Posted on 07/29/2014 11:11:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
Editor's Note: This column contains spoilers and plot details for the upcoming movie The Giver.
With his approval numbers sinking to 39 percent a week ago, according to the Gallup tracking poll, President Obama isn't alone in having a bad summer. So is Hollywood.
Entertainment Weekly calls gross receipts for what should have been a blockbuster July 4-6 weekend "downright terrifying." Writes EW, "Not only were grosses down 45 percent from last year's holiday, according to Boxofficemojo.com, but it was Hollywood's worst July 4 weekend since 1999. (And that's not taking into account inflation. In fact, this was the worst July-holiday weekend for ticket sales since the summer of 'Dragnet' in 1987.)"
Arriving in theaters next week is a film that could reverse the trend. It's called "The Giver," based on the best-selling novel by Lois Lowry, which won the 1994 Newbery Medal. The film has an A-list cast, comprised of Meryl Streep, Jeff Bridges, Katie Holmes and Taylor Swift.
For those unfamiliar with the book, the storyline depicts what occurs when a society deliberately destroys its social and moral foundations for a "higher purpose." It is "Brave New World" meets "The Matrix" with a dash of "The Stepford Wives" thrown in. In the film, a teenage boy named Jonas (Hollywood aged the main characters for dramatic effect, they were younger in Lowry's book) is the main character through whom the story is told. Jonas lives in a futuristic society in which all war, hatred and pain have been expunged. Even prejudice has been eliminated. So has love. There is no competition and everyone looks and acts alike. Apologies abound (as do acceptances of apologies) to the point of insincerity. When a child reaches age 16, he or she is assigned a job. Spouses are assigned and couples are allowed just two children. They are born to "Birthmothers" who never see them, and spend their first year in something called a Nurturing Center with other babies, or "newchildren."
The website Sparknotes expands on the plot: "When their children are grown, family units dissolve and adults live together with Childless Adults until they are too old to function in the society. Then they spend their last years being cared for in the House of the Old until they are finally 'released' from the society." Released is a euphemism for euthanasia.
The "Giver," played by Jeff Bridges, is the keeper of memories. He remembers a time when people loved, were ambitious and enjoyed personal freedom. He passes along those memories to Jonas, who bravely rediscovers his humanity with all its flaws and joys.
All movies have a "message." "The Giver" has a message for contemporary American culture. As we have thrown off all restraint, individualized morality and considered every idea as having equal value, "The Giver" shows where this could ultimately lead.
I was skeptical when I first heard about the film because it is distributed by The Weinstein Company, run by brothers Bob and Harvey (Harvey is a big Obama supporter), but became less so when I learned that Walden Media produced it. Walden Media, an entertainment company that specializes in family-oriented material, gave us the Oscar-winning "Ray" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" series.
At the end of "The Matrix," Neo says: "I didn't come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how this is going to begin. Now, I'm going to hang up this phone, and I'm going to show these people what you don't want them to see. I'm going to show them a world without you ... a world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries, a world where anything is possible."
"The Giver" echoes a similar theme. It is entertaining, but also instructive. It's time to seriously think about where we're headed. "The Giver" shows us in ways few movies do.
I’ve seen previews. Very foreboding.
Sounds a bit like Fahrenheit 451
too far over most people’s heads. it’ll tank.
I’ve read the book. I wonder how they will deal with the change in the apple and the girl’s hair.
In a book it exposes something that would have been obvious from the beginning if it were a movie.
Maybe like the original Wizard of Oz...
The Giver is a children’s (more like “pre-teen”) book. The theme is pretty simple, actually. It is a serious page turner.
As soon as I saw the cast I figured Bridges would be the Giver. It’s a VERY compelling story.
This and “Enders Game” are the only “children’s books” I’ve ever read and both are amazing stories, VERY well written.
I’m not entirely sure “Enders Game” is a children’s story. Read it a long time ago, and that’s not how I remember it.
BTW, saw the movie recently and was disappointed. Possibly it would have been better in a theater.
I doubt it. Lame is lame.
I’m not entirely sure “Enders Game” is a children’s story. Read it a long time ago, and that’s not how I remember it.
BTW, saw the movie recently and was disappointed. Possibly it would have been better in a theater.
And I bought Ender’s game on blue ray (something I rarely do) and was disappointed. It’s the same story but, as usual, the book is better than the movie. Too much of the movie just seemed “phoned in”. The games in the big bubble were very poorly done.
Saw it today. How did Hollywood make this? It is actually a conservative movie about freedom vs gov’t control. One great line from the head elder: When man is given the freedom to choose, he chooses wrong every time.
They hide the past, control people with drugs, and make everyone believe they are living in a nirvana. But there is no emotion or love or feelings.
Good movie. Timely theme. I really liked it.
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