Went to the Narnia movie and really enjoyed it. But there was this nagging little voice the whole time going, "this is just a low-rent Lord of the Rings." Finally I realized the little voice belonged to my 9-year-old daughter.
"Will you hush and let me enjoy the movie?" I whispered.
"Look at that helicopter shot with the kids trudging across the snow--it's totally lifted from Fellowship of the Ring!" she said. DVDs: everybody's a film student.
"Okay, so this director decided to ape the most successful fantasy epic ever. Can you blame him?"
"Not really," she conceded. "The source material is so much weaker, so he's trying to add some gravitas by copying a better movie."
"Did you just say gravitas?" I said. "What the hell are they teaching you in that school of yours?"
"I'm just saying," she said. "This is fine as far as it goes, but it just feels thin."
The people in the row in front of us glared. I shrugged. "Kids," I said. "What can you do?"
"Here's the problem," she said, as Peter faced off against the White Witch. "Who are you rooting for? The beautiful evil witch, or the bland, stolid, caricature of stiff-upper-lip Englishness?"
"But aren't the hobbits caricatures of Englishness?" I asked.
"You're ducking my question," she said, "But sure. But the singing, drinking, dancing, let's-go-down-the-pub Englishness! Way more interesting! Now who do you want to win? Really?"
"The Witch," I said, hanging my head. "She's just a way more interesting character."
"Face it," she said, "In the hands of a lesser talent, evil is just way more interesting than good."
"Yeah," I said. "Milton had the same problem."
There was a long pause. She chewed her popcorn. "Touche, Father," she said at last. "Touche."
