And on another note, to have the coming-of-age be that of a warrior, with respect and care given to the warrior ethos, the particular attitude of that culture, that was also really encouraging to me. That was telling me, as a small pretty boy, that even boys like that can be a warrior, can take up a sword and slay, and still be the hero. So often it is pounded into your head that to fight at all, against anything, is wrong and makes you a bad person--and heaven forbid you actually take up a sword to do it! And even when it is knights and armour and dragons, it's always the big strong boys that do the fighting, the pretty boys spat upon and told to stay home and just write about the adventures of others, because they're too weak to hold a sword or fight. Alice is a very pretty boy, and dresses in pretty clothes, and yet also learns that wielding a sword is not a bad thing, not a thing left to other 'stronger' people--that's what I saw, not that he was being forced into something else he can't do. He simply kept saying 'I can't, I can't' without any real conviction, because he was raised to think he was weak for... well, whatever reason: being a girl, being a dreamer, whatever it was.
I thought the prophecy thing was more about, 'but we know you can, it is written that you can, that you ARE this strong, and that you ARE a hero that can save people, and stand up against adversity and evil.' and through the story, Alice comes to realise that slaying is not about violence or hate, it is about honour, and love, and that fighting, slaying, being a warrior, going to battle and war, is not always a terrible thing. It is necessary, and it is not just the lesser of two evils, it can be an honourable thing, to have prowess in war. It's an old idea, and one that a modern world usually does not bother to understand any more, so to see it in a film, like this, treated not as something to mock and belittle, but something shining and heroic once more--it was like hearing tales of my friends who are warriors, or stories of Camelot or the heroes of ancient Greece. And more, as I said, it was about a boy like me, and a pretty, delicate boy who did not think he could take up a sword to fight, but found he could and that all his fierceness, boldness, the strength of his character--not physical strength, not a love of violence--was the strength a warrior needed.
I hope when you and your friend see the film again, you'll maybe have a better time, and I can only hope you see the wonderful, positive, encouraging fairy-tale magic that I saw.
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Date: 2010-10-12 08:42 pm (UTC)I thought the prophecy thing was more about, 'but we know you can, it is written that you can, that you ARE this strong, and that you ARE a hero that can save people, and stand up against adversity and evil.' and through the story, Alice comes to realise that slaying is not about violence or hate, it is about honour, and love, and that fighting, slaying, being a warrior, going to battle and war, is not always a terrible thing. It is necessary, and it is not just the lesser of two evils, it can be an honourable thing, to have prowess in war. It's an old idea, and one that a modern world usually does not bother to understand any more, so to see it in a film, like this, treated not as something to mock and belittle, but something shining and heroic once more--it was like hearing tales of my friends who are warriors, or stories of Camelot or the heroes of ancient Greece. And more, as I said, it was about a boy like me, and a pretty, delicate boy who did not think he could take up a sword to fight, but found he could and that all his fierceness, boldness, the strength of his character--not physical strength, not a love of violence--was the strength a warrior needed.
I hope when you and your friend see the film again, you'll maybe have a better time, and I can only hope you see the wonderful, positive, encouraging fairy-tale magic that I saw.