HomeschoolrsRUs
06-13-2006, 09:34 PM
Joy Ride - The American Spectator (http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=9951)
By Patrick O'Hannigan (editor@spectator.org)
Published 6/13/2006 12:06:05 AM
Have you noticed that even as professional movie critics toss well-deserved bouquets at Cars, the new animated film from Pixar and Disney, many of them temper their praise with "yes, but..."?
[ snip , snip ]
Another theme in Cars is the idea that "it's all about the journey, not the destination." A salute to that in tribal memory is what makes Main Street anywhere more memorable than interstate highways everywhere. But you don't need a sheepskin from UC Berkeley and a VW van in pastel colors to appreciate that allegedly progressive aphorism. Francis of Assisi understood it well, and Mother Teresa was fond of pointing out that "God doesn't call us to be successful; He calls us to be faithful." Which, when you think about it, is another way of saying precisely the same thing.
Wonder of wonders, living with that attention to "the eternal present" in mind tends to pay off in the future, too. If, like me, you grew up thinking that misers like Ebenezer Scrooge were conservative archetypes, you might be surprised to realize that they aren't. In fact, conservatives are more adept at recognizing the value of the present moment than progressives are. Progressives are fixated on the future by definition, else they wouldn't forever be "progressing" towards one utopia or another. Which brings us back to the movie, because it's only after a rookie race car (or an unreflective human) learns that the journey matters, too, that the destination (a Piston Cup, or heaven) means anything -- and you can't get either one on your own. In short, there's more going on under the hood of Cars than Roger Ebert and his amen chorus tend to see.
Bubba and I had been looking forward to this movie since we saw the very first preview. Now I'm absolutely certain that I want to see it. Sounds like it might be a keeper too -- maybe I'll keep it beside my copy of The Incredibles, :smirky:
By Patrick O'Hannigan (editor@spectator.org)
Published 6/13/2006 12:06:05 AM
Have you noticed that even as professional movie critics toss well-deserved bouquets at Cars, the new animated film from Pixar and Disney, many of them temper their praise with "yes, but..."?
[ snip , snip ]
Another theme in Cars is the idea that "it's all about the journey, not the destination." A salute to that in tribal memory is what makes Main Street anywhere more memorable than interstate highways everywhere. But you don't need a sheepskin from UC Berkeley and a VW van in pastel colors to appreciate that allegedly progressive aphorism. Francis of Assisi understood it well, and Mother Teresa was fond of pointing out that "God doesn't call us to be successful; He calls us to be faithful." Which, when you think about it, is another way of saying precisely the same thing.
Wonder of wonders, living with that attention to "the eternal present" in mind tends to pay off in the future, too. If, like me, you grew up thinking that misers like Ebenezer Scrooge were conservative archetypes, you might be surprised to realize that they aren't. In fact, conservatives are more adept at recognizing the value of the present moment than progressives are. Progressives are fixated on the future by definition, else they wouldn't forever be "progressing" towards one utopia or another. Which brings us back to the movie, because it's only after a rookie race car (or an unreflective human) learns that the journey matters, too, that the destination (a Piston Cup, or heaven) means anything -- and you can't get either one on your own. In short, there's more going on under the hood of Cars than Roger Ebert and his amen chorus tend to see.
Bubba and I had been looking forward to this movie since we saw the very first preview. Now I'm absolutely certain that I want to see it. Sounds like it might be a keeper too -- maybe I'll keep it beside my copy of The Incredibles, :smirky: