MovieChat Forums > The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) Discussion > this film offends me (and it should offe...

this film offends me (and it should offend you too!)

posted 16 years ago by ashpot
69 replies | jump to latest

the last thing this generation of youth needs right now is a
film encouraging the burning of books and destruction of knowledge
as a path for good to destroy evil.

only a fool can believe that destroying a book filled with wisdom and
'scientific' knowledge will win the day against the dark forces.

i'm so sorry to see this as the underlining message of a mainstream movie.

was the author of these books someone who hates academia or does he just have a
chip on his shoulder?

[–] ryoko_michiru 16 years ago

The saddest bit is that my biggest problem is not with what you're saying, but rather the fact that you're preaching the need for evaluation on the destruction of knowledge, yet you, yourself, can't utilize the simplest rules of the English language. They're called capital letters, dear, and they're used at the start of a sentence, and when using the word "I." On top of that your use of tense in your final statement conflicts. You say 'was' which is, of course, past tense, then eleven words later you say 'does' which is current.

Normally the English Nazi in me would forgive such things, but if you insist an attack on the basis of the 'destruction of knowledge,' so shall I.

In the World of Harvest Moon, even a Turnip can become light Pickles! I scare Swan-Swan

[–] redredz 16 years ago

haha. omg ashpot. its just a movie. do u seriously think that kids burn books after they watch the movie, thinkin theyre making the world a btter place bcuz theyre destroying evil? man, its just a story.

[–] rekcusdoo 16 years ago

I actually haven't watched this film yet (I'm about to in about 20 minutes) but what I can be sure of is,....YOUR ALL WRONG! lol

Point 1. To the person who compared a book burning to what happened in Army of Darkness. In Army of Darkness, they don't destroy the Necronomicon...they steal it to harness it's knowledge for themselves. Hense...ash wins a point...knowledge instead of destruction.

Point 2. In Lion, the witch and the wardrobe, Aslan can be interpreted as jesus ONLY if you take him completely out of context of the rest of the movie, in which many characters in many films may be interpreted where they weren't originally intended (example: If Aslan represents jesus, was the creator of the film stating that the four princes and princesses of narnia are jesus's army? Does that make Jesus a conquerer or make it so that there are other "holy" type people that go along with Jesus. None of that is in the bible from what I remember. If you do look at Aslan by himself, died for another, came back to life...then you do see Jesus. But that's the only way you can see Jesus.

Point 3. The arguement with the atom bomb...Go rent the tv show Sliders. There's an episode where the sliders go into a world where the atom bomb wasn't created because Einstein lied...saying that the bomb wasn't possible. So..what happens? A meteor heads toward earth and the only way the sliders are able to save humanity is by creating the atom bomb...something that would never have had to happen if Einstein hadn't withheld knowledge.

Point 4. Bookburning stems from one factor and ONLY one factor...FEAR. In the 50's, the church burned books because of fear of what they represent. In the film, the kids burn the book because they are afraid of what will happen if they don't. No matter how you look at the rights and wrongs of bookburning, this film does not emphasize burning books to kids. What it emphasizes is "Give into your fear." It tells kids that, if you are afraid, take the easy way out. What I would tell my kids is that sometimes, it is worth the risk of making hard choices for the greater good. Would keeping this book full of knowledge lead to a greater good? If so, maybe the film does have the wrong message.

[–] jdawson831 16 years ago

i must say this film also offended me, for justifing the senseless and inhumane deathes of the goblins. just because they were taken advantage of by a power hungry ogre and mindlessly follow him to provide for themselves and their goblin young. goblins are living things and don't deserve what they got at the end of the film.

[–] LazyBeagleEntertainment 16 years ago

Ashpot, you need to just be quiet. Plain and simple you simpleton.

[–] critterdhs05 16 years ago

If you acutally pay attetion the only way to SAVE LIFES IS TO HAVE THE FATHER DESTORY THE BOOK.

what about the book in harry potter movie? it was never called "evil"

and its A MOVIE

[–] rekcusdoo 16 years ago

The only way? If the only way to save lives is to destroy the book, then how did they finish the film without destroying the book yet still save said lives. I think thats just a little narrow-minded.

[–] lnt73 16 years ago

Are you for real????

It's a movie for kids.

This movie doesn't make me want to go looking for goblins (cool if I could see them) or kill them. Same as if I saw a film about Hitler, won't make me go & kill loads of Jewish people (before anyone starts, my girlfriends family is Jewish, so I know the score)

If you look at the world of Narnia they killed a lion, nope still doesn't make me want to go and get a gun and go hunting.

Lighten up, it's a story.

Go and have sex with whatever is your sexual preferance, it will relieve the pressure on your brain. If you can't get sex pay a hooker.

[–] jfc5-1 16 years ago

If that was really the message in the film, Jarrod would have died since it said in the movie that he "is the book". Therefor, your logic is flawed.

[–] wastedproof 16 years ago

ashpot you are in my "IGNORE" list.