Happy Feet
I must admit that I have had the eerie experience of wondering how I can see the world so differently than my friends and neighbors. There are days when I see a liberal agenda in everything and yet no one around me seems to notice. I feel like shouting "Hey! I see brain-dead people!" Or I wonder if I'm losing my mind... and maybe I should plug back into the safe matrix of force fed ideology.
Today was one of those days when my resolve was strengthened. I really do see brain-dead people.
Actually, what I saw was a movie called "Happy Feet". It's animated, musical, brightly colored - perfect for children, right? Wrong. The movie which begins as an ugly duckling tale featuring Mumble, the emporer penguin who is unable to find his heartsong (i.e. mating call). Nothing too unusual initially but then the movie really went off the deep end...
Here's a quick brief:
1- Countless films advise youngsters to be tolerate of differences and glorify non-conformity. This is one of them. As parents, it's our job to teach our children that there is nothing wrong with conformity so long as we make the educated choice to conform. On the other hand, non-conformity just for the sake of being different is always bad. (After all, a dancing male penguin can't very well hold an egg still and safe through the long winter, now can he?)
2- In this film, Mumble simply can't conform. He just wasn't born that way. You can figure that one out for yourself...
3- The leaders of the Emporer Penguins are depicted as religious leaders who are close-minded and without compassion. They treat Mumble as an outcast and even blame his mating ritual differences for community problems - fish scarcity. They even refer to his actions as "pagan". Talk about projecting human society onto the animal kingdom... The religious elders worship a God and even purposefully ignore evidence that contradicts their worldview. Mumble represents the pragmatism of scientific discovery. Not only is he different, but he's going to get to the bottom of the food shortage and save the people from themselves. It was uninhibited faith bashing.
4- Mumble sets off to solve the mystery of the fish shortage and is followed by Gloria, the female penguin obviously destined to be his mate, they fight and he sends her packing so that he can save their world. But not before the quick motherhood bashing moment. She only wants to be with him, he says, knowing that their entire existence has been about preparing to breed and raise a new generation, 'whatcha gonna do when all the other females have eggs', she smiles lovingly and says 'who cares, I've got you babe'...
4- Then the film goes really wacky - like the writers just got seriously derailed. Suddenly, the story turns into one of environmental fatalism. The humans are harvesting the fish and polluting the water as well. Mumbles swims for time-elapsed days and ends up on a foreign shore where he is found. He awakens in the zoo and his dancing feet get him the attention of the world. There is a montage of politicians, UN leaders, reporters, CEOs and other well dressed white people arguing over whether or not we should protect the penguins. All done in this weird grayscale like an old newsreel. It was so in-your-face that I almost thought the narrator was going to ask leadingly "So children, how do we care for mother earth and protect the penguins?" (Class in unison) "Never eat fish, sir!"
5- Without much explanation Mumble is suddenly released from the zoo where he has gained international notoriety and has brought attention to the plight of his species. He is tagged and returns to the emporer penguin homelands. During yet another confrontation with the stubborn, superstitutious elders, the humans arrive. At this moment, Mumble is validated, there really were aliens who were taking the fish. So the penguins dance to get the aliens (humans) attention and the humans respond by being enchanted. The movie ends. I'm guessing that we are to assume that the UN has stopped any and all fish harvesting from the antarctic and that somehow the penguins are saved by the injection of good humans into their habitat (as opposed to those horrible corporate funded fishermen).
The overall message of this film is religion=bad. Humans=bad. And penguins with foot fetishes aren't bad... it's just who they are.
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Comment by Michael— 2006/11/17 @ 12:28 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/11/17 @ 05:12 PM — (Reply)
Comment by Elmers Brother— 2006/11/17 @ 05:46 PM — (Reply)
Back on topic - I was describing the movie to my sisters and just hatin' the fact that such good music and fun animation was ruined by agenda pushing writers.
Comment by Cate— 2006/11/17 @ 06:10 PM — (Reply)
Wife and I were enchanted at first... very clever "heart song" music, and like you said, looked like a promising 'ugly duckling' storyline. Then it took a wierd turn that was WAAAAYYY too heavy-handed. It's like they were trying to do two movies at the same time, an "I don't fit in" story and a "grand quest" story, and as a result, they kinda spoiled either.
Didn't see your first two points, Cate. In fact, I saw just about the exact opposite. Memphis gets punished for not conforming, and as a result his kid winds up born with a wierd birth defect where he can't sing. No, it's not that he chooses not to sing... he tries. Ugh, he tries!! Da boy just can nae sing!!
Mmm... point 3? Yeah, maybe. I saw it more as trashing the old folks afraid to try new ideas (pretty common theme for kid's movies, really), but yeah- it is couched in some mysticism mumbo-jumbo. On the other hand, in the depths of winter, the penguin god is actually made manifest by the collective songs, is taken aback by the non-conforming Memphis, and punishes (??) his unborn child for the deviance. That suggests a certain reality to faith, doesn't it? Well, at least computer-animated penguin faith.
4- totally agree. The story went WAY overboard, and was ridiculously heavy-handed. Oh, and what's the lesson we learn here? It's okay, in general, to destroy ecosytems... but hey-if a species can tap-dance, we must take action!! Save all the species that can entertain our children!!
And what was the deal with the zoom-out? Penguin >> Sea >> Antarctica >> Earth >> Universe. One penguin takes on the cosmos?!? I had to sit and watch 5 stars each twinkle in succession- what the heck?!?!?
You'll be glad to hear the lesson my boy learned from the world government sequence. "The Russians are bad- they're the ones who wanted to keep taking the fish." :)
5- Did you see that thing on Mumble's back and think "Why did they stick a bomb on him?"? I had briefly visions of jihadist mumble taking down the Great Satan in a suicide pact. My wife thought that the humans had turned him into a radio-controlled robot. :)
Didn't see the "religion=bad" message that you did. I did see "old guys=bad" but that's typical for kid's movies. And sure, there was the "humans=bad" message, but actually it looked like sea lions and orcas were even worse. I never thought I'd see a seal look SCARY. Oh, and it's not "humans=bad"... it's "over-exploitation=bad."
And I still think it's funny how you seem to have seen his tap-dancing as a metaphor for alternative life-styles, and I saw it as birth defect brought on by a vengeful penguin god and lazy caretaking dad.
My overall opinion- a good film (loved the animation and music and dance) that lost its way (it could have totally dumped the whole "save the fish" thread), and was too heavy-handed all over.
Comment by Michael— 2006/11/17 @ 08:37 PM — (Reply)
And I can't believe that you didn't see the alternative lifestyles thing - my gosh, Michael, we are talking about a mating ritual gone awry and bringing down the wrath of God (according to the penguin elders)...
Comment by Cate— 2006/11/18 @ 11:43 AM — (Reply)
Comment by jim— 2006/11/18 @ 06:40 AM — (Reply)