Peace on Earth

The link below has an old, animated Christmas classic you won't see with Frosty and Rudolph. It's called Peace on Earth and it may be the best short film I've ever seen. Enjoy and ponder.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8OYvHPpGDY

More Christmas Movies

We started a new Christmas movie tradition this year. I added it to my favorite Christmas movie list. In the midst of commercialism, materialism, blah blah blah it helped me make peace with the holidays. RENT is a good movie.

First, it's a musical with great music. It blends rock, pop, and excellent singing. The songs will be stuck in your head and annoy your loved ones for days, even weeks at a time.

Second, there's the story. It focuses on the lives of the poor, dying, and helpless. At least four of the central characters have HIV. The movie centers on the homeless, homosexuals, transsexuals and drug abusers. It doesn't condemn or advocate lifestyles, but turns a compassionate eye to the characters' suffering.

There are no brightly wrapped, expensive-looking boxes. Maybe there were before the apartment's heat was cut off and everything had to burn to keep tenants warm.

My favorite scene is when a character who is making a documentary with an outdated piece of crap that passes for a camera starts taping a homeless woman. His documentary would be about the homeless and people who are dying from AIDS. She says if he wants to help her he should give her some spare change. He walks away sadly, because he has nothing to give. His documentary is the gift.

I like this movie because it focuses on people. We see them suffer and hope, and we suffer and hope with them. There's something very Christ-like about that.

I'm Alternative!

An article on MSN caught my eye recently. The theme was alternatives to sappy Christmas movies. I've never been a fan of It's a Wonderful Life, so I browsed the list.

Some of the choices were predictable, such as Elf and Bad Santa. I've seen neither, so this didn't interest me much. At least two other choices did.

Gremlins and Die Hard were on the list. The former is cutesy while mocking our love of cutesy things, while the latter is like George Baily with a gun. Ho. Ho. Ho.

The point is, I mentioned these two as my favorite Christmas movies every season since high school. And now they're alternative.

Well, I can say I liked them before they were alternative.

Take that, Grandma

I tried to introduce the ever-popular game "I'm Going to Grandmother's House" to my first graders. Some liked it, some didn't. I let the ones who liked it continue playing, while the ones who didn't could read a book. One poor little guy lamented, "Why is game not fun?"

Everyone's a critic.

Vanity sucks

Here's the gist of a conversation I overheard in the boy's room a few days back. It was between two third graders, and disturbing seems a fit word to describe it.

"I think I'm getting fat."
"You should try yoga."

So now third grade boys talk like high school girls. Scary.

Lessons from a Virgin

I've seen offensive movies that I can't necessarily recommend. Many of these had no redeeming qualities, but there were a few surprising exceptions.

In particular, I'm talking about The 40-Year Old Virgin. (It's old by now, so I won't put my spoiler alert in all caps. But consider yourself warned. I plan on discussing the plot.)

The movie was a blur of perverse humor and f-bombs. A bunch of oversexed dudes discover their co-worker is (gasp) a virgin. They do their best to convert him to their womanizing ways.

In the end, they learn from him rather than the other way around. This isn't surprising as storytelling goes. It's good writing.

The surprising part is that in this sex-obsessed day and age characters learn something from a virgin.

What was the lesson, anyway? Sex isn't everything.

Maybe having a message like that is the only way to offend nowadays.