Did everyone have a good Christmas day? I hope it wasn't too stressful/drunken/boring/argementative etc etc. I had a lovely day, and perhaps for the first time in my life, I didn't eat too much and feel like a stuffed pig all evening!
One thing I got from my parents which I love and think is so perfect for me is a good called 'The Gospel According to Disney. Faith, trust and Pixie dust.' How cool does that sound! It's written by a Jewish man who's exploring the place of religion, morals, and magic in Disney films. I haven't read very much of it yet, but it's very good. He talks about how Walt Disney deliberately didn't include any overt religious message because he wanted to make sure that his films didn't exclude anyone.
And that's where magic comes in. Disney films have very clear morals, they are heavily based on Judeo-Christian values, but there is no divine, there is no God, there are no 'religious' people. But there is magic. And magic is something that is universal. The problem is that when Walt decided to place magic at the heart of his films, he did cut some people off. And there are alot of people that have a big problem with the make-believe and fantasy world that his characters live in.
One of the quotes in the book is as follows: "magic is an attempt to manipulate spiritual forces so that the supplicant gets what he or she wants, whereas in pure religion the individual surrenders to spiritual forces so that those forces (i.e. God) can do through him or her what those forces desire." And for alot of people, this is a problem.
However, as manipulative as magic may be, that's kind of the point. It is magical. It is unreal. It is fantasy. The book says "magic becomes a way to empower the powerless". And then as I started to think about it, I realised this is so true. The stories and characters of a Disney film give something to children. They give them a feeling of strength and of courage. Good always triumphs in a Disney film. The good guy always wins. There is always a happy ending. And children, and in fact anyone who watches the film, can bring this into their real lives.
I don't really think that this blog has a particular point, it's just a bunch of thoughts I have on one of my favourite subjects. I'm liking this book, I think it's going to be really good, and I appologise in advance if I bore you all silly with my opinions on it!
I do hope you all had good Christmases. Do keep in contact with me! x x x
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1 comment:
Hey Kat!
How are you? Good to hear you had an enjoyable Christmas! I'm feeling a lack of contact as well from people outside the family, I haven't been able to get to church with work so I haven't seen any of my friends there! Are you doing anything special for New years? I'm up for a party but dont have one to go to! Anywho interesting blog Kat! I think if the Disney films had anything religious in them it would challenge people too much, be too real for them, keeping it magical makes it seem like it could never really happen in real life which is part of the appeal, strange that for example the Pochahontas story id supposed to be true, there's not really a lot of monsters or people that change into something esle at night or inanimate objects that talk (apart from grandmother willow of course) and yet they still manage to put quite a lot of native american spirituality in there to keep the magical feel! Right, really need to go as it is lunch time and i'm still in my pjs, theres lots of sales to get to lol! Luv Nic xxx
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