Believing, and Stepping Out in Faith: A Look at 'The Polar Express.'

Hi, dear readers, Happy New Year (I, like I'm sure most of you, will be eager to kiss 2020 goodbye), and welcome back to another edition of the Nightcrawler Experience!
Even though Christmas Day has come and gone (Mine was great, and I hope all of yours' were, too), I feel I should post this second Christmas- related entry for this year. After all, A) The spirit of Christmas should stay with us year- round, and B) The holiday season can last even beyond Dec. 25th. After all, in the classic Christmas song "The Twelve Days of Christmas," Christmas Day was actually the first day (Day 12 was January 5th)! This entry's going to be a slightly shorter one than usual, but hopefully you'll get something good out of it.
So, to finish off this Christmas season AND 2020 in style, let's take a look at the yuletide gem 'The Polar Express.'

(Credit for this image goes to the user alexthegeneralarteaga on the Polar Express Wiki at https://polarexpress.fandom.com/wiki/The_Polar_Express_(film)?file=The-polar-express.jpg)

This 2004 film, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg, was directed by Robert Zemeckis and Stars Tom Hanks in several different roles.

It starts with the main character, a young boy who is questioning the existence of Santa Claus, receiving a surprise visit on Christmas Eve from the Polar Express, an enormous train that takes kids to meet the real Santa Claus in the North Pole. The strict yet loving conductor (Voice of Tom Hanks) tells the boy about the train, and after a moment's hesitation, the boy boards it.
When he boards it, he sees it is filled with other kids whose faith in the existence of Santa is also wavering. He particularly gets to know three of them who each have their own reasons for doubting Santa's existence (None actually say the reason for their doubts, but you can kind of tell just from their personalities and observing how they act): A little girl who apparently has general uncertainty problems and difficulty really committing to decisions (Several times early in the movie, when she's about to make a decision, one of the other characters will say "Are you sure?", and she'll noticeably hesitate), a very intelligent though rather arrogant boy who likely has trouble reconciling the many things associated with Santa Claus that would be scientifically impossible, and a little boy named Billy- The only one of the kids on the Polar Express whose name is specifically mentioned- who's very poor and thus has not had a lot of good Christmases and thus has a lot of difficulty trusting anyone, including someone who tells him Santa is real (I guess to kind of address the issue of how Santa can exist when so many good kids who are poor don't get anything). Along the train journey, the kids (Especially the main boy and the girl) have several adventures and close calls, and learn a lot about each other. The main boy also meets a new character; A mysterious, slightly spooky hobo (Voice of Hanks again) who rides atop the train, talks to the boy a bit, and helps him through a couple tight spots.
The train finally arrives at the North Pole (Which is truly enormous in this version; Usually, Santa- themed movies portray the North Pole as being about the size of an amusement park or at most a small town, but here it's the size of a massive city), but before meeting Santa, the four key kids all wander off from the rest of the group to explore some more and find their presents, leading to more adventures through Santa's workshop/ factory and a genuinely touching moment when Billy the poor boy finds a gift addressed to him which is something he really wanted. They all ultimately reunite with the rest of their group just outside the workshop for a ceremony in which Santa will appear and give one of the children the very first gift of that Christmas before setting off on his flight
Even amidst all of this, the main boy apparently STILL has trouble believing in Santa, as shown by the fact that he is unable to really see Santa when the big guy first comes out (He's a good distance away, and a lot of elves are blocking his view), and is unable to hear the jingling of the beautiful sleigh bells attached to the reindeer. Finally, he closes his eyes and sincerely says "I believe"; Just then, he hears the jingling of one sleigh bell that had fallen off, and sees Santa up close and personal, both signs that his faith is truly restored. Santa (Voice of Hanks yet again) addresses each of the four key children personally, and selects one of them to receive the first gift. The children are then brought home, and the main boy on Christmas morning receives a gift which ensures that his faith in Santa Claus not only is restored, but will remain ironclad for the rest of his days.

'The Polar Express' does have some problems. One problem is that it's a bit too serious for a kids' film about Santa. It has a few funny moments (Usually concerning the duo of bumbling rednecks who are the Polar Express's engineers), but could have used a LOT more to help break some of the tension. Also, there's a scene in which a couple of the kids sing a song called 'When Christmas Comes Around.' It's a nice enough song, but a trifle unnecessary, as it doesn't really do much or advance the plot or anything. Lastly, the really smart boy has a VERY irritating voice (For those who are familiar with the old Cartoon Network TV series 'Dexter's Laboratory,' he's voiced by the same actor who voiced Dexter's obnoxious archrival Mandark on that show, Eddie Deezen, and he uses the exact same incredibly shrill, nasal voice here). Not only will that voice get on your nerves, but it also sticks out a lot and doesn't really fit a child character very well, which I guess makes it a good thing that he isn't used as much as the other three main kid characters.
        That being said, there is also a lot to like about 'The Polar Express.' The story is quite compelling, and as a Christian, I can definitely get behind the film's message of keeping faith even when it seems silly to keep believing. The 4 main kids' problems believing in Santa Claus can all be easily seen as mirroring problems some people in real life have with believing in God. However, their issues are all resolved by the climax, often even before meeting Santa (i.e. while exploring the factory and trying to get back to the group, the girl learns to be more decisive and more of a leader, and the poor boy Billy learns to have more trust in his new friends).
     The songs that are used in the movie are mostly very good. My favorite is 'Hot Chocolate,' performed early in the film. Let's just say that a song about kids on a train being served hot chocolate turns out to be a LOT more jazzy and energetic than it sounds.
   The animation is very interesting. Some people say it's creepy, but I disagree. The only times it's creepy are the scenes that are MEANT to be so (i.e. the first scene with the hobo, and a scene where they go through a railroad car filled with broken or abandoned toys in need of repair). It puts a lot of detail into everything, from the characters to the sets, and I think it looks great. A few years later, the same style was used to make a wonderful CGI version of 'A Christmas Carol' featuring the voice talents of Jim Carrey and Gary Oldman among others. Maybe I'll look at that one next Christmas.
   The characters are all a lot of fun. Tom Hanks does a very good job turning in three extremely different performances: The fussy yet kind conductor, the strange hobo (Who doesn't even sound like Hanks a lot of the time), and Santa himself (Strong yet friendly and warm- hearted) are all quite enjoyable to watch. The kids are also well- developed, as you see the changes in each of them as the story progresses. The boy Billy in particular is a kid who'll tug at every last heart- string you have, especially in the aforementioned scenes involving his discovering the present addressed to him. Without him saying it (Out of the four kids, he has the fewest lines), you can still tell that this child has already had a really hard life that makes it hard to believe in Santa or even reach out to people, so seeing HIS faith restored and rewarded is almost more enjoyable than seeing it happen for the main boy.


As you can probably guess, 'The Polar Express' definitely has some Biblical messages associated with it.

The first, as I said earlier, involves keeping faith even when it seems like we shouldn't. At one point, the conductor is relaying a time on a much earlier Christmas Eve run, when he nearly fell off the train, but was saved by someone or something catching him (Presumably the ghostly hobo, as just a few minutes earlier, he similarly saved the main boy from falling). The main boy asks the conductor if he saw the person who saved him, and the conductor responds, "Sometimes seeing is believing, and sometimes the most real things in the world are the things we CAN'T see." That is an incredibly true statement relating to faith. Consider the wind, for example. It can't be seen, but we know it's there. Its effects can be seen. In much the same way, while we can't see God on this side of eternity, we can see the effects of His presence on the world every day, if we know where and how to look. The conductor's quote can be seen as a paraphrase of Hebrews 11:1, which says "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." It also calls to mind 2 Corinthians 5:7, which says "For we walk by faith, not by sight." True faith is trusting in God even when you face doubts. It may not always be clear that God is there, but He always is.

Another message, relating to the first, involves actually stepping out in faith. On my most recent viewing of the movie, a line that really stuck out for me was in the very end, when the main boy has returned home and is disembarking the train. The conductor (He really is a strong source of wisdom in this movie) tells him, "One thing about trains; It doesn't matter where they're going, what matters is deciding to get on." It calls to mind something that I once heard in a sermon relating to the story of Jesus, Peter, and walking on water in Matthew 14:22- 32: Even though Peter, after stepping onto the water with Jesus, doubted and began to sink, he at least had enough courage and faith to step out of the boat and try when none of the other disciples would. He stepped out in faith. Not just having faith, but ACTING ON IT, is what separates a good Christian from a great one.
So, there we have 'The Polar Express,' a modern Christmas classic and a great examination of faith.

That does it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience, and for 2020! I have a couple entries almost finished for the next month or two. Until then, here's wishing everyone a safe, healthy and happy New Year, and may God bless you all!

Revival, Guiding Others to Good, and the Impact of a Selfless Act: A Faith- Based Look at 'Klaus.'

 Hi everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Nightcrawler Experience!
Here we have part one of what I intend to be a two- part Christmas edition for this blog (My faith- based look at an episode of 'Daria' I had planned will have to wait until later).
First up, for this entry, I'll be looking at a relatively new film, which just came out last year, yet is already developing quite a fanbase: The Netflix animated movie 'Klaus.'

                              (This image was uploaded by the user STHerbs97 at the Christmas Specials wiki at https://christmas-specials.fandom.com/wiki/Klaus_(2019)?file=KlausPoster2.jpeg)

This story primarily revolves not around Santa Claus, but rather, around Jesper Johansson (Voice of Jason Schwartzman). He’s the son of a wealthy Postmaster General and was forced by his father to try and follow in the family footsteps by attending postman training. He’s also a lazy, spoiled, selfish leech who deliberately fails at his postman training to get out of that career path and try and return to a life of cushy, indolent luxury, but his father won’t have any of that. He arranges to have Jesper made into a full postman, and gives him a hefty challenge: To relocate to an incredibly isolated town called Smeerensburg, located on a distant island, and be their official postman.

Once there, Jesper must arrange for at least 6,000 letters to be sent there in one year, or else he’ll be cut off and end up homeless.
Smeerensburg is a dramatic departure from the easy life he was accustomed to: It’s cold, wet, run- down, and that’s not counting what the people there are like. Almost everyone on this backwater island town belongs to one of two families: The Krums, or the Ellingboes. These two families have been waging an incredibly bloody feud with each other for centuries, with no sign of it ending anytime soon.

In a desperate attempt to find someone he can send letters to or from, Jesper meets Klaus (Voice of J.K. Simmons), a huge, mysterious, reclusive woodsman with a bunch of handmade toys in his house.
Through a rather complicated turn of events, Jesper’s first meeting Klaus prompts the latter of the two to give one of his handmade toys to a depressed little boy. This leads to the boy’s cousins deciding that if they send letters to Klaus asking for toys, he’ll bring them some. Jesper realizes he can use this to meet his “6,000 letters” goal, and encourages more and more kids to send letters and Klaus to then bring them toys (With Jesper being the one actually delivering them in secret) to keep up this cycle. When he learns some of the kids can’t write at all, let alone write letters, he convinces a fetching yet world- weary schoolteacher/ fishmonger named Alva (Voice of Rashida Jones) to teach them how. This, in turn, rekindles her love of teaching and she abandons her plans to move away and fully recommits herself to what she loves.

Learning that “Mr. Klaus” only gives presents to good children prompts the local tykes to start behaving themselves and doing good things around the town. As a result of that, people from the two feuding families even start being flat- out kind and neighborly to each other!
Not everyone is fond of this turn of events, however; The cantankerous heads of the two families cannot stand the idea of their families coexisting peacefully, and set out to do all they can to stop Jesper and Klaus from bringing any more toys, or any more peace and goodwill, to the people of Smeerensburg. It all leads up to secrets coming out, a REALLY intense Christmas Eve chase, and the birth of a legend.

I must say, I loved 'Klaus' from the moment I first saw it last year! I can see why it was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Feature, and why it swept the Annie Awards.
The animation is honestly gorgeous. The character designs are incredibly diverse, with some (i.e. Alva the teacher) looking quite realistic, while others (i.e. An enormous young woman known simply as "Pumpkin" who acts as kind of like the Ellingboe family's main enforcer/ muscle) look more cartoonish. Yet, they go together surprisingly well and you can picture these characters living together in the same world. The backgrounds (From Smeerensburg to the woods where Klaus lives to some of the more distant locales they visit) are beautifully detailed, as well.

Much like Rankin- Bass’s ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,’ which I looked at here a couple Christmases ago, ‘Klaus’ does a great job showing the origins of Santa’s various attributes, such as going down chimneys, giving naughty children coal, and many others. Seeing their explanation of how children first came to believe Santa rode a magic sleigh pulled by flying reindeer WILL have you burst out laughing!

Time for the character run- down. Jesper's very entertaining to watch, always funny between his snark and the various hangups and humiliations (Mostly rather well- deserved) he endures early in the film, yet he's also got some good serious moments in the last 20 minutes or so. He’ll remind you pretty heavily of Kuzco from ‘The Emperor’s New Groove,’ right down to a similar- sounding voice and a similar attitude. His change and redemption are so thorough that by the time the movie's credits roll, you'll be finding it hard to believe that the gentle, loving Jesper seen in the end of the film could ever have been the obnoxious, selfish man- child seen at the start of the film.

Klaus himself is a wonderful rendition of Santa before he became magical. He's quiet, usually very serious, a little scary at first, and of course possessing a kind, selfless heart deep down. The scene in which you learn of his tragic backstory and the reason why he had so many handmade toys in his house will have you on the brink of tears. J.K. Simmons has long proven to be a quite talented voice actor for animated projects (Examples: His work as Mayor Lionheart in 'Zootopia,' Kai in 'Kung Fu Panda 3,' and Ford on the TV show 'Gravity Falls'; I've GOT to talk a little about that show on this blog some time), and this is another brilliant performance from him in that regard.
The teacher Alva is pulled off incredibly well. In a lesser film, she would have been little more than a love interest for Jesper. Instead, the filmmakers clearly put her character development first, helping us see that she starts out cynical and world- weary, yet her work teaching the kids of Smeerensburg to write so they can write letters to Klaus helps her regain her love for teaching and become a whole new person. She ends up eager to teach the kids not just how to write, but a number of other subjects as well. While she and Jesper DO end up falling for each other, it's downplayed a lot, with us seeing just enough of it to know it's happening, which was a brilliant way to handle it.
A couple other supporting characters who stand out well are Mogens (Voice of Norm MacDonald), a crusty ferryboat captain always ready with a sarcastic comment that'll keep you laughing throughout the movie, and an adorable little girl named Margu whose Sami tribe ends up helping the heroes a lot as time goes on.
The heads of the two feuding families make for pretty effective villains, especially the Krum family's vicious matriarch (Wonderfully voiced by Joan Cusack). Just the fact that they would seek to strip their families of all their newfound happiness and contentment purely for the sake of keeping such an ugly feud alive makes them easy to hate. My only regret as far as they're concerned is we don't get to see the looks on their faces on Christmas morning when they realize they've been outsmarted and outdone by the heroes.

All in all, 'Klaus' is a wonderful film in every way, one that I truly believe will one day join the ranks of the classic Christmas movies. I VERY strongly advise you to watch it for yourselves (Though you might need some tissues handy for certain scenes).

Now, for the Scriptural meat of the matter, and in this case, there's plenty of it: 
I'd say the most important theological lesson to take from 'Klaus' is on the importance of not just being kind and charitable to others, but encouraging them to then pay it forward and demonstrate similar fruits in their own lives. Upon learning of the change beginning to happen in Smeerensburg, Klaus says, “A true act of goodwill always sparks another.” Jesper learns this lesson fully enough that he repeats it in the climax when standing up to the family heads. As the film progresses, we see just how true those words are. Through the simple act of making and delivering toys, Klaus and Jesper help start a glorious ripple effect that ends up completely transforming Smeerensburg and bringing hundreds of years’ worth of hatred and spite to an end.

In fact, through the assorted heroes' actions, they help bring about all four of the Godly principles associated with the four Sundays of Advent: Hope (Klaus, Jesper and Alva all go from being bitter and pessimistic to gaining newfound hope for themselves and the town), Peace (The heroes' actions eventually bring an end to the Krum/ Ellingboe feud), Joy (The joy and happiness brought to Smeerensburg's children through the toys and eventually brought to the adults as well), and Love (The townspeople learn to "Love thy neighbor," Klaus in a manner of speaking gains the loving family he had always wanted, and Jesper and Alva ultimately find love with each other). It’s a perfect example of what we as Christians are called to do in the world around us. This all brings to mind 1 Timothy 6:18- 19, in which Paul advises Timothy to "Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." We should live out our faith in how we treat others, but then also, rather than just leaving it at that, we should encourage them to do the same to others, and so on. That is how real change happens, it's how the church grew in its early days in spite of how heavily it was persecuted, and it's how we can have it continue to grow today even  with our current age's worldliness and apathy trying to stop it. We should ensure, as Klaus pointed out and as Jesper learned, that our acts of goodwill always spark others to happen.

A second theological message, similar to the first, involves how much a seemingly hopeless place and its people can all be marvelously transformed. At a Christmas outreach event at a kind of teen homeless shelter I was at yesterday, a worship service was held at one point, and one of the Scripture verses used was Isaiah 9:2, which says "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; On those living in a land of deep darkness a light has dawned." It was used in its greater context to prophesy about the coming Messiah, Jesus. However, I'd say it can apply to the situation in the movie, as well. Smeerensburg was shown to be indeed a land of deep darkness before Jesper came, filled with people walking in the darkness of their hate, ignorance and hopelessness, but the kindness and goodwill they came to discover through Jesper and Klaus's actions very gradually helped them truly see the light and banish that darkness from their town forever. It went from a lawless, violent backwater to a lovely, homey place to live. It truly is similar to the effect that a real revival through Jesus can have on a group of people. People in the darkness of their own sin, even those who you might think are irredeemable, can find the light of Christ and be truly saved.

So, there we have 'Klaus,' a lovely film in every way that teaches equally lovely Biblical lessons on revival and encouragement to others. To close this out, here's a wonderful video I found of the movie's beautiful main song, Zara Larsson's "Invisible." 

(Credit for this video goes to the Youtuber "Multi-Fangirl," as well as obviously to those who own the rights to the movie and the song)

That's it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. I'll hopefully have one more Christmas- related entry up soon, so stay tuned. Until then, take care, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!

Forgiveness, Family Devotion, and the Problem of Pain. How the Lord can 'Deliver Us From Evil.'

 Hi everyone, happy Halloween from the Nightcrawler Experience!

For this, the second part of my two- part Halloween special on this blog, I'll be looking at the 2014 film 'Deliver Us From Evil,'  based on the real- life memoirs of Ralph Sarchie, an NYPD sergeant- turned- demonologist.

DISCLAIMER! Between the scares, its frequent bad language, and various kinds of mature subject matter, this isn't for the faint of heart. Exercise caution before watching this or allowing kids to do so.

In 2013, plainclothes cop Ralph Sarchie (Played in this movie by Eric Bana) and his partner are sent to investigate the case of a woman at the Bronx Zoo who out of nowhere tossed her own toddler son into the moat surrounding the lions' den at the zoo. The toddler thankfully survived but the mother is found in a disheveled, insane state, chanting the lyrics to the classic Doors song "Break on Through" over and over again.
While Sarchie, a diehard skeptic of such matters, attributes the woman's actions to simple insanity and general human evil, a Jesuit priest named Mendoza (Edgar Ramirez) who had been acquainted with the woman for some time is convinced there is something supernatural and deeply sinister at work.

We learn that the woman's recently- deceased husband, a painter working at the zoo, and another man whom Ralph arrested for spousal abuse in the start of the film were all part of the same military unit serving in Iraq, and while investigating a cave there three years prior to the film's events, the three men discovered something horrible that quickly took control of them.

It is clear that there is a demonic force at work. It's one that, as the frequently- quoted song puts it, seeks to "Break on Through to the Other Side," passing from its dimension into our world, and possessed those men as well as the woman in the zoo in order to do that.
Meanwhile, the dark forces in question have realized Ralph is after them, and set their sights on his wife and daughter. It all leads to an intense confrontation with one of the possessed men and an attempt to save both his soul and the lives of Ralph's family.


The only major problem I had with this movie was an odd one: Its use of sound effects. Specifically, there are points in the movie in which they use heavily- overused stock sound effects. A couple examples are one of a screeching cat early in the film, and several points in which Ralph, when looking over surveillance footage of the various supernatural incidents, hears the sound of children laughing. As a diehard pop culture buff, these are sound effects I've heard too many times to count in various movies and shows, would it really be that hard to record a new sound effect of kids laughing?

With that out of the way, I thought 'Deliver Us From Evil' was a great movie that deserves a lot more mention than it generally gets. t was well- written, had loads of scares, a few good moments of humor (i.e. A discussion Ralph has with his partner which concerns a hat the partner is wearing and the infamous Yankees/ Red Sox rivalry), and plenty of action of both the "Cops going after bad guys" variety and the "Exorcisms and other confrontations with demons" variety. In particular, the climax will keep you on the edge of your seat.

This movie's plot has an interesting feel to it; A reviewer once said it felt like a cross between "The Exorcist" and "Se7en." I agree with the comparison, as it has the 'Demonic possession" elements of the former and the "Procedural crime drama" elements of the latter. They're two things that you wouldn't think would go together, and yet they do.

The characters are mostly great, too. Ralph has his flaws, but is a generally good, honorable man out to not just do his job, but do what is right. Mendoza is a very likable character who, in spite of his position as a Jesuit priest, remains friendly, down- to- earth, and relatable to all who meet him. Between that amiable attitude, and his knowledge of demonology and whatnot, he's someone you'd definitely want to have backing you up if dealing with supernatural evil. Ralph's wife and daughter are easy to feel for, as well. Ralph's job prevents him from being able to be there for them as much as he knows he should (As the wife at one point tells him, "Even when you're here, you're not here."), and you can really feel the sadness and longing they have because of this.
I think 'Deliver Us From Evil' will officially become part of my comprehensive list of horror and Halloween- related movies and shows I'll watch every October.

As you can probably guess considering its title is a section of the Lord's Prayer, 'Deliver Us From Evil' has a few good Biblical lessons in spite of its creepy subject matter, in addition to the obvious point that evil, demonic forces, while they exist, are no match for the power of God demonstrated through our faith in Him.
One of the first deals with the nature of guilt and our forgiveness in God's eyes. We all have sinned, and the Devil and his forces know this and can use our guilt over this against us. The possessed people in the movie use this to their wicked advantage at times to taunt the heroes, reminding Ralph of an occasion when he beat a particularly heinous suspect to death in a fit of rage rather than properly arresting him (As Mendoza put it upon Ralph telling him about it, such a thing was an act of vengeance rather than one of justice), and reminding Mendoza of an occasion when he broke his vow of celibacy and got a woman pregnant. The thing is, God doesn't want us to wallow in guilt over our past sins; He wants us to learn from them, become better equipped to not repeat them in the future, and to know that He has forgiven all of them through His Son Jesus dying to pay for them. Romans 8:1 sums this up well by pointing out that “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” When we trust in Jesus, we have nothing more to feel guilty about, as He has paid for all of our sins. 

Another good theological message to be derived from 'Deliver Us From Evil' relates to the problem of evil, how to believe in a loving God when there is so much evil and suffering in the world. Early on, Ralph and Mendoza are having a discussion in a bar that quickly turns to spiritual matters. Ralph says, "As we speak, every day, out there, somebody's getting hurt, ripped off, murdered, raped. Where is God in all that?" Mendoza responds, "In the hearts of people like you, who put a stop to it." Therein lies an important point. God's main way of addressing evil is through working in the hearts of good, brave people and guiding them to help stop it. A verse that I'd say ties into this is 1 Corinthians 15:58, which says "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain." The work we do for the Lord DOES make a positive impact and help to build His kingdom, even if we can't see the impact it makes right away. We are God's instruments in helping to bring His goodness and justice to the world, and must take this obligation seriously.

A final faith- based message in 'Deliver Us From Evil' is on the importance of families being raised in the faith. While Ralph has very little interest in spiritual matters and only attends church on Christmas and Easter, the rest of his family (About to get a member bigger, as his wife tells him early on that she's pregnant) are fairly devout. He's already somewhat estranged from his family due to the pressures of his job, and this major difference in beliefs between him and them worsens things. Fortunately, Ralph's experiences over the course of the film both help rekindle his faith and remind him of how important his family really is to him and how much of a responsibility he has to be there for them in every way he can. It seems as though the ending of the movie, with Ralph happily helping to take part in the christening of his new baby, was kind of like his way of saying, as it was said in Joshua 24:15, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Those of us who are fathers must similarly strive to raise up our families in the faith, and aid them in their growing relationship with Jesus.

So, that sums up my look at 'Deliver Us From Evil.' It's a great, underrated film which helps us see that, through remembering that the Lord has freed us from the guilt of our sins, striving to be there for and guide our families spiritually, and doing whatever we can to aid God through the good work we do for Him, we don't have to fear any evil that Satan might try and throw at us, in this rough year, and all through eternity.
btw,  as one last "Treat" for you all before I go, I found this amazing Halloween- related music video a week or so ago. This particular company does all kinds of wonderful fan- made music videos incorporating various pop- cultural worlds (i.e. Several Disney- related ones, a Batman- related one, and so on), and I'd say this is easily one of their best. I love all the characters they featured in it, quite a diverse bunch, and they even include a very subtle nod to my favorite Halloween- related movie 'Trick 'r Treat' (I've got to look at that during one of my future Halloween editions of this blog) near the end of it. Check it out:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5aDEwq-DJA

Well, that's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. I have an upcoming entry nearly done, so keep your eyes peeled for that. Until then, happy Halloween, stay safe, and may God bless you all!

Repentance, Freedom Through Compassion, and Imprisonment Through Greed: What to do About "The Man in the Suitcase."

 Hi everyone, welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!

Here we have Part 1 of my hopefully 2- part annual Halloween- related entry on this blog.

In considering my past Halloween entries on this blog, I noticed that each year so far since 2016, I've at one point used an episode of a TV show or streaming show. So, I might as well continue that trend now.

A show premiered on the streaming service Shudder (Sort of like Netflix but specializing in horror) last year, called 'Creepshow.' Based on the horror anthology movie series of the same title from the 80's, which in turn was based on the old EC horror comics of the 1950s, each 40- minute episode features two different stories, often written by big names in horror (i.e. Stephen King, his son Joe Hill, etc.).

Out of the six episodes that came out in the show's first season, my favorite was probably episode 3. The two stories featured in that particular episode were a fun yet rather bittersweet Halloween- related tale called "All Hallows Eve," and the story I will particularly focus on in this entry, known as "The Man in the Suitcase."

DISCLAIMER:
This episode has a bit of disturbing imagery, a scary moment near the end, and a LOT of language. ust a heads- up.

SPOILERS AHOY!

In this story, we quickly meet Justin, a slacker college student who hasn't been having a very good night so far: He's just flown back from a trip to visit his parents and beg his father for money (Never a proud moment for anyone), and his girlfriend Carla has dumped him because he isn't doing anything with his life at the moment.

Justin's night takes a MUCH more interesting turn upon arriving back at his apartment and discovering that he accidentally grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport's baggage carousel; Rather than containing his clothes and things like that, the suitcase he took contains an Indian gentleman (Ravi Naidu), twisted up like a pretzel and forced into the suitcase, yet somehow still alive.

(A little help, please? Credit for this image goes to the user SilverFlight on the Creepshow wiki at https://creepshow.fandom.com/wiki/The_Man_in_the_Suitcase?file=The_Man_in_the_Suitcase.jpg)

The Man is surprisingly friendly and polite given his current condition (When asked how he ended up in there, he responds simply, "I offended someone I ought not to have offended"), and asks Justin to help get him out of the suitcase. Being the relatively good- natured young man that he is, Justin agrees, but this causes another, even more unexpected thing to happen: As he pulls on the Man's foot to help extricate him from the suitcase, the Man cries out in pain, and an ancient- looking gold coin flies out of his mouth! The Man explains that "An unfortunate condition causes me to produce gold when I am in pain." The Man says that if Justin gets him out of the suitcase, he'll be free to keep any gold coins that may be produced in the process as a fee, and Justin decides to think over this bizarre turn of events.

Things take yet another important turn when Justin's roommate Alex and the aforementioned ex- girlfriend Carla learn of the situation. Seeing the Man and his condition as a private gold mine just waiting for them, especially as Justin had the first gold coin appraised and found that it alone was worth hundreds of dollars, they decide it's something they should exploit. Carla is suddenly interested in Justin again (Funny how that happens when she finds out he's sitting on a potential fortune, isn't it?), and she and Alex convince Justin to keep the Man in the suitcase for another 48 hours.

Over the course of a disturbing yet darkly funny montage, the trio proceed to essentially torture the Man in a variety of increasingly unpleasant ways (Tossing the suitcase down a flight of stairs with him inside, pinching his extremities with a mousetrap, etc.), yielding an incredible fortune in gold coins in the process. The Man, remarkably, remains as affable and polite as ever throughout these horrible things being inflicted on him.

All is not well, though. We see that Carla is secretly having an affair with Alex, and Justin is feeling increasingly remorseful over what they've been doing to the Man.

Finally, as the 48 hours are up, Alex and Carla are about to employ their next, most brutal means of gaining agony- induced wealth from the Man: Hooking him up to a car battery to electrocute him. Justin at this point has finally had enough. The poor Man says that his heart can't take much more, and Justin realizes it's wrong and flat- out evil of them to line their pockets by doing this to him. He tells Alex, "There comes a time when you need to ask yourself who you want to be." Alex simple- mindedly responds "I want to be rich!" Justin decides to go to the cops to hopefully get the Man the help he needs. Furious at this and not about to lose her newfound gravy train, Carla bashes Justin in the head with a wrench, causing him to fall down the stairs. Don't worry, he survives.

Carla and Alex decide to try and get one last "Jackpot" from the Man before fleeing town with all the ill- gotten gold, and zap him with the car battery. Rather than screaming in pain and producing more gold, though, the Man instead laughs creepily and his eyes turn yellow. He then vanishes from the suitcase in a puff of smoke, and reappears as his apparent true form: a terrifying- looking Djinn (For those who may not know this term, a Djinn is a kind of demonic genie, the sort that grants wishes but usually with a VERY heavy price attached). Laughing evilly, the Djinn proceeds to trap Alex and Carla in suitcases of their own offscreen.

(To paraphrase the Man, it looks like now Alex and Carla are the ones who "Offended someone they ought not to have offended"; credit for this image goes to Dave Pierdomenico on a review of the episode on his own blog "Halloween Year- Round" at https://halloweenyearround.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/suitcase.jpg)

Justin awakens in a hospital room to find a bouquet of flowers by his bed. Attached to the flowers is a note from the Man/ Djinn, thanking Justin for the mercy and kindness he showed, and saying if Justin ever needs anything from him in the future, all he has to do is think of the Man and ask. The story ends with the Man, now looking fine and healthy and clad in a nice suit, checking ten identical suitcases at an airport as he prepares to board a flight to Istanbul, and from two of the suitcases, we hear two familiar- sounding voices screaming to be let out.

As I said earlier, out of the twelve story segments that have been shown in the first season of 'Creepshow' (Two per episode, in six episodes), "The Man in the Suitcase" was almost certainly my favorite.

Easily one of the main strengths of "The Man in the Suitcase," especially when compared to other segments in the show so far, is how incredibly funny it often is. While, as I said earlier, many of the tales seen in the show so far are written by respected names in the horror genre, "The Man in the Suitcase" was written by fellow Floridian Christopher Buehlman, who is normally a comedy writer, and it shows in the script. You will be laughing throughout most of it. In particular, the dialogue exchanges that the Man takes part in are often hilarious. Even the tortures inflicted upon the Man, horrible though they are, prompt some laughs from the ways they are staged.
In addition, as another review on this episode pointed out, this episode raises some interesting questions to think upon; Most prominently, what would you or I do if we were in Justin's shoes throughout this whole situation?
Another strength of it is that it does a marvelous job of channeling the old- school EC horror comics that the entire 'Creepshow' brand is meant to pay tribute to, both with its "Dark morality tale" vibe and the comic book visuals that are used throughout it.

Now, for the character run- down. Justin makes for a good main character. He's usually likable enough, and a nice "Everyman"- sort of guy. He's not perfect by any means (He's rather lazy, and a bit of a stoner), but you can tell there's some good in him, especially as the episode nears its climax.

Alex is suitably selfish and dishonest, yet good at manipulating Justin. You get the feeling that he may have at one time been a good person and loyal friend to Justin, but those days are clearly in the past and he now views Justin as little more than a sap for him to walk all over.

 Carla comes across as even worse than him. While I've struggled with singleness and the loneliness it entails for most of my life, and have been desperate to find someone to be with, I honestly think I'd rather be single than be in a relationship with someone like Carla, who only cares about satiating her immediate, petty desires and clearly has no problem manipulating and betraying those closest to her in order to do so. She's a "Gold- digger" in every sense of the word, and the epitome of someone who's attractive on the outside, but truly hideous on the inside.
The standout character in this story, though, is definitely the Man. Ravi Naidu gives a hilarious performance as him. You'll be laughing along with him while still deeply sympathizing with him over all the pain he's put through (Especially given the friendly attitude he maintains all throughout it). You'll immediately be fixated on him and wanting to know more about him and how he could do what he does. One particular funny line he has is early in the episode, when Justin is about to help him get out of the suitcase but gets sidetracked talking about some random school friend of his, and the Man says in a very patient tone of voice, "Excuse me, please. I do not mean to interrupt, but I am in a great degree of pain and I cannot give your schoolyard drama the attention that I am certain it deserves."

Now, for the theological meat of the matter:
I'd say the most important Scriptural lesson to be taken from the story of "The Man in the Suitcase" is on the consequences of letting our greed take priority over our compassion. Justin's line to Alex about what kind of person he wants to be calls to mind Proverbs 22:1, which says "A good name is more desirable than riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Justin came to realize that monetary wealth meant nothing compared to the sort of human being that you were. We need to live in such a way that we are known for our walk with Jesus and the size of our hearts, not the size of our bank accounts. It can be so easy to sacrifice our principles for the sake of immediate gain, but those who trust in Jesus know that kindness and mercy are more valuable than all the gold in the world.

In contrast to the compassion Justin ends up showing, Alex and Carla's avarice ends up coming back on them through their fate in the end of the story, as they are trapped in suitcases of their own and will almost certainly end up being tormented for the gold they'll produce in the same ways they themselves did to the Man. It's a perfect metaphor for just how imprisoning greed can be. As 1 Timothy 6:9- 10 tells us, "Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." I'd say all that perfectly sums up what happens to Alex and Carla as a result of their greed, and what can happen to us if we allow greed to control our lives. It drove them to commit evil acts against the Man and eventually against Justin, and it led them into a trap which will undoubtedly lead to them being pierced with many griefs. For a real- life example of this, look at Bernie Madoff: His unquenchable greed led to him ruining the lives of so many people who trusted him, which in turn led to him being sent to prison for the rest of his life. Unless he repents of what he has done and seeks God's forgiveness while he's still alive, upon death he'll continue paying for his greed for all eternity.

Speaking of which, a final Biblical theme I found in "The Man in the Suitcase" is on repentance, through the choices Justin ultimately makes. As I said earlier, Justin is by no means a saint. He is easily persuaded by Alex and Carla to keep the Man in the suitcase for an additional two days, takes part in their tortures of him, and uses the gold to do some decent things (i.e. paying off all the back rent that he and Alex apparently owe for their apartment), but also other more selfish things (i.e. buying an expensive- looking leather jacket for himself). And, yet, he does repent. He eventually realizes how evil what they'd been doing to the Man was, stops it and at least tries to convince Alex and Carla to do the same, and attempts to do right by the Man. This repentance and rediscovering his mercy and kindness are why Justin is rewarded with a very powerful new friend while the unrepentant Alex and Carla get the punishment they deserve.
Acts 3:19 says "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord." We also learn from 2 Corinthians 7:10 that Godly sorrow over our sins produces repentance, which leads to salvation and us not having anything to regret. We all sin and take the wrong path from time to time, but as long as we're still alive, it's never too late to turn around, seek God's forgiveness, and do what's right as Justin eventually did. Jesus suffered and died for us on the Cross to give us that chance.

May we all avoid falling into the trap of greed and instead let our lives be defined by the Godly love we show to others, and be quick to repent when we mess up along the way knowing that God's forgiveness and mercy are renewed every morning. I'd say those sorts of lessons are worth more than gold.

That's it for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. I'll hopefully have my second Halloween- related edition up by the night in question. Until then, take care, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!

Hypocrisy vs. Holiness, a Tale of Two Prayers, and True Beauty: A Faith- Based Look at 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame.'

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!
Well, summer's over, but we're still struggling through a lot; The pandemic, social unrest, and hurricane season. All that's missing now is an alien invasion! Still, we all need to stay strong and keep the faith.

I shall now be finishing my look at certain Disney films by saving the best for last: I'll be looking at a real gem, easily one of my favorite Disney movies which is jam- packed with theological significance: Their 1996 masterpiece, 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame.'

(Credit for this image goes to the user Valyrian Wildfire on the Disney Wiki at https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hunchback_of_Notre_Dame/Gallery?file=THBOND_Second_Poster.jpg)
It is a rather loose adaptation of the classic novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. It manages to take that dark and tragic story, and make it more family- friendly while still having tons of emotional weight.

This movie is the story of Quasimodo (Voice of Tom Hulce), the deformed but pure- hearted bellringer who lives up in the tower of Paris's legendary Notre Dame Cathedral. Quasimodo longs desperately to leave the bell tower and be out among the people of Paris, living the kinds of lives that they have. He is routinely prevented from doing this by his father- figure, the merciless Judge Claude Frollo (Voice of the late Tony Jay), who insists that the world is a dangerous, intolerant place where he'll never be accepted by anyone. Thus, the closest thing to friends Quasimodo has are three gargoyles that he routinely talks to. Early in the movie, Quasi sneaks out during the big Festival of Fools carnival, starts to mingle a bit with the crowd who at first think he is wearing a mask, and he even has a little fun for a while before things go horribly wrong.

 Nevertheless, even then, there's a bit of a blessing, as he meets the beautiful and free- spirited Gypsy dancer Esmeralda (Voice of Demi Moore). She quickly befriends him, but is soon forced to hide in Notre Dame herself and declare sanctuary after she openly stands up to Frollo, who is determined to destroy all Gypsies in France. It seems that the hateful tyrant has developed a perverse attraction to Esmeralda, and to assuage his own guilt over this, he wants to force her to either marry him or be burned as a witch. Quasimodo secretly helps her escape, and an enraged Frollo amps up his persecution of Gypsies in order to try and find her. It all helps to answer a question that the Gypsy leader Clopin asks at the start of the film, "What makes a monster, and what makes a man?"

There's only really one flaw in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' and it's a pretty prominent one that a lot of the fans point out: The three gargoyles. They are are clearly meant to be comic relief supporting characters, but the problem is, for the most part, they aren't funny AT ALL, and can get on your nerves at times (Especially a fat one named Hugo, voiced by Jason Alexander). Also, the movie is kind of inconsistent on if they're alive or not; For most of the first half of the film, it appears as though Quasimodo is merely pretending that they are alive so that he can have someone to talk to in his loneliness. If they had stuck with that all through the film, it would have worked, albeit been a little depressing. However, by the film's climax, we see they really are alive as they help Quasi fight off Frollo's troops. Make up your mind, writers! Their song, "A Guy Like You," is also easily the weak link among the film's otherwise flawless soundtrack. About the only positive thing to say about the gargoyles is that one of them makes a pretty funny nod to 'The Wizard of Oz' in the film's climax.



Now that that's out of the way, let me just say that other than that, 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' is a truly magnificent film, my #2 all- time favorite Disney film after 'Beauty and the Beast.' The story has a maturity to it that most Disney animated films lack, it's one that largely appears to have been tailored slightly more towards adults than towards children, similar to what Pixar would go on to do with their own Parisian- set film, 'Ratatouille.' It has incredibly deep and dramatic moments throughout it, and some good amounts of action as well.

Quasimodo is a wonderful protagonist. He wrestles with his competing loyalties, and just seeks so desperately to be accepted by the rest of the world. His physical design is perfect at displaying his deformity, yet having it not be so grotesque as to freak out children who may watch it. Tom Hulce brings so much emotion and heart to his performance. Even just simple lines such as, while trying to persuade a formerly- wounded bird to take flight again, "If I could pick a day to fly, this would be it" will deeply move you. His songs will really tug at your heart- strings, too.

Esmeralda steals every scene she's in. Right from her first real scene we immediately grow to like her, as we see her bravely standing up to Frollo in order to help Quasimodo escape an awful situation, and then lead the guards on a merry chase through the Festival until she gets to the cathedral. Her courage, compassion, and selflessness as she repeatedly comes to the aid of the other heroes are so inspirational. It's easy to see why nearly every male character in the film quickly starts falling for her. Her pet goat Djali (Pronounced "Jolly") is cute and funny, too.

Judge Frollo stands out as being the single best Disney villain I've ever come across. He's cruel, twisted, well- developed, and often pretty frightening in scenes (The segments regarding his sick infatuation with Esmeralda WILL make you shudder). Through his persecution of the Gypsies, he is seen doing all manner of heartless, evil things to people who have done nothing to him, whose only crime is existing. Then, of course, there's the awful ways he treats Quasimodo, routinely berating and manipulating him. What makes Frollo even more despicable is that he has the gall to insist that he is committing all these horrible acts in the name of God. Tony Jay's performance as his voice is nothing short of brilliant. His deep, powerful voice can seem kind and nurturing (Albeit in an obviously superficial way) at one point, then dripping with hate and malice mere seconds later. He also proves to have a good singing voice too, as he first duets briefly with Quasimodo early on when trying to convince the poor little fellow not to go to the festival, then REALLY shines with his wonderful (In a terrifying sort of way) villain- song "Hellfire," which I'll talk a little more about later in this article.

Another neat character from this movie is the soldier Phoebus, who is hired to be Frollo's captain of the guard at the start of the movie, but quickly finds his views on many subjects changing. What's great about his change is that it doesn't happen all at once in a single moment, as it would in a more lazily- written story, but instead is done much more gradually. We see early on that he does disagree with many of Frollo's policies, but he grudgingly follows along with them because it's his job. Nevertheless, as the film continues, we see how increasingly disgusted he is becoming at the things Frollo is forcing him to do to so many innocent people. When Frollo midway through the movie orders Phoebus to burn down a windmill that had a family locked inside, that's finally the last straw. Phoebus defies this order, saves the family, and becomes a major force for good the rest of the film. An additional plus to Phoebus is the great work Kevin Kline does as his voice actor. In particular, in his first scene as he deals with a pair of rude guards, Kline's voice acting makes an already very funny scene even more so!

Also, even though he is only a minor character, the cathedral's Archdeacon was great, too. The late David Ogden Stiers (Who by that point had already become a veteran Disney voice actor through his work as Cogsworth in 'Beauty and the Beast' and John Ratcliffe in 'Pocahontas') brings a lot of strength and sincerity to the Archdeacon's scenes, and helps show that, while some people may exploit the Christian faith for evil purposes, there are also many people like him who are genuinely holy and rightfully use their faith to motivate themselves and others to do good and build God's Kingdom on Earth.

The visuals and animation in this movie are incredible. The color scheme is incredibly diverse, from bright colors for the scenes in the Festival of Fools, to much darker tones for the more serious and intense moments. All the backgrounds and environments are beautifully rendered, ESPECIALLY Notre Dame. Both inside and outside, there is so much detail and care in every element of it, to the extent that the cathedral is almost an additional character itself. It looks especially good in the climax, as the big battle with Frollo's troops is raging and we see fire and molten metal pouring out everywhere.

The songs in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' are nearly all hits. They demonstrate a marvelous emotional range, from the happy and rather chaotic song "Topsy- Turvy Day" that Clopin sings during the Festival of Fools, to dark and frightening songs like "Hellfire" and "The Court of Miracles," to wonderfully moving songs like Quasimodo's "Out There" and Esmeralda's "God Help the Outcasts." The narrative song "The Bells of Notre Dame" even manages to combine all of these emotions in a single song!

I had actually been planning to eventually do an entry about 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' on this blog for years now, as it's the sort of film that's pretty much tailor- made for a blog that combines pop culture and Christian theology. It deals heavily with so many theological points, it would be nearly impossible to list them all.

One of the first is using the evil Judge Frollo as a cautionary example of avoiding hypocrisy and falseness in our faith. As I explained earlier, one of his most loathsome qualities is that he not only does so many evil things to so many people who've done nothing to him, but he then tries to justify it all in the name of God. He might outwardly profess righteousness and piety, but beneath it all he's a heartless legalist for whom the concept of "Love thy neighbor as yourself" means nothing, and to whom the Christian faith is really just something for him to exploit for his own purposes. He'd have felt right at home among the corrupt Pharisees who had Jesus crucified. Frollo particularly shows his true colors in the film's climax, as he orders his troops to physically breach the cathedral by breaking down its front doors in order to get to Esmeralda and Quasimodo inside who had just declared sanctuary. From someone who outwardly professed such piety and holiness, to both defy the concept of sanctuary and desecrate such a sacred place in that way made it clear to everyone just how fraudulent his supposed devotion to the Lord really was.
There are many verses in the Bible which condemn this false faith. 2 Corinthians 11: 13- 15 says "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds." In addition, Titus 1:16 says about those sorts of people, "They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work." . There are many people who claim to know God, but like Frollo in the film, are in fact frauds and hypocrites doing Satan's work while outwardly putting on a seemingly righteous facade and twisting the faith for their own purposes. Their deeds prove how phony they truly are. A real- life example of this I have recently seen is from a certain gentleman who shall remain nameless, on a certain "Christian" website he runs which shall also remain nameless. I won't say where because I earnestly do not want to give this guy any more web traffic than he is already getting. I myself only go to his site for laughs. Among other things, he's the sort of guy who regularly says that America is a rotten Hell- spawned hole in the earth, largely because things now aren't exactly the way they were back in the 1950's if not earlier. He claims what he is doing is "Ministry," that he is preaching the Gospel through his website, but his nearly all of his posts have him spewing all kinds of incredibly hateful, intentionally- insulting things about others while then claiming he's not trying to be "Unkind," and often praising himself for his own righteousness (i.e. He once put up a link to a media- watchdog- group's web page talking about some TV shows that week which featured objectionable content, and he commented, "I thank God that I don't watch any of those shows!" I could almost picture the smug expression on his face as he typed that).

 A frequent theme in many of his articles over the last couple years is him basically waging a one- man online war against a church near him that he believes has wronged him. Practically every other post of his recently has him insulting this church, its leaders and its members (At times by name), claiming that they are "Apostate," "Satanic," and so on. In an article he put out a couple months ago, this guy (Who regularly rants about how "Immoral" and "Trashy" the world is) openly called the people at that church an obscene name, the sort of name that any parents reading this would probably wash their kids' mouths out with soap for using; All he did to veil/ censor the word was use dollar- signs instead of s's. This was on a supposedly "Christian" website! If this guy watched 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' he'd probably think Frollo was the hero of the story! May we all strive to avoid such hypocrisy and fraud, and instead live out a genuine faith in Jesus Christ, and let our actions be a reflection of the good work that God has done in our hearts.


Now, for the next point: A great message/ allegory in 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' can be found by looking at arguably the two best songs in the film: Esmeralda's song "God Help the Outcasts," and Frollo's song "Hellfire." To help convey this, I'll let you listen in on each song before talking about them. First, we'll check out "Hellfire":

(This video was posted on Youtube by the user MrHJona at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3NoDEu7kpg)

In "Hellfire," Frollo right out of the gate praises how supposedly righteous he himself is while blaming Esmeralda for his own moral failure of lusting after her. As the song goes on, he even has the audacity to blame God Himself for it, when he sings "It's not my fault, if in God's plan, He made the Devil so much stronger than a man!" Frollo is literally blaming everyone other than himself for his own sin. This theological blame- shifting is contrasted further by the chanting in Latin heard in the background. Although this video of the song doesn't show it, the chanting is the Archdeacon and the other priests at Notre Dame performing the Confiteor (A Roman Catholic prayer of penitence) as they begin the evening vespers. Roughly translated, the prayer/ chanting is the Archdeacon and the other priests confessing that they have sinned, admitting that their sins are their own fault, and asking God's forgiveness. Unlike Frollo's blame- shifting and self- righteousness, they have recognized that they have sinned, and that forgiveness can only be found through seeking God's limitless grace and mercy.

Now, on the other side of the theological coin, let's have a listen to "God Help the Outcasts":

(This video was posted on Youtube by the user Holy007, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEEpavnk7Uw)

To quote Morgan Freeman's depiction of God in 'Bruce Almighty,' "Now, THAT'S a prayer." While Frollo starts out his song by professing his righteousness, Esmeralda starts "God Help the Outcasts" by openly expressing her uncertainty and that, as a member of a despised group, she doesn't know if she's even worthy to come to God in prayer. Nevertheless, she has a prayer that needs to be heard. She humbly beseeches God to help protect her fellow Gypsies amid all the hate and persecution they are facing, because without His help, they have no chance. She openly says that she does not personally need anything for herself (Contrasting to the worshipers in the song's bridge asking for selfish, worldly things), but merely seeks for her people to be saved from being wiped out. She even demonstrates a surprisingly strong theological understanding early on by saying that she wonders "Were You once an outcast, too?" Jesus and His disciples were indeed outcasts, who faced persecution and death in order to help bring God's salvation to the world, so He would indeed identify strongly with Esmeralda and with what she and her people are facing. A humble yet true faith expressed through a beautiful, sincere prayer.

I bring this up because the attitudes expressed in these two songs (Frollo's blame- shifting and spiritual snobbery in "Hellfire," and Esmeralda's meek intercessions in "God Help the Outcasts") present, I think, a perfect allegory for the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector which Jesus told in Luke 18:9- 14. Both men went into the Temple to pray. The Pharisee gave a "Prayer" basically praising himself for how good and holy he supposedly was, and looking down on others who did not measure up to his own moral standards. The tax collector, in contrast, would not even lift up his own head, but merely begged God in prayer to have mercy on a sinner like him. Jesus noted that, of the two men, it was the tax collector whose prayer was heard and who left the Temple justified in God's eyes, for he demonstrated simple faith and humility through his prayer. Such is how we all should be. We should resist the temptation to spiritual pride and looking down on others, and instead recognize that we are all the same in God's eyes, sinners in need of a Savior. 


A final theological message to be taken from Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' is on true beauty. At the opening of the film, the Gypsy leader Clopin says that Quasimodo's story is "The story of a man, and a monster," and explains that the real riddle of the story is to figure out which is which. Initially, we all think the "Monster" in the story is Quasimodo due to his deformed appearance. However, as is often the case in Disney's films, appearances are deceiving. It becomes clear that really Frollo is the monster, and Quasimodo is the man, due to what they each have inside, in their hearts and souls. Quasimodo's outer appearance conceals the kindness, love, courage, and indeed beauty he possesses deep down. This is most definitely a Godly principle. 1 Peter 3:3-4 instructs us, "Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." In addition, 1 Samuel 16:7 says "But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart."" While the secular world judges people based on their outward appearances, God judges people based on their true character, what is in their hearts. A kind, gentle, Godly spirit is the truest, most everlasting beauty a person can possess. May we all seek such beauty in our own lives.


That concludes my look at Disney's 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame,' a true animated masterpiece which drives home the vital lessons of avoiding hypocrisy and false faith, acting with humility and simple devotion to God, and what true beauty looks like.
I've enjoyed this look at a few Disney films, and hope all of you did, as well. I may perhaps look at some more in the future, but for now, I'll turn my attention on this blog to other fare for a while.

That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. Until next time, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!

Allegory, True Heroism and Going the Distance: A Faith- Based Look at 'Hercules.'

Hi everyone, and welcome to another edition of the Nightcrawler Experience!
My current look at Disney films has two down, and two to go.

For this one, I decided to look at something a little more robust than most Disney animated fare: The 1997 film 'Hercules.'

(Credit for this image goes to the user Valyrian Wildfire on the Disney wiki at https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Hercules_(film)?file=Hercules.png)
This is obviously based on the stories of the legendary strongman/ demigod from Greek mythology, but in a VERY loose way. Most of the characters and mythological elements of it are honestly nothing like how they were in the original ancient myths, but considering this film was aimed at children and much of actual Greek mythology is not suitable for such audiences, that's understandable.

So, in this movie, after a brief narrative introduction by Charlton Heston and the catchy song 'The Gospel Truth' by the Muses that helps to set up the story, we see Hercules born to the king and queen of the Olympian gods, Zeus (Voice of the late Rip Torn) and Hera. However, not all is right among their numbers; Hades (Voice of James Woods), the disgruntled god of the dead, has a secret plan to overthrow Zeus and conquer Mount Olympus by eventually freeing these powerful ancient monsters known as Titans. He learns through a prophecy that he will be defeated and his plan foiled if Hercules is allowed to grow up and join in the battle that will ensue. So, to prevent this from happening, Hades sends his bumbling demon minions Pain and Panic (Voices of Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer) to kidnap baby Hercules, turn him mortal with a magic potion, and then kill him. The shape- shifting demons succeed in the first two parts of the plot, but fail in the third, as baby Hercules does not drink all of the potion and thus retains his incredible strength (The sight of baby Hercules then walloping them when they try to finish the job is both hilarious and adorable). He is then adopted by an elderly couple who raise him well.
As a young adult, Herc (Voice of Tate Donovan) feels like a freak who doesn't belong in the village he and his adoptive parents live in. He eventually learns of his divine origins, and that his godhood will be fully restored to him if he can prove himself to be a true hero on Earth. To that end, he seeks out the help of Philoctetes, aka Phil (Voice of Danny DeVito), a half- goat satyr who was once a trainer of heroes. Phil initially refuses, as everyone he trained ended up faltering and letting him down, but he has a change of heart when he realizes the real potential that Herc has.
After some training and a few victories, Hercules is hailed as a hero and treated like a celebrity by everyone, complete with endorsements and merchandise, yet Zeus tells him this still isn't enough. Herc eventually falls head over heels for a lovely young woman named Megara, aka Meg (Voice of Susan Egan), who has a bit of a shady past and begins to drive a wedge between him and Phil. All the while, Hades is preparing to destroy Hercules once and for all and implement his plan to release the Titans and conquer all of the cosmos.

Pretty much the only problem I have with 'Hercules' is how it portrays some of the other heroes from Greek mythology; While Phil is shown to have been the trainer of most of these heroes (As he puts it, "Odysseus, Perseus, Theseus. A lot of '-eus'es."), the movie implies that they had all been losers and failures who couldn't "Go the distance." I frankly didn't like that. In Greek mythology, those other heroes did really cool things, too (ESPECIALLY Odysseus), and while portraying them as failures did help with Phil's development as a character, they could have just as easily been portrayed as heroes who were formerly successful but are now forgotten has- beens, or as contemporaries for Hercules to interact with.

Other than that quibble, 'Hercules' was a great movie and a lot of fun.
It has a good deal of comedy, including loads of funny puns relating to the movie's setting. For instance, in one scene when two young boys are trapped under a boulder, one of them frantically shouts "Someone call IXII (aka the Roman numerals for 911)!"
'Hercules''s high- point, though, was definitely its action. It had loads of impressive fight scenes, such as a short but amusing brawl Hercules has with a boorish centaur named Nessus which acts as his first real heroic deed, and his climactic battle with the Titans in the end, but my favorite (And one of my favorite parts of the movie as a whole) is when he fights the Hydra.
This is a battle which will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. The Hydra looks terrifying by Disney standards, between its long serpentine necks, its yellow eyes, and its VERY large maws of incredibly long and sharp teeth, and that's not even counting its trait of regrowing heads that have been lopped off. The computer animation they used for it looks pretty impressive for the time, too. The battle takes on a lot of different phases in its brief time frame, as we see Hercules fighting the Hydra from the ground, and then from the air with the help of the flying horse Pegasus. Everything's going a mile a minute, and the tension's high, making for a quite memorable scene. When Herc does prevail, we have to agree with his remark to Phil that "You gotta admit, THAT was pretty heroic!"
Hercules himself is a decent enough hero. We can feel most of what he's going through, between his initial desire to find the place where he's meant to be, then his desire to achieve his destiny when he learns of his lineage, and trying to protect those he cares about when things start to really hit the fan in the film's third act. The animation design for him looks great, too; Initially, the animators wanted to make him look huge and ripped like Gaston from 'Beauty and the Beast,' but eventually decided to give him more of a swimmer's build. I'd say that works, as he's clearly got some muscles, yet still seeing him display amazing strength throughout the film surprises you and helps you remember it comes from his divine lineage rather than just working out.
Megara is wonderful both as a love interest to Hercules, and just as a character in general. She's an incredibly funny character a lot of times with her snarky dialogue (Mad props to Susan Egan for her voice performance), yet some real heart, too. Her unbelievably sad backstory and her morally- conflicted nature throughout most of the film make her quite developed. She's definitely not your typical Disney gal.
Phil's a pretty solid supporting character. He too has a lot of funny moments, and seems to be heavily based on the character Mickey from the 'Rocky' films as a "Gruff, no- nonsense trainer of champs" kind of character. He's got some sympathetic moments too, though, overcoming his embitterment over his past students' failures, and desperately wanting to train just one who could really go down in history. Danny DeVito's gravelly voice is perfect for him, and his delivery in an early scene when Phil is mockingly imitating Zeus's voice never fails to make me laugh.

Hades is one of the most popular Disney villains among fans, and even just watching a couple minutes of him in this movie is enough to show why. While not my absolute favorite Disney baddie (Stay tuned for the next/ concluding entry in this series to learn who that is), he's pretty close. Most Disney villains fall into one of two categories: Mostly serious like Ursula or Jafar, or mostly comedic like Captain Hook or Yzma. Hades is a nice mixture of both, with loads of funny moments (i.e. Pointing out to the dim- witted Titans that they were heading in the wrong direction to reach Mount Olympus), and yet also some creepy, dead- serious moments (i.e. in the Hydra battle, when it looks like Herc is about to be devoured, Hades grinningly comments, "And now, for my favorite part of the game: SUDDEN DEATH."). His visual appearance is pretty neat, between his flowing black robes, his greyish skin, and his flaming hair. It's little wonder that the main animator who worked on Hades in this film won an Annie award for his work. His personality is an amusing blend of being calm and laid- back at times, while then literally exploding with rage in other scenes. Probably the best element of him, though, is James Woods' work as his voice (Which is especially remarkable, because Woods wasn't even Disney's first choice for voicing Hades; Originally, the role was going to go to Jack Nicholson, but he apparently wanted more money for the role than Disney was prepared to spend). Woods gives Hades a smooth- talking, used- car- salesman kind of voice, yet is also perfect at the scenes when he's furiously ranting and fuming. He also ad- libbed a good portion of Hades' lines, such as in a scene in which Hades is trying to trick Herc into making a bad deal with him. Hades is just such a fun villain to watch in every scene he's in.
Pain and Panic work well in an "Incompetent goons who always mess things up and whom the villain regularly takes his anger out on" sort of way. In particular, hearing Bobcat Goldthwait's rather distinctive voice for Pain always puts a smile on my face. Their shape- shifting skill makes them even more interesting, and is used to good effect.

The songs in 'Hercules' are pretty interesting, and take things in a few different directions. Herc's song 'Go the Distance,' which acts as the informal theme to the movie as a whole, sounds really nice and inspiring, a good song to help you feel brave as it's him singing of how he will keep going until he's learned his destiny and found "Where I belong." Phil's song "One Last Hope" as he's training Hercules is funny and entertaining, complete with a hysterical nod to 'The Karate Kid' at one point, and Danny DeVito proves to have a better singing voice than you'd think. Megara's song "I Won't Say I'm in Love" showcases the gorgeous singing voice that Broadway veteran Susan Egan has, and is a bit of a novelty as far as Disney songs go; Rather than giddily singing about being in love, it is mostly Meg DENYING that she is falling for Herc as her past history with men has so far not been good and she doesn't want to be hurt again, only to grudgingly accept at the end that she IS growing fond of the big lug. However, most of the songs from this movie are sung by the Muses, who help narrate and advance the story in a sweet, soulful, Gospel way. "The Gospel Truth" sets things up well and varies in its moods well to fit the scenes it's used in, "Zero to Hero" is a very fun song chronicling Herc's rise to fame, and my favorite is the song they perform in the finale, "A Star is Born." It's a gorgeous song which perfectly accompanies the film's truly wonderful ending (Indeed, 'Hercules' has one of my favorite endings to any Disney film).


I can think of a few different Scriptural lessons that can be taken from Disney's 'Hercules.'
One of the first is on endurance and "Going the distance." Near the climax of the film, when the attack on Olympus is close at hand, Hades tricks Hercules into giving up his strength for one day. Then, he sends a gigantic Cyclops to kill Herc in this weakened state. While Herc (who has become thoroughly discouraged and disheartened by this point for a number of reasons) won't fight back and seems willing to just let the Cyclops kill him, Phil eventually comes in and reminds Herc that he CAN take that bully down if he actually tries. Herc echoes a statement that Phil made early in the film that "Dreams are for rookies," but Phil retorts, "No, no, no, no, kid; *Giving up* is for rookies! I came back 'cause I'm not quittin' on you! I'm willing to go the distance; How about you?" Sure enough, this pep talk gives Hercules just the inspiration he needs; Even without his strength, he's then able to defeat the Cyclops and save the city of Thebes from destruction using nothing but a torch, some rope, and his wits. The Cyclops may have been big, but all that size added up to was a bigger crater in the ground when that bloated brute went down for good.
I think the Cyclops in this scene can be seen as a metaphor for all the huge problems we are facing, especially this year, between the continuing devastation of COVID- 19, and all the current social unrest breaking out nationwide. All that, of course, isn't even counting the personal, individual struggles that many of us our going through in our own lives. They all seem so unbeatable at times. It seems like it would be so easy to just give up and lose faith that anything will ever get better. I had a time just a couple nights ago when I briefly wrestled with those kinds of feelings.
I'm reminded of the brave example of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers, chapters 13 and 14. The two of them were among a group of twenty spies Moses and the Israelites sent to scout out the Promised Land, survey if it had good resources, and see if they could conquer the land. While most of the spies, upon returning, were afraid and essentially said "No way! The people in this land are giants! We could never take them on, we're like grasshoppers to them," Joshua and Caleb disagreed. They had faith that if God got them that far, He could give them the strength to overcome even those giants and take the city. This courage and faith was the reason why those two were the only members of that generation of Israelites managed to enter the Promised Land, while the rest who doubted God's providence and let their fear overcome their faith wandered in the desert for decades. Joshua and Caleb were willing to "Go the distance" even when things seemed hopeless, and we all need to do the same.


Another theological point to be taken from 'Hercules' is, similar to when I looked at 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 3' last Halloween, seeing the main hero as an allegory for Jesus and the main villain as an allegory for Satan.
 Right off the bat, the idea of Hercules being the son of the king of the heavens, coming down to Earth, and being raised by a childless mortal couple rather strongly resembles the early life of Jesus, who was the Son of God and came down to Earth and was raised by Mary and Joseph. The comparisons to Jesus become especially evident in the end of the film. MAJOR SPOILERS!
 Megara has died saving the life of Hercules, and so Herc goes down into the Underworld to try and recover her soul from the River Styx that it's currently floating in and thus bring her back to life. After a bit of haggling, Hades agrees to let Hercules take her place down there, if he could swim in the river and get her. There's a major catch, though: Touching the river causes Herc's body to age rapidly, and within seconds of him entering, it's clear that he will die before he can reach her. Yet, just as the three Fates are preparing to cut Herc's thread of life, it suddenly turns golden and is unable to be cut. See, by being willing to sacrifice himself to save Meg, Hercules has proven to be a true hero, and his godhood is restored to him as he then brings Meg's soul out of the river and knocks Hades down where he belongs. This all can easily be seen as symbolizing Jesus's sacrificial death for all of us, and His resurrection which defeat's Satan's plan to pull all of our souls to Hell.
Speaking of whom, there's also allegory to be found in Hades. In the original Greek myths, Hades was generally portrayed as a neutral, "Don't mess with me and I won't mess with you" type. In this film, however, Hades actually much more closely resembles how we as Christians see Satan. He seeks to overthrow the gods, conquer Olympus (Which in the movie greatly resembles how many of us would see Heaven), and kill Hercules. This is obviously similar to Satan seeking to overthrow God and take over Heaven (As described in Isaiah 14:12- 15), and kill Jesus. A scene early on makes this comparison even more clear, as a character, upon seeing Hades, says, "Well, speak of the Devil." Lastly, Hades' final defeat as the now- divine Hercules knocks him into the River Styx and the souls there drag him down into its depths, presumably forever, can be seen as resembling Satan's ultimate defeat in the book of Revelation Chapter 20, as he is cast into the Lake of Fire forever. In fact, Hades' scream of defeat when he realizes Hercules has become a god is near enough to how I'd imagine Satan reacting when he learned that Jesus had risen from the dead.
In short, I could see a Christian watching this scene with a non- Christian then afterwards saying something like, "Hey, you know how Hercules was willing to die and take Meg's place in the Underworld to save her, then became a god because of that? Someone actually did something a lot like that once. His name was Jesus, and if you don't mind, I'd like to tell you a little about Him."


Then, for one final Biblical point to be taken from Disney's 'Hercules,' immediately after the previously- mentioned scene happens, Hercules is brought to Mount Olympus, where Zeus and Hera explain to him that his sacrificial act for Meg was what made him a true hero. Zeus elaborates that a true hero is measured not by physical strength or fame, but "By the strength of his heart." This is another major Biblical theme, as many verses talk about how the state of a person's inner heart and soul is one of the most important factors to define that person. Jeremiah 17:10 says "I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." 1 Timothy 1:5 says "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." Then, of course, there's Jesus' beatitude in Matthew 5:8, which says, "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God." Indeed, the truest sign of greatness in God's eyes is a heart which is driven by love, kindness, selflessness, and faith in Him at all times. Such is what He most wants to see in all of us.

And so, there you have Disney's 'Hercules,' a great animated thrill ride with action, memorable characters, and wonderful Biblical lessons about going the distance even when it seems hopeless, what it takes to be truly heroic, and an allegory of the amazing work Jesus did for all of us.

That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. My concluding film examination in this series is on its way soon, so stay tuned. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!

Honesty, Understanding and Fatherhood: A Faith- Based Look at 'A Goofy Movie.'

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Nightcrawler Experience!

Now that I've done my devotional to Grandma Elliott, I'll be returning to my series looking at certain Disney films.
 In this installment, I'll be taking a gander at the 1995 animated film 'A Goofy Movie.'

(Credit for this image goes to the user Valyrian Wildfire at the Disney wiki at https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/File:A_Goofy_Movie.png)

 It acts as kind of an extension to the animated TV series 'Goof Troop' which was on the air around the same time, and features most of that show's voice cast reprising their roles.

In this movie, good old Goofy (Voice of Bill Farmer) is starting to get worried that his teenage son Max (Voice of Jason Marsden) may be at risk of becoming a juvenile delinquent. His worries in that regard increase tenfold after Max gets in trouble for disrupting a school assembly to impress his crush Roxanne.
Figuring that a little father- son bonding time could help him and his son reconnect and get Max on the right track, Goofy forces Max into accompanying him on a fishing- trip vacation to Lake Destiny, Idaho, where his own father had apparently taken him on vacation once. Max goes along VERY reluctantly, both because of how embarrassed he is of his dad and because he had been hoping to take Roxanne to a party in which the highlight would be watching a Pay Per View broadcast of a live concert by the hit musician PowerLine. In trying to break the news to Roxanne in a way that'll make her less hurt about breaking their date, Max ends up lying to the girl and telling her that he and his dad were in fact heading to Los Angeles to actually attend the PowerLine concert in person.
The road trip starts on a pretty rough note, between Goofy dragging Max to an incredibly cringe- worthy roadside attraction, and them then having a dangerous camping experience in which they run into Bigfoot. Still, the father and son do bond through the latter of the two experiences, and Goofy decides to make Max the navigator on the trip, entrusting him with the map of their trip and where to make their stops along the way. Max sadly abuses this trust, altering their route so they'll instead go to Los Angeles for the concert so Roxanne won't realize he lied to her. When they at one point stay at the same motel where Goofy's neighbor/ frienemy Pete and his own rather neurotic son PJ (Max's best friend) are staying, Pete discovers what Max is really doing and informs Goofy of this as a way to subtly imply that his own methods of parenting are superior to Goofy's. It all leads to a tense confrontation between Goofy and Max, them being put in a life- threatening situation which ultimately brings about a reconciliation between the two and causes them to finally understand each other, then at last arriving at the PowerLine concert and making a big splash there.

There were a couple problems with 'A Goofy Movie,' I must admit. I felt the scene early on when Goofy takes Max on a disastrous detour to the roadside attraction "Lester's Possum Park" could have been greatly shortened or outright cut. It's not a funny or entertaining scene, all it does is worsen the divide between Goofy and Max, which didn't really need to be done as it was already established that they were rather estranged. In contrast, I feel in the climax of the film, Goofy and Max's arrival in Los Angeles and sneaking backstage into the PowerLine concert were REALLY rushed, and more could have been done in that regard (i.e. Showing the father and son's initial impressions of the city, and their discovering how to sneak past security and into the concert arena). The encounter with Bigfoot also feels a little unresolved, it seems as though the beast eventually just loses interest in them and leaves or something.

All that being said, 'A Goofy Movie' was tons of fun. Plenty of laughs, of course (Mostly slapstick and Goofy's usual antics), but a decent amount of heart, as well.
The characters returning from "Goof Troop" are mostly portrayed the same as they were on that show, with most of the voice actors reprising their roles other than Max. Jason Marsden does a decent job as the new voice of Max, truly making him sound like a rather awkward teenager and conveying all the appropriate emotions in all the right scenes, especially when it comes to anger and embarrassment. The real standout among the voice cast, though, is definitely Bill Farmer as the voice of Goofy. He's been pretty much Disney's go- to voice actor for Goofy ever since the late 80's, but I'd say this is easily his best work with it. Not only does he do an awesome job for the scenes when Goofy's his usual happy and slightly clueless self (His rendition of Goofy's famous yell will never fail to put a grin on your face), but we also see him conveying a surprising amount of emotion for the more serious scenes in which Goofy is angry or sad, especially as the movie nears its climax.

In addition to the established characters in 'A Goofy Movie,' there are some fun new characters who come in, as well. Roxanne could have maybe gotten some more development, but still is a likable character, and a good love interest for Max in a nice- girl- next- door kind of way. What's more, Max's spray- cheese- loving, surfer buddy Bobby (Voice of Pauly Shore, in one of his few generally well- liked roles), and Roxanne's talkative, overachieving friend Stacey both make for some pretty funny moments. Even PowerLine, who we only see a little of, comes across as a friendly and rather down- to- earth guy who handles the interruption of his concert extremely well under the circumstances. Lastly, even though they were only background characters, there's a group of nuns that we see popping up at various points along the road trip (i.e. Driving alongside Goofy and Max and singing along to "On the Open Road," stopping for breakfast at the same diner that the two of them stop at, and so on), and learning of their own trip's ultimate destination will definitely have you laughing.

The music for 'A Goofy Movie' was really cool, too. The opening song "After Today," in which Max excitedly heads to his last day of school with the intent of impressing Roxanne, with him and his classmates happily singing about their plans for the summer, was really fun and catchy, a perfect way to get your energy pumped and get excited for how the movie will go from there. The driving song "On the Open Road" was better than I had remembered it being, mainly for how well it balances multiple viewpoints and musical styles. We hear Goofy's optimism about the trip, Max's pessimism about it, and as other passing motorists join in, they each bring their own style to the song. The most memorable songs in the movie, though, are definitely the two PowerLine songs, "Stand Out" and especially "Eye to Eye." They each have a great Michael Jackson/ Prince feel to them, and practically scream 1990's, though not really in a dated sort of way (In fact, on a Youtube video for "Eye to Eye," one commenter got a LOT of upvotes for her comment "Attention 80's and 90's kids, please stand up for the National Anthem."). You'll definitely be humming "Eye to Eye" for a while afterwards.

So, while 'A Goofy Movie' is definitely not one of Disney's greatest masterpieces, it's still a very fun movie that kids and adults could both really like.


I can think of a couple Scriptural lessons that can be taken from 'A Goofy Movie.' The first concerns effective parenting, which is one of the main focal points of the movie in general. In the movie, we see two heavily contrasting philosophies on parenting through Goofy and Pete's respective treatment of their sons. Goofy is generally laidback and permissive of Max, while Pete is incredibly strict and demanding towards his own son PJ. Pete tries to encourage Goofy to be much harsher with Max, at one point telling him while bowling, "If you keep him under your thumb, he won't roll in the gutter." To emphasize this point, when his ball then knocks down all but one of the pins, Pete bellows for PJ to come up and knock over the final pin so it could be considered a strike. Goofy tries this approach a little with Max, but it doesn't work well. He and Max connect the most when he gives Max freedom and trust, even if Max does ultimately abuse that trust by altering the map.
The two contrasting views in parenting are especially prominent when Pete learns of Max's altering the map and tells Goofy about it in a motel hot tub. Refusing to believe it, Goofy says, "You know, maybe Max isn't all the things you think a son should be, but he loves me." Pete rather coldly responds, "MY son RESPECTS me."
The funny thing about this exchange is, even though Pete was shown to have won this little argument, that particular line of his was 100% wrong. He fails to realize that there is a BIG difference between respect and fear. PJ is shown to clearly be terrified of Pete and his temper, immediately obeying his every word not out of a son's healthy respect for his father, but purely out of fear of how Pete will react if anything goes wrong. If Pete carries on with this approach to parenting, PJ would likely grow up to be the kind of adult who deeply resents and distances himself from his father for this treatment. It definitely brings to mind Ephesians 3:21, which says "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged." Godly parents are to provide guidance and at times discipline to their children and make sure they don't go astray, but not to let it cross the line from assertive discipline to sheer tyranny the way Pete does. Setting limits is an important part of parenting, but so are providing kids with enough freedom to grow, and making sure that kids know they are loved.
 Unlike Pete, Goofy DOES learn how to become a better father; He takes a much more active interest in his son's life and does all he can to be there for Max and help him grow into a good, responsible adult. Max starts taking Goofy's various suggestions and bits of advice more to heart through this approach, and their previously fragile relationship becomes a strong bond because of it. It ties into Proverbs 22:6, which says "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."


I think another key theological message to be found in 'A Goofy Movie' relates to the themes of honesty and openness. Most of the conflicts that come about between Goofy and Max over the course of the movie are because of them not being open to each other. They don't reveal to each other their true motivations for what they do (Goofy bringing Max on the trip out of his fear of Max possibly becoming a delinquent who might end up in jail, and Max wanting to go to the party because he had a date lined up for it with a girl he was genuinely fond of and had been trying to impress for months) until near the end of the film, skirting around these issues and causing all kinds of problems for both of them in the process. If they had shared their respective concerns with each other early on, they would likely have avoided nearly all the troubles they faced over the course of the film. Psalm 119:130 sums this up well: "The unfolding of your words gives light; It imparts understanding to the simple."

These themes of honesty and openness are also shown through what unfolds with Max and Roxanne. Max's initial lie to Roxanne ended up putting him in a bad position in which his only options would be to either alter the map so they'd go to Los Angeles (Thereby betraying his father's trust), or admit to Roxanne that he lied to her (In which case she'd hate him and the rest of their friends likely would as well). Indeed, dishonesty and avoiding issues can similarly put all of us into similarly bad positions and lose- lose scenarios.
Colossians 3:9 puts it plainly, "Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices." Max ends up demonstrating this principle in the film's final scene, as even though he and his father were clearly seen on TV at the concert, he still tells Roxanne the whole truth about what happened, including confessing the lie he told her earlier.

So, that about wraps up 'A Goofy Movie,' a fun little ride of  a movie that imparts wonderful theological lessons about what good parenting looks like and the importance of honesty and understanding in our relationships.
 These messages are summed up well by the the refrain to the movie's song "Eye to Eye":
"If we listen to each other's hearts,
 we'll find we're never too far apart;
and maybe love is the reason why,
for the first time ever, we're seeing it eye to eye."

That's all for this edition of the Nightcrawler Experience. There are still two more entries to go in my look at Disney films, so keep your eyes peeled for them. Until then, stay safe and healthy, and may God bless you all!