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Quint joins in on the wild rumpus of Spike Jonze's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The advertising surrounding Spike Jonze’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE have really worked for me, setting up a distinct universe that is at once fresh and popping while nestling itself comfortably in my familiarity zone, thanks to the strict adherence to Maurice Sendak’s design of the Wild Things.
I know many people who have seen the movie over the last 4 weeks. Most of them were reduced to an emotional wreck, spouting hyperbole, and a few were calling bullshit on the movie. I find I’m fairly centerist in these situations, finding myself somewhere between the extremes on both sides.
However, here I am going to be one of the speaking-in-tongues, praise Jesus and pass the ammo zealots for his movie. Fair warning.
I didn’t just like this movie, I loved this movie, with it every step of the way. It really is incredible filmmaking. You know it’s good when it seems like Jonze didn’t have one doubt or troubled night. I’m sure that wasn’t the case, but the movie feels effortless to me.
Mark my words, for a certain group in this next generation WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE will be a seminal film. Let’s say for those born between 1999 and 2004 this film will be an eye-opener. Most kids won’t understand exactly why this film brings out real emotion in them when they first see it, but that’s brilliant. They’ll feel things they can’t really identify, but as they grow older they’ll see a whole other side to this movie.
The reason why this film will become a classic (either right away or rediscovered later, it’s always hard to tell) is because Jonze cast the perfect lead in Max Records and was able to direct him in a blisteringly honest performance. The sheer, unflinching honesty of the film is Jonze’s secret ingredient.
Max is a little terror here, acting out because he doesn’t know how to cope with his emotions. Without giving us speeches or flashbacks we gather that his father is gone, his mother is struggling and his sister is starting to spread her wings, choosing friends over family as she begins the process of leaving the nest. All that adds up to Max feeling neglected, knowing his world is changing and probably not for the better, but being powerless to do anything about it.
Well, powerless until he puts on his monster outfit and acts like a damn lunatic. He might not be getting the right kind of attention, but it’s better than just standing idly by as his world changes.
Be sure to watch the pre-Wild Things part of the movie very closely. There are visual, audio and thematic clues or foreshadowing that you’ll see repeated later in the movie as translated through Max’s brain. Think of it as a more cerebral Wizard of Oz.
In fact, that’s a good description of this movie. It shares a lot of Oz’s themes, especially when it comes to the lead’s self-taught life lessons, but then again Dorothy never attacked Toto because she was bored and in one of her moods.
But as messed up as Max gets it’s always within reason. Max is a little boy, a perfect example of childhood captured honestly (there’s that word again) and without the rose-tinted adult view of what childhood means to a matured brain. I have no idea how Jonze was able to find that sweet-spot of having incredibly complicated and adult themes and emotion while keeping the childlike wonder alive and unforced but he did.
The Wild Things are all pieces of Max’s id, representing different sides of his personality. There’s the withdrawn, gloomy Eeyore side of him, the nervous self-pitying side, the cynical side, the dumb, but kind side, the calm and sane side and then there’s Carol (voiced perfectly by James Gandolfini) who is his pure, unfiltered, unrestrained emotion.
In Max’s adventures with the Wild Things he indulges himself, but learns about the responsibility of being a leader, the head of a family unit and in doing so gains an insight into the chaos he’s bringing to his loving, but quickly becoming fed-up mother (a great, if too brief turn by Catherine Keener).
That’s some heady stuff for a kid’s movie, but I don’t want to give the impression that this is only a message movie. There’s enough wonder and awe at the amazing-looking Wild Things to keep this movie from feeling like homework.
I think where you’re seeing the split in audience reaction is in how Jonze structured the feature to follow Max’s path and not a set plot. There’s no big goal for Max as King of the Wild Things, no enemy to fight or yellow brick road to follow. It’s much more internal than that. The enemy is within, the part of every human that will hurt the ones they love no matter how much they try not to.
If it hasn’t been apparent by now, I love this movie. I’m one of the hyperbole spewing converted. I thought the movie was incredible when I left the theater and the more it sinks in the more I’m in love with it.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Remember reading it as a child.
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I can't wait to see the film. Those who call 'bullshit'... Just. Don't. Get. It.
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Figure this would be tough to pull off. Glad to see he succeeded. Cool review, Quint. But with the Oz comparisons, does this have the legs to transcend generation after generation? Or is that even possible to tell...
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I'm looking forward to taking my 7 year old daughter to see this. I'm not sure she has much interest, but she's my excuse to see it myself. :)
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the photo of the asshole on Windows Explorer with the rubber band and the cell phone strapped around his head? What THE fuck is that?
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I want to see this flick.
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nah, j/k, but it is Rumpus.
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Spike Jones has made a truly unique and beautiful film. I can't think of another "children's film" like it (it's not a children's film). Think of "The Iron Giant." Although, exploring different themes, I think it's an interesting point of comparison; as we celebrate the 10 year anniversary of "The Iron Giant" another film comes along from an acclaimed, popular book and, 10 years later, takes more risks and gives more respect to it's demographic than could possibly be imagined.<br><br>Spike Jones has truly proved he can capture the essence of a 9 year old boy and immerse the audience in that point of view. No easy task. It's an emotional, visual and sonic tour-de-force.
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We've had gothic with Burton, over the top camp with Schumacher, realistic with Nolan, I wonder what direction SJ would go. Can't wait to see this fliq btw.
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Oct. 13, 2009, 4:22 a.m. CST
Hopefully, no 9 year olds will see it and hit on you Meadowe
by blakindigo
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I just remember seeing it a lot. The cover kind of drew my attention, but never enough to wanna read it. It looked boring.
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which is a disease in both music and films at the moment..if it gets that right, it might be indeed a classic.
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Quint, great review, hyperbole and all, brother. I'm glad you loved the movie.
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If I can go see a movie that's enjoyable AND get laid, I consider it an all around success.
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My most anticipated movie of the remainder of '09, and, since they don't have Jurassic Park 4 up and running, well it may just be my most anticipated movie for the remainder of this decade. I really hope I dig it.
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Every trailer, commercial, poster, even these reviews, has left me blubbering, like Harry said after he saw the film. I never read the book as a kid or had it read to me. So I have no nostalgic connection to it. But for some reason, those images, that music just hits somewhere really fucking deep. I guess I have some inner monsters that want to play.
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Never has October 16th rocked so hard in the past, at least as far as I'm aware...
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Unlike seemingly everyone else, I only thought Being John Malkovich was ok. Well, maybe "good", but not great anyway. This on the other hand, is like a bag of nickels hit to the gut. It just looks absolutely perfect and as others have said, brings up so many familiar feelings of being a child with an imagination trying to cope with growing up in an imperfect environment. I think seeing this movie is going to be the most spectacular group therapy session of all time!
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...but it sure smells good!
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Oh yeah, I forgot - this is America and Christian bashing and stereotyping is encouraged. That and there is typically no worry that Christians will kill you and your family for making fun of them... All you Christian haters sure are an intolerant bunch towards a group of people you hate because you claim they are so intolerant. That always makes me smile. By the way Quint, if you have no beef w/ Christians then I don't mean to lump you into the group mentioned above, but why that comment? Anywho, good review though. I'm looking forward to this.
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Can't. Fucking. Wait.
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Aren't you forgetting The Road? Or New York, I Love You? Or The Lovely Bones? Surely there must be something that ranks higher than (the admittedly highly placed) Where The Wild Things Are.
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Hey, I've been waiting for that movie to open, and it was supposed to open this week, but I checked and now it says it opens on Christmas Day. What gives? Anyone have any info?
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Geez, people, I get that you like the movie - I'm excited to see it, too - but why does everyone have to get all gushy and sappy when talking about it? Especially considering how everyone's praising the film because it does NOT have that sort of sentimentality? Harry's review reads like that scene from Lord of the Rings with Sam and Frodo: "Do you remember the Shire, Mr. Frodo? The orchards will be in blossom and the birds will be nesting. Do you remember the taste of strawberries, Mr. Frodo?" Calm down, people.
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Yeah, it's not like people like Eric Robert Rudolph, Michael F. Griffin, Paul Jennings Hill, John Salvi, James Kopp, Scott Roeder, or Jim David Adkisson have ever killed people due to their Christian beliefs. No, not at all. (And that's leaving out a rash of conservative ideology and white-supremacy motivated murders this year committed by fellow-travelers). Tell me, when was the last time someone on the left murdered someone over their religious or political beliefs? (Yes, this has sort of slipped from being about Christian motivated terrorism to right wing/conservative terrorism, but if you're astute, you'll have noticed that the right wing itself has claimed religion and morality as its sole province, with the complete exclusion of the left. The Right defined the issue along those lines, not me.)
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There are zealots on every side of every issue you can possibly think of. Quint was using an example that his (English-speaking, largely anglo) audience can relate to. The fact that you take offense at a simple, relatively benign comment says more about you than it does about him.
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Now that was some good weed - er, a good show. Jeebus, people, are you all furries here or what? This flick looks like total ass. When I saw the trailer at the movies people around me were making WTF noises. Those fur suits are maribou-laden proof that drawings that look fantastic on paper lose a HELL of a lot of charm when dragged, kicking, clawing and snarling, into the 3rd dimension. Plus the CGI employed to give those giant plushies expression doesn't hide the fact that they're MEN IN SUITS and therefore lame. Yeesh. To each his own I guess but this is one film no amount of whining from any child would entice me to take him/her to see. Fortunately the kids in my life have no interest in it. There's hope yet for the new generation.
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C'mon though, Quit. Who DOESN'T think that about themselves?
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Quint was using a well known saying but just for arguments sake left wing extremists do kill people. What about the loggers killed and maimed by spiked trees and other booby traps.
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Offended - no. A little irritated but at the issue as a whole. I'm not Quint bashing or anything it's just something I've noticed on this site before. I just think the ammo part turned it from being satirical to insulting. It's just always interesting to me that usually when someone makes a religious themed mockery it's geared towards Christianity when there are plenty of other religions out there. That said - there is a lot of source material provided by western Christianity. But I completely agree about the zealots on all sides but the others just don't get much of the lime light. Jus' saying.
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Looking forward to this movie, but, damn, this marketing is for shit. Gimme some idea of the story. Gimme a clue about the journey we're gonna take.
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Just reread the review. Apparently, there is no plot or story upon which to hang a trailer. Okay, guess I was mistaken. (Although, honestly, how hard is to imply one with clever marketing?)<p>Thanks, Quint. You've just convinced me to wait for DVD.<p>1) At least George Lucka$$ *tried* to put a plot in the abominable new trilogy.<p>2) I have no interest in watching a special fx crew jump up and down on screen like Stuart on MadTV ("Look what I can do! Look what I can do!")<p>3) If I want some internal navel-gazing sans plot about "the enemy... within, the part of every human that will hurt the ones they love no matter how much they try not to," then I'll go to Thanksgiving with the family.<p>Hello, R5 Cam! Goodbye, $10 ticket price.
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Who cares? I'm a Christian and that doesn't bother me in the least.<p>And to add to ayelver's point, I'll add every single Communist regime in the history of mankind to the "left wing extremists" who kill people list.
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Just kidding by the way. Where did politics come from? I love how this topic is always seething with hate and bitterness just under the surface. If you read my post I deliberately included "there is typically no worry..." for folk just like you who would Wikipedia all the idiots who have killed in the name of Christianity. Way to not address anything I was talking about though. Don't insult me or I'll have to pray for you.
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who kill for both sides.
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Oct. 13, 2009, 12:13 p.m. CST
If this film is as pure to the directors vision as mentioned...
by CREG
Then I'm surprised that it got through the studio system. Score one for artistic freedom in film!
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a fuckin bad kiddie book gets turned into a movie and the geek sites flip out for it.. what the hell is going on here?
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... who is around my age (I'm 27, born in '82) is shitting bricks to see this movie. It was such a big part of so many peoples' childhoods and I'm glad to hear that it sounds like the feelings I felt when reading it were transferred to the big screen. I'm bitter I won't get a chance to see it for a week or two.
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this was a brilliant marketing campaign - I couldn't have been less interested in this when I first heard about, aside being vaguely annoyed that they were screwing with yet another book from youth. but the ads are undeniably beautiful. great music, great visuals. my wife didn't grow up in the states and didn't know the book, had no idea what the movie is about and the first time she saw the ad she turned to me and said "we're going to see that" - something she never does.
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...when all the children have gone to bed and the grown-ups can have a discussion in peace.
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Fuckin' amateurs all over the place in this talkback.
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<p>The Bicycle Sharer: You're looking for some idea of the story? It's a 10 page book. Read it. You've got plenty of time to kill while you sit around watching your cock get small waiting for the movie to come out on DVD.</p> <p>HaterofCrap: "a fuckin bad kiddie book"? You're a moron. Your opinion here no longer has a validity.</p> <p>Good day.</p>
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Where I live not much difference between males despite their ages; maybe except for skinny jeans yuck.
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I remember Jeff Bridges was trying to do something with it, and the way he looked in Iron Man I could definitely see him as The Giver. And maybe young Kirk as Jonas? Don't know too many young actors, Joseph Gordon-Levitt would still be perfect since he still kinda looks 12.
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I thought Coraline's story was kinda meh but it was still entertaining, and kind of surprising they had those fat old ladies in those pasty bikinis. I'm dressing up as her for Shalloween.
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Anyone? It was supposed to open this week or the next but it's been moved to Christmas. Are they trying to win an Oscar? What's the deal? Anyone? Anyone?
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<p>That is an excellent book, but I don't see how it could possibly be a feature film unless the tree was just one small element in a much larger story.</p><p>Harold and the Purple Crayon would be great, but they would have to really change the story to well, make it a story. Could be fantastic though. I'm surprised Hollywood hasn't started work on it yet.</p>
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A burgeoning new field of artistic criticism that has it's roots in the endless bored conjecture of AICN TB's. Oh we're all such insiders now.
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I have no beef with real Christians, those that actually follow Christ's teachings. In fact, I truly admire those that let Christianity inspire them to be good people, feed the poor, help their fellow man. The reason for using the extremist Christians for my example instead of extremist Muslims is simple... I'm not around extremist Muslims, but I see the effects of extremist Christians in my daily life. Of course they are two radically different extremes, but radicalism on either side is ridiculous. Hope that answers your question.
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You're right, I've corrected it.
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Serves me right for skimming the subject lines and only reading the comments.
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Meadowe was correct. He/She was referring to "The Giver" a young adult book. Very interesting read.
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Thank you for your comment. It just seems like Christianity is the go-to religion to throw under the bus in this country's media outlets (not just AICN) That said - I understand your reasoning for the reference. Thanks for clarifying. And no worries - I usually get Greg. At least you "said" it right. ALSO - I read the book years ago but don't have a strong connection with it... Given your reaction, what was your emotional connection to the book going into the film? Do you think fond or passive connection to the source material will have an impact on viewers either way?
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I'll get me a pirated cam version while I'm waiting on you to stop sucking your daddy's gangrenous pecker.<p>I *know* the story, you fucking ass-tool. One of my faves as a child (you know - "child" - as in "what Slone 13 likes to fuck").<p>However, I expect something a little more in a 97 minute flick than a 10-page fucking kiddie book, no matter how great it is.<p>I know that after years of following your hairy-backed, naked father around for days on end hoping to get just one more suck off his cock, that you find 97 minutes of following giant hairy monsters around somehow... alluring. Some of us want a little more plot; we've read the book. FX are great. Whoop-dee-doo! Tell me a fucking story.<p>You know, plot - like where your mom can't come up with the money to pay back her pimp from that donkey show she did down in T.J. so she decides to do a little mom-on-son web cam show, but then your dad walks in and joins in on the action and, suddenly, you've got both your inbred parents down there searching through that 70s bush for the shriveled up member you call a cock...<p>You know, plot.
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The FBI busts in on the action at Slone13's house 'cause they've traced all the download of kiddie porn to *his* computer!<p>Ohs noes, he thinks. What's an ass-fucking, syphilitic pedophile to do!<P>Then, suddenly, Slone13 remembers...<p>All those giant, hairy naked monster men in the showers in prison! Ah! Egads! I can wear my bunny costume and follow them around...<p>All...<p>Day...<p>Long!<p>Let the wild rumpus start, Slone13 thinks, as he drops to his knees, closes his eyes, and opens his mouth. Ahhh...
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"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" is a song written about the attack on Pearl Harbor. it's a patriotic song, and the derivation of the title was a quote by a chaplain during the bombing.<p>it's always good to know what you're talking about before you go on a sanctimonious rant.
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Of course I read the book as a kid, but I haven't revisited it since childhood. I liked it fine, but I wouldn't say that I felt a deep connection to it or anything. I loved the design of the monsters and the idea that a kid could be king of the monsters, but that's about it.<BR><BR>If you don't think you're going to like the movie that's cool, but I just want to clarify that there is a plot, it's just not event-centric. It's character-centric. A lot happens, but it's not a journey film. Well it is, but it's a character's journey. Kind of like Lebowski. A lot happens in that movie, but ultimately it's all about characters responding to what's immediately in front of them. You know what I mean?
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Oct. 13, 2009, 5:54 p.m. CST
The Bicycle Sharer has got to be a closeted homosexual
by crazyhorse2099
Or a pederast with serious anger issues. That's the only way to explain those amazing tirades a couple posts up. And yes, Bike Sharer, this is your ticket to write some more talkback fan fiction, you complete and utter weirdo.
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Near the climax there is a moment that is at once the most terrifying and comforting moment on film you may ever see. I'm not going to spoil it other than to say that it will hit children in the gut, and they won't know what to think. Some may cry, some may scream, some will just stare. This is not a wimpy movie. It is, dare I say, as touching and scary as anything in any children's movie since ET. Remember how wonderful and scary that film was when you were 7? This could well be this generation's ET.
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With the field expanding to 10 nominations now? Seems to be getting great reviews all round.
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That's where I am with it. I just remember it looking cool. Awesome - excited to see it. I just thought you may have had some deep held spot for it. I think that can make people a little more likely to buy into something not-so-great. That's why I asked. Thanks
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...with a bit of CGI jiggery. You know, the ones with the guys inside the costumes. BUT Jonze is still brilliant. I trust him. The only thing holding me back is that the book gave me the creeps when I was a kid. Don't know why.
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No there's also a book called THE GIVER By Lois Lowry, but GIVING TREE is a good idea too, if not kinda depressing the way the boy ditches the tree after the tree gives him literally everything.
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Tried to listen today to what he was saying about the making of this movie. He couldn't complete a sentence (not exaggerating). He couldn't shed ANY light on the processes that brought him to this film or how he made it. He repeated that he was 'shy' talking to Sendak, well, he's SHY all the time apparently or is in need of a good night's sleep. Painfully repetitive stammering is all that came out from him for the 10 minute interview. Oh, I'm a big fan of SP, but he ruined any desire to see this for me.
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Are you aware that the entire world is being victimized by Islamic extremists? And that meanwhile a Christian extremist group, the Irish National Liberation Army, has just renounced violence and laid down its arms. As did the Irish Republican Army after it witnessed 9/11. I have yet to see an Islamic terrorist org do likewise, so tell me again, Quint, why you think Christian extremism has affected you more than Islamic extremism? Which group are our soldiers fighting against in 2 separate wars right now? Which group has cost us the most in blood and treasure? Maybe you need to adjust your sensibilities a bit, Quint. Just sayin'.
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What happened to the super creative director from BJM?!?! This film is so dull, kinda creepy, pretty damn pointless. I liked the book but this missed the point completely. Sure, the visuals are almost always fairly engaging but the dialogue is banal (to say the least) and I felt nothing the entire time. It felt like it was 2.5 hours long.
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Good job. You are amusing countless talkbackers, like a deformed performer at a seedy carnival.<p> Keep dancing, kiddo. It'll keep the quarters rolling in.
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So the head honcho's of AIC are all grown up and have kids of their own and now we're treated to their hyperbole for non-geek movies. The book WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was a totally cheeseball little kids' book. Now they've made an equally touchy-feely movie and we're supposed to be all a-swoon over it. Well, I'm 38 and don't see the reason to be so friggin' touchy feely!!! A movie about a bratty kid and we're supposed to relate to his "acting out"?!?! Oh, puh-LEASE!</p><p>And Harry's last review was the ever-loving limit...his newest "best movie of the year". Since DISTRICT 9 came out just a few weeks back and was his newest favorite. This should last until Jim Carrey's CHRISTMAS CAROL...and that'll be until AVATAR...and that'll be until...
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While I agree that Muslim extremism should be stamped out wherever it raises its ugly head, here in the U.S. and N. America in general, it is Christian extremism that affects us most directly - it's involved in shaping our laws and our government.</p><p>As for the Muslims, they've done little to us that we didn't invite on ourselves. We began poking the Mid East with a stick back in the 1950's when we threw out the democratically-elected president of Iran and substituted the fucking Shah dictatorship! Since then, terrorism has been an issue...we started the whole thing over oil! Read this for more info: http://www.rense.com/general40/roots.htm</p><p>I could go on and on over this, but it's important for Americans to know that WE created our own problems in the Mid East. Osama Bin Ladin even laid it all out for us in a very detailed statement. If you actually read what he wrote, you'll find he has a long list of valid complaints against us - not so unlike the list of valid complaints American colonists had when we broke away from England.
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Sorry, the previous link in the above post left a space in URL, making it invalid.
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Seriously? There are idiots like that Phelps douche, and the very rare, unfortunate attacks on abortion clinics, but how does that define Christianity as a whole and its effects on this nation? It's the tenets of Christianity that prevent the vast majority of its followers from behaving like Muslim extremists when attacked. IMO, the constant, unfair and mean-spirited attacks on Christianity going on in the media are going to spawn a backlash like you would not believe at the ballot box next year and in the next presidential election. And as for that business with the Shah - he gets deposed, thanks to the overall incompetence of Jimmy Carter, and what was the result? Is it an improvement? Is the world a better place? Are the Muslims of the world better off? Sure doesn't look that way. The offshoots of Muslim extremism are all over the place now, and that stuff you cannot blame on the U.S. or Britain. That is plain evil spawned by Islamic BS and fueled by our unwillingness to really come to grips with the situation. (Which is the major reason we're now facing a nuclear Iran. We've been talking and negotiating while they laugh at us and continue building their nuclear bombs). To be clear - extremism in the name of any religion is dangerous, but there is no Christian extremism threatening this country. That is pure BS. I wonder if all this nonsense is based on church-goers voting for Prop 8 in California, in which they were merely exercising their rights as U.S. citizens. Really, I have to wonder why so many people feel so threatened by Christianity as a whole, when in reality its principles have helped us stay, overall, a humane, generous and charitable nation. I'm an agnostic and I just don't get the fear and hatred. It seems knee-jerk and irrational to me.
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First point: How the HELL can you be such a Christian apologist? Christianity is responsible for most all of the "vice" laws in this country...the "War on (fill in the blank)" is all caused by Christianity wanting to run the lives of everyone else. Christianity (or any religion, for that matter) is absolutely incompatible with freedom and personal liberty. Morals do NOT come from religion. They come from those tenets which hold society together...not stealing, not killing, not maliciously harming another person or their property. You don't need religion for that.</p><p>Muslim extremism is a direct result of our coercion and interference in the Mid East. We've taken sides on Israel, we've illegal invaded their countries and leveled their cities...killing hundreds of thousands of civilians and destroying untold national treasures (see the documentary NO END IN SIGHT for more info). We did this for oil and to make sure the U.S. dollar continues to be the currency of exchange in all oil transactions. We've also acted as one of the largest arms dealers in the world, aiding and abetting various groups at the expense of others.</p><p>Christianity is no more peaceful in practice or in theory than Islam. In fact, the Christian Old Testament (and the Jewish Torah) are pretty damn bloody and intolerant, so Christianity has done nothing positive in that sense and has instead inflamed relations with the Mid East since they look at our continued involvement in their society and culture as a new sort of Crusade.
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I'm an atheist. I've known people that were agnostic and I find the position highly illogical. The position is usually taken as a form of intellectual humility...someone doesn't wish to be so arrogant as to suggest they definitively "know" one way or the other as to the existence of a higher power (a god or similar being(s)). However, while these people think they are taking the intellectual high road, they are instead being intellectually and logically lazy. I'll explain why with one simple question:</p><p> Do you believe in Santa Claus?</p><p>If you answer as 99.9999% of thinking adults would answer, you would say that, no, you do not believe in Santa Claus. But by doing so, you are committing the very mistake you claim to be avoiding by assuming a position of agnosticism...claiming to know for certain one way or the other. In the absence of proof, you're making a definitive statement based on the generally held opinion that Santa Claus is a fictional creation (which is actually only half true, historically speaking). In other words, it's illogical to say definitely there is no Santa Claus, but to allow that maybe there's a god. This doesn't make sense; it doesn't logically follow. There is an equal amount of evidence to support the existence of Santa Claus as there is for God.</p><p>Said another way, you can't logically be a Santa Claus atheist and a God agnostic.
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And not just Christian religion either. Good grief, read your history, will ya? Were the founding fathers of this country in error in basing their design of the Constitution and Declaration on Judeo-Christian principles? They made us the strongest, most charitable and most tolerant nation on Earth. Those principles, when put into purest practice, abolished slavery and allowed the practice of ALL religion in this country - including the religion of atheism. Don't tell me that not believing in a god is not the same as believing in one - it's all a matter of faith. Can you explain how all this came to be? Its true origin? How a caterpillar is able to resemble a bird dropping to avoid predators? Did the caterpillar think that up? Was it able to consciously shape its body? How did it happen? Me, I'm not pretending to know. The only thing I rule out is the notion of absolute chance. I think chance plays a part in, but does not drive all, of evolution. Evolution, to me, is a theoretical blueprint, but not the force that builds the final construct. Evolution, to a degree, makes sense to me. Intelligent design, to a degree, makes sense to me. I find neither theory a threat. That's why I think that both should be taught in schools. Because I am logical enough and honest enough to admit THAT WE JUST DON'T KNOW. As for Santa Claus - huh? Yeah, that made tons of sense. There is evidence of intelligent design in the embodiment of a tree; there is no evidence of a real Santa Claus because somebody dresses up like one. That is the embodiment of a myth. It is not evidence of its existence, as is the tree in relation to a creative force. So there you have it. That's my take. As for the Wild Things movie - I say it looks like a grungy H.R. Pufnstuf and to hell with it. Have a nice life.
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<lol> Did you read anything you wrote before you posted it? You come off sounding like an ignorant bible thumping caveman.</p><p>And for the record, the country was not founded on religion or on Christianity (there are entire books written on the subject). Most of the founding fathers were deists and HIGHLY critical of organize religion (look it up). Also, there is not one single mention of god in the constitution (again, look it up). Yes, I know my history - far more than you obviously do, my friend, so don't even start down that path.</p><p>As for signs of intelligent design, Dawkins talks about this at length. It's a false proposition. Just because something looks organized or "designed" does not necessarily make it so. And no one is talking about chance. Evolution is not based on chance, but on very precise steps based upon natural pressure, not the hand of some imaginary being.</p><p>The argument against agnosticism using Santa Claus as an example was obviously too much for you. It's simple logic. Just because you don't understand it (or don't want to acknowledge it) doesn't make this untrue. Again, there is no more proof for the existence of divine beings (gods) than there is for Santa Claus. Just because you "see" or have "faith" in supposed "evidence" doesn't make it so. The existence of god is a negative quantity, the same as it is for Santa Claus. In other words, prove to me there is no little old man living at the North Pole with elves building toys for children. You simply can't disprove a negative. God is the same exact circumstances and you are defying simple, basic logic to say otherwise.
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I just had to reiterate that morals do NOT arise from religion. If this were so, there would be no nonreligious societies because they would tear themselves apart from lawlessness (and there have been plenty of secular societies down through the ages).</p><p>So get this through your head: religion is NOT the benefactor of morals or civil sustainability. Religion is a tool of control and divisiveness. Religion is no more the benefactor of morals than the government is the supplier of freedom. If you read the federalists papers and similar documents, you'll discover that just the opposite is true.
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Oct. 14, 2009, 2:16 p.m. CST
P.P.S. - atheism isn't a religion; it's a lack of religion
by ninpobugei
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This is a talkback for WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and not for that lesser known film called LET ME TELL YOU MY MEANINGLESS OPINIONS ABOUT RELIGION THAT NOBODY GIVES A FLYING FUCK ABOUT, right?
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I'm a guy who doesn't like the answer to a valid criticism (see Massa's review for confirmation) with personal invectives by slone13 to "sit around watching [my] cock get small waiting for the movie to come out on DVD." Where was your criticism of that, huh? Maybe you're the horse that slone's mom fucked in that TJ show? Kindly piss off - if it's "closeted homosexuals" that you're interested in, may I introduce you to Toonol?
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