What a crazy weekend! On Friday, my fiancé and I witnessed the building next door burning. Fortunately, any fire was contained to one apartment, but no lack of smoke damage was sustained in the other apartments. Please pray for those people who are currently living out of a motel.
On Saturday, we went to see Oz: The Great and Powerful, with another couple after dinner. It is an excellent movie, I highly recommend you see it. Although, I told my fiancé that any child of mine will have to suffer through The Wizard of Oz before seeing the "prequel." The mysticism of it all is gone when you see this movie first. But watching the movie caused me to reflect on the symbolism of the Wicked Witch of the West being green. I will try to talk about this without going into great detail. The last thing I want to be is a spoiler.
The Wicked Witch of the West has been portrayed as green in the original movie, as well as this new prequel. But what can this mean. Green is often associated with envy, as well as jealousy. If we think about the original movie, the Wicked Witch is envious of the ruby red slippers, as well as jealous of Dorothy getting them. Water causes her to melt, disintegrate into the ground as though she never existed before. Water often symbolizes cleanliness, perhaps starting of a new life. This is especially true when you consider Christian themes within the movie. Water is typically a symbol of baptism, baptize meaning, "2a: to purify or cleanse spiritually especially by a purging experience or ordeal."
Typically, baptism is seen as a cleansing from Original Sin, the term most commonly used in the Christian faith to refer to the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This is also the reason that the name is given here. It is similar to giving the child a "new identity" so to speak. In the Catholic faith, later in the child's life they will undergo the Rite of Confirmation. This is a sacrament in which the adult affirms their faith in the Catholic church. They also choose a new name, typically based on a saint. I went through this process. My chosen name is Catherine. This name is marked in the books as a part of the new identity.
But why would the Wicked Witch have this reaction to water? I read today that this was L. Frank Baum's nod to history, when accused witches would be thrown into water to see if they would drown. If the accused sank, they would be innocent. If they floated, they were guilty. I can also imagine this analogy being used as witches are typically deemed evil and can only be expunged with holy water.
I did a Google search for "L Frank Baum Christian themes" and a lot of different sites came up, explaining the potential congruities between The Wizard of Oz and the Bible. I think there are also a lot of similarities between the movie as well as history. The "prequel" draws a lot of allusion to the original movie, which is nice to see. Still....no child of mine will see the newer one without seeing the older one first.
Well I recommend you have a date night with your significant other and go see a movie, go out to dinner, or how about a quiet picnic on your living room floor. What you do doesn't have to cost money...it just has to mean something. In the meantime, enjoy a thing called, "La Vie."
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Monday, March 11, 2013
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Emotionless
One of my all time favorite books is The Giver by Lois Lowry. I strongly recommend everyone read this book several times. Even as I write this, I want to read it again. This book is along the same lines as George Orwell's 1984, discussing society as if it was something that could be so completely controlled and observed. In The Giver, you literally were numbed. A mate, a life partner was selected for you. Children were birthed by women who would continuously give birth for about 3 years and work hard labor the rest of their life. Twins could not exist. Pills were handed out to prevent emotions, arousal and other human interactions.
Here are two quotes from the book"
“I liked the feeling of love,' [Jonas] confessed. He glanced nervously at the speaker on the wall, reassuring himself that no one was listening. 'I wish we still had that,' he whispered. 'Of course,' he added quickly, 'I do understand that it wouldn't work very well. And that it's much better to be organized the way we are now. I can see that it was a dangerous way to live.'"
“What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?”
Think about what these quotes are illustrating. In the first quote, the main character, Jonas, is discussing experiencing love for the first time. He admits to liking it (the speaker represents the every-present ears), but also admits to the impracticality of it within the society. How love can be a dangerous way to live. The second quote is similar to that is illustrating how controlled these character's lives are. Their life mates, emotions, even their careers are selected for them. There is even a big ceremony at the end of a school year to assign jobs.
In our society, we stress the importance of individuality and personal choice. Can you imagine a world where that is taken from us...in order to protect us? Now reflect on the world as it exists. We are politically correct because people become offended by what we say. But offense comes from an emotional place. We connect what someone else says with how we feel when they say it. This is how emotions become involved.
Think about how you many not be able to talk politics or religion with those around you. Perhaps it is too emotionally charged for it to be a reasonable, level-headed conversation? Perhaps you can respect someone else's opinion but doubts your conversation partner can respect yours. I can see where emotions can be a perceived danger. However, if we shield emotions from those around us, are we not creating a society not much different from that of the book? This is why this culture of complacency in our world is dangerous. If we continue to let others control what happens in our world without our voice being heard, are we not putting our way of life in danger of being destroyed?
I highly recommend, as said in the beginning of this blog, to read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I believe I will need to find a copy again and re-read it myself. Books like this hold a good lesson for us. For now, enjoy a thing called "La Vie."
Here are two quotes from the book"
“I liked the feeling of love,' [Jonas] confessed. He glanced nervously at the speaker on the wall, reassuring himself that no one was listening. 'I wish we still had that,' he whispered. 'Of course,' he added quickly, 'I do understand that it wouldn't work very well. And that it's much better to be organized the way we are now. I can see that it was a dangerous way to live.'"
“What if they were allowed to choose their own mate? And chose wrong?”
Think about what these quotes are illustrating. In the first quote, the main character, Jonas, is discussing experiencing love for the first time. He admits to liking it (the speaker represents the every-present ears), but also admits to the impracticality of it within the society. How love can be a dangerous way to live. The second quote is similar to that is illustrating how controlled these character's lives are. Their life mates, emotions, even their careers are selected for them. There is even a big ceremony at the end of a school year to assign jobs.
In our society, we stress the importance of individuality and personal choice. Can you imagine a world where that is taken from us...in order to protect us? Now reflect on the world as it exists. We are politically correct because people become offended by what we say. But offense comes from an emotional place. We connect what someone else says with how we feel when they say it. This is how emotions become involved.
Think about how you many not be able to talk politics or religion with those around you. Perhaps it is too emotionally charged for it to be a reasonable, level-headed conversation? Perhaps you can respect someone else's opinion but doubts your conversation partner can respect yours. I can see where emotions can be a perceived danger. However, if we shield emotions from those around us, are we not creating a society not much different from that of the book? This is why this culture of complacency in our world is dangerous. If we continue to let others control what happens in our world without our voice being heard, are we not putting our way of life in danger of being destroyed?
I highly recommend, as said in the beginning of this blog, to read The Giver by Lois Lowry. I believe I will need to find a copy again and re-read it myself. Books like this hold a good lesson for us. For now, enjoy a thing called "La Vie."
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