Review of WANTED

WANTED

STORY: A wimpy accountant, prone to "panic attacks," is drawn into a band of cosmically-sanctioned assasins so that he can rectify the balance in the world.

MESSAGE: There may be more talent and ability within you than you've tapped. Willingness to go in a new direction, willingness to stand up against your enemies, intelligence, commitment, industriousness, toughness, faith, ability to see the truth, ability to exploit an enemy's weaknesses, believing in your own abilities, skill, using communication to gain support, bending the rules for a just cause -- all win the day. Your integrity is more important that your immediate life.

WIN: The hero was able to tap into the inner strengths we all possess. The hero thought his superior abilities were a mental illness, a common misconception in our world of low expectations. He gave up taking psychiatric medicine to cure what wasn't an illness, which would be a good idea in general in society, since all psychiatric labels are false and not based on science. In order to gain the skills he needed, he applied himself industriously to the learning process. It was fitting that those with a heavy-handed approach to correcting bad behavior would be ill-fated. There was a sense, in the movie, of a higher power (called, generically, "Fate.")

LOSE: The ability to bend the path of a bullet, or leap further than humanly possible are spiritual abilities, not abilities coming from genetic predisposition. Beating someone up carries with it the penalty of unwittingly introducing unwanted positive suggestions (like hypnotism, but with pain and threat as the "operator") so a person could just as likely become tough or crazy. The healing baths may have done wonders as to physical healing, but there was no effective mental healing. In other words, if we could beat the coward, or other imperfections, out of people, then our schools would be beat fests -- but that doesn't work in the real world. His handling of his pestering boss and false friend involved anger and violence, when neither of those two would be needed, and they undermined his control, showing a lack of responsibility. The movie says that it is better for society and Mankind that some people be assasinated. Whereas it is true that we should not be bullied, and sometimes a person needs to be put in their place, it is often best that a person (such as in the case of a harping boss) speaks to the boss or changes jobs. Using the bullet as the first offense when other, milder forms of persuasion have not been tried, is inhumane. The other fact that isn't realized is that a person who does harm will begin to limit themself, and will slowly (or quickly) assasinate themself, because on some level they know they are destructive. The movie suggests that a higher power sought heavy-handed justice in order to "restore balance." Our world has imbalance as a necessity to the game of life, and our thrust is not toward "balance" but towards better and better survival. At the end of the movie, the audience is made wrong for not using their untapped powers to do large deeds in the world (this from a guy who murders others); this could have been done more in terms of encouragement to take more responsibility. Disrespect of animals, namely rats. No sense of life beyond death.

EFFECT ON ME: I was offended, as I do seek to better myself and use my talents to better the world. I felt elated and dirty and confused, because vast ability (a good thing) was positioned with murder and destruction (a bad thing). It made me want to be a stronger person who stands up for what I believe, and who stands up to those who try to tear me down.

Sincerely,
Becky Mate
Script Consultant
www.virtueinthearts.com

Review of MADE OF HONOR

MADE OF HONOR

STORY: A womanizer finally wakes up to the fact that he's in love with his best friend. He wants to marry her, but he's too late; she asks him to be her Maid of Honor. He agrees in an attempt to win her back.

MESSAGE: The true love you seek may be right in front of you. Commitment, marriage and fidelity are worth fighting for. The "rules" bachelors tend to follow are a trap, which prevent one from achieving true happiness. Friendship and rapport and "feeling comfortable as oneself when with another" are all parts of true love. Real, honest communication means more to a relationship than winning manly competitions of strength and endurance, than one's high station in life or than one's vast wealth. It is never too late to right a wrong.WIN: The hero did do the correct steps of deciding that commitment to the girl was the right thing, telling his friends and her; and he did take the job of Maid of Honor and made up for not noticing her by doing a good job. He was active in sports. It is refreshing for a movie to laud fidelity over promiscuity. Sweet moments of friendship were treasured, like sharing each others' cake. (as opposed to some movies that say, "remember that time we got drunk and...")

LOSE: Does size really matter that much, when love is a spiritual bond between two beings? (Fortunately, a small scene.) As dramatic as it may be to pull someone out of their wedding when they're in front of the preacher, there is a lot of destruction in this action -- know the cost of a wedding in terms of time, money and family reputation?

EFFECT ON ME: It made me feel, even more than I do, that my own husband is a special treasure.

Sincerely,
Becky Mate
Script Consultant
www.virtueinthearts.com

Review of The Incredible Hulk

THE INCREDIBLE HULK
STORY: A scientist seeks to cure himself from a self-inflicted experiment gone wrong before a warmonger can capture him to use his results to make perfect soldiers.
MESSAGE: Facing the problem, studying the problem, persistence, self-control, core values, self-defence and love all win the day.
WIN: A good representation that one must get out from under oppression in order to get anywhere. The hero was very observant and had quick reaction times. In a way, the movie exaggerates those hidden other personalities in us that come out when we're not being ourselves, and it correctly shows that though we attempt to control it, it is only by eliminating the source that we can be free of them. (The source of our monsters is identified, and a solution for getting rid of the source, is outlined in Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.) There is some truth to the fact that a person can, to some degree, be present, even if acting out. The hero exhibited greatness, in loving someone despite the harm that person has inflicted, or, if not loving, at least letting them live. He sticks to his guns. The hero enlisted the help of religion to make himself stronger, and to proof himself somewhat from his inner demon. Although couched in physical terms (emotion related to a body part, control connected with breathing) there was the sense that one could, through discipline, etc., rise to a point of being in control. (In other words, Man is more than just a stimulus-response animal.) The heroine was amazing at seeing through to the being within, despite the exterior change. She was brave, admiring, loving and helpful. The bad guy was accurately antisocial, in his alliance with destructive things and his distain for others, even his daughter. There was a nice crack about how even though a guy was a top psychiatrist, he was still a nice guy. This acknowledges that most psychiatrists are wierd. He had a small role, but exhibited the typical fallacy of psychiatry that one must tell a person what is wrong with them. The movie correctly showed that a person has to be good to have a lot of power.
LOSE: A drop of the hero's blood ended up in an old man, but we didn't see the result. Other drops ended up in another man, and we saw the result. Were the results different? The movie, in a tiny way, did promote psychiatry by making the psychiatrist a guy who saw positive motives in the hero. In reality, psychiatry does not assume there is goodness and virtue deep within us (that we are spiritual at the core) and psychiatry, as a science, assumes that we are all flawed, and soul-less, base animals at the core. Generally, psychiatry is a tool of anti-social people. In this case, the psychiatrist was against the bad guy, which made the psychiatrist a good guy (a fact salvaged by the earlier statement that this guy was uncharacteristic of the usual psychiatrist.) The Hulk went beyond mere self-defense and created more destruction than was absolutely necessary. The hero did try to take responsibility for fixing his error, but he did originally work to help create the ultimate soldier, which is a fact uncharacteristic of true hero. In other words, with the guilt of that collusion on his head, he may not have been able to be as powerful as he was.
EFFECT ON ME: It restored my faith that people are good at the core, deep down at the spiritual level. It made me want to look for and love that core which is good in people, looking past those additives that appear to make people seem evil.
Sincerely,
Becky Mate
Script Consultant
www.virtueinthearts.com

Review of ZOHAN

ZOHAN
STORY: An Israeli terrorist feigns death so he can come to America to pursue his dream to be a top hairstylist.
MESSAGE: Love and affinity (between the opposite sexes or between Mankind) transcends nationality, even nations at war. True love and respect is not inhibited by things such as a person's size or age by one who can see beauty in all women. Peace means taking a chance, making the move to get along, regarding those on the other side as friends. The desire for promiscuity fizzles when one discovers one's true love. Competence, persistence towards a goal, unrelenting attack against blocks to a goal, shedding those who counter one's approach to a goal, joining those who help reach a goal, study, passion for a goal, and helping others to reach their goals wins the day. In America, there is freedom to pursue one's goal, and peace between all people living and working together. Love and friendship succeed over hate and war.
WIN: The lead character showed magnificent intention and persistence towards his goal, which is consistent with enthusiam and cheerfulness and action. He solved problems well. His arch enemy showed cowardly traits, such as arrogance, gloating and ill will, those traits which lead to failure. The hero loved his enemy despite what his enemy did to him, a sign of greatness. He was big-hearted in general. Extreme competence gives us real heros.
LOSE: There is a tendency in movies (such as James Bond) to couple promiscuity with bravery, when, in truth, promiscuity is a mix of fear and hidden hostility. This picture those engaging in promiscuity as being happy, when, in real life, promiscuous people are unhappy. Freud's false information is promoted that life's motivation can be boiled down to sex. The extreme exaggeration of fighting and sexual prowess, meant to take the edge off of a serious situation, meant to be humorous, instead irritates audience sensibilities to the point of rejection of the positive messages. The movie also shoots itself in the foot by exaggerting passion for a legitimate goal (like being a hairdresser or shoe salesman.) Part of the satire depends for its humor upon generalities, such as "All middle eastern people sell cheap electronics," and "Israelis value aggressiveness," and "All older women miss their attractiveness," etc. These generalities chaff people (both those included in the generality and those who don't like to see others chaffed.)
EFFECT ON ME: It had a mixed effect. I like the bravery of a film to come out against popular belief and say that peace is possible, but I felt disrepected as an audience. (In other words, in this day and age, there are those who get others to think that to be cool, audiences have to like perversion and grossness, so they ladle it on, despite the fact that such perversion and distortion of truth is spiritually and morally injurious to the audience.) There is a taboo in our society (partly political correctness, partly fear of actual threat, partly destruction of religion, partly bad market research, partly evil agenda of the few) against forthright support of positive things and against saying some things are bad and wrong. Satire and exaggeration enables a moviemaker to get around the taboos, but, it can become so dominant as to overshadow the message, at which point I became insulted. The movie is being played to an audience and that movie says, "I know you, you're a spiritual being who values love and peace, but you're also in a body, and you have hang-ups, so I'm going to communicate the message to you via your hang-ups. Pardon me while I step on your toes, indicate things about you that aren't so, insult your intelligence and treat you as though you are merely a higher form of animal." Too much satire is force, and audiences need a balance of force and intelligence. It's like being slapped, then being handed the birthday gift you always wanted. Or, it's like, "Let's beat them up until they decide that world peace is a good thing." If "it's all in the execution," let's not execute the audience.
Sincerely,
Becky Mate
Script Consultant
www.virtueinthearts.com

Review of KUNG FU PANDA

KUNG FU PANDA
STORY: An unlikely kung fu hero wanna-be teenager is chosen by the head master to defeat the biggest baddest most-jealous warrior in the land.
MESSAGE: You have the seeds of heroism within you, and to realize it, you need only belief in yourself and train with the best. Never underestimate anyone's capacity to shine in the darkest hour. Vanity, status quo, prejudice, following the the letter not the law, guilt, shame, self-invalidation, destruction to gain power, conformity to other's purposes instead of one's own, disregarding the wisdom of elders and teachers, failure to see the inner strengths of others, seeking status for its sake, exclusion of others not like oneself and denying what one sees in front of one will lead to doom. Seeing the best in people, admiring positive traits, self-confidence, persistence, good-heartedness, bravery, loyalty, homework in a subject, belief in positive outcomes, desire to succeed, pursuing one's dream and purpose in life all win the day.
WIN: The main character, a panda, demonstrated greatness when he still loved and admired his kung fu heros despite how they treated him. The movie correctly showed that the accumulation of invalidation (putting someone down) resulted in that person's self-invalidation. It showed that a person triumphs when you build on his personal strengths. Elders of proven accomplishment were respected for having wisdom. The panda grew to be a better kung fu master little by little. A person who had been blind to destructive tendencies in his pupil, thus making an enemy to the townspeople, made up for it by clarifying who were on his side, by conquering his own pessimism and by working hard to train a person who could rectify his mistake. In addition, the panda strove to do what was needed and wanted to excel. There was an attempt to bring about a balance of force and intelligence (rather than mere brute force winning the day.)
LOSE: Besides being saddled with inheriting the family business from his father against his wishes, there was no apparent hostility which would occasion his tendency to be a klutz and cause trouble. (It is possible that there were basic things in life he did not know which, once learned, would handle this.) It seems to me that extreme prowess in kung fu would necessitate a concept that the fact that one is spiritual is why one can be superior to and control the physical factors like one's body and physical objects. Although the message was clear to believe in oneself and one's inner strength, and although there were miracles of such control, the spiritual concept was omitted. Without knowing that a spirit is the king of the physical universe, and if all were explained as material, such as training one's body, you'll miss the real power behind the greatness.
EFFECT ON ME: It made me want to see the hidden greatness in others, to have greater tolerance and love for people. It made me want to see a sequel as there was an ancestry question I'd like answered. It made me want to pour more fervor into my passions and dreams.
Sincerely,
Becky Mate
Script Consultant
www.virtueinthearts.com