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?

[–] shivashanti 16 years ago

GOD DAMN THIS MOVIE,S ACTING SUCKS!!!! FIND ACTORS WHO NOW HOW TO ACT. RANKING = 3
BUT THE SPECIAL EFFECT ARE NICE.

[–] Cookiees453 16 years ago

Please take your religion mind controlling bs and politic bs and flaming bs trollness elsewhere orignal poster.

thank you.

[–] rickamortis 16 years ago

Nice spoiler warning ass hat.

"IMDB... where 14 year olds can pretend to be jaded 40 year old movie critics"

[–] chasman99 16 years ago

Actually the themes are more complex than that.

1) Obsession leading to ignoring the treasuers we have already

2) betrayal and poor communication and trust issues

3) pre teen and teen behavior that is typical acting out

4) bonding together to solve a problem

5) rejoining of family and strengthening bonds

The movie did not support destroying books full of knowledge as a way to destroy evil. Tampering where we don't belong might have been that message there.

Not to mention, the knowledge to defeat evil was in the book, hence it could not be destroyed and must be used to overcome the evil.

You are stretching.

*** I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "I drank what?" ***

[–] Little_Dorrit 16 years ago

Wow......... this is sad.....
.

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

[–] ms_moviebuff23 16 years ago

This film didn't offend me, because there was no burning of books.. just a magical book that needed to be destroyed to save the character's lives. It's a fantasy movie made for children, as well as adults. When they were trying to destroy the book I was glad, excited.. not sad and angry. It's a fantasy.. a story.. burning of a knowledgeable book never crossed my mind.. because it's not even real.. it's not a real book. All those scientific things were made up..

If you like to see an actual book burning watch the History channel, or watch that movie "Pleasantville" There's school book burning in that film and that was made in the 90's, as well as other films made years ago.. that is something to be offended with.. not this film. Not at all.. lol

There are worse things going on in this world than trying to pick apart a fantasy film.

I'll always catch you when you fall.. -Will Young, Who Am I

[–] the_other_usernames_were 16 years ago

What you're saying is, the government should just hand their documents to terroists to have a look at because it would be foolish to destory the knowledge? And in the Lord of the Rings tale, Bilbo should have kept the ring all along to keep its knowledge and power? Its the same principle as the the spiderwick book

Nobody wanted to destory the book, it was an incredible book, but they had no choice, because the alternative was being murdered and a world controlled by Mulgarath. That was another one of the morals of the story, of many stories, of real life, sacrifice, you have to sacrifice the things you treasure if it means keeping evil at bay

[–] ms_moviebuff23 16 years ago

Ashpot: What did you mean by knowledge? I can understand how these movies can be a metaphor to real life events..

For the word knowledge.. Real knowledge comes from within, it can never be destroyed. Creators of movies, of books will always have that knowledge.. everyone who is educated from a book, a movie.. from life events.. from anything at all.. will never forget what they have learned from it. They will store those memories within themselves for eternity until the day they die. That's how I define knowledge. :)

I'll always catch you when you fall.. -Will Young, Who Am I

[–] a-movie-fan 16 years ago

I just watched this movie and then my daughter and I saw your post. We've got 3 words for you.... GET A LIFE!!!!!!

Honestly, if you're getting worked up over that you must be a wreck most days. I bet when the kids in the movie were playing with matches and the oven, you were just beside yourself!! I'm surprised you haven't started a thread on the dangers of showing that in movies!! And don't even get me started on the fencing, girls running around waving swords! Geez! Yes, that's how ridiculous you sound!! Everything can be made into some form of metaphor, OR you can just sit back and enjoy the bloody movie! Now there's a concept!!

I think there are bigger more important issues facing this generation of children without you getting your knickers in a twist over a movie that shows a book and a fire in the same scene!! The movie is for the purpose of enjoyment and in case you didn't notice, the book DIDN'T burn!!!!!

Great movie, thoroughly enjoyable!! The only thing I find offending, is the person who started this thread!!!

~Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe~

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] AlexKost_13 16 years ago

One question, OP:

If this movie, based on a book, encourages burning books, should we burn the Spiderwick series?

I'm a little bit testy about book burning because I volunteer at a library, but I can tell you that I read the first Spiderwick book and did not feel like taking out matches. But that's just me.

"I'm gone for five minutes and he tells everyone about our super secret love affair!"

[–] trufflesauce-1 16 years ago

America is WAY TOO polictically correct, and it needs to END NOW. Someone finds a way to be offended by just about anything these days, to the point where they're searching for it.

I hardly think this movie or the author is advocating for the burning of books, considering, ya know, the movie started out as a book and all.

If anything, this movie may get some kid interested in reading after they see it, because as is often the case with these kids-books-to-movies series, the film may encourage a kid to pick up a book from the series. Duh.

It amazes me how closed minded someone who claims to be well-read can come across. I think you're the only one who wants to burn books after seeing this movie, because your's is the only mind that thought crossed.

trufflesauce

[–] 16 years ago

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