Posted on 08/05/2003 9:36:47 AM PDT by Mr. Silverback
Critics were very hard on the recent film THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN. Roger Ebert, citing the movie's "idiotic dialogue . . . and general lunacy," proclaimed, "What a mess."
But what a colleague of mine, who saw the film, found most troubling about his experience was not what happened on screen but in the audience -- something that illustrates our incredible shrinking culture.
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN is based on a comic book series of the same name. It is set in 1899 in a world where the great characters of nineteenth-century fiction are real. You have Jules Verne's Captain Nemo interacting with H. G. Wells's Invisible Man and Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray.
As a result, the film, like the comic, is filled with amusing references and allusions to nineteenth-century literature. At least, it would be amusing if the audience caught the references. In his review, Washington-area film critic Joe Barber wondered if the audience could be expected to be familiar with these books.
Judging by the showing my colleague attended, Barber's concerns are correct. Early in the movie, Nemo introduces the others to his first mate who tells them, "Call me Ishmael" -- the first line from MOBY DICK. The audience around my colleague had puzzled expressions on their faces. The joke, requiring cultural literacy, flew right past them.
Historian E. D. Hirsch would not be surprised. In his great book CULTURAL LITERACY, Hirsch writes that American children, including those from affluent families, are not being taught "the basic information needed to thrive in the modern world." Not only do they not get references to classic literature, but words like carpetbagger, Waterloo, and Alamo mean nothing to them.
It shouldn't surprise us then that this "cultural illiteracy" would be reflected in our popular entertainment. Forty years ago, THE MUSIC MAN featured a song whose lyrics went, "I hope, and I pray, for a Hester to win just one more 'A.'" Most of the audience today would miss the reference to Hawthorne's THE SCARLET LETTER and the meaning of the lyrics that, in this case, glorify adultery.
To accommodate our illiteracy, this summer's fare is taken from comic books, television shows, video games, and even a theme-park ride. As Thomas Hibbs of Baylor University has noted, movies, like the rest of popular culture, are being dumbed down: They are entirely self-referential.
These pop-culture references are increasingly the only shared references in our culture. The participants on VH-1's I LOVE THE EIGHTIES know more about the hairstyles worn by musicians in that decade than they know about the Declaration of Independence or the great books of our history.
The problem is not only that this glorifies the trivial and the fleeting, but it deprives us of the moral guidance and wisdom that only knowledge of our own heritage can provide.
Thus, Christians should act counterculturally by setting an example of cultural literacy for our neighbors to follow. Call us here at BreakPoint (1-877-3-CALLBP), and we will suggest some good resources. Not only is it a good way to preserve our moral heritage, but it will even enable you to go to the movies and enjoy the jokes.
Also, the author of the article got it wrong, we are introduced to an invisible man, but not THE Invisible Man. The movie explains how and why.
Couple of good twists and a lot of action.
My wife had never heard the term "graphic novel". Last time I was reading any of them, they were called "Comic Books." I did know the reference only because I know people who insist on calling "Comic Books" "Graphic Novels."
As an aside, I'd just finished rereading four of H.G. Wells' novels (The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, The Invisible Man and The War of The Worlds). All good reads, entertaining and refreshed my memories. I will have all the classics waiting for my son.
Yes, the lyrics are from the book of Ecclesiastes, but the song itself was written by Pete Seeger...
I definitely enjoyed the references. I am going to go back and reread some books from my youth and read some for the first time.
Wasn't sure how the vampire was able to walk in the light. I haven't read Bram Stoker's Dracula to figure it out. My wife said she was basically cured when Dracula repented, and couldn't figure out why she was there either.
LXG is a disastrous film, but the "Call me Ishmael" line was one of the few that made me laugh. Had they dumped the phony James Bond stuff and made an entire film full of such literary allusions, it might have worked. But it tries to straddle the fence and ended up losing both audiences. Too bad, because it could have been a great movie.
That's a real thigh-slapper.
Are the youth of today missing out by not reading James Joyce?
I personally read everything from Army field manuals, ancient Chinese poetry, biographies, 1940's sci fi, Maxim magazine, and any historical or current affairs book I find lying around unattended. Let's be honest, though, Maxim is current American culture, and the other stuff is job or personal interest. As a whole, Americans know what they like, which is humor, supermodels, and making fun of France.
Same thing goes for art. Call me a barbarian, but I don't think that the Mona Lisa is all that hot. Most pieces hanging in galleries are a lot less impressive looking to me than an action movie with well done CGI. I'd imagine that most people feel the same way. I enjoy going to see what our ancestors made it gives insight into how they lived, which I find fascinating. It's just that a statue with no arms doesn't speak to me culturally.
A story about a prince who has a crush on his mother, and pretends to be insane to catch usurpers, (because something is rotten in Denmark) may be historically interesting, but it doesn't speak to America, 2003.
Seeing an average guy bitten by a radioactive spider and transformed into something more powerful, but even more vulnerable, and trying to use his power responsibly, now that speaks to me culturally. Think about it.
We do have a culture, but it's not shrinking by any means. We will slowly lose contact with the past, as we move further away from it, but that's a natural progression. The wisdom and knowledge of the classics runs through our culture now, available to those who want it. If our culture fails, then both modern and classic tales will remain on record for future generations.
Our values may be a bit out of order, but our culture doth bestride this narrow world like a colossus, while petty French and Islamic fundamentalists scurry under our huge media corporations to find themselves dishonorable graves.
Look at the confusion that the Ramirez cartoon in the Los Angeles Times caused, because many people didn't know the photo he was using as an allusion, and that photo was taken during the Viet Nam war, a scant 40 years ago.
Each generation thinks that what went before is outdated and old-fashioned, and that his own times are superior. That is the nature of humanity.
It is not necessary that you appreciate the Venus de Milo or the Mona Lisa. It IS necessary that you recognize them for what they are, rather than grouping them with garden gnomes and Dogs Playing Poker.
Actually, I think something that a child shouldn't be reading shouldn't be called a comic book. Graphic novel is a good way to describe it.
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