Comments on: Parent's Guide to Anime

Parent's Guide to Anime

mediareport — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:19:25 -0800

A Parent's Guide to Anime includes a few hundred informative and opinionated reviews, organized by rating. Found via this thread at the Christian discussion site Arts & Faith, whose users included Waking Life, Bad Lieutenant, Life of Brian and Fight Club in their list of the Top 100 Spiritually Significant Films.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:21:14 -0800

Sparked by AskMe.

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:29:56 -0800

I immediately went to look at the review for Evangelion and its movie , not cause i'm a fanboy but because it's a spectacularly violent and serious show concerning a lot of things that Christians might find relevant. The reviews seemed pretty well-considered considering what happens in the series - they only had a problem with the violence, language, and sexuality - the usual, in other words. That review for Gasaraki is pretty off the mark - some xenophobic fool afraid of other people's customs. That show is actually about a complex and secret economic war waged by Japan - if the reviewer had watched for more than 10 minutes, she might have figured that out. Course she is "a teenager serving ice cream" so I guess we can cut her some slack. That top 100 looked pretty nice, I only breezed through it but I saw a lot of movies I also think are important. Fight Club had a review I can respect - it's good these films are being considered and interpreted rather than picketed - as they almost certainly were upon release.

By: jeffmshaw

jeffmshaw — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:36:16 -0800

I'm pleased that they liked Trigun, which should have broad appeal. Killing is against the protagonist's principles, and one of the main characters is a gunslinging priest.

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:41:50 -0800

Just to be clear, BlackLeotardFront, the Parent's Guide isn't actually part of the Christian discussion site, so I wouldn't assume its reviews are coming from that perspective.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:42:38 -0800

Actually, I agree with the Gasaraki review on the point that it was boring as shit. Other than that, it's a site that serves its intended purpose in a pretty educated, open minded manner. I'm also pretty impressed with the Arts & Faith site, and the linked reviews. I'm not religious, but I'm pretty sure if I was I'd find the Arts & Faith approach to movie critique far more valuable that the reactionary CAP, which is better read as comedy than useful commentary.

By: andendau

andendau — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:53:49 -0800

Cool this should be a good read. I appreciated the Fight Club review. The reviewer's take was similar to mine. It always annoys me whenever Fight Club is brought up and people only say things like "lets start something like that" or "blah blah kill pandas."

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 16:54:52 -0800

I see that now mediareport, I should have figured that out :) Eyeballkid, you have to stick with Gasaraki, it gets really, really complicated though the art kinda falls off.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:03:58 -0800

Eyeballkid, you have to stick with Gasaraki, it gets really, really complicated though the art kinda falls off. That doesn't really sell it for me BLF ;)

By: Kleptophoria!

Kleptophoria! — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:38:00 -0800

I love the bullshit these "Christian review" sites churn out, deciding the worth of art based on how it depicts a usually false bizarro version of Christianity. The hilarious thing is that most Christians are so vastly unfamiliar with their own religion. I once took a fairly large religion course in school where the only two people who had read the Bible were atheists.

By: Kleptophoria!

Kleptophoria! — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:40:03 -0800

P.S. My point is that it is ridiculous to rate films based on points of theology that are usually totally off the mark. Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, and enough scholars doubt Paul said anything about it. Etc, etc.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:54:22 -0800

Kleptophoria: Could you please site some of the "bullshit" on the Arts & Faith site that bothered you? I thought it seems like a very thoughtful and informed community, frankly.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:55:06 -0800

cite

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 17:58:35 -0800

I thought it seems like a very thoughtful and informed community, frankly. Yeah, that's what led me to post it; I saw much smarter folks than usual taking a "religious" approach to film crit. I'm about as anti-religious in my personal outlook as you can get, but Kleptophoria's knees seem to be jerking a bit hard here.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:06:06 -0800

I'd say Klepto didn't bother to RTFA.

By: BlackLeotardFront

BlackLeotardFront — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:07:30 -0800

mr_roboto: site :9

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:14:52 -0800

I guess I should have been more clear: my first site should be corrected to a cite but the second site is definitely a site. Just be thankful I didn't get a sight or a -cyte in there....

By: joedharma

joedharma — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 18:15:35 -0800

I once took a fairly large religion course in school where the only two people who had read the Bible were atheists. LOL - good use of irony. BTW Kleptophoria, do you think it was reading the bible that turned them to atheism? I suppose, grudgingly, it was a thoughtful and interesting movie list.

By: Decani

Decani — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 19:10:57 -0800

The movie list was thoughtful and interesting. Enough for me to be mildly surprised that "A Clockwork Orange" didn't feature. There aren't many more forceful filmic musings on the problem of, and importance of, free will.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 19:39:37 -0800

Nice post. Good antidote to the version of Christianity that's gets all the press (and gives the faith a bad name).

By: Kleptophoria!

Kleptophoria! — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 20:06:52 -0800

joedharma, that thought sprang to my mind. Pre-Bible reading I was a pretty hardcore Roman Catholic. MEANWHILE-- Those of you who feel the need to make accusations concerning the state of my knees (I actually had an MRI the other day, amusingly enough) can go have tea parties on Mars with the space fairies-- I mean, you know what I'm implying. It's sexual. Honestly. Lick my delicious vagina. The site quotes and links reviews from various websites, many of a Christian nature. That is what I was referencing. I guess you'd only know this if you "read the fucking articles", or whatever your banal self-important acronyms stand for. "But I for one don't see how it's possible to bracket all the objections that must be raised to all that is anti-Christian in Last Temptation, and still have anything worthwhile left over to appreciate or enjoy. Past a certain point, objectionability obliterates all hope or desire of approaching a work as art or entertainment. No level of production values or technically proficient filmmaking could make it worthwhile to watch a movie that indulged in child pornography, or that relentlessly celebrated the Holocaust, or that overtly romanticized the degradation and abasement of women." -- full essay See also: Dogma The Sixth Sense

By: mediareport

mediareport — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 21:23:44 -0800

I still don't get the point, Klepto; I find the pages you linked just as fascinating as the rest of the site, and see nothing to get so furious about. That Dogma review actually states outright that "even devoutly traditional Catholics — some of whom have actually suffered silently (or not-so-silently) through similarly banal and shallow efforts of liturgists and others to make worship more "relevant" and "up to date" — need not take offense here." And I loved this from the Sixth Sense review, on people who claim to see ghosts: Although there is frequent evidence that many of these persons are charlatans and only deceive their clients, this is not the whole answer. If such persons are all fakes, then the prohibition in the Bible against making contact with the dead would be unnecessary... Again, I find this odd and interesting stuff. [shrug] Perhaps your "hardcore" religious past makes it more difficult to see this kind of thing from a calm distance. Anyway, your anger has been noted.

By: tdstone

tdstone — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 22:25:59 -0800

Jeffrey Overstreet, the author of the Fight Club review and many others, serves up his reviews from his own film review site with a Christian perspective. His thoughtfulness and analysis are quite a bit different than what most people would expect from a "Christian" review site...Definitely worth checking out.

By: eyeballkid

eyeballkid — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 22:45:10 -0800

Klepto: I love the bullshit these "Christian review" sites churn out, deciding the worth of art based on how it depicts a usually false bizarro version of Christianity. The hilarious thing is that most Christians are so vastly unfamiliar with their own religion. My point is that it is ridiculous to rate films based on points of theology that are usually totally off the mark. That was your first statement about the sites and reviews, yet you later linked articles that prove the exact opposite of your initial reaction. So, yeah, you knee-jerked with the standard MeFi "religion is teh suck" response because you didn't read the fucking article.

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 21 Mar 2005 22:47:24 -0800

I don't get it either, Klepto. Is that quote supposed to be self-evidently "bullshit"? I think it makes a good, coherent point: there are topics so objectionable that it is impossible to make them into art that can be appreciated. Like child pornography or a Hitler hagiography. Do you disagree with this? It's certainly not a perversion of Christian theology or a mindless condemnation of homosexuality--these were the things that your initial comments seemed to complain about.

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 03:49:05 -0800

Kleptophoria! : " I love the bullshit these 'Christian review' sites churn out, deciding the worth of art based on how it depicts a usually false bizarro version of Christianity...My point is that it is ridiculous to rate films based on points of theology that are usually totally off the mark." So I take it you like the sites linked to in here, as they are low on bullshit and generally on the mark?

By: Kleptophoria!

Kleptophoria! — Tue, 22 Mar 2005 15:33:39 -0800

I found several of the linked Christian sites to be quite low on the subjective bullshit scale, yes. Perhaps my issue with some of these reviews was subtle hints that something deemed to be anti-Christian is the equivalent to Holocaust celebration. Maybe it is because I'm just used to teachers in religion class comparing masturbation in a similar fashion to doing cocaine and homosexual sex to beastiality. And by perversion of Christian theology, I generally mean that what people consider to be orthodox today is either a misreading (bad Greek-to-English translation) or a result of arbitrary selection of canon scriptures. The Last Temptation of Christ could be rather non-offensive depending on denomination and time period. That particular review speaks of "Christian theology" in a way such that once widely accepted Christian movements of previous ages would seem quite abhorent. The idea that Jesus was human or divine or both is a point of contention even between the four "canonical" gospels. The idea of reviewing films through a theological lense is simply nonsensical, especially considering the arbitrary nature of doctrine. I just hope we can all still be friends. Especially once this sudafed tapers off. And my favourite anime is Rurouni Kenshin, especially the prequel OVA. Witness now, several anime emoticons: ^_^ ^_~ <_< ^_^x