This weekend we went to the movies to see Happy Feet. I was looking forward to it. Penguins, dance numbers, music, PG rating, what more could a movie have to entertain the senses? Well for one, more dancing and singing penguins. I was disappointed. Instead, what I got was mostly long-ass public service announcements about living a politically correct, ecology friendly lifestyles blah, blah, blah.
My family of course thinks I am a wet blanket and I always just have to get annoyed at the political messages, but I asked them "were the messages there or not?" They were. So I can be insulted if I want to. Still, I suppose if you are not fed up and cynical with that sort of thing, you might truly enjoy the film.
If you do not want to hear me whine, I think the Kansas City Star's review is quite accurate:
But despite a great look and some nifty action sequences, this computer-animated effort doesn’t click. It piles lots of contemporary issues on what should be a simple children’s fable and becomes an overlong, emotionally muted and tiresome epic.
It wasn't just "ecology" lessons involved. There were other undertones, such as the elders who wouldn't stray from their old ways, and kept referring to foreigners as "pagans". Yawn
I think what bothers me most is not the message itself that they are trying to get across (well yeah, a little), but the fact that every childfren's movie, or TV show or whatever cannot just be entertaining anymore. That someone out there truly feels we have to be politically educated every single minute of everyday or else something horrible happen. I wouldn't mind as much if they inundated our children with times tables as they political correctness.
You know though. I mean is everyone in the general IQ all so stupid all the time that we need one more message about the environment or how terrible calling people bad names is?
I thought not, but you know what? I was wrong! Especially for a Catholic! Bishop Katharine Schori says so! (I had to throw that in).
Update:Michael Medved's review
I saw Michael Medved's review of it earlier this week and he says the advertising is extremely deceptive in portraying this as a fun family movie instead of the dark movie it is with references to homosexuality and how bad religion is.
He called it Crappy Feet
I'm glad it wasn't just me!
Saw it with my boys -- and they were SCARED. It got a G rating here, it should have been PG. I disliked all the PC baloney, too.
Funniest point in the movie -- leopard seal chasing penguin, frightening music. Lull in action. Two-year-old Isaac says in my lap, "This is scawy, mumma. But I'm bwave."
Whole theatre cracked up.
SO I know what movie I'm not taking my kids to...
Not that I go to see a whole lot of them...
I'M saving movie passes to go see Eragon, if it's anything like the book, it should be good.
Thank you! My spidey-sense has been buzzing from the first time I saw an ad for this movie, and hubby doesn't understand why I won't agree to take Hambet.
Remember the "Kangaroo Jack" fiasco? A belch and fart movie pretending to be a "family film"? Thank you, God, for John Laesseter and the folks at Pixar.
And Cin, that is a cuuute story :)
I have no problem with belch and fart films, which have their place (8-11 year old boys). It is the homo agitprop and the Disney formula of the repressive, closed-minded father who sees the errors of his ways and becomes a Unitarian and leaves his family to "marry" another man. OK, they usually don't go that far, but it is certainly the message they want you to take home.
Come to think of it, I can imagine no more appropriate response to most of the modern Disney oevre than loud belch and fart noises. Certainly beats the Elton John/Andrew Lloyd Weber (when is that guy going to try to marry another bloke?) "music" that goes with these things.