Since reading the Liberal Progressive's rant about my post on the movie "Happy Feet" which stated my opinion that it was pushing a politically correct message, I've done more research to see if others felt as I did.
Bingo!
I wish I had seen these reviews before plunking down money for ten family members and wasting time on this film that some have compared to an animated "Inconvenient Truth."
Here are excerpts from what I found:
The Washington Times
Out of nowhere, "Happy Feet" drops a conservationist anchor about preserving penguin habitat, and the movie starts to feel heavy, without having any real weight to it. The dancing-penguin-saves-the-world sermon is a pronounced shift in tenor that feels abrupt to this adult, although children may love the animal star enough to follow him wherever he goes.
Michael Medved, Movie Critic
This politically correct pastiche is visually dazzling but painfully unpleasant to watch with its penguin protagonist experiencing pain and danger through nearly all of its running time.
Michael Medved's blog
Hollywood produces plenty of lousy movies but the releases that bother me most are those that feature false and misleading advertising. The new animated extravaganza “Happy Feet” features some of the most dishonest marketing of 2006, and deserves special condemnation for it mendacious mediocrity. ...
The propagandistic theme suggests that the biggest menace for the lovable penguins is the human race --- stealing the fish on which the birds depend, or ruining planet earth through pollution and global warming. There’s also scenes of a penguin captured for a zoo and tormented to the point of mental incapacity by unfeeling people Many classic animated films (even “Bambi," or the recent “Open Season” and “Over the Hedge") featured the equation animals = good/humans = bad but no movie for kids has gone so far in trying to induce guilt for membership in species homo sapiens.
Christian Spotlight on the Movies
So it goes that Mumble and his friends discover the secrets of the “aliens” (humans) who are responsible for the fish shortage, but also play a pivotal role in bringing the penguin population together once more.
It is at this point that things get a little heavy. “Happy Feet” tries to take on a lot in the final third of the story. Love, music, environmental issues, comedy, drama, spirituality, individualism, Robin Williams comedy—it’s all there folks.
Neil Cavuto, Fox News Channel
Neil Cavuto suggested the movie may have a hidden agenda and compared it to an animated "Inconvenient Truth," the Al Gore environmental movie (see earlier SWAC Girl post).
4 comments:
I've always found it odd that people who claim to be Christians condemn environmentalism. For some reason, suchlike ones have the notion that humankind's "domination" of this planet includes the right to do whatever we want, without check or limit. There especially seems to be a hatred of animals and little concern for their needs along with a condemnation of anyone who cares or encourages others to care. There is also a strange disregard for the planet itself. Perhaps, people like Mr. Medved and our friends over at Christian Spotlight on the Movies need to take a closer reading of their Bible.
For example this:
Proverbs 12:10; Hosea 2:18; Luke 12:6--
The scriptures clearly state that God cares about and loves his animal creation and that humans who cruelly use or mistreat animals are considered wicked.
Furthermore, what King or Queen would want a garbage heap placed before their throne for use as a footstool?
(Isaiah 66:1) Certainly He who is King of the Universe deserves more respect than that!
Finally, the Bible directly condemns those who are "bringing the Earth to ruin" (Revelation 11:18)
Maybe the "Happy Feet" message is heavy-handed, but no one can deny it is true. We NEED to be teaching our kids to exercise respectful stewardship of the Earth, as its Creator intended.
I realize that you will probably not allow this to be posted, but I still feel better for having said it.
Thanks for the reminder! Hollywood is where you can make a movie about an American President whose polls fall when he tries to pass a crime bill, but rebounds when he pushes banning guns and environmentally-unfriendly cars.
Anonymous,
Find in my post where, a) I condemned envionmentalism; b) proposed "dominance" over the planet without check or limit; c) suggested a hatred of animals ... where did you read that in the post?
You've read way more into this than is there. The only thing I proposed was the making of an animated kids' movie that didn't push a politically correct message on children. Period. And it was my opinion ... not a declaration.
What I have discovered is that the left is not as tolerant as they claim ... that they ridicule someone with an opinion different from their own.
The intolerant left ... another blog for another day.
To the anonymous writer:
We don't condemn true environmentalism (as God did tell us to be good stewards of the Earth), but just the lies that the left has induced into the movement. Global warming is one of the most successful farces in history, and plenty of other "issues" are fought for by liberals in vain, simply because many of them do not actually exist. It is our job as Christians to be honest and stand up for the truth.
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