I've made no secret about the derisive opinion I have for organized religious, particularly the 1930's barnd of Tent Revivalisst inspired cult currently calling
themselves the Funny-Mentalists. (Or something like that.) I want to share with you all yet another example of why I feel sorry for the
children being raised by these basket-cases...
I was on
Netflix last night looking for some new titles. (I did snag both
Iriku and Throne of Blood, BTW,
Conchobar!
LOL.) And I stumbled
across one that's not out yet on DVD, but I was curious when it what coming and what people thought of it. It's called
PONYO and it was this year's latest (American) release from
Hayao Miyazaki, the greatest living animator in the world and one of the greatest
filmmakers of all time. This was also the first
Miyazaki movie to get a broad release in the U.S. He's been loved in Japan for decades now, but he's still relatively new to American audiences. So, OK...
obviously I'm a
HUGE FAN of
Miyazaki-
san. That being said, let me also say the
Ponyo is NOT one of his best movies. It's GOOD.
Quite good. But not GREAT. It's not the
worst he's even done, just somewhere in the middle. As good or better than
My Neighbor Totoro, but nowhere near as good as
Spirited Away or
Howl's Moving Castle. It's a very intelligent, but VERY kid-friendly, kid-oriented movie. Disney might have done something like this back in their Golden Days. (Or, more recently, they DID, since
Ponyo is really just a loose interpretation of
The Little Mermaid.) I'm saying all this because I don't
want anyone to think that I'm pissed about someone just dissing a movie I liked. I'm sure there are MANY hard-core
Miyazaki fans (myself included) who LIKED this one, but didn't LOVE it. So you're perfectly free to NOT LIKE this movie for
any reason, as far as I'm concerned,
except THIS ONE:
User: Jeikobu Review of Ponyo, 3 Stars:Miyazaki's latest effort delivers his usual quality on a physical level - spectacular animation, a great musical score, terrific storytelling, deep and charming characters, excellent voice acting (I speak of the Japanese language version) and nearly unparalleled imagination. (So far so good...)
Unfortunately, on a spiritual level, it takes a heavy fall. To rate this G is insane. The film exhibits the same problems that have plagued Miyazaki's films since Princess Mononoke - sorcery and false gods. Ponyo's mother, a goddess, is heavily disturbing and offensive for a Christian like myself. Magic is used very often, and the film undermines the specialness of humans by making a fish be capable of becoming a human. (worse yet, Ponyo can transform only because she tasted human blood when she licks Sousuke's cut) Ponyo has a lot of appeal and charm, and is very heart-warming and cute in places. I really did get taken with Ponyo and Sousuke's characters, and if it weren't for the negative content, this could've been my favorite Miyazaki film. Still, the dark spirituality hurts this film immensely, and is one I could never see myself recommending to anyone, especially children.Did you get that? It's "insane" to give this film a "G-Rating." I-N-S-A-N-E. Why? Because it has MAGIC in it! OH-MY-GOOOOD,
NOOOOOO! ANYTHING but MAGIC!!! Do you want to know what
I think is "insane?" Being so wrapped up in such a narrow view of your religion that you are OFFENDED by anything that falls short of outright prostilytising, and feel that any story that has magic, fairies, godesses, supernatural beings, etc... that are not of a Judeo-Christian Bibilical nature is somehow, out of hand, not suitible for children, regardless of the remainder of the content.
I guess Harry Potter would have been OK for this moron to take her kids to if only they'd ended up BURNING Harry and his friends and all the teachers AT THE STAKE at the end of the movie!
I do not understand how it is possible for ANY human being, no matter bereft of reason and sanity, to be so utterly brainwashed by their cult-leaders that they feel that everythig outside of their narrow world-view is some kind of
competing cult, trying to steal to childeren away from them. I truly feel sorry for these people's kids, who will lead such a dull and colorless childhood, and even angrier when I realize that these kids will grow up to become more stupid, mindless, zombie-like adults who will in turn torture their own kids the same way.
I have news for you idiots: No one ever read Harry Potter and then went out and statered worshiping satan, or practising "withcraft," in the Judeo-Christian sense of the word, because of it. NO. ONE. Modern day
Wiccan's and
neo-pagans don't even practiove "witchcraft" in the Judeo-Christian sense of the word! AND neither do the characters in Harry Potter (not the GOOD GUYS anyway!) and and neither does ANYONE in Ponyo. How mentally weak must your childeren be, that the mere site of a cartoon Godess will cause them to abandon their faith and go down
the wrong spiritual path? (A better question might be: How stupid is your religion that it's grip on the minds of your children is so tenuous?) I'd hate to think of what they'd say about the 1980, Rey Harryhausen classic,
Clash of the Titans! ZEUS! And POSIEDON! And THETIS! OH MY! (*head explodes*)
It called FICTION folks! No one ever studied Greek Mythology and started worshiping ZUES! Not even someone stupid enough to believe in the
inerrecny of the BIBLE, with all it's
internal contradictions and all the nonsensical claims it makes about the physical world that have been DISPROVEN by modern science, would watch "Clash of the Titans" and start worshiping ZUES! ...Or watch/read Harry Potter and start practicing "Witchcraft" (especially since there isn't any
actual witchcraft even IN those books!), or watch Ponyo and start worshiping Gran Mamare, the Goodess of Mercy and the Sea!
No, fear not... Becasue about the only thing anyone THAT stupid would do upon seeing these films is START PROTESTING THEM.
Now... I
do not think someone is
stupid for believing in God, or for practicing a religion. Misguided at best, delusional at worst, but whatever. I'm initially inclined to view it all with a sense of utter indifference. I have very few atheist friends as it is, so who am
I to judge? But it IS stupid to hold on to a biblical view of the world that has been DISPROVEN by scientific measurement and observation. What's more... however crazy
anyone might think it is to believe in God, it is a hundered times crazier to believe in MAGIC! ACTUAL Magic and Demons and Pantheist Gods from civilizations long extint... It is I-N-S-A-N-E to believe that
these things are
real.
It's just make believe folks! For Crist's sake, just tell your kids "It's not real. It's just a different way to tell a fun story, and teach a life lesson." and they'll probably accept that and MOVE ON with their lives, paying it very little notice. (Unless they've inherited your propensity to being brainwashed. Maybe you know them better than I do.)
