames that exist or to feign approval until the eventual creation of a Hall of Fame Hall of Fame, in which you can see scaled down miniatures and blown up photos of the best niche museums. I discovered the existence of the Toy Hall of Fame this week, when they inducted two new toys: chess and the rubber duckie.... Read more
In his memoir Living by Faith, Dwelling in Doubt, Kyle Cupp tells two interwoven stories: the development of his Catholic faith and the death of his daughter Vivian, who was diagnosed in utero as being unable to live for much more than a day after her birth. The story is harrowing to read. Cupp doesn’t sugarcoat the grief he, his wife, and their son experienced, but he also shows how they kept looking for opportunities to show Vivian and each... Read more
The NYT Weddings section recently reported on a new trend for marriage officiants: marketing themselves for their entertainment potential rather than any particular ministry. One popular officiant is the Kenny Kramer, who inspired the Seinfeld character of the same name. The bride’s parents squirmed. Seconds later, Mr. Kramer, who prefers not to be called the Rev. Kramer but rather Irreverent Kramer, pronounced the smiling couple husband and wife, and after they kissed, he reminded them of his customized lifetime warranty: if they divorce,... Read more
The Pope is talking about science fiction! Well, not Pope Francis, though it’s hardly out of the realm of possibility. In a letter to professor Piergiorgio Odifreddi, an Italian mathematician and prominent atheist, Pope Benedict XVI said the following: Science fiction exists, on the other hand, in the ambit of many sciences. That which you explain about theories concerning the beginning and the end of the world in Heisenberg, Schrödinger, etc., I would designate as science fiction in the good sense... Read more
Unequally Yoked
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