Brave - a Mother and Daughter Movie / a Film about Family

Bagpipes, clans, kilts, haggis, highlander cattle, a Clydesdale horse (named Angus),"stubborn," fighting between the clans, highland games in which is featured the caber toss, tug-o-war, and Scottish dancing. These are all elements of Scottish culture that were woven into the Disney-Pixar film, Brave.

However, beneath the exterior is a tale that touches on the relationship between many mothers and daughters of just about any nation. The family is one that mirrors many across America. At any rate, I can certainly see mine. It's the mother who runs the family. She is an intelligent perfectionist and visionary who "knows" how everything must be done and what everyone should pursue in their lives.  Fortunately for me, my mother is better at listening than Merida's.  Like Elinor, my mother tries to keep everyone "civilized" when the rest (father included) are goofing off at the dinner table and trying to get her to let us have desserts!  Dad gets himself a big bowl of ice cream and my brothers say, "Dad did it, so why can't we?"

The father, Fergus, is big and strong, loves his family and is a great protector. However, he is lacking in leadership and courage in dealing with family affairs. He didn't know how to handle the betrothal of his daughter. He didn't know how to tell her that suitors were coming and that she was about to be betrothed to one of them and he didn't know what to say to the clans when they arrived. His favorite past-times are fighting and storytelling. He doesn't know how to lead unless it is into a battle. There are many fathers who are good at doing their job to sustain their families but don't know how to approach relationships their daughters have with men.

The mother, Elinor, is the one who ran things, she knew what to say and had expectations for everyone. When her husband got involved in a brawl (and was having a grand ole time) she just gave him a look and he knew she was disappointed. So then, he started making sheepish excuses and then simply said, "I'm sorry."  




Merida, the daughter, doesn't like being ruled over by her mother. It's typical, the daughter doesn't want to be the perfect lady her mother tries to get her to be. Merida wants to run free, have adventures, explore nature, ride, and practice arms!

The triplet brothers are funny little things. They are loved by all in the family despite their pranks. 

Both the mother and daughter had to learn lessons.  This is one of the best things about the film. Many films undermine parental authority, but this one shows both as making mistakes.  It also shows how hasty, desperate actions can lead to events no one wants. How horrible would you feel if your mother turned into a bear and may remain a bear forever because of your actions, accidental as they may be? 

Brave is a great film because it makes you think.

They say, "you never know what you got til it's gone."

Let's not let that happen in our lives. We can do this by learning from Merida and her family.

I am happy to say that the film has a happy ending! Merida and Elinor have a healed relationship. A brighter future is in store for Merida, her family, and the lads from the other clans!

All pictures are downloads made available by Disney on their website: http://disney.go.com/brave/index.html#/downloads/standard/

The Avengers - my thoughts

Back in November I wrote about Thor and Captain America and how I hoped The Avengers would be on par. (It's a Marvel! Good movies do still exist!)  The Avengers, was, in my opinion, a fun movie to watch; the messages it contained were much more subtle than Captain America and Thor. Marvel did a pretty good job maintaining a consistent level of cleanliness.The movie was as clean as Captain America but not as clean as Thor: There was language, some innuendos (but nothing explicit), plus one scene where a character found himself without clothing. However, there wasn't anything sexual about the scene. It was just awkward as a viewer (kind of like almost walking in on someone in the bathroom).

My thoughts on the movie:
The characters seemed like real people despite their super powers and amazing talents.
It was neat to "meet" Natasha, Dr. Banner, and Iron Man. I haven't seen the Hulk and Iron Man movies, so they were new to me.
Lots of fighting, action, and humor, making it a fun film.
The relationship between the Black Widow (Natasha) and Hawkeye was interesting. It was neat to see how they comforted each other; they seemed like marooned souls clinging to one another amidst a storm of self-reproach.
I think that many of us see a little of ourselves in the Hulk.  Sometimes when you're so angry you can hardly control yourself.  Sometimes you just want to SMASH. You don't know always know what you want to smash, but you want to destroy something, or even anything. Fortunately, most of us are still aware that we don't want to break our valuables and that kicking or punching furniture or the walls will result in more pain to ourselves, so we don't do it.  
New York always gets flattened when aliens and superheros show up.
I think that this film did a good job showing the dust and debris that results from the destruction of buildings.
Tony Stark would be rather annoying in real life, but he always has some snarky comment and often performs with cool panache.
I saw the movie in theatres twice and both times when the Hulk grabbed Loki and thwacked him against the floor like a ragdoll, the audience cheered. It's what we'd all been wanting: someone to finally stop him in his tracks. The others just seemed so incapable of stopping him for whatever reason.  Sometimes brawn is superior to brains.
I think Thor couldn't bring himself to harm his brother. Not an unreasonable sentiment.
Pepper is probably one of the few people who could actually have an involved long term relationship with Stark without letting him walk all over her. Still, I don't understand how someone of her intelligence could love him. 
Speaking of Stark, he tried to startle Banner into turning into the Hulk for no reason other than curiosity. What is wrong with that guy?! That was a childish act, like a kid who pokes his finger into a power outlet out of curiosity, except worse because he's a grown man and knows that the Hulk is dangerous.
Yet Stark has a moment of true heroism when he flies the nuke into outer space and almost dies.
The government dropping nukes on it's own citizens: not cool, at all. That makes me so angry. And afraid. It's really rather disturbing.
Colson is not just the jerk from Thor who took Jane's science equipment, but a character in his own right. He has some interesting quirks and it was quite funny when he overrides Starks' phone and security system and Stark has no choice but to answer the phone (kind of like the Chuck Norris cell phone joke: there is a picture of a cell phone screen showing that Chuck Norris is trying to call. Instead of the buttons: answer and ignore, there is only: answer and answer.) 
Natasha (the Black Widow) is a really interesting person. She reminds me of Mara Jade from Timothy Zahn's StarWars book series. Red hair; tight, black clothing; a dark past; information extractor; fighter; loves someone who understands her, accepted her past, and who has amazing talents also.
Off course, I love Captain America's declaration, "There's only one God, and He doesn't dress like that."
Also, the part when he saves the old man who refused to bow to Loki was great. However, I think the dialogue could have been better. It was a place for some real profound lines, but they didn't appear.
That part reminds me of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's stand. When they refused (on pain of death) to bow to an idol that everyone else bowed too, they were thrown into a furnace but God protected them and they came out unscathed!  (Daniel 3)
 Natasha spoke of the "red on her ledger," (her assassin work before she joined the good guys,) and how she wanted to make up for it. Intriguing. In our lives, we all have red on our ledger: horrible acts we wish we had not committed, moments of hatred, of wanting to scar and hurt. But nothing we do can wipe that away. Instead, they become scars on our own souls. Ugly red wounds that turn to ugly scars. The only way our ledgers can be wiped clean and the pain of those wounds healed is by the blood of Jesus. His blood washes away our list of crimes.
A ledger is a good description of reality, for the Bible says that our sins are recorded in a book for the final judgment: "Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books...and each person was judged according to what they had done." Revelations 20:12b-13.  If you have been forgiven by God, then you don't need to worry, you ledger is clean.

The Road goes ever on and on without me

Photo Credit: Edana A.

"The Road goes ever on and on
 Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the road has gone,
and I must follow if I can,
 Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
 Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."
~ from The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

Photo Credit: Edana A.

Sometimes I want to just take a road and follow it all the way from it's source to it's end, wherever that may be, and just see what happens to it. Does it grow larger or smaller, what places does it pass through, does it meander through the woods and little towns, does it pass through big towns or open country? Where does it go?

Sometimes my heart cries out in restless desperation because I cannot follow all roads (usually when I am sight-seeing and exploring), I cannot go around every corner. On and on, the road and the land go, and I always wonder, "what's around the bend, what's over the next hill, the next stone?"

Just as in the poem, the road goes on ahead without me, and I chase it with my small feet, but then I meet a fork, or some side path, or I have to go back for I have neither time nor energy to keep going.

Bilbo spoke of being "swept" of his feet, and he told Frodo, "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step into the Road and if you don't keep your feet, there is no knowing where you might be swept off to.  Do you realize that this is the very path that goes through Mirkwood, and if you let it, it might take you to the Lonely Mountain or even further to worse places?"

Sometimes you leave the house and you don't know what will happen in the course of the day or were you will go, you may have a destination, but that may change, or other destinations are added, or a wrong turn will bring you to sights and places you didn't expect to go. It's like life.  

Like little hobbits, we live out our humdrum lives, but maybe we will be called to a higher purpose and go to lands we never dreamed of.

Photo Credit: Edana A.

Healing in the hands of the King

"Alas! If he should die. Would that there were kings in Gondor, as there were once upon a time, they say! For it is said in old lore: The hands of the king are the hands of a healer. And so the rightful king could ever be known." -Ioreth, a woman from the Houses of Healing in The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R Tolkien.

Aragorn

Aragorn, the heir to the throne of Gondor came into the Houses of Healing and treated Faramir, Eowyn, and Merry so that they would not die. He was a skilled healer, using herbs and wisdom to cure his patients. Although he had not claimed the title of king yet, Faramir referred to him as a king. Ioreth heard and said, "King! Did you hear that? What did I say? The hands of a healer, I said." The passage continues by describing the spreading of the news: "And soon the word had gone out from the House that the king was indeed among them."

And so it was that Aragorn's power of healing testified that he was the rightful king of Gondor.

The kings of France justified their right to the throne by a concept called, "The Divine Right of Kings."  Basically, they claimed that God had given the Bourbon line the kingship of France and so their power must not be disputed because God said it was to be this way.   While the Bible does say to submit to governing authorities, it does not mean that a specific line has a right to the throne. God raises up rulers and God also deposes them (Read I-II Samuel, I-II Kings, and I-II Chronicles).  Because of King Saul's disobedience, God did not allow his dynasty to continue but brought David to the throne; he began a new royal line.

Because of the "Divine Right" in France, there was a tradition that the kings had miraculous healing powers. When Louis XVI was beheaded the people rushed forward to capture some of his blood, dipping cloth into it because they thought his blood would heal their sick.

That is some extreme irony right there.

It would seems that the French no longer believed in Divine Right. However, if they really did not believe in Divine Right, then they would not believe his blood had power.

While the blood of Louis held no healing power, and Aragorn is a fictional character, there is a King who can heal.  He healed thousands by the power of God while he was here on Earth.  He healed the lame, the blind, the deaf, the mute, the leprous, among other diseases. He even gave life to the dead.  The miracles he worked showed that he was, and is, the son of God, the King of the universe.
He was executed by the Romans for crimes he did not commit, and in dieing he was a sacrifice before God to cleanse all people from their sins. He rose from the dead and his healing work continues. He heals the scars on our hearts, breaks our addictions, and gives eternal life to those who are in his kingdom. His name is Jesus.

"Big as a house, gray as a mouse," and very loud!

The Song of Roland is an old French epic poem in which the knights of Charlemagne battle Saracen forces.
The leading knight, Roland, has a horn that they refer to as an "olifant."

Olifant

 "Olifant" is the Old French word for "elephant." In fact, the present day English word is derived from the French (The American Heritage Dictionary). What is an elephants tusk? Ivory. Roland's horn was probably made of ivory.

In The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien, there are some large elephant-like creatures called, "Oliphaunts."  (The title of this post comes from a poem about Oliphaunts in the book.)

Boromir also had an important horn.  It is mentioned in his first appearance in the book, "on a baldric he wore a great horn tipped in silver that now was laid upon his knees." He blew it as he defended Merry and Pippin from the Orcs, calling his companions: "Then suddenly with a deep-throated call a great horn blew, and the blasts of it smote the hills and echoed in the hollows, rising in a mighty shout above the roaring of the falls."  As Aragorn raced towards the scene, the horn sounded "desperately" and then ceased abruptly. He arrived too late: the Orcs had already run off with the hobbits. Aragorn found Boromir sitting against a tree, dieing. His horn, symbolic of his life, lay broken at his side. "But Aragorn saw that he was pierced with many black-feathered arrows; his sword was still in his hand, but it was broken near the hilt; his horn cloven in two was at his side. Many Orcs lay slain, piled all around him and at his feet."

As Roland fought the attacking Saracens, his friend Olivier told him to blow the horn and call for the help of Charlemagne's army.  Roland refused, and as a result the entire rear guard was wiped out, including himself and Olivier. However, before the battle was completely over, Roland blew the horn long and loud and called the army back after there was no more hope of survival. Before they arrived, Roland blew his horn again, but much weaker this time and Charlemagne knew that Roland was scarcely alive. Before he died, the warrior placed his sword and horn beneath him lest they fall into enemy hands. Charlemagne and his knights found the battlefield covered in bodies.

Cu Chulainn and Achilles: Famous but Dead

Cu Chulainn (pronounced "Coo Chullen," ch as in loch) is the greatest hero in Irish lore. He is from the Ulster cycle of Irish lore/mythology and has some surprising similarities with Achilles, the Greek hero. In fact, David Greene's An Anthology of Irish Literature calls him "the Achilles of the Ulster cycle."

Both Achilles and Cu Chulainn were sons of a god and a royal human. Thetis (goddess) and Prince Peleus (mortal) were Achilles' parents. Cu Chulainn's mother was Deichtire, sister to King Conchubar. Some say his father was Lug, the Celtic god of light, while others say his father was an Irish chieftain.

Cu Chulainn

At any rate, he was not a normal human. The Boyhood Deeds of  Cuchulain says, "Now the stripling who by the time seven years were completed since his birth, had done such deeds: had destroyed the champions by whom two-thirds of the Ulstermen had fallen unavenged." 

Both had special horses.  As a wedding gift, Peleus and Thetis received two immortal horses named Balius and Xanthus. They came to be Achilles' horses.  Xanthus spoke to Achilles before his death. 

Cu Chulainn was found as a baby by the men of Ulster, and as they were taking him home, they heard a horse whinnying nearby. They stopped to check it out and found a mare who had just dropped her foal.  They took the newborn  horse, saying he was meant for the special baby.  The Gray of Macha, as the horse came to be called, served the warrior well in battle and was cognizant on an almost human level. Born the same day, they died the same day.

And now, moving on to the most important part. The greatest similarity between the warriors is their mindset and their fates.

In History 261, I learned that Achilles had a choice. He could become the greatest and most renowned warrior ever and live a short life, or live a peaceful, normal, and long life.  He chose renown and died in the Trojan War.  The funny things is, Cu Chulainn had the same choice.

When Cu Chulainn was just seven years old, he heard Cathbad the Druid tell his pupils that whoever took up arms that day would become the greatest warrior ever but lead a short life. Immediately he took up arms.

Cu Chulainn explained,  "For when they asked him what special virtue lay in this day, he told them that the name of whatsoever youth should therein for the first time take arms, would top the fame of all Erin's men; nor thereby should he suffer resulting disadvantage, save that his life must be fleeting short."

Cathbad confirmed his words, "noble and famous indeed thou shalt be, but transitory, soon gone."

"Little care I," said Cu chulainn, "nor though I were but one day or one night in being, so long as after me the history of myself and doings may endure."  The quotes are from The Boyhood Deeds of Cu Chulainn.

And so, the great Greek warrior Achilles and the great Celtic warrior Cu Chulainn faced the same decision, made the same choice, and died young but are still remembered today.

Sources:

The Cu Chulainn stories (except the story of Cu Chulainn's birth) are from David Greene's An Anthology of Irish Literature, vol. 1 
James Hunter's Achilles article
Thetis and Peleus
Xanthus
The picture of Cu Chulainn was cropped by Edana A. Click on the caption to see the original.

The Secret of Kells: The Artwork

The artwork in the 2009 film, The Secret of Kells, (director Tom Moore, co-director, Nora Twomy, art director, Ross Stewart,) reflects the beauty of The Book of Kells. The images in both are rich in color, iconic, and play with perspective.

The Book of Kells features "zoomorphic" designs. Basically, animals that are twisted, stretched, and bent into 2-D designs.  A bird might be chewing on his foot, his toes and beak woven like a piece of cloth. A dog's neck is stretched longer than a giraffe's and interlaces with those of four other dogs just like it to form a Celtic knot.   "Zoo" for "animal." "Morphic" for "formed/morphed/changed."

And of course, intricate Celtic knots and swirling designs of many colors fill the pages.

 The only real zoomorphic design in the film, (although certain creatures morph into other forms) appears when Crom Crúiagh is chasing Brendan. 

 The film has iconic images, like the book. Some people are lumps or rectangles with heads. Aiden has squared-off fingers.  The edge of the forest is very organized: the tallest trees form arches for the ones beneath.
This images are also highly detailed and contain Celtic designs, like The Book of Kells.

The film also plays with perspective: A person in the distance will pass behind a tree and suddenly they are much, much closer. This depiction represents the actions going on. It's not meant to be taken literally, it's art. It's similar to changing angles on a film camera, except it all happens in the same frame. 

In order to respect copyright laws, I have not put pictures in this post. However, here are some links so you can see the features I discussed:  

The Chi Rho page, (mentioned in the film!): The Book of Kells
Besides Celtic designs, the page of the manuscript contains a zoomorph man, iconic figures, and animals.

See the gallery, it contains the images I was talking about: The Secret of Kells 

This is an informative video on The Book of Kells:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMvfMVBhUXI

On a side note:
Symbolism is found in the depiction of certain characters. The presence of monks from all over the world (Africa, Asia, Italy, and Ireland) at Kells symbolizes the fact that Ireland was an important center for Christianity during the period. It was a beacon of light in the Dark Ages. (See previous post for more on dark and light).