Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
Happy Halloween, everyone! Or, at least, everyone who celebrates it.
In the last edition, I looked at an episode of the classic show 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?' For this entry, in contrast, I'll be looking at a newer movie that is already being hailed as a Halloween classic: The 2012 stopmotion movie 'ParaNorman.'
First, a bit of a disclaimer: While this is technically a PG movie, I do NOT recommend it to kids under 12. It has a lot of pretty scary moments, and a surprising amount of adult content for a PG movie (i.e. a lot of risque humor, and near the end of the movie one of the major characters is revealed to be gay). So, exercise a little bit of caution before letting kids see it.
Anyway, as you can probably tell from the title, it centers around a boy named Norman. He is able to see the spirits of dead people (Most of whom are quite friendly and sociable towards him, especially the ghost of his kindly grandmother who stuck around to keep a promise she made in life to always look out for Norman), and is viewed as a freak by both his family and everyone at school because of this. Eventually, weirder things than usual begin happening, and Norman realizes that the ghost of an ancient witch who had become something of an urban legend for the town is about to return in order to fulfill a centuries- old curse she made against the town that condemned her. In the process, the judge who sentenced her to death and the villagers who accused her are brought back as zombies. Norman finds himself teaming up with his overbearing big sister Courtney, a pudgy and goofy yet likable kid named Neil who he had started to become friends with, Neil's dumb jock brother Mitch, and the brutish school bully Alvin so he can use his gift to stop the curse, save the town, and help some lost souls find peace.
Even though, as I said, the humor can get a bit crude at times, I loved 'ParaNorman.' It had a great story, some pretty funny moments, and some pretty cool action sequences (i.e, Mitch trying to drive everyone away from the zombies in his van, and in the end when Norman confronts the spirit of the "Witch" causing everything).
The animation on this film is splendid. Stopmotion animation is a lost art, capable of real beauty in the right hands, and that's clearly on display here, especially in terms of the characters. The animation company that made this film, Laika Studios, has made several other quite excellent stopmotion films, such as 'Coraline,' 'The Boxtrolls,' and the more recent 'Kubo and the Two Strings.'
The characters were all a lot of fun, too. Norman is a great unlikely hero, with his courage, kindness, and even his awesome hairstyle (Even when he tries to comb it down, it quickly springs back up again). Courtney is initially a rude, annoying valley- girl, but you grow to like her over the course of the film as she learns to be more supportive/ accepting of Norman. Neil is very funny, and makes an awesome supporting character.
Another character I found I liked a lot more than I expected was Alvin. Usually the "School bully" character in movies is just an unsympathetic jerk for audiences to hate and heroes to stand up to, but Alvin proved to be a very funny and entertaining character to watch, especially for the scenes involving how brainless and cowardly he is in spite of the tough front he puts up. For instance, in one scene, he is attempting to carve his name into a bathroom stall with a knife, but has to keep crossing it out and starting over because he keeps misspelling his own name! Adding to the humor of Alvin is that his voice actor, Christopher Mintz- Plasse (Probably best known as McLovin from 'Superbad'), is usually known for playing really nerdy characters that are pretty much the polar opposite of Alvin!
Now, for the theological point I'm hoping to make: The main message of 'ParaNorman' deals with the nature of fear. The movie points out that being afraid is nothing to be ashamed of, yet we need to be very careful that we don't let our fears change who we are or drive us to do things we shouldn't.
It becomes clear as the movie goes on that the curse started as a result of scared people hundreds of years ago letting their paranoia and panic drive them to do something terrible.
Then, later in the film, history nearly repeats itself in a way, as our heroes at one point find themselves in more physical danger from the panicked townspeople than from the zombies.
Many truly monstrous acts throughout history have been driven by people's uncontrolled fears, from the Spanish Inquisition to the Salem Witch Trials to the Holocaust. Fear, if left unchecked, quickly overrides people's common sense and consciences.
Even today, we're seeing a lot of that in our society, between fears being stoked in our election season, and the increase in "Clown sightings" sparking fears of what might happen tonight, and leading to some people threatening to take drastic action if they see anyone in a clown costume.
The one command that God gives most often in the Bible, more often even than to believe in Him, is to "Fear not." In Numbers 13 and 14, the Israelites were prevented from entering the Promised Land for decades because a few of the spies they sent to scout out the land caused the people to become afraid that they couldn't overcome the land's strong residents, even after God specifically told them through Moses that they could do it.
2 Timothy 1:7 has God saying "I have not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."
Jesus Himself said in John 14:27, "Peace I leave you; My peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are told to not give in to our fears, because that causes us to focus more on our fears and problems than on the God who is bigger than all of them and can get us through them. I have gone many times over the years to Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights, and each time I'm about to enter a House, I recite the 23rd Psalm to myself, paying special attention to "I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." That always helps to steady my nerves before entering, reminding me that God will always be there for me.
To sum things up, here's the link to a song that truly sums up how faith in God casts out fear:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8TkUMJtK5k .
So, that's it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. I'm working on some more entries soon that I think you'll like. Until then, have a safe and happy Halloween, and may God bless you all!
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