11.18.2006

UN"Happy feet"

It was a cold and cloudy Saturday in Maryland, so we decided to take the kids and a few friends to see "Happy Feet" this afternoon. We thought it would be a fun way to spend the afternoon.

The movie started out sweetly enough. The penguins were cute, the songs were funny; there was enough adult humor to keep us interested and a plethora of singing and dancing penguins to amuse the kids. As we watched, I was initially impressed that the movie was going to have a great message about accepting those who might be different than we are. (The main penguin, Mumble, can't sing--apparently that's a "given" for most penguins. Instead, his talent is dancing, hence the title "Happy Feet". Mumble also looks different than the other penguins; all this the presumed result of being dropped before he hatched.)

The "propaganda" began slowly and insidiously, but by the end of the movie, it was glaring and offensive--to me, anyway. The basic plot was how the "big, bad humans" (referred to as "aliens") are "stealing" fish from the penguins and leaving them to starve out in the cold, dark tundra of Anarctica. Subplots included how horrible we are to trap these animals in zoos and how human pollution is invading their pristine natural habitats. (One penguin spent most of the movie with six-pack rings choking him.) And, of course, God was portrayed as "the Great Guin", who "giveth and taketh away".

Don't get me wrong. I am all for taking care of the environment (remember, I'm the "Recycle Nazi") and being good stewards of the earth. What makes me mad is that they use a children's movie (for which we saw several previews that didn't mention anything about this storyline) to peddle their "environmentalist whacko" agenda. They seemed to be saying that if all the humans would just go away, then the animal world would live in perfect harmony.

The irony of the story? In the end, it's the "big, bad humans" who put a tracking device on Mumble and follow him to his natural home. They study him and his penguin friends and ultimately make sure they have all the fish they could ever want!?!?!?!?

And one other thing that makes me scratch my head: aren't all the "medical experts" these days telling us to eat fish for our health? Now how are we supposed to stay healthy if eating fish means stealing them from the poor penguins?

There was one bright spot in the movie: judging by all the snow and ice they portrayed, we don't have to worry about global warming, no matter what Al Gore says!

I give this one a "thumbs down". Go see "Santa Clause 3" instead. And go to your favorite seafood restaurant beforehand!

P.S. Jeff is laughing at me; he says I'm over-reacting, which is probably true. But, hey, it's my birthday today. I'm entitled!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey - Happy Birthday lady - Where is the Baby Picture post?!?!?!? Mine are turning yellow - am I that old??!?!?!?!? And - I hear you on the hidden agenda - a friend told me that it made her think about what we are doing to the Earth - great - I knew it was an Environmentalist Wacko film when she said that!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jen, Jeanne said she will have a card in the mail on Monday, sorry we forgot. So here is the next best thing we can do. You have to pretend a little.
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Jen,
Happy Birthday to you
Lots of love Don and Jeanne

Anonymous said...

A movie about Penguins on a Saturday afternoon and I have no life?