I’m a big fan of fairy tales and, as a father of three, I’m more familiar with Disney movies than a thirty-something year old man might otherwise be. Contrary to the zeitgeist of the time, I think most of the old princess movies are wonderful. Stories that contain Truth resonate with people and they remember and talk about them long after those stories are published. Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, these have been out for decades now (Cinderella since 1950!), and yet they are still amongst the most watched films year after year. They have Truth in them. You can tell because they stand the test of time.
The more recent stuff? Eh, not so sure. They’re fun and all, I enjoyed Frozen and Tangled and the rest of them, but I think the modern fashion of shoehorning political statements into films may make them age poorly. Female empowerment is all well and good but when the female leads become Mary Sues (looking at you Star Wars) they also become less than human. That and why does everybody have to be saving the planet now? Cinderella had human scale problems. A dead dad, an abusive family, a yearning for love. Things you could attach a real meaning and moral too. Moana is trying to save the Ocean from some sort of angry mother earth goddess. What can you learn from that? Recycle better? Oh well. The songs are still catchy: “What can I say except your welcome!" The Rock has a better singing voice than I would have guessed.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
The ancients (cross culturally, not simply those who wrote the Bible) held language in high regard. It was not a thing to be taken lightly. Curses were real to them. As were blessings. Magic spells and incantations. They weren’t wrong by the way. “Enchantment”, for example, means “to be under the sway of a “chant.” We’ve all seen this happen.
“No Justice, No Peace! No Justice, No Peace! No Justice, No Peace!”
“You will not replace us! You will not replace us! You will not replace us!”
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