Last night I had the opportunity to go into Boston to see the Blue Man Group. They are a performance artists known for being covered in blue paint, not talking, and playing music using a variety of objects like pvc tubing. My friend Shelly's mother was in town and the people they were planning to go with had to bow out at the last minute - so she invited me and another girl to join them. The show was a lot of fun and I'm so glad I got to experience it!
Could also be called - that blog about the 10th Kingdom.
I recently re-discovered a miniseries called the 10th Kingdom. NBC ran it in the year 2000 - part of a string of miniseries sponsored by Hallmark. I remember watching it at a freshman in high school and really liking it. It came up on Netflix a couple of weeks ago and I thought it would be fun to watch again. I wasn't sure if I would like it as much as I did when I was 15. (When I was a child I really liked the movie Drop Dead Fred and when I watched it recently I was bitterly disappointed.) Turns out I like the movie as much now as I did then. I've watched parts of it repeatedly and in an effort to justify wasting (scratch that, "using") all that time on the movies, I thought I might highlight some of the themes in the series.
First: a quick summary of the 10th kingdom.
The 10th kingdom is an epic adventure that follows a young woman, Virginia, and her father (Tony.) There is an alternate universe comprised of the 10 kingdoms. These kingdoms are based on the fairy tales of the Grimm brothers. Many well known stories are parodied or alluded to throughout the film (Snow White, Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Bo Peep, Jack and the Beanstalk, 3 little pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.) Along for the adventure is Wolf, who falls in love with Virginia, a prince that has been turned into a dog, an evil queen, and many other colorful characters.
Second: Introduce main characters, the lesson we are to learn from them, allusions to that lesson elsewhere in literature or film, and finally that lesson as found in the Bible or Christian theology. I had a lot of fun doing this - tells you just how nerdy I am.
Virginia (Young heroine): "I'm just a waitress." Lesson: Ordinary people can do extraordinary things Literary Parallel: Frodo Baggins from JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Biblical Parallel: King David - Youngest of 8 brothers, a shepherd, yet he becomes the great King David of Israel, a man after God's own heart.
Wolf: "I might fight against what I am!" Lesson: Even though we may have a dark past, true transformation can and does happen. Literary Parallel: Jean Val Jean from Victor Hugo's Les Miserables Biblical Parallel: Saul, a notorious killer of Christians, who was transformed into the Apostle Paul
Tony (Virginia's Father): "No longer is he selfishly driven by envy and greed." Lesson: True heroism stems from self-sacrifice. Literary parallel: Interestingly enough - the Spiderman movies explore this in a fascinating way. Biblical Parallel: 1 John 3:16 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers."
The Queen (Villain): "Kill the girl or I'll do it myself." Lesson: Doing evil multiplies until you are a slave to it and eventually lose your identity altogether Literary parallel: Darth Vader from Star Wars Biblical Parallel: John 8:34 "Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin."
Other characters also bring up the question of fate or determinism. On one level the theme of the movie is to live out your destiny - but a closer look reveals that the theme is often challenged within the movie. This is seen primarily in the character of the huntsman who inadvertantly murdered his own young son. He was offered a magic bow that would never fail to hit the heart of a living thing when shot. All he had to do to possess it was to shut his eyes and shoot. The arrow landed in his young son's heart. His consolation was that it was his "destiny" to kill his son and his subsequent destiny to commit the many murders he has since then. This is repulsive to the main characters and causes us as the audience to question the reality of destiny. This also leads to the question of whether or not we are held personally responsible for our destiny. The end of the movie again raises this question, but I will not reveal exactly what happens in case any of you want to watch it.
One of the funniest parts of the whole series is a scene where Tony, the father, frustrated with yet another riddle, questions the frog as to the purpose of its existence. In the fairy tale world many of the characters seem to exist for only one purpose and often do not question that purpose. That is why the transformation of the wolf character is such a strong theme throughout the movies because he is in contrast to the entire world in which he is set.
The series incorporates so much, but it is generally entertaining and raises a lot of good questions. I think that is why it does not get old after multiple viewings. Each time raises a new question for me to ponder and explore. Also, parts of the movie are extremely funny. I leave you with one such scene:
These are the children of the troll king who are in pursuit of Virginia and her company. While in the 10th kingdom (New York) they discover a boombox playing the song "Night Fever" by the Bee Gees, which they really enjoy.
This last weekend (read Friday and Monday...) I had two amazing Boston experiences. On Friday I went down to Cambridge to see the Boston fireworks on the Charles River. There were so many people there and the fireworks were unbelievable. On Monday I went to Boston again to see the Red Sox play the Twins at Fenway Park. It was so great! I never knew which team I should cheer for, however. When you see the pictures - I look like a Red Sox fan but I think I clapped more for the Twins, even though they lost. What can I say - I'm a South Dakota girl through and through. Enjoy the pictures!
Anna is not actually that much shorter than me, I am standing on a curb. Fun fact: She recently came back from a 6 week trip to Zimbabwe.
Natalie, Anna, Me Fun Fact: We all live in Lamont Hall.
Natalie and me Fun Fact: Natalie does not like taking "fun pictures" but I forced her.
Me and Ruth Fun Fact: Ruth shares her name with a Biblical character and my grandmother.
Boston skyline Fun Fact: I took this picture while standing in front of MIT.
Wendy! She is the wonderful person who took me to Fenway. Fun Fact: Wendy is the organist and choir director at Immanuel Church.
Me in front of Yawkey Way Fun Fact: Yawkey Way is named for the original owners of Fenway Park.
Me in front of another part of Fenway Fun Fact: Fenway Park is the only ballpark that still has a manual scoreboard.
Me in front of the foul pole (aka the "fair pole") and the Green Monster Fun Fact: On the scoreboard is morse code that spells out the initials of the original owners.
Crowds behind the Outfield. Fun Fact: There is one red seat in the stadium that marks the furthest homerun hit in the stadium. No balls have ever been hit out of the park.
Me in my new green Red Sox cap. Fun Fact: I look good in green. :)
My friend Jennifer tagged me in her blog about favorite authors inviting me to answer three questions concerning my favorite authors. This is more difficult that I originally anticipated because I read quite diverse things and have my favorites within the different genres in which I read. It is also difficult because I really get into one author for awhile and then I move on and rarely go back to read them again. So, with that said, here are my responses.
Who is your favorite author and why?
There are a lot of authors that I have a great deal of respect for and have enjoyed the books of theirs that I have read: Victor Hugo, John Steinbeck, JK Rowling (weird to put her on this list...) CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Lois Lowry, etc. With the except of Rowling, I have not read the entire repertoire of any of these authors and do not feel motivated to do so, yet. However, I have had a strong desire for awhile to read all of Jane Austen, so I will list her as my favorite author. Currently I am in the middle of Mansfield Park and am enjoying it very much.
As far as my academic reading is concerned (I feel this should be included since I spend more time reading this stuff than fiction) I have two primary favorites: Stanley Hauerwas and Dallas Willard. Both of these men appealed to me intellectually and spiritually. They are challenging and uplifting at the same time and I have tremendous respect for both of these men and their writing.
Who was your first favorite author and why?
This is a little embarrasing, but it is true and so I need to just own up to it. My first favorite author was R.L. Stine. He wrote the Goosebumps series. When I was a kid, I liked reading these books instead of the more traditional Boxcar Children or Little House on the Prairie books. I think I read most of the goosebumps series. The first book I read in one day was a Goosebumps book (Phantom of the Auditorium). Thankfully, I have grown out of that stage.
My first favorite author in the field of theological writing was actually Max Lucado. I remember walking into a Christian bookstore for the first time in my life and looking through the books. His book And He Still Moves Stones had a nice cover and seemed interesting so I bought it. For about a year after that I just consumed his books. I borrowed them from the pastor across the street. They were crucial to my early development as a Christian and I am thankful for that.
Who is the newest addition to your favorite authors and why?
The newest addition is probably L.M. Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables series. I finally read them this year and fell in love with the world she created on Prince Edward Island. Anyone who creates a heroine with red hair and have her hate her red hair has got it right in my book.
As for theology - I am always looking for new favorites. This may not count, but Kathleen Norris' book Dakota was great and I would love to read more of her. I also enjoyed reading Barth's Evangelical Theology, but am not in a hurry to read more of his right now.
So, Jennifer, this blog was primarily for you. I hope you enjoyed it.
